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quote HillandderI agree with this but I have to disagree that they are both on equal standing. Like a contest or a match in tennis or pool there needs to be a #1. My vote goes for FF7 as having a better overall game-play. while FFT would have be 2nd best compared to FF7. FFT story would have to take the win because i felt more captivated by it. However FF7's interactivity wins better game award imo.compare the history of FFT with FF7 is like compare Mozart with Bethoven, is two masterpiece.
quote DewdActually, Black or White Materias have nothing to do with Jenova. Black Materia is a powerful spell which cast Meteor. In FF4 for example, the characters will inform ya that Meteo was so powerful, the Planet itself had sealed it away.you guys dunno me.. but i think ff7 kicks ass story-wise. the black and white materia can only be used in the lifestream, one being the black materia which casts a meteor with jenova in it and the white materia does the complete opposite of that you can choose the future by destroying it with the black materia or save it by using the white materia thasskewl.
quote Snowfox DreamerFFVII has a interesting because it three disk long and the story is long and interesting. FFT is not interesting because it battle suck and it has a little history and past.§ · Did you catch the part of the thread title that said "story-wise"? If you happened to miss it, I'd like to kindly point it out. Now you said FFVII had an interesting story... why? What made it interesting? What made FFT's past 'not interesting'?
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Surviving The Future (2010)
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What will the future bring - the birth of a new world or the destruction of the old one?
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Indians add Kubel; option Carrasco
The Columbus Dispatch - August 31, 2013 02:17 PM
The Cleveland Indians added outfielder Jason Kubel to the 25-man roster for tonight's game in Detroit.
To create room, the Tribe optioned pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the Clippers.
The International League season ends for Columbus on Monday. The Indians can recall Carrasco on Tuesday.
First baseman David Cooper, meanwhile, opted out of his minor-league deal with the Indians. Cooper was attempting a comeback from April back surgery. He played in seven games for the Clippers and had minimal impact. He was 5 for 26 with one RBI.


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To fill a major knowledge gap, EPRI and Sandia National Laboratories are jointly engaged in a multi-year research effort to examine photovoltaic (PV) plant reliability performance obtained through documented field data. Findings and analyses, derived from the PV Reliability Operations Maintenance (PVROM) database, are intended to inform industry best practices around the optimal operations and maintenance (O&M) of solar assets.
Currently being populated with initial PV plant information, the PVROM database aims to house a broad sampling of availability and reliability information for a diverse mix of PV plants located throughout North America. Among the variables being captured: locational and plant size factors; inverter and balance of system (BOS) equipment types and components; failure events, causes, frequencies; uptime/downtime metrics; applied solutions; and O&M actions and costs.
This report provides a comprehensive background on the joint research initiative, discussing its objectives and analytical framework, while also describing the PVROM data collection tool's technical capabilities. Preliminary results based on initial database content are subsequently related, as are next research steps to forecast plant health outcomes (e.g., system component availability and component wear out). Finally, the rationale and activities of a parallel volunteer effort to develop PV O&M standards are described.


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Coach USA bus accident closes Route 60
Robert Bartkowiak, U.S. Air Force, active duty
Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas: Basic boot camp
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas: Biomedical school
Biomedical Equipment Technician: The Air Force operates medical equipment all over the world, from Level 1 trauma units to remote field clinics. No matter where the location may be, the Air Force requires trained and qualified technicians to staff them. If any equipment breaks down or fails, the Air Force will have a biotech available to troubleshoot, repair or replace the malfunctioning equipment.
Airman Robert Bartkowiak is the son of Robert and Nannette Bartkowiak. The family resides on the Fredonia-Stockton Road. Bartkowiak is a 2012 graduate of Fredonia High School. Writing his story is especially important to me, because he is the husband of my granddaughter, Jordyn Mancuso.
This story started last year, around Father's Day, when the family was together discussing this young couple's future. The original plan was that Bartkowiak would graduate from a post-secondary institution, but while weighing the options and considering the student loan debt that came with an education, the military and what it could offer came into the conversation. I suggested that he contact the Air Force.
Bartkowiak agreed and contacted the appropriate office. This young man is now a proud United States Airman. He is a married man, living with his wife in a new apartment, driving a new car. He has dental and medical insurance for himself and his wife. He is attending biomedical school, and when he completes his course work, he will have close to 60 college credit hours. He will not have exorbitant student loans to pay off. When his military obligations have been fulfilled, he will have over $50,000 for his education.
No grandfather could receive a better Father's Day gift than knowing his precious granddaughter is being well taken care of by a responsible and loving husband.
Bartkowiak, a dutiful Airman, is learning what it takes to maintain the Air Force's medical equipment, used to protect and treat our soldiers, Marines and sailors. Thank you, Robert Bartkowiak, for serving. Thank you, Jordyn, for supporting your Airman. Robert Bartkowiak is our hero of the week.
– John Fedyszyn, Vietnam Veteran
A Father's Day to Remember
By Nannette Bartkowiak
It all started at the Dunkirk Historical Lighthouse and Veteran's Park Museum last Father's Day, June 17, 2012. When everyone woke up in the Bartkowiak household last Father's Day, plans were under way for a picnic. But no one knew that day what one sentence spoken by a friend would do to change a young person's life.
Robert W. Bartkowiak was graduating from Fredonia High School at the end of the month and was enrolled at SUNY Fredonia for the Fall semester 2012 to pursue a career in engineering. This was a natural progression for a "Fredonia local," as he had attended the 3-1-3 program at SUNY Fredonia during his senior year and was following in his father's footsteps. Robert's father graduated from Fredonia in 1976.
It was a pleasant day, warm with the sun shining. The Bartkowiak family hadn't had a picnic outside of their own backyard for years, but decided it would be a nice way to celebrate Father's Day. It was made more special because it was Rob's idea. The picnic was to be followed by a tour of the lighthouse and museum.
The picnic attendees included Rob's parents, his girlfriend Jordyn and her grandparents John and Darlene Fedyszyn. Fedyszyn's name is common in the OBSERVER as he does research for and writes the weekly column honoring veterans who have served our country. As he himself was a Vietnam veteran, he makes it his responsibility to not allow people's dedicated service to our country be forgotten. He volunteers also during the summer season at the park to give tours to those coming from all over the United States to view the park. That Father's Day was also the first time Rob's parents and Jordyn's grandparents met, adding to the uniqueness of one sentence changing a young man's plans for the future.
During the conversation that took place during that picnic lunch, Rob's future plans for college were discussed in depth. Fedyszyn, who still lives and breathes memories of the Marines and what the opportunity of serving in any branch of the service brings to young men and women, turned to Rob and said, "Why are you going to attend four years of college and be left with debt when you could join the service and have your college paid for?"
Rob's parents, knowing what that "debt" entailed as they had already helped two sons financially achieve what was necessary to graduate from college, looked at each other and said, "Yes Rob, why are you going to college when you could join the service and have your college paid for?"
At that point they were only viewing their son joining the service as a way to stay debt-free, a difficult challenge in this day and age, and actually Rob's parents had no idea what joining the service entailed. But they were soon to find out.
With one week left until Fredonia High School's 2012 graduation, there was a lot of activity going on, but a quick phone call the next morning to an Air Force recruiter in Jamestown revealed that if Rob had any interest in joining the service the first step was to take a test called the "ASVAB" (the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery). The ASVAB is an enlistment exam used by all branches of the United States Military.
The scoring on this test determines your educational path and job placement while in the military. It turned out the testing was being offered that afternoon at 4 p.m. in Jamestown, and if Rob was willing, all he needed to do was show up an hour early, meet with the recruiter, show identification and fill out the paperwork necessary to take the exam. It happened so smoothly that at the time it seemed to be fate. After all, it was only a test and there was no commitment, so what would it hurt? Rob ended up scoring well on the test; the Air Force was interested in him and the rest is history.
Bartkowiak spent the summer preparing for what lay ahead, with a departure date set and an upcoming eight weeks of "BMT" (Basic Military Training) at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas on Dec. 3. During the few months prior to his leaving he scoured the Air Force website, watched YouTube videos of others' experiences in the service and spoke with veterans who have served, trying to prepare himself for what would lie ahead in BMT, better known as "boot camp." Some day there will be an article about Rob as a veteran and details of his military life will be shared, but for now it will suffice to say it was a long eight weeks with homesickness during Christmas and New Year's, and a lot of learning about the life of an Airman. Being physically fit was important, but being mentally prepared was what Rob felt was the key to making it through. As Rob's parents, when we attended his graduation from BMT on Feb. 1, we weren't sure what we would find. Over the eight-week period of BMT, there were only eight 15-minute phone calls and two letters from Rob. After the Air Force coin ceremony, which is when the recruits graduate to becoming United States Airmen, we were allowed to have our first hugs and conversation with Rob. What we found was a grown-up young man dedicated to the path that lay ahead and thankful for the choice he had made as he answered the question, "Why are you going to attend four years of college and be left with debt when you could join the service and have your college paid for?" We will never know how in that eight-week period of BMT our young son became a man, but it was apparent that he had, and for that we were thankful.
A little background and the future plans for Rob with the Air Force: Prior to entering the service, Rob married his high school sweetheart Jordyn on Oct. 6, 2012. Entering the service as a married couple has allowed Rob support that single service men go without and he feels it has been important to his success. Rob will serve in the Air Force for six years and hopes to return home once a year to be a part of a local recruitment effort, "RAP" (Recruiter's Assistance Program), so that he can share his experiences and encourage others who may be interested in joining the service. Rob is presently in a 10-month technical training program for biomedical equipment repair at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, working alongside those in the Army and Navy branches of the service in this specialized field.
After a time of education and hands-on training, he will be stationed at the Keesler Air Force base in Biloxi, Miss., for at least a two-year period of time. He will most likely see at least one year of service overseas during his six-year enlistment, and of course, there will be deployment as his services are needed elsewhere.
So for this 2013 Father's Day, we won't be having a picnic at the Dunkirk Historical Lighthouse and Veteran's Park Museum with Rob, but instead we will stand proud and look back on the decision that our son made on Father's Day 2012 that will forever make us proud.


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Events in the next 7 days
June 25, 2011 - December 7, 2014
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This exhibition features more than 20 sets of large-format images that showcase the wide range of research being conducted at the Museum as well as how various optical tools are used in scientific studies.
Through January 5, 2014
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Whales: Giants of the Deep brings visitors closer than ever to some of the mightiest, most massive, and mysterious mammals on Earth.
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Much has been made of the new federal aviation regulations that require new airline pilots to have at least 1,500 hours. This is really no different than the way the old supply-and-demand system used to work. By that I mean that fewer than 20 years ago, a budding airline pilot wasn't getting hired unless his or her logbook showed this kind of time or close to it. It's only been in the last 10 to 12 years that we saw the serious decline in total hours among new-hire pilots—to the point that they were getting hired at 250 hours of total time.
If you are looking to get hired at the regionals, the best route to the 1,500 hours is flight instructing (this assumes you don't qualify for one of the total time reductions). As a busy CFI, you can rack up 700 to 800 hours a year, and you can do it without paying for it. That alone will give you an idea of how much you can expect to fly as a professional pilot. Regional pilots can expect to average 800 hours a year once they are no longer on reserve.
At the risk of sounding old-fashioned, back in the day, teaching is what we did to earn our time.
What's more important is that you find a way to take advantage of that gap in hours. If you have students who can afford it or are adventurous, try to arrange for some fairly long cross-country trips. Mind you, I'm not suggesting that you try to rip someone off or take advantage of them, but if you can meet a legitimate teaching need while fulfilling other obligations, you might be able to reach a mutually beneficial end point.
For example, I had a student who wanted to go to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh one year, and he wanted to take his girlfriend and a buddy. They were retired, and affording it was not a concern. The only airplane that would work was a twin-engine Piper Aztec. As a result, my boss and I went along, and so did my girlfriend. The airplane was loaded up, and off we went. I flew the entire trip and picked up a dozen or so hours of much-needed multiengine time, along with great cross-country and real IFR experience, and it didn't cost me a dime except for my food. My student even covered my housing.
The following year, I had another student who had bought a warbird Cessna 172 and wanted to fly to Oshkosh. Once again, I was intimately involved in the planning and logistics. She flew under Foggles for most of the round trip, and this time I also got paid for the time I was there (I was busy enough at the school that I couldn't afford to leave and not get paid for missed work).
Advertise your services to local newspapers that need aerial photos, and look for opportunities to fly actual IFR as much as possible. Go into complex airspace, and get some night experience. If you have a client who is buying an airplane (or delivering one), try to get a ride.
The gap between getting your commercial and CFI is your chance to shine. Do what you can to make your experience stand out. This will not only help you get a job, but it will also help prevent burnout and boredom from doing the same thing every day. Polish your customer service skills and expand your knowledge. Be ready and able to answer any questions any client or student might have, especially if they are in the market to buy an airplane.
It sounds daunting to get the 1,500 hours to get hired, and if you need to pay-as-you-go, it is. But if you can get paid and get great experience, then it's not only doable, it's fun, exciting, and a grand opportunity. Take advantage of it!—By Chip Wright


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Posted 3/20/2013 7:35:41 PM
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I've been hunting pheasant and duck now for years with friends who have great hunting dogs. I finally decided to get myself one. I purchased a pure breed golden retriever pup. I purchased books gear and everything that was recommend. The moment I got her home I started basics. She has been so impressive she learns quick and listens very well this dog to this day only went potty(Pee) in my house a few times has never dropped a deuce ever in the house :). She is now 5 months old she flushes amazing and has a crazy good nose for birds. But just as of late she has quit retrieving! She will find dummies in the deepest of woods and grass but rather then bringing them back she decides to just lay right on top the dummies. This worries me! I've tried just going back to pre school stuff but she just seems uninterested in bringing anything back! Not exactly living up to her name. Can anyone give me some advice or has anyone else had this problem? Anything would help. Thanks.
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Posted 3/21/2013 7:51:20 AM
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There are several reasons this may be occuring but the top two that I can think of are;
1) Teething. At 5mos. old your pup is getting new teeth and her mouth may be very sore. Teething effects every pup differently. Some it will bother horribly and others hardly notice.
2) Over work. At 5mos. your girl is just a pup and may be getting bored with too many retrieves. Lay off for a few days then throw a very limited amount of retrieves. Also, don't be too strict at this point about getting a perfect retrieve. let her have some fun. You should be able to easily correct any little quirks she aquires after formal obedience and force fetch.
Post #772358
Posted 3/21/2013 11:07:48 AM
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the teething issue is very real possibility.
retrievers are exactly that. they don't just lose their interest in retrieving. that's what they do. but having said that, they need to be trained to retrieve to our specifications. that includes, first and foremost:
obedience training and subsequently, and in conjunction with......force fetch.
force fetch has many ways to be accomplished. educate yourself and decide which program you feel most comfortable with.
another more important aspect of dog training is trainer training. first and foremost of that is the trainers expectations.
your golden is 5 months old. that is pure 100% puppy, and will remain that way for at least another year. obedience at this point is much more critical than the "field training". the field training must be introduced as fun. when they begin to respond through obedience to the fun, they are ready to be trained at a more serious level at higher expectations.
i have a 15 month old golden. goldens train with unbelievable ease. right from potty training to duck retrieving.
as you go through obedience and training, keep it fun and understand that your dream dog won't be sitting next to you at the sound of opening bell of the first season. maintain expectations that are reasonable for a wonderful companion that will, over many years, share your passion and fill your head with some great memories and stories you will be proud to "brag" about for the rest your life.
have fun and good luck.
goldens are an awesome duck blind partner!!
"Cripples are our worst legacy. Hunt with a Retriever."
"Phil Robertson calls me for advice." :)
Post #772363
Posted 3/21/2013 4:29:42 PM
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I'm very thankful for the replies and thoughts. I am truly looking forward to having my golden as my duck blind partner. Thanks again for the advice :)
3/21/2013 4:30:26 PM by
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Posted 4/17/2013 11:29:25 PM
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Hey, I had the same issue my GSP puppy. Great retriever till she was about 4 or 5 months, then stopped. I'm new to gun dog training and I think I made two big mistakes.. First being I started to do fetch in the woods, when the woods were still new to her. She was more concerned about scents and the big world. The second issue I had was too much fetching. I corrected the issue by letting her play in the woods for a while and only did fetch in my house with her favorite toys. I also cut back how often I play fetch to 2 or 3 days tops. When I finally started to fetch in the woods I would throw the bumper a few feet from her. When she picked it up I ran clapping my hands yelling fetch. She would follow me and truly enjoyed this game. Now I end every fetch session with this drill. She is 6 months now and is a great retriever, I just got her to make water retrieves and she can do blind retrieves on land, just not consistently yet. Good luck!
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A push for 'pragmatic energy policy'
To the editor:
My district is the largest wind-producing district in Minnesota. I understand how crucial it is to develop and invest in renewable energy sources. Renewables like wind, solar and biofuels must be part of America's "all of the above" energy policy.
We must work to develop all different types of domestic energy sources so America can become economically secure through energy security. With this investment in renewables, we cannot forget that the continued investment in energy sources like oil, gas, and coal is necessary to maintain a reliable and affordable energy industry. We definitely need to work to reduce our reliance on these sources, but as it stands, they must be part of our comprehensive energy policy. No industry should be shown favoritism, but we also should not actively seek to punish specific industries with higher taxes and more regulations. Because of our dependence on oil and gas, higher taxes on companies in this industry doesn't do much good for anyone; in fact, it will hurt average Americans in the form of more expensive gasoline and higher utility bills.
Let's stop with the attacks on certain energy sectors we don't like and work to develop a pragmatic energy policy that will make America completely energy secure.
I'm tired of billions of American dollars being sent to unstable, unreliable and unfriendly countries.
Sen. Bill Weber


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Topic: Designing a data mining schema
A client of mine would like me to implement a data mining form to gather some demographics before releasing a new product. It will be implemented as a single form of questions on the home page of the site. The questions will be pretty standard - age, sex, email, plus some short-answer questions.
I am struggling with how to best model this. Right now, I'm thinking:
:question => :string
:question_id => :integer
:answer => :string
Question :has_many Answers
So the views would take care of giving the options for the questions. For example, I would hard code the options for age as an array in the view like:
["under 18", "28-35", "36-45", "46-55", "55+]"
Obviously this would work, but I also want to include some more info to be stored with each answer. For example, I would like to keep all of the answers from one form submittal together. But in order to accomplish this, I would have to make another column in the answers table (:remote_ip => :string). I suppose it would work, but for some reason, it just doesn't feel DRY; I'm thinking that it could be modeled a little bit cleaner/clearer. Any ideas for alternate implementations? Perhaps an implementation that would allow me to push the options for each multiple-choice question into the database, rather than hard coding them into the views?
Last edited by jed.hurt (2007-04-23 00:27:54)


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About the Author: Katie Dowd serves as New Media Director at the U.S. Department of State.
On the heels of the China State Visit to Washington, DC, Obama Administration officials created a high-tech bridge across the Pacific to discuss the recent trip and other important issues with Chinese bloggers. Connecting live via video from the Situation Room in the White House to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes and National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Jeff Bader engaged in an interactive, spirited web chat with a group of Chinese bloggers based in Beijing.
Ben and Jeff conducted the chat, an unprecedented event from the Situation Room in the basement of the West Wing of the White House. The Situation Room is set up to monitor and deal with crises at home and abroad 24/7 and is typically reserved to conduct secure communications with military personnel. For the first time ever, the Situation Room connected to Beijing and this time the audience at the end was a group of energetic Chinese bloggers for a discussion that was broadcast live on the Internet. As those in Beijing and Washington spoke with one another, we also hosted a virtual chat room that allowed bloggers and interested people around the world to join in and submit questions in Chinese.
Ben and Jeff provided perspectives on President Hu's visit to the United States, and the bloggers posed questions about everything -- asking about American perceptions of China, Internet Freedom, human rights, the Korean Peninsula, and even their thoughts about the Chinese ads running in Times Square.
Ben and Jeff spoke of the importance of strengthening the U.S.-China relationship, and Ben pointed out that this week's State Visit is the eighth time that President Obama and President Hu have met in the last two years. They talked about how successful this particular visit was and discussed some of the issues our leaders addressed during their meetings, including continued coordination on global economic issues; U.S. exports to China; intellectual property rights; ongoing dialogues about currency and balanced growth; and the fact that our bilateral relationship has serious economic benefits to the American and Chinese people.
The Chinese bloggers -- whose collective audiences reaches over 65 million Chinese -- live tweeted the web chat and even joked with Ben and Jeff, at one point asking if they could make their answers less diplomatic. At the end of the evening's conversation, Jeff Bader tasked everyone present to work on building continued cooperation. He said, "We need to understand and accept and persuade others that our interests are overwhelmingly common and aligned and we need to do everything we can to promote that." Open conversations between the United States and China, such as this conference call, are just one of the ways that we are identifying issues of common interest and aim to build cooperative approaches to address them.
As Secretary Clinton said last week, "...Building trust is not just a project just for our governments. Our peoples must continue to forge new and deeper bonds as well. In classrooms and laboratories, on sports fields and trading floors, our people make the everyday connections that build lasting trust and understanding. That is why we have launched a new bilateral dialogue on people-to-people exchanges and new initiatives such as the '100,000 Strong' program that is sending more Chinese -- more American students to China. Those students are on the front lines of charting the future of our relationship. And I saw this for myself firsthand at the Shanghai Expo, where we were delighted to have 7 million Chinese visitors come to our expo, and they were all greeted by American students speaking Chinese. And it came as quite a surprise to some of our Chinese visitors that we had so many American students who had studied Chinese and were excited about being part of such a tremendous international effort as the expo."
This talk was engaging, educational and a new avenue, we hope, for continued dialogue. You can view the full video of the discussion here. The bloggers who were able to join us for this amazing session included:
Rao Jin Michael Anti
Kato Yoshikazu2KeqiWang Chong Gonwater
Yu TingMa Xiaolin
You can read a Chinese-language version of this blog entry here.
Patrick W. in Maryland writes:
Hi DipNote Folks & Hillary :)
I have a thought on communication with other people. We need more "Translation Programs" on sites, so people can talk to each other better. "Bing" has one that is free , but i don't think many people know about it.
I think this would help people understand one another better.:)
Anyways,Nice to see people talking to each other. Good Start!
Have a great week Hillary and DipNope Guys!:)
Afrika in South Africa writes:
posting sessions like these helps incorporate the ideas on the potential market in the discussion. In Africa, its not easy to learn foreign languages but when you do so... its amazing to do business with foreigners
Lee H. in China writes:
The Chinese translation of this blog is different and strange - was it done by a mainland chinese? AIT seems to do much better.


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Police seek man in connection with Dunkirk shooting
OBSERVER Staff Report
Dunkirk Police are seeking a man in connection with Friday's shooting in the city of Dunkirk. A warrant for Montel Cooper has been issued for first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree menacing.
Dunkirk Police responded to King and Main streets Friday evening at 10 p.m. for the report of a subject shot. Upon arrival, a 23-year-old male Dunkirk resident was found wounded. The victim was removed from the scene by rescue personnel with non-life threatening injuries. The victim is believed not to have been the intended target and was standing across Main Street nearby when shots were fired at a second victim.
Investigation found Cooper was the shooter and fled the scene prior to officers' arrival. There is an outstanding warrant for Cooper for the above charges. As the investigation continues, additional charges are expected. Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office and Fredonia Police Department assisted with crowd control and the investigation. Dunkirk Fire Department and Alstar Ambulance also responded to the scene.
Cooper is believed to have shoulder length dread locks at this time and his last known address was 522 Park Ave., Dunkirk. Cooper has ties to Dunkirk and Jamestown areas. Any information related to the incident can be directed to the Dunkirk Police Department at 366-2266 or the confidential tip line of 363-0313.


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|Fishing Home
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Favorite Fishing Waters
Channel catfish
Beech Fork, Bluestone, East Lynn, Burnsville, Stonecoal, Tygart, and Stonewall Jackson lakes; Kanawha, New, South Branch of the Potomac, and Ohio rivers. Most warmwater streams and state managed impoundments.
Best baits
Minnows, night crawlers, chicken livers and natural baits.
Bluestone, Burnsville, East Lynn, R.D. Bailey, Stonewall Jackson, Sutton, Summersville, and Tygart lakes; Ohio River backwaters.
Favorite baits
Minnows, jigs and minnow-imitating lures.
Hybrid striped bass
Kanawha and Ohio rivers; Beech Fork, Bluestone, East Lynn and R.D. Bailey lakes.
Best baits
White jigs, silver spoons, shad imitation lures and
live minnows.
Largemouth bass
Beech Fork, Bluestone, Burnsville, Cheat, East Lynn, R.D. Bailey, Stonewall Jackson and Sutton lakes;
Ohio River; most farm ponds and state managed lakes.
Best baits
Minnows, night crawlers, crayfish, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, soft plastic and most top water lures.
Burnsville, Stonecoal, and Stonewall Jackson lakes; Buckhannon, Elk (downstream of Sutton), Gauley, Hughes, Little Kanawha, Monongahela, Mud, New, and West Fork rivers; Dunkard, Middle Island, Mill and Sandy creeks.
Favorite tackle and baits
Bait casting reels using lures imitating minnows; large spinners. Live creek chubs, suckers or large minnows are excellent bait.
Smallmouth bass
Summersville and Tygart Lakes; Cacapon, Elk, Greenbrier, Little Kanawha, New, South Branch of the Potomac, mainstream Potomac, Ohio and Shenandoah rivers
Favorite tackle and baits
Spinning tackle of medium-light and ultra-light weight using spinners and other artificial lures resembling minnows, night crawlers, hellgrammites, crayfish, crankbaits, jigs, and numerous soft plastic and topwater baits.
Cranberry, Elk above Webster Springs, South Branch of the Potomac near Franklin, North Fork of the South Branch, Shavers Fork of Cheat and Williams rivers.
Jennings Randolph, R.D. Bailey, Summersville, Stonecoal, and Tygart lakes; Elk and lower Gauley rivers; Kanawha, Monongahela and Ohio river dam tailwaters.
Best baits
Live minnows, night crawlers, jigs, minnow-imitating crankbaits and spinners.
White bass
Tygart Lake; Ohio, Kanawha and Monongahela rivers.
Best baits
Jigs, crankbaits, spinners, streamers and live minnows.
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� 2003 West Virginia Division of Natural Resources


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Summer Lights
Designed for warm days and long nights, the G-Star summer collection serves up lightweight jackets in technical fabrics for functional, summertime comfort and relaxed jean fits for easy, effortless style.
For men, the collection offers camo-prints, reversible jackets and light cotton shirts, with washed-down finishes in denim. For women, think lighter-than-air meshes, futuristic metallic coatings and glossy nylon fabrics.
Washed-Down Denims
The summer range of men's denim pants feature light, washed-down finishes and soft, worn-in textures that are inspired by the way denim fabrics age naturally in the sun. Taking this theme to its extreme, the Type C pant is offered in a new block-wash finish with deep indigo colour-panels introduced over the knees.
Lightweight Jackets
The men's jacket range is designed around a lighter-than-air aesthetic and utilises functional, stripped-back designs. An extremely adaptable example is the reversible Burman's Bomber that offers a choice between mesh and nylon outer layers.
The Extremely Tapered 3D Denim Design
The latest cut in the 3D denim line, the Type C is constructed to push the boundaries of denim construction. With a loose top block and elongated rear pockets, the Type C rethinks vintage details in a tapered fit that is ideal for the summer.
" Lightweight jackets in technical fabrics and relaxed jean fits for functional, warm-weather style "
Futuristic Jackets
A space-age aesthetic and super-light materials inform the women's range of warm-weather jackets. Outstanding jackets for the season include the Tycho Bomber and the Tycho Parka. Both feature unconventional silhouettes and rethought seam placements in weights that are ideal for day and night.
Relaxed Denim
The laid-back women's denim pant of the summer is the Type C. Offering a loose tapered fit that perfectly blends a relaxed feel with a flattering silhouette, the Type C is offered in a range of finishes from washed-down blue to chic, stealthy black.


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Survey finds record 19 percent of religiously unaffiliated Americans
(RNS) Unbelief is on the uptick. People who check "None" for their religious affiliation are now nearly one in five Americans (19 percent), the highest ever documented, according to the Pew Center for the People and the Press. By Cathy Lynn Grossman.


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There are times when a racquet becomes so closely linked to the pro player who endorses it that it's almost impossible to think about the racquet without conjuring up images of the player.
When thinking about such a list, the racquets of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe come to mind. With the rise of Spain's No.1 player, we can surely add Rafael Nadal to that list.
How can anyone look at a Babolat AeroPro Drive and not be reminded of the unbelievable spin creation and shot-making prowess of Rafa? We certainly can't.
Here we put the latest version, the AeroPro Drive GT, to the test. This is the third version of Rafa's racquet and it's been updated with Graphite Tungsten (GT). The goal of adding GT to the construction is to improve stability, power and control.
More power, more stability and more control! Sounds pretty cool to us. With that in mind we hit the courts for a month-long playtest. Here are our findings.
What impressed our playtesters the most about the AeroPro Drive GT was the power and access to spin from the baseline.
Jason was reminded of how much he enjoyed the AeroPro Drive line. He said, "It's been some time since I've last hit with the AeroPro Drive racquets. I forgot how much I love them for groundstrokes. The increase in power I get from this stick versus my own is quite noticeable. I was able to hit heavy shots with great pace and depth. Even on my backhand, which is my considerably weaker side, I was able to hit occasional winners. I did find that I was floating more of my slices than I'm used to. When I was able to really connect on one, it would be a very dirty slice indeed! Maneuverability was never an issue because it was light enough that I could muscle the racquet into place if I had to."
"As with previous versions of the AeroPro Drive, this GT version impressed me immediately with spin and power," said Chris. "I was getting lots of pace on shots, and all the spin helped me keep my shots within the lines. I preferred this one strung with a co-poly string, as it allowed me to maximize spin. With a co-poly I could also take big cuts at the ball without fear of over-hitting. I enjoyed the feel of this racquet, and it felt pretty solid considering its low weight and stiff frame design. I was finding some nice touch and felt confident moving the ball around, and hitting drop shots. For me, this version has the best feel of all of the AeroPro Drives. All other aspects, such as power, spin and maneuverability felt on par, so it really came down to feel, and this new GT version won in that department."
Being more aggressive from the baseline was Tiffani, saying, "The AeroPro Drive in all its iterations is known as an extremely spin-friendly racquet, and I found this GT version to be no different. Though I'm not a player who hits with heavy topspin, I did find spin there whenever I wanted it. As a player who prefers to hit through the ball, what impressed me the most about the AeroPro Drive GT was the power level. In general, I like to take the ball on the rise and use my opponent's power, but I felt the racquet's stiffness allowed me to generate plenty of pop on my own. Shots were easily sent deep into the court, making it easier to get me a short mid-court ball I could attack. Overall, this racquet was comfortable and easy to use from the baseline."
Sean uses the previous Cortex version of the AeroPro Drive and felt the GT offered a solid update, saying, "I felt like the new GT technology was more apparent on my forehand and backhand than any other shot. I definitely felt like I got a more solid and comfortable hit from this version than the Cortex version, and I was impressed by the stability I found when the ball was mis-hit slightly. On the other hand, I had some trouble finding my range depth wise, and it seemed like this one offered a little bit more power, compared to my version."
Up at net, our TW team enjoyed the AeroPro Drive GT the most for its assistance in putting shots away with power and accuracy.
Sean liked the way the racquet handled. He said, "As with the Cortex version of this racquet, volleys felt solid and had a good blend of touch and put away power. I liked the maneuverability it offered, and I was easily keeping my volleys deep in the court. My only dislike was a slight lack of touch when it came to placing volleys, but with a high stiffness rating, I wasn't too surprised that power won out over feel for me."
"The racquet seemed to be at its best when hitting punch volleys or overheads," said Jason, who loved the added pop. "Pretty much with any shot that needed some added firepower, this stick delivered. But when I tried to hit touch volleys or drop shots, the touch wasn't all there. The stiff frame, combined with the lively string bed, made for a tough time hitting finesse shots for me."
Loving the versatility of the racquet was Chris, saying, "I was impressed by the mobility and pop the most at net. I was able to get some effortless pace and depth. The feel was there, too. I was able to hit angle and drop volleys well and felt in touch with my targeting. Again, I preferred the feel of this one compared to previous versions. On high volleys and overheads I was able to snap the ball away with good pace, and I felt I did a good job utilizing the power I was finding."
"I'll preface my comments by saying that volleys are the weakest part of my game," said Tiffani, who found the racquet easy to move around. "With that said, the AeroPro Drive GT performed OK for me at net. Mobility was good, and the racquet always felt solid. The only aspect I think I struggled with was variety. I felt most confident and consistent when trying to punch volleys, so I rarely tried to mix it up with short angles or other touch shots."
Once again, the power and spin was impressive, allowing our playtesters to serve with consistency and pace.
Able to be aggressive with his second serve was Sean. He said, "As with the Pure Drive, I found this racquet had a good deal of power to use when it came to the serve. It was easy to flatten out a big first serve if needed, but the real weapon was the ability to hit an aggressive second serve to get myself into the point. The open string pattern really grabbed the ball, making kick serves a blast."
"If you're a player looking to slice or kick in all your serves, then this stick is going to be quite an asset," said Jason, who loved how dependable the racquet was. "I'm that type of player. I found great consistency serving with this racquet. Directional control was pretty good as well. On rare occasions I would try to take a crack at a first serve. The power was there, but the control wasn't. I'd chalk that up to user error more than anything else."
The racquet helped Tiffani add some extra pop to her serve. She said, "While hitting groundstrokes I was pleasantly surprised at how easily I could flatten out the ball. When serving, I found the spin-friendly aspects of the racquet to really shine. I don't hit monster serves, but I felt that I was getting some additional action on the ball that I usually don't see. While my serve didn't become a weapon, they were strong enough that I was not immediately on the defensive."
Chris was able to easily mix up his serves, saying, "This was a fun racquet to serve with. I was very happy with the pace and spin I was finding. My consistency was good and I felt confident every time I stepped up to the line. When hitting flat serves I was getting enough pace to set me up for a short put-away, and at times I was able to end the point with a service winner. When hitting second serves, or just looking to hit with some spin, I was able to get the ball to kick nicely."
Power, maneuverability and spin helped make the AeroPro Drive GT an exceptional racquet on returns.
"Returning serve was fantastic for me with the AeroPro Drive GT," said Tiffani, who was returning with confidence. "Maneuverability was great. I felt like I could take a confident, aggressive cut at serves because I got plenty of control from the AeroPro Drive GT. When it came to harder hit serves, that mobility again came into play, helping me get the racquet on more serves. Stability was nice as well, and I always had confidence the racquet would be up to the task."
Chris was returning well in both singles and doubles. He said, "My returns were solid with this racquet. I found myself continually impressed with both the power and the spin that I could impart on my returns with little backswing. When I was stretched wide there was enough racquet to help me block the ball back deep and still feel in control. During doubles I was getting enough spin to drop the ball low at the incoming volleyer, as well as to mix in some pace if needed."
Jason agreed. He added, "As much as I liked hitting groundstrokes with this racquet, I might like it a tad more for returns. I was able to really crack a return back on serves coming to my forehand, and I enjoyed hitting some nicely angled returns with it in doubles. The ability to generate great racquet head speed really allowed me to hit the ball deep and spin it inside the line."
"Stepping inside the baseline to take some good cuts at the return is always a great confidence booster, and with this racquet it was easy to stay aggressive," said Sean. "Whether I was hitting all out on the return or simply slicing it back to put myself in the point, my returns stayed deep and always gave me a chance to win the point. Catching a return off-center was definitely not as much of a problem with this newer version compared to the Cortex. I found a lot more stability, especially when getting back some of those big serves from my opponent, which helped to neutralize their advantage."
With each generation, we feel Babolat managed to make subtle improvements to the AeroPro Drive line. This latest offering continues that trend. Our playtest team found this racquet provides a more solid and stable response from all areas of the court. The playtesters were impressed with the power and spin they were able to generate. The open string pattern offered lots of bite and a lively feel. While our testers could not whip up as much spin as Rafa, all noted that they were getting some extra action on shots with this racquet. Up at net, our TW team was able to use the maneuverability and power to put away most volleys. The extra power was welcome on serves, too. Most impressively, the added power came without any sacrifice in consistency. While the core characteristics of the AeroPro Drive remain unchanged, we feel this update takes it to the next level. For the 4.0 recreational player and above, if you are looking to add some power and spin to your game, this racquet is an absolute must demo.
Chris - "I liked the power and spin I found from all areas of the court. The feel was good, too, and I was hitting some nice touch shots with this racquet."
Jason - "Really loved the power and spin. It was addicting. Great ball pocketing. I could feel the dwell time."
Tiffani - "I was impressed by the solid feel and comfort level. The playtest racqet felt good even when it was strung with poly."
Sean - "Great access to spin, a great balance of power and control, added stability thanks to GT technology and some sweet new graphics. What's not to like?"
Chris "Not much for me, as I came away very impressed. I would add some weight for a little more drive on slice shots, but that's it. A nice stick, in my opinion."
Jason "I love it, but since I have some existing arm issues I would be concerned with the stiffness level. It lacked touch on finesse shots."
Tiffani "I would have liked to see Babolat put on the SkinFeel grip instead of the Syntec Grip. The grip felt just a little bit too large for its listed size."
Sean "My only disappointment was that I needed a little more feel and precision on my volleys."
(Scores are determined by averaging individual play test scores)
|Chris' Scores
|Sean's Scores
|Jason's Scores
|Tiffani's Scores
Chris: 5.0 All court player currently using the Volkl Power Bridge 10 Mid. Chris uses a full-western forehand grip, has a fast swing style and hits a two-handed backhand.
Sean: 4.5 baseliner using the Babolat Aeropro Drive Cortex. Sean has a semi-western forehand, 1 handed backhand.
Jason: 4.0 baseliner with a semi-western forehand and one handed backhand. Currently using a customized Volkl Power Bridge 9.
Tiffani: 4.0 level baseliner with a semiwestern grip on the forehand and hits a two-handed backhand. Currently playing with the Yonex RDS 003 (08 version).
Review date: January 2010. If you found this review interesting or have further questions or comments please contact us.
All content copyright 2010 Tennis Warehouse.


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Champlin Homes For Sale
This website features the most cutting edge IDX solution to search available foreclosures & short sales for sale in Champlin. The information is taken directly from the MLS in real time. This site continually updates the housing information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If it is active and for sale, it is on this site! You will be searching for homes in real time! The search includes- Bank Owned, Lender Owned, REO properties, Company Owned, Corporate Owned and Pre-foreclosure homes for sale. All of them located right here in one search. You can save your search, make lists, compare properties, whatever you need.


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Leadership in Social Work Education: Sustaining Collaboration and Mission
Little research is available depicting how faculty members experience the leadership style of their academic leaders. This paper reports results from a qualitative analysis of responses of 233 social work faculty members from CSWE accredited programs to an open-ended question about how they experience the leadership style of their current academic unit heads. The analysis incorporates feminist and professional social work perspectives.
Academic leadership, collaborative leadership, social work faculty, social work leadership, social work leadership standards
Full Text:PDF
Copyright (c)
Indiana University School of Social Work
902 West New York Street
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, 46202
Voice: 317.274.6705
Indiana University - Quality Education. Lifetime Opportunities.
Last updated: November 20, 2007
Comments: firstname.lastname@example.com
Copyright 2007, The Trustees of Indiana University
Content ©2007 IUSSW


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All Items : China : English : Royal Doulton : Pre 2000 item #503481 (stock #62016)
PG Collectibles
Here is a 1992 Royal Doulton character jug. It is 2 sided. One side is Sir Henry Doulton(pictured) and the other side is Michael Doulton. It is marked and numbered D6921 on the bottom. It is also autographed by Michael Doulton in gold ink on the bottom. It is about 4 3/8" high and is in mint condition.
PG Collectibles
Here is a Aynsley Rosedale pattern cup and saucer set. It is the pattern selected by Princess Diana. It is in mint condition and is marked Aynsley on the bottom. Email if you have any questions.


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Here's a third characteristic of gambling. Remember, Gambling involves 1) Something valuable that is placed at risk; 2) Something belonging to someone else that is staked as a prize; and:3. Gambling involves an element of chance that supposedly determines the outcome. This is a practical denial of the doctrine of divine providence.God is sovereign over our prosperity. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, "It is [the Lord] that giveth thee power to get wealth."Hope in sheer fortune is misplaced hope. Faith in "Good Luck" is misplaced faith. It is a kind of idolatry. We are not supposed to hope in such things.In fact, there is no such thing as sheer, random chance. God is sovereign over all the details of life. The Bible says He even determines every roll of the dice: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33, NKJV).There is nothing random in gambling. There is no such thing as Lady Luck, or the goddess of fortune, or Chance as a determinative force. God is sovereign even over the roll of the dice; He is the one who sovereignly determines everything that appears to be random.That is why in the Old Testament, many decisions were made by drawing lots. And even early in the book of Acts, a replacement for Judas was chosen by lots. That was one way people had of getting guidance from God before canon of Scripture was complete and the Spirit given. (I don't believe it's a legitimate way for you and me to determine the will of God, but that is a totally different matter.)The drawing of lots in such cases was not "gambling," because there was no transfer of any assets from the loser to the winner.Someone will surely ask, "If God is the one who determines the roll of the dice, then what's wrong with trusting the Lord for the outcome of a gambling contest? Why not put my money on the spin of a roulette wheel and trust God for the ball to fall in the right place?"Think about that question seriously. If that were a legitmate means of gaining wealth at all—if such an attitude were a true and warranted expression of authentic "faith" in any real sense—it would actually be better to bet your whole livelihood, your church's assets, and everything you could possibly get your hands on, on a single roll of the dice. Why squander an opportunity to make the most of an act of faith?But we all know that's a ridiculous question, on the face of it. In fact, the question is not functionally different from the one with which Satan tempted Jesus: "Why don't you jump off the pinnacle of the Temple? You know the Bible says, "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up."Remember Jesus' answer? Matthew 4:7: "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." That's a quotation from Deuteronomy 6:16: "Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God."Although we know God determines everything, including every roll of the dice, we are strictly forbidden to put Him to the test.And furthermore, you cannot pretend to "trust" God for something He has not promised. To speak of trusting God in such circumstances is to twist the meaning of faith. God has never promised to allow you to prosper at a game of chance, so to think that He will is not to "trust" Him, but to presume on Him, and that is sin.In fact, I don't believe God would ever reward someone by letting that person prosper in an evil activity. When God permits someone to prosper in an evil pursuit, it is actually a prelude to judgment. So if you are a Christian who gambles and you have been winning, that might not be a good thing at all.Betting on chance events when you know God is the One who determines the outcome is no better than jumping off a building because He has promised to provide you with angelic protection against calamity. To bet money on some kind of game is the moral equivalent of asking God to preserve you when you deliberately put your hand in the fire. Both are ways of putting the Lord your God to the test. And that is a sin. It's also one more reason why gambling is wrong in principle.
Phil JohnsonExecutive Director
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I've posted this very comment on the previous blog "a good question" but since this article recently came up I think it will be more suited to this topic. Here I am comparing the stock market to betting on horses at the race track.
A lot of you have suggested there is a big difference between gambling and investing the stock market. You guys remember how I mentioned in a previous blog regarding gambling, how this friend of mine compared the stock market to the Kentucky Derby. The other day when I was at home watching TV I thought about my friend's analogy and agreed with him.
If you think about it, anybody who goes to the Kentucky Derby (or anywhere there is horse racing) doesn't just simply bet on a horse arbitrary. They do extensive research into the horses' racing history, as well as who trained it, what breed it is and even on the jockey. My dad used to tell me that he used to go to the track every week to see if he could win some money. He told me how he had to do a lot of research before placing his bets, but despite all his efforts he would often lose. I've actually looked into it and I agree (there is so much research involved it is like betting on the stock market).
Compared to most conventional methods of gambling, horse racing can be considered a game of skill. Compared to the stock market there isn't much of a difference. In the stock market you have to do a lot of research into the various companies that are listed. You have to check how profitable the companies really are, how well they have gone in the past, if there is potential for them to make money and what differs them from their competitors. You also have to hire a broker to give you advice and make transactions, and sometimes you also have to take out insurance in case the market slumps. But despite you best effort, it isn't a sure thing for you to get a return on your investment and you are just as likely to lose money rather than making a profit.
Some of you have suggested the difference between gambling and the stock market is that the stock market benefits people broadly, while gambling only benefits the winner. I generally agree with that statement. But horse racing also benefits people broadly. From what I have heard, most of the revenue race tracks make is from people placing their bets. This money goes back into the company as capital. They can then use that money to pay their employees, pay to maintain their stables, as well as upgrading their facilities and increasing the market value of the track. And unlike other methods of gambling, there are various winners in these competitions. It isn't about one person winning everything. It's about some people putting their money on a certain horse and depending on the odds of that horse winning (as well as how much money they bet), many people betting on the same horse will make a profit. Of course there will be people losing money, but this principle is quite similar to investing in the stock market.
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TY for this Article..i have always wanted and still do when people say
in any conversation "good luck"..what would be a better saying to that
to get a person to think?? even christians say that it botrhers me cause i know that the Lord Jesus is sovereign over this evil world
thanks..feel free to send me a quote or thought to my email address..would love to have something in place of that saying..which is a denial of the living God..thanks
Savannah Ga
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Thank you Mr Johnson for another airtight argument constructed on God's word. I look forward to each one every week, but this particular one seems to have really struck the death blow to the question of gambling.
I really appreciate this series you are doing Phil. I also would appreciate it if you answered the #2 post by Kim Eriksen. I have noticed myself and others using the phrase "good luck" when someone has something important to do. How can we change our phrase to honor God?
In Christ alone,
Matthew Ens
#2, Go for it. Keep trying. That's what I would say if what they do is not offensive to God. If it is, then I try not to say a word.
If someone say these words like good luck. Just explain why it offensive to God and say don't believe in it...
Hope it helps?
This is a good question, though. What I usually say is: I wish you well. That always works for me.
You have to go through much pains to find an argument to justify gambling. I think that every Christian's first instinct should be against gambling. Some forms of gambling are perhaps less obvious than others, but gambling is gambling.
I used to partake in gambling. It was a weekly game of poker with the "boys." It started off as a get together for some "friendly" fun. It certainly was addictive at the time. As the weeks and months went by, the friendliness took a backseat to the stress of wanting to win. Winning for one was always at the expense of another. One day by the grace of God, I stopped and never looked back !!!!! No more desire whatsoever !!
As far as the stock market is concerned, the whole idea just does not sit well with me. I do not feel the need to analyze it any further. I try to place my trust in what the Spirit tells me. That is good enough for me.
Thank you Phil for this article. I am a new member of this website and feel truly privileged to be a part of this body of Christ. I absolutely adore John Macarthur's teaching and sober-mindedness of character and spirit.
Great continuation on this topic of gambling. When some one wishes me "Good Luck", I retort: "Luck is not a factor!" That often starts a conversation because that person says,"Huh?" and it's a grand opening to sharing the Gospel. When I want to give someone encouraging words I agree with #2, and may add, Let's pray right now", or, "we will pray today for that" etc.. God Bless all.
#2 Kim and #4 Matthew
How about saying "Godspeed."
Etymology: Middle English "god speid" from the phrase "God spede you" God prosper you, 15th century. (Merriam-Webster)
Phill I have never met you, but I do admire you I do not agree with all you say here, but lets say its a gentelmens disagreement, and I must say what my heart is telling me, I will not say anymore , do to a check in my spirit. I Bet on College games and do well, not great because I dont bet great amounts, but the Holy Spirt wishes that I say nothing more do to the fact their maybe some who are reading this that are having trouble with Gambling, or are teetering in that direction and I DO NOT want to influnence them in that direction, I know what Gambling can do, if let go un-checked....so with all do respect to GTY and my admaration for John Macarthur I will now leave this subject alone, I have given my thoughts in the other blogs and that is as far as I should go....Blessing to you my friend
I think that we can argue 'til the cows come home about whether the the stock market is gambling or not. We can argue the innocence of all kinds of gambling and make constant strides to prove some forms less serious.
Here's the point for me. Our persistence to prove anything just shows our hearts. An argument against gambling proves what about a man's heart? An argument for proves what about that man's heart? You have to really think about what is driving man to such a conclusion?
I do that about myself. After a while, I'll ask myself,"what is causing you to be so driven on this topic?" I really think about it. Am I arguing because I am able? Sometimes that's true about me. Am I arguing because I am better with words that the other? Not very flattering but sometimes that's true about me as well. Am I arguing because the other has so many holes in their rebuttal, I am able to mop them up? That's a hard admission but true at times about me as well. Arrogant, I know. But I am aware of it. So is Tommy and he gently corrects me and I appreciate it. I will probably always have to work on it. I will always have to rely on my Lord to help me clearly see when I am using a gift or talent for His Glory or using gifts/talents to be self serving.
So...what the Lord has prompted me to do is look to see if my argument is righteous. If I am holding up God's truth...yes, as I see it and understand it. If I can't find God's righteousness in it, then I must know my competitiveness is what is steering my arguments.
Answer the blog with your conscience first and intellect second. If you feel in your heart that the stock market is gambling, then don't dabble in the stock market. When in doubt, don't do it. You need no other proof. God will bless your obedience to abstain from anything of which He might not actually disapprove. He's given us a conscience for things we may never resolve with facts and or evidence to support it. And your test might be more a test of obedience to God's voice, to that conscience He placed in you more than the topic at hand.
However, if the stock market is indeed gambling, God will reveal that to a righteous man and a Godly righteous man will listen and obey. At the end of the day, that's what Godly righteous men do. They are eager to serve and obey.
So again, look at the arguments, look at the facts and if you follow closely enough each argument, you will see what is in any man's heart. You will see what motivates him. God's agenda or his own?
Best point yet. I'm lovin' the discussions.
As a youth pastor, I often get asked the question, "Is it a sin to ____ ?" The behavior in question is almost always something the bible is either vague or silent on. The general test I give my students is this:
(1) Check your heart. Are you asking so you know what you can get away with? Or are you interested in being able to better honor Christ? If the former, we have other issues we need to discuss.
(2) The bible says all things are permissible but not necessarily beneficial. What is the wise choice? What leads you closer in your relationship with Christ?
And there is the rub. I think everything I have read so far shows that by and large gambling is not "beneficial", but you have yet to prove to me that it is always sin at all times for all people in all forms.
Now, I'm the sort to err on the side of caution. While I do not presently, drink, smoke, or gamble, I can honestly say that the times I have in the past (excepting some rowdy college days) I was not convicted in the least bit. Whether a jack & coke to relax, a cigar with an old friend or some penny-ante poker with the in-laws, not a twing of doubt, regret or confusion. In fact, many times those situations have led to witnessing.
THAT BEING SAID ... I believe we should err on the side of caution. While I'm not the sort to force, push or berate ofhters in to doing things my way, I do choose to abstain from those sorts of things that may constitute a gray area, and I encourage others to adopt a similar approach.
You are doing an awesome job in showing why gambling should be avoided and the damage it can do, but so far I am unconvinced that it is always sin at all times for all people in all forms. Which seems to be what you are trying to prove.
The rich man put God to test. For he claimed to Jesus saying he obeyed all the commandments not realizing Jesus is God. Jesus knew
his heart motives and told him to leave his riches behind to follow him. The rich man went away sad. Lesson is to not hide things from God for he sees it and into the heart too. Amen.
I know I have voiced my opinion on the Gambling issue....but here is my 2 pesos on the "Gambling and investing in the stockmarket topic"
I am amazed that people actually ask this question, there is absalutly no comparison because Some thooes that say this is gambling,must not know what STOCK is? Stock is a means for people to become part owners of a company. Buying stock is no more inherently gambling than is ownership of any other business.
The intent is to make a profit by producing something of benefit to customers. Investors receive their share of these profits in the form of dividends or increases in the value of the stock.
Further, when stock is sold, both buyer and seller agree on the price. There is no wager - no prior agreement to risk loss at another's expense. If either thinks the price is unfair, they refuse to deal. (It may be possible to gamble or otherwise sin in the stock market, but buying stock does not inherently constitute gambling.)
In my opinion HIGH RISK SHORT TERM stocks, carry a closer meaning to Gambling...than a long term investment. Yes I do bet on College football, and spin a slot maching once a year....but I stand behind Phill 100% on the fact that Gambling in no way is in the same bed as stock market...the only resemblance in my opinion there are there are thoes that cheat in both areas...EX. Enron plus a few more USUALLY when someone cheats at a poker game you might loose 110 bills more or less...but when they cheat at the stock market side ...peoples life savings are at stake.
Phil, your points in the above article in no way support your claim that gambling is sinful. You can conjure up as much opposition in your mind as you want, but bottom line you don't have biblical grounds to call it sin.
If it is sin to put your money down on a game of chance for any of the reasons you attempted to mention above one would also be in sin for putting their money down in a new business venture. Both are chancy, risky, contain elements of uncertainty, and all results depend on the Lord. If this is supposed to support your opposition to gambling, you only continue to strike out. Even if we take your argument at face value and adopt the point that there is no such thing as chance; you cannot jump from "God is in control of everything" to "gambling is sin". Your attempt to make the connection from the former point to the later is in error. No one is arguing that God doesn't control the dice. God controls the dice and also whether the new business venture is going to succeed or fail and yet neither is a sure success. God gave us brains to calculate risk and reward. You are really pulling from the air in your attempt to make gambling look sinful. No one is trying to deny any of the principles in any of the verses that you quoted. One can gamble without violating a single one of the principles in those verses you quoted. Yet, one can gamble and violate every principle listed. The sin is not in the act of gambling itself.
Just because there is a chance you won't win on every roll of the die does not deny any doctrine of divine providence. God might let you win, or he might not. He also might let your business succeed, or he might not. If anything, you have only furthered the point that gambling is not sinful. Because when one wins, he has the Lord to thank and not himself. The winner in a game of black jack owes praise to the Lord as much as a successful business owner does.
If gambling is a sin under the claim that it puts God to the test, using your supporting points, then it is also sin to try to start a new business, because it puts God to the test. He has never promised that every business one starts will be a success.
Continued on next post.
Phil, you said, "You cannot pretend to "trust" God for something He has not promised. To speak of trusting God in such circumstances is to twist the meaning of faith. God has never promised to allow you to prosper at a game of chance, so to think that He will is not to "trust" Him, but to presume on Him, and that is sin." Who said everyone always does that when they gamble? To presume something on God when he has not promised it, is bad. To presume that one's business will never fail is foolishness as well, but who ever said anything about that. Phil, you are trying to confuse and entangle two entirely different points. Even though people might presume things upon God when they gamble does not support the point that gambling is sinful. Not everyone presumes things upon God when they gamble. Presuming is the error, not gambling. The premise for your argument is faulty and misconstrued.
Last but not least, in the last sentence of your article you said gambling is "wrong in principle". I am confused where you stand now Phil. Is gambling sin or not?
#12 Marc:
Amen!! I could not have said it better myself. Beautiful and excellent points. I am glad you wrote that.
#14 Yes Dan, you are able to see
@#11 Rebecca, Good post. I agree, though I often just minimize things to this: How a person responds to something says more about them then the actual topic. Or, My DH puts it another way, when you get bumped, what spills out shows us the person you are at the moment.
I think Phil has made great arguments. And he, as someone who has spent years studying God's word, As a trusted elder in the body of Christ, an experienced teacher and preacher I just want to hear or read his teaching and learn. I wonder if blogging has somehow made us all more able to argue with those who would lead us sheep into Godliness. Church isn't a democracy, but blogging seems to let us fight against stuff that convicts us or ruffles our feathers.
Rebecca, glad you post, glad you keep checking your motives, I agree, I am the same way. XOXO HAGD
I agree with you on this subject Phil, but I don't believe you will convince those who enjoy gambling that it is sinful. I think I remember John saying more then once "A man convinced against his will is unconvinced still".
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment. Ecclesiastes 11:9 (AV)
Just an interesting thought here...I am a physics professor and I am teaching a quantum physics class for general education credit (that is the class is NOT for physics/chemistry/engineering majors). So quantum mechanics is on my mind this summer...
Do you all realize that our atoms operate completely off of the laws of probability (ie chance)? It is impossible the determine precisely what will happen when you are studying things like atoms, protons, electrons, quarks, etc. The best you can do is calculate the probabilty events will happen.
So, in some sense we are all relying on "probabilty" to determine exactly how electrons will behave, or precisely how interactions in atoms and the like will go...The irony is we are all "gamblers"...
I must say I love to read Spurgeons writings...and here is one:
A young gambler is sure to be an old beggar if he lives long enough. PT112
I can never look upon dice except with abhorrence. If you ask me why; I reply,—
Because the soldiers at the foot of the cross threw dice for my Saviour's garments,and I have never heard the rattling of dice but I have conjured up the dreadful scene of Christ upon his cross, and gamblers at the foot of it, with their dice bespattered with his blood.
I do not hesitate to say that, of all sins, there is none that more surely damns men, and, worse than that, makes them the devil's help to damn others, than gambling. 2629.318
Charles Spurgeon
But I must say I like fine cigars just like this "prince of preachers did"
Mark (#23)
Thank you for your comment. It made me rejoice to remember that what man can't control or predict with certainty is all within God's knowledge and sovereignty.
"I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'" (Isaiah 46:9-10).
Mark (#23)
I am always astounded at what we discover in science. The more we learn, the more amazing God is revealed to be. I'm always hesitant, though, to bring science into theological ideas. Just because it appears to us to be unpredictable, does not mean there is no order to it or that it is indeed random. In the same way that we look back 1000 years and balk at what they thought they 'knew' about science, I am confident our own "understanding" is foolishly immature compared to the truths we may one day learn about His universe.
No real point to make regarding the topic. Just rambling about science. :-)
#24 Darrel--Is this the same Darrel that jumps through hoops to justify gambling? Which is it? It does seem odd that you would post this quote by Spurgeon. However, in so doing, I do hope you are beginning to see the evil of gambling for what it is. Playing a game of cards is by no means evil/sinful but gambling is a most wretched sin against a Holy God which needs no further justification than which Phil has so biblically "spelled" out. I certainly hope so and I might add your recent comments to Phil and GTY demonstrate your genuine humility and sincere desire to follow Christ and obey His Spirit. I am happy to know that kind of brother even if, only in the blogosphere! I do hope you will continue to see gambling for what it is- sin against God's Holy Standard and an evil destructive force not only to an individual but an entire society. In Him, Tom
Marc Lambert,
Atoms are totally predictable, they just aren't deterministic. That is NOT because we lack information...that has been proven. Yes, proven. Atoms, electrons, photons, etc are INHERENTLY probabilistic in nature. I just wanted to add that to the discussion.
The main difference with the stock market and gambling is that you can't forget about privately-owned companies that require you to buy stock as an investment and commitment to the company.
Mark (#29)
Pardon my ignorance, I'm not really wanting to get off on some weird tangent, but what's the difference between predicting what something will do and determining what something will do? And how would more knowledge re the subject being predicted/determined not help accuracy in those predictions/determiniations? Seems like some mighty fine hair splitting. But then, history and theology are my things, not science.
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Homepage with submission
Submission website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tamd-ieee
Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Date: December 2010
Link: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/tocresult.jsp?isnumber=5645770
(Previous issue:Vol. 2, No. 3, September 2010)
Abstract:The seven papers in this special issue focus on the development of artificial cognitive systems.
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Abstract:In this work, we present a novel probabilistic appearance representation and describe its application to surprise detection in the context of cognitive mobile robots. The luminance and chrominance of the environment are modeled by Gaussian distributions which are determined from the robot's observations using Bayesian inference. The parameters of the prior distributions over the mean and the precision of the Gaussian models are stored at a dense series of viewpoints along the robot's trajectory. Our probabilistic representation provides us with the expected appearance of the environment and enables the robot to reason about the uncertainty of the perceived luminance and chrominance. Hence, our representation provides a framework for the detection of surprising events, which facilitates attentional selection. In our experiments, we compare the proposed approach with surprise detection based on image differencing. We show that our surprise measure is a superior detector for novelty estimation compared to the measure provided by image differencing.
Full Text from IEEE:PDF (1541KB) ; Contact the author by email
Abstract: There are many different approaches to building a system that can engage in autonomous mental development. In this paper, we present an approach based on what we term self-understanding, by which we mean the explicit representation of and reasoning about what a system does and does not know, and how that knowledge changes under action. We present an architecture and a set of representations used in two robot systems that exhibit a limited degree of autonomous mental development, which we term self-extension. The contributions include: representations of gaps and uncertainty for specific kinds of knowledge, and a goal management and planning system for setting and achieving learning goals.
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Abstract: How is our body imprinted in our brain? This seemingly simple question is a subject of investigations of diverse disciplines, psychology, and philosophy originally complemented by neurosciences more recently. Despite substantial efforts, the mysteries of body representations are far from uncovered. The most widely used notions-body image and body schema-are still waiting to be clearly defined. The mechanisms that underlie body representations are coresponsible for the admiring capabilities that humans or many mammals can display: combining information from multiple sensory modalities, controlling their complex bodies, adapting to growth, failures, or using tools. These features are also desirable in robots. This paper surveys the body representations in biology from a functional or computational perspective to set ground for a review of the concept of body schema in robotics. First, we examine application-oriented research: how a robot can improve its capabilities by being able to automatically synthesize, extend, or adapt a model of its body. Second, we summarize the research area in which robots are used as tools to verify hypotheses on the mechanisms underlying biological body representations. We identify trends in these research areas and propose future research directions.
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Abstract: In this paper, we discuss the requirements of cognitive architectures for epigenetic robotics, and highlight the wider role that they can play in the development of the cognitive sciences. We discuss the ambitious goals of ongoing development, scalability, concept use and transparency, and introduce the epigenetic robotics architecture (ERA) as a framework guiding modeling efforts. A formal implementation is provided, demonstrated, and discussed in terms of meeting these goals. Extensions of the architecture are also introduced and we show how the dynamics of resulting models can transparently account for a wide range of psychological phenomena, without task dependant tuning, thereby making progress in all of the goal areas we highlight.
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Abstract: The multilevel Darwinist brain (MDB) is a cognitive architecture that follows an evolutionary approach to provide autonomous robots with lifelong adaptation. It has been tested in real robot on-line learning scenarios obtaining successful results that reinforce the evolutionary principles that constitute the main original contribution of the MDB. This preliminary work has lead to a series of improvements in the computational implementation of the architecture so as to achieve realistic operation in real time, which was the biggest problem of the approach due to the high computational cost induced by the evolutionary algorithms that make up the MDB core. The current implementation of the architecture is able to provide an autonomous robot with real time learning capabilities and the capability for continuously adapting to changing circumstances in its world, both internal and external, with minimal intervention of the designer. This paper aims at providing an overview or the architecture and its operation and defining what is required in the path towards a real cognitive robot following a developmental strategy. The design, implementation and basic operation of the MDB cognitive architecture are presented through some successful real robot learning examples to illustrate the validity of this evolutionary approach.
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Abstract: Inspired by child development and brain research, we introduce a computational framework which integrates robotic active vision and reaching. Essential elements of this framework are sensorimotor mappings that link three different computational domains relating to visual data, gaze control, and reaching. The domain of gaze control is the central computational substrate that provides, first, a systematic visual search and, second, the transformation of visual data into coordinates for potential reach actions. In this respect, the representation of object locations emerges from the combination of sensorimotor mappings. The framework is tested in the form of two different architectures that perform visually guided reaching. Systematic experiments demonstrate how visual search influences reaching accuracy. The results of these experiments are discussed with respect to providing a reference architecture for developmental learning in humanoid robot systems.
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Abstract: We describe a bootstrapping cognitive robot system that-mainly based on pure exploration-acquires rich object representations and associated object-specific grasp affordances. Such bootstrapping becomes possible by combining innate competences and behaviors by which the system gradually enriches its internal representations, and thereby develops an increasingly mature interpretation of the world and its ability to act within it. We compare the system's prior competences and developmental progress with human innate competences and developmental stages of infants.
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Abstract:Lists the reviewers who contributed to IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development for 2010.
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text:
Pettalia to host town hall meetings on fracking
ALPENA -The use of fracking to extract material from below ground in Michigan is a hot button topic. Those for the use of the procedure say it will add another tool to help bolster the state's economy and help move the country to energy independence, while opponents say the method could put Michigan's environment at stake.
On Nov. 1, 106th District Rep. Peter Pettalia is hosting three town hall meetings to inform the public about the fracking process, as well as the potential impacts and fallout that may follow its use in Michigan. Pettalia said he will be joined by leaders of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Natural Resources, as well as private fracking companies and environmental groups who are against the technique.
Fracking is a method used to break free mineral or gases deep underground using an injection of water, mixed with a chemical. Another form of fracking is to use a vibration to jar the desired product loose from the earth for extraction. Pettalia said he is still in the process of learning more about the practice and has not determined if he is for or against it. He said he decided to host the meetings to help educate the public and to let it get the facts from all of the players involved.
"As I have been traveling around the district I have been talking to other government officials and they have been telling me they have been getting a lot of questions about fracking," Pettalia said. "I want these meetings to be informational, not confrontational, and to bring out proper information because, believe me, the environmental groups have put out false information as have the companies."
Michigan is known for having one of the world's largest natural gas reserves and fracking would be an effective method to remove it from deep beneath the water table and make it available for market as the demand for the fuel increases. Pettalia said government has a responsibility to look at both sides of the issues and see if it is suitable to do. He said if he determines it is not, then he will not support it.
"If we can do it here, then it is our responsibilities as government officials to see if we can do it safely. Right now I don't know if I'm for or against it. My jury is still out. I live on the shore of Lake Huron and I treasure where I live and treasure the clean waters we have," Pettalia said. "I think people know me well enough to know I would never support anything that would ultimately end up hurting that. Like others I'm concerned and I want to hear them tell me that what they would be doing is not going to affect ground water. Our groundwater is Lake Huron, Hubbard Lake and all the other bodies of water in Northeast Michigan.'
Pettalia said both the DNR and the DEQ, as well as the EPA, have done their homework and all agree the fracking practice is safe. He said Michigan has reached out to other states that have fracking companies operating in them and learned there hasn't been any great issues.
The first meeting is in Oscoda from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. at the Shoreline Players Theater and the second is in Harrisville township Hall in Alcona County from 2-4 p.m. The final meeting is in Alpena at Alpena Community College from 6-8 p.m. Pettalia said he encourages anyone who has questions about fracking to attend. There is no cost to attend.
Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at email@example.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews. Read his blog, Upon Further Review … at www.thealpenanews.com.