text:
ZIKR. ذكر. Lit. "Remembering." Heb. zakhar. The religious ceremony, or act of devotion, which is practised by the various religious orders of Faqirs, or Darweshes. Almost every religious Muslim is a member of some order of Faqirs and, consequently, the performance of zikr is very common in all Muslim countries: but it does not appear that any one methods of performing the religious service of zikr is peculiar to any order.
Zikrs, are of two kinds: zikr jail, that which is recited aloud, and zikr khafi, that which is performed either with a low voice or mentally.
The Naqshbandiyah order of Faqirs usually perform the latter, whilst the Chishtiyah and Qadiriyah orders celebrate the former. There are various ways of going through the exercise, but the maim features of each are similar in character. The following is a zikr ,jail, as given in the book (Qauli, 'l-Jarnil, by Maulawi Shah Waliyu 'llah, of Delhi:-
The worshipper sits in the usual sitting posture and shouts the word Allah (God), drawing his voice from his left aide and then from his throat.
Sitting as at prayers he repeats the word Allah still louder than before, first from his right knee, and then from his left side.
Folding his legs under him he repeats the word Allah first from his right knee and then from his left side, still louder!
Still remaining in the same position, he shouts the word Allahi, first from the left knee, then from the right knee, then from the left side, and lastly in front, still louder!
Sitting as at prayer, with his face towards Makkah, he closes his eyes, says "La". — drawing the sound as from his navel up to his left shoulder; then he says ilaha, drawing out the sound as from his brain; and lastly "'illa 'llahu," repeated from his left side with great energy.
Each of these stages is called a zarb. They are, of course, recited many hundreds of times over, and the changes we have described account for the variations of sound and motion of the body described by Eastern travellers who have witnessed the performance of a zikr.
The following is a zikr khaf'i, or that which is performed in either a low voice or mentally.
Closing his eyes and lips, he says, with the tongue of the heart."
Allahu Sami'un, "God the Hearer."
Allahu Basirun, "God the Seer."
Allahu 'Alimun, "God the Knower."
The first being drawn, as it were, from the navel to the breast; the second, from the breast to the brain; the third, from the brain up the heavens; and then again repeated stage by stage backwards and forwards.
He says in a low voice, "Allah," from the right knee, and then from the left side.
With each exhalation of his breath, he says, "la ilaha," and with each inhalation "illa 'llahu".
This third zarb is a most exhausting act of devotion, performed, as it is, hundreds or even thousands of times, and is therefore considered the most meritorious.
It is related that Maulawi Habibu llah, living in the village of Gabasauri, in the Gadun country, on the Pashawur frontier, became such an adept in the performance of this zarb, that he recited the first part of the zikr Ia ilaha, with the exhalation of his breath alter the mid-day prayer: and the second part, illa 'llahu, with the inhalation of his breath before the next time of prayer, thus sustaining his breath for the period of about three hours!
Another act of devotion, witch usually ac companies the zikr, is that of -Muraqabah, or meditation.
The worshipper first performs sikr of the following:-
Allaho haziri "God who as present with me."
Allaho naziri, "God who sees me."
Allaho shahidi, "God who witnesses me."
Allaho ma'i, "God who is with me."
Having recited this zikr, either aloud or mentally, the worshipper proceeds to meditate upon some verse or verses of the Qur'an. Those recommended for the Qadiriyah Faqirs by Maulavi Shah Waliyu 'llah are the blowing, which we give as indicating the line of thought which is considered most devotion and spiritual by Muslim mystics:-
Suratu 'l-Hadid (lvii.), 3:-
"He (God) is first. He is Last, The Manifest, and the Hidden, and who knoweth all things."
2. Suratu 'l-Hadid (lvii.), 4:-
"He (God) is with you wheresoever ye be."
3. Suratu Qaf (l.), 16 :—
"We (God) are closet to him (man) than his neck-vein."
Suratu 'l-Baqarah (ii.) 109:—
"Whichever way ye turn, there is the face of God." Suratu 'n-Nisa (iv.), 125:-
"God encompasseth all things."
6. Suratu 'r-Rahman (lv.), 26, 27:-
"All on earth shall pass away, but the face of thy God shall abide resplendent with majesty and glory."
Some teachers tell their disciples that the heart has two doors, that which is fleshly, and that which is spiritual; and that the zikr jali has been established for the opening of the former, and zikr khaf'i for the latter, in order that they may both be enlightened.
To the uninitiated such a ceremony appears but a meaningless rite, but to the Sufi, it is one calculated to convey great benefit to his inner man, as will appear from the following instructions which are given by a member of the Order respecting the zikr, which he says is the union of the heart and the tongue in calling upon God's name. "In the first place, the Shaik, or teacher must with his heart recite, 'There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.' whilst the Murid keeps his attention fixed by placing his heart opposite that of the Shaikh: he must close his eyes, keep his mouth firmly shut, and his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth his teeth tight against each other, and hold his breath; then with great force, accompany the Shaikh in the zikr, which he must recite with his heart, and not with his tongue. He must retain his breath patiently, so that within one respiration be shall say the zikr three times, and by this means allow his heart to be impressed with the meditative zikr." "The heart," the same writer continues, "in this manner is kept constantly occupied with the idea of the Most High God; it will be filled with awe, love, and respect for Him; and, if the practiser arrives at the power of continuing to effect this when in the company of a crowd, the zikr is perfect. If he cannot do this, it is clear that he must continue his efforts. The heart is a subtle part of the human frame, and is apt to wander away after worldly concerns, so that the easier mode of arriving at the proceeding is to compress the breath, and keep the month tightly closed with the tongue forced against the lips. The heart is shaped like a fir-tree; your meditations should be forced upon it whilst you mentally recite the zikr. 'Let the "La" be upward, the "llaha" to the right, and the whole phrase "La lluha illa 'llahu " (There is no God but Allah) he formed upon the fir-cone, and through it pass to all the members of the whole frame, and they feel its warmth. By this means the world and all its attractions disappear from your vision, and you are enabled to behold the excellence of the Most High. Nothing must be allowed to distract your attention from the zikr, and ultimately you retain, by its medium, a proper conception of the Tauhid, or Unity of God.
"The cone-shaped heart rests in the left breast and contains the whole truth of man. Indeed, it signifies the whole truth; it comprises the whole of man's existence within itself, and is a compendium of man; mankind great and small, are but an extension of it and it is to humanity what the seed is to the whole tree which it contains within itself: in fine, the essence of the whole of God's book, and of all His secrets is the heart of man, Whoever finds a way to the heart obtains his desire; to find away to the heart is needed by a heartful service, and the heart accepts of the services of the heart. It is only through the fatigues of water and ashes that the Murid reaches the conversation of the heart and the soul ; he will be then so drawn towards God that afterwards, without any difficulty, he may without trouble, in case of need turn his face from all others towards Him. He will then know the real meaning of the Tark (the abandonment of the world), the Haqiqut (the truth), the Hurriya (the freedom), and the Zikr (the recital of God's names and praises)."
As a curious instance of the superstitious character of this devotional exercise, the Chishtiyah order believe that if a man sits cross-legged and seizes the vein called kuimas, which is under the leg, with his toes, that it will give peace to his heart, when accompanied by a zikr of the "nafi wa isbat," which is a term used for the Kalimah, namely:-
La ilaha illa 'llahu, "There is no deity but God."
The most common form of zikr is a recital of the ninety-nine names of God [NAMES OF GOD], for Muhammad promised those of his followers who recited them a sure entrance to Paradise (Mishkat, book cxi.); and to facilitate the recital of tiniest names, the zakir (or reciter) uses a tasbih (or rosary). [TASBIH.]
In addition to the forms of zikr already mentioned there are three others, which are oven of more common use, and are known as Tasbih, Tahmid, and Takbir. They are used as exclamations of joy and surprise, as well as for the devotional exercise of zikr.
Tasbih is the expression Subhana 'llah, "Holiness be to God!"
Tahmid, Alhamdu li-'llah! "Praise he to God!"
Takbir, Allahu akbar! "God is great!"
When the Tasbih and Tahmid are recited together it is said thus, Subhana 'llahi bi-hamdi-hi, i.e. "Holiness be to God with His praise." It is related in the Hadis that Muhammad said," Whoever recites this sentence a hundred times, morning and evening, will have all his sins forgiven."
Muhammad said, "Repeat the Tasbih a hundred times, and a thousand virtues shall be recorded by God for you, ten virtuous deeds for each repetition."
In forming our estimation of Muhammad and Islam, we must take into consideration the important place the devotional exercise of zikr occupies in the system not forgetting that it has had the authoritative sanction of 'the Prophet" himself.
The following is a graphic description of one of these devotional performances, by Dr. Eugene Schuyler, in his work on Turkistan:-
At about ten o'clock one Thursday evening, in company with several friends, we went to the mosque, and were at once admitted. Some thirty men, young and old, were on their knees in front of the qiblah, reciting prayers with loud cries and violent movements of the body, and around them was a circle, two or three deep, of men standing, who were going through the same motions. We took up a position in one corner and watched the proceedings. For the most part the performers or worshippers had taken off their outside gowns and their turbans, for the night was warm and the exercise was violent. They were reciting the words 'My defense is in God! May Allah be magnified! My light, Muhammad–God bless him There is no God but God" These words were chanted to various semi-musical notes in a low voice, and were accompanied by a violent movement of the head over the left shoulder towards the heart, then back, then to the right shoulder, and then down. as if directing all the movements towards the heart. These texts were rejected for hundreds and hundreds of times, and this zikr usually lasted for an hour or two. At first the movements were slow, but continually increased in rapidity, until the performers were unable to endure it any longer. If anyone failed in his duty, or was slower, or made less movements than was required, the persons who regulated the enthusiasm went up to him and struck him over the head, or pushed him back out of the circle and called another into it. Occasions by persons got so worn out with their cries and so wet with perspiration, that it became necessary for them to retire for a few minutes rest, and their places were immediately taken by others. When their voices became entirely hoarse with one cry another was begun, and finally the cry was struck up,' He lives! He lives! God lives! ' at first slowly, with an inclination of the body to the ground: then the rhythm grew faster and in cadence, the body became more vertical, until at last the, all stood up the measure still increased in rapidity, and, each one placing his hand on the shoulder of his neighbour, and then forming several concentric rings, they moved in a mass from side to side of the mosque, leaping about and always crying: 'He lives! God lives" Hitherto, there had been something wild and unearthly in it, but now to persons of weak nerves it became positively painful, and two of my friends were so much impressed as to he obliged to leave the mosque. Although I was sufficiently cold-blooded to see the ridiculous rather than horrible aide of this, I could not help receiving an impression that the devotees were a pack of madmen, whose motions wore utterly independent of any volition of their own … The intonations of the voice were very remarkable, and were often accompanied by most singular gestures, the hands or a book being often held to the aide of the mouth in order to throw the voice as far as possible. Often those recitations are merely collections of meaningless words, which always seem to produce the same effect on the bearers, and are constantly interrupted by cries of Hi, ho, och, och, ba, ba, and groans and sobs, and the hearers weep. beat their breast with their lists, or fall upon the ground."
The dancing and howling darweshes at Constantinople and Cairo have become public sights and are familiar to those Europeans who have visited those cities.
We are indebted to Mr. Brown's account of The Dervishes (Trubner and Co., Ludgate Hill) for the following graphic description of one of these public recitals of zikr. [FAQIR.]
The ceremony commences by the recital by the Shaikh of the seven first attributes of the Divinity, called by them the seven mysterious words. "He next chants various passages of the Koran, and at each pause the Dervishes, placed in a circle round the hall, respond in chorus by the word 'Allah!' (God) or 'Hoo!'(Huwa or Hu, He). In some of the societies they sit on their heels, the elbows close to those of each other, and all making simultaneously light movements of the head and body. In others, the movement consists in balancing themselves slowly, from the right to the left, and from the left to the right, or inclining the body methodically forward and aft. There are other societies in which these motions commence seated, in measured cadences, with a staid countenance, the eyes closed or fixed upon the ground, and are continued on foot. These singular exercises are consecrated under the name of Murskebeh (exaltation of the Divine glory) [muraqabah, 'meditation' and also under that of the Tevheed (celebration of the Divine unity) [Tauhid], from which comes the name Tevheed khaneh given to the whole of the halls devoted to these religious exercises.
"In some of those insitutions, such as the Kadirees the Rufa'ees, the Khalwettees, the Bairamess, the Ushakees, and the 'Ushakees, the exercises are made, each holding the other by the hand, putting forward always the right foot, and increasing at every step the strength of the movement of the body. This is called the Devr (Daur), which may be translated the 'dance or 'rotation.' The duration of these stances is arbitrary,—each one is free to leave when he pleases. Every one, however, makes it a point to remain as long as possible. The strongest and most robust of the number, and the most enthusiastic, strive to persevere longer than the others; they uncover their heads, take off their turbans, form a second circle within the other, entwine their arms within those of their brethren, lock their shoulders against each other, gradually raise the voice, and without ceasing repeat 'Ya Allah!' (O God), or 'Ya Hoo!' (O Ie), increasing each time the movement of the body, and not stopping until their entire strength is exhausted.
"Those of the other of the Rufa'ees excel in these exercises. They are, moreover, the only ones who use fire in their devotions. Their practices embrace nearly all those of the other orders; they are ordinarily divided into fire different scenes, which last more than three hours, and which are preceded, accompanied, and followed by certain ceremonies peculiar to this order. The first commences with praises which all the Dervishes offer to their sheikhs, seated before the altar. Four of the more ancient come forward the first, and approach their superior, embrace each other as if to give the kiss of peace and next place themselves two to his right and two to his left. The remainder of the Dervishes, in a body, press forward in a procession, all having their arms crossed, and their heads inclined. Each one, at first, salutes by a profound bow the tablet on which the name of his founder is inscribed, Afterwards, putting his two hands over his face and his beard, he kneels before the Sheikh, kisses his hand respectfully, and then they all go on with a grave step to take their places on the sheep-skins, which are spread in a half-circle around the interior of the hall. So soon as a circle is formed, the Dervishes together chant the Takbeer (Takbir, the exclamation Allahu akbar, 'God is exalted') and the Fatiha (Fatihah, the first chapter of the Qur'an). Immediately afterwards the shaikh pronournes the words La ilaha ill' Allah (There is no deity but God), and repeats them incessantly; to which the Dervishes repeat 'Allah' balancing themselves from side to side, and putting their hands over their faces, on their breasts, and their abdomen, and on their knees.
"The second scene is opened by the Hamdee Mohammedee, a hymn in honor of the Prophet, chanted by one of the elders placed on the right of the sheikh. During this chant the Dervishes continue to repeat the word 'Allah!' moving, however, their bodies forward and aft. A quarter of an hour later they all rise up, approach each other, and press their elbows against each other, balancing from right to left, and afterwards in a
reverse motion,—the right foot always firm, and the left in a periodical movement-, the reverse, of that of the body, all observing great precision of measure and cadence. ln the midst of 'this exercise, they cry out the words 'Ya Allah!' followed by that of 'Ya Hoo!' Some of the performers sigh. others sob, some sbed tears. others perspire great drops, and all have their eyes closed, their faces pale, and the eyes languishing.
"A pause of some minutes is followed by a third scene. It is performed in the middle of an Ilahec, chanted by the two elders on the right of the shaikh. The Ilahecs are spiritual cantiques, composed almost exclusively in Persian by sheiks deceased in the odour of sanctity. The Dervishes then hasten their movements, and. to prevent any relaxation, one of' the first among them puts himself in their centre, arid excites them by his example. If in the assembly there be, any strange Dervishes, which often happens, they give them, through politeness, this place of honour; and all fill it successively, the one after the other, shaking themselves as aforesaid. The only exception made is in favour of the Meylevees; these never perform any other dance than that peculiar to their own order, which consists in turning round on each heel in succession.
After a new pause commences the fourth scene. Now all the Dervishes take off their turbans, form a circle, bear -their arms shoulders against each other, and thus make the circuit of the hall at a measured pace, striking their feet at intervals against the floor, and all springing up at once. This dance continues during the llahees, chanted alternately by the two, elders to the loft of the sheikh. In the midst of this chant the cries of 'Ya Allah!' are increased doubly, as also those of 'Ya Hoot' with frightful howlings, shrieked by the Dervishes together in the dance. At the moment that they would seem to stop from sheer exhaustion the sheikh makes a point of exerting them to new efforts by walking through their midst, making also himself most violent movements. He is next replaced by the two elders, who double the quickness of the step and the agitation of the body; they even straightened themselves up from time to time, and excite the envy or emulation of the others in their astonishing efforts to continue the dance until their strength is entirely exhausted.
"The fourth scene leads to the last, which is the most frightful of all, the wholly prostrated condition of the actors becoming converted into a species of ecstasy which they call Halel (Halah). It is in the midst of this abandonment of self, or rather of religious delirium, that they make use of red hot irons. Several cutlasses and other and other instruments of sharp-pointed iron are suspended in the niches of the hall, and upon a part of the wall to the right of the sheikh. Near the close of the forth scene, two Dervishes take down eight or nine of these instruments, heat them red-hot, and present them to the sheikh. He, after reciting some prayers over them, and invoking the founder of the Order, Abmed er Rufa'ee, breathes over them and raising them slightly to the mouth, gives them to the Dervishes, who ask for them with the greatest eagerness. Then it is that these fanatics, transported by frenzy, seize upon these irons, gloat upon them tenderly, lick them, bite them, hold them between their teeth, and end by cooling them in their mouths! Those who are unable to procure any, seize upon the cutlasses hanging on the wall with fury, and stick them into their sides, arms, and legs.
"Thanks to the fury of their frenzy, and to the amazing boldness which they deem a merit in the eyes of the Divinity, all stoically bear up against the pain which they experience with apparent gaiety. If, however. some of them fall under their sufferings, they throw themselves into the arms of their confrères and, but without, a complaint or the least sign of pain. Some minutes after this the sheikh walks round the hall, visits each one of the performers in turn, breathes upon their wounds, rubs them with saliva, recites prayers over them, and promises them speedy cures. It is said that twenty-four hours after-wards nothing is to be seen of their wounds.
"It is the common opinion among the Rufa'ees that the origin of those bloody practices can be traced back to the founder of of an the Order. They pretend that one day during the transport of his frenzy, Ahmed-el Rufa'ee put his legs in a burning basin of coals, and was immediately cured by the breath and saliva and the prayers of 'Abdul Kadi Ghilauee; they believe that their founder received this same prerogative from heaven, and that at his death he transmitted it to all the sheikhs his successors It is for this reason that they give these sharp instruments, and to these red-hot irons, and other objects employed by them in their mysterious frenzy, the name of God which signifies 'rose,' wishing to indicate thereby that the man made of them is as agreeable to the soul of the elect Dervishes, as the odor of this flower be to the voluptuary.
"These extraordinary exercises seem to have something prodigious in them, which imposes on common people, but they have not the same effect on the minds of men of good sense and reason. The latter believe less in the sanctity of these pretended thaumaturges than in the virtue of certain secrets which they adroitly use to keep up the illusion and the credulity of the spectators, even among tire Dervishes themselves. It is thus, perhaps, that some assemblies of these fanatics have given, in this age of light, and in the heart of the most enlightened nation, the ridiculous spectacle of these pious and barbarous buffooneries known by the name of convulsions. At all times, and amongst every people of the earth, weakness and credulity, enthusiasm and charlatanry have but too frequently profaned the most holy faith, and objects the most worthy of our veneration
"After the Rufa'ees, the Sa'dees have also the reputation of performing miracles, pretty much of the same sort as the preceding. 0ne reads in the institutes of this Order, that Sa'd ed Deen Jebawee, its founder, when cutting wood in the vicinity of Damascus, found three snakes of an enormous length, and that, after having incited some prayers an blown upon them, he caught them alive, and used them as a rope with which to bind his fagot. To this occurrence they ascribe the pretended virtue of the sheikhs and the Dervishes of this society, to find out snakes, to handle them, to bite them, and even to eat them, without any harm to themselves. Their exercises consist, like those of the Rufa'ees and other Orders, at first in seating themselves, and afterwards in rising upright; but in often changing the attitude, and in re-doubling their agitation even until they become overcome with fatigue, when they fall upon the floor motionless and without knowledge. Then the sheikh, aided by his vicars. employs no other means to draw them out of this state of unconsciousness than to rub their arms and legs, and to breathe into their ears the words 'Lu ilaha ill' Allah.'
"The Mevlevees are distinguished by the singularity of their dance, which has nothing in common with that of the other societies. They call it Som'a (Sama') in place of Davr (Daur), and the balls consecrated to it are called Sem'a khanehs.. Their construction is also different. The apartment represents a kind of pavilion, sufficiently light, and sustained by eight columns of wood. These Dervishes have also prayers and practices peculiar to themselves. Among them the public exercises are not ordinarily made by more than nine, eleven, or thirteen individuals. They commence by forming a circle, seated on sheep skin spread upon the floor at equal distances from each other; they remain nearly a half-bout in this position, the arms folded. the eyes closed, the head inclined, and absorbed in profound meditation "'The sheikh, placed on the edge of his seat on a small carpet, breaks silence by a hymn in honour of the Divinity; afterwards he invites the assembly to chant with him the first chapter of the Koran. 'Let us chant the Fatiha,' he says, in 'glorifying the holy name of God, in honour of the blessed religion of the prophets, but above all, of Mohammed Muatapha, the greatest, the most august, the most magnificent of all the celestial envoys, and in memory of the first four Caliphs, of the sainted Fatimah, of the chaste Khadeeja, of the Imams Hasan and Husain, of all the martyrs of the memorable day, of the ten evangelical disciples, the virtuous sponsors of our sainted Prophet, of all his zealous and faithful disciples. of all the Imams Mujtahids (sacred interpreters), of all the doctors, of all the holy men and women of Mussulmanism. Let us chant also in honour of Hazreti Mevlana, the founder of our Order, of Hazreti Sultan ul 'Ulema (his father), of Sayid Burhan ed Dean (his teacher), of Sheikh Shems ed Din (his consecrator), of Valideh Sultan (his mother), of Mohammed 'Allay ad Deen Efendi (his son and vicar), of all the Chelebees (his successors),of all the sheikhs, of all the Dervishes, and all the protectors of our Order, to whom the Supreme Being deigns to give peace and mercy. Let us pray for the constant prosperity of our holy society, for the preservation of the very learned and venerable Chehebee Efendi (the General of the Order), our master and lord, for the preservation of the reigning Sultan, the very majestic and element Emperor of the Mussulman faith, for the prosperity of the Grand Vizier, and of the Sheikb ul Islam, and that of all the Mohammadan militia, of all the pilgrims of the holy city of Mekkeh. Let us pray for the repose of the souls of all the institutors, of all the sheikhs, and of all the Dervishes of all other Orders; for all good people, for alt these who have been distinguished by their good works, their foundations, and their acts of beneficence. Let us pray also for all the Mussulmans of one and the other sex of the east and the west, for the maintenance of all prosperity, for preventing all adversity, for the accomplishment of all salutary vows, and for the success of all praiseworthy enterprises; finally, let us ask God to deign to preserve in us the gift of His grace, and the fire of holy love.
"After the Fatiha, which the assembly chant in a body, the Sheikh recites the Fatiha and the Salawat, to which the dance of the Dervishes succeeds. Leaving their places all at once, they stand in a file to the left of the superior, and, approaching near him with slow steps, the arms folded, and the head bent to the floor, the first of the Dervishes, arrived nearly opposite the Sheikh, salutes, with a profound inclination, the tablet which is, on his seat, on which is the name of Hazreti Mevlana, the founder of the Order. Advancing next by two springs forward to the right side of the superior, he turns toward him, salutes him with reverence, and commences the dance, which consists in turning on the left heel, in advancing slowly, and almost insensibly making the turn of the hall, the eyes closed, and the arms open. He is followed by the second Dervish, he by the third, and so on with all the others, who end by filling up the whole of the hall, each repeating the same exercises separately, and all at a certain distance from each other.
"This dance lasts sometimes for a couple of hours; it is only interrupted by two short pauses, during which the Sheikh recites different prayers. Towards the close of the exercises, he takes a part in them himself, by placing himself in the midst of the Dervishes; then returning to his seat, he recites some Persian verses expressive of good wishes for the prosperity of the religion, and the State, The General of the Order is again named, also the reigning Sultan, in the following terms: 'The Emperor of the Mussalmans, and the most august of monarchs of the house of 'Othman, Sultan, son of a sultan, grandson of a sultan, Sultan —, son of Sultan —, Khan,' &c.
"Here the poem mentions all the princes of blood, the Grand Vizier, the Multee, all the Pashas of the empire, the 'Ulemas, all the Sheikhs, benefactors of the Order, and of all the Mussulman peers, invoking the benediction of heaven on the success of their arms against the enemies eat the empire. 'Finally, let us pray f or all the Dervishes present and absent, for all the friends of our holy society, and generally for all the faithful, dead and living, in the east and in the west.
The ceremony terminates by chanting the Fatiha, or first chapter of the Koran."
(John P. Brown, The Dervishes, or Oriental Spiritualism, 218 seqq.)
These ceremonies of zikr would at first sight appear to have little in common with original Islam, but there appears to be little doubt that the practice of reciting the word Allah and other' similar expressions, continenced in the days of Muhammad himself, and this even the Wahabis admit, who at the same time condemn, the extravagances of the Howling and Dancing Darveshes of Turkistan, Turkey, and Egypt.
A chapter is devoted to the Prophet's injunctions on the subject in all large hooks of traditions, called Babu 'z-Zikr, from which the following sayings of Muhammad have been selected:-
Whenever people sit and remember God they are surrounded by angels which cover them with God's favour, and peace descends upon them, and God remembers them in that assembly which is near him.
Verily there are angels who move to and fro on the roads and seek for the rememberers of God, and when they find an assembly remembering God, they say to one another," Come ye to that which ye were seeking" Then the angels cover them with their wings as far as the lowest heaven, called the region of the world, The Prophet said: —When the angels go to the court of God, God asks them, while knowing better than they. 'What do my servants say and do? The angels say," They are reciting the Tasbih, the Takbir, and the Tahmid, and the Tamjid for Thee." And God says, "Have they ween Me?" The angels say, "No, by God, they have not seen Thee." Then God says "What would their condition be if they had seen Me?" The angels say, "If they had seen Thee, they would be more energetic in worshipping Thee and in reciting the Tamjid, and they would be more excessive in repeating the Tasbih." God says, "Then what do they want?" The angels say, "Paradise." Then God says. ' Have they seen Paradise?" The angels say, "We swear by God they have not." Then God says, "What would their state have been had they seen Paradise?" The angels say, "If they had seen Paradise, they would be very ambitious for it. and would be excessive wishers of it, such very great desirers of it." God says, ' What thing is it they seek protection from ?" The angels say, "From hell fire." God says, 'Have they seen the fire?' The angels say, "No, by God, if they had seen the fire – '"God says. "How would they have been had they seen the fire?" The angels say, "If they had seen the fire, they would be great runners from it, and would be great fearers of it" Then God says, "I take ye as witnesses that verily I have pardoned them." One of the angels said. "There is a person amongst them who is not a rememberer of Thee, and is only come on account of his own needs."
There is a polish for everything that takes rust, and the polish for the heart is the remembrance of God, and there is no act that redeems from God's punishments so much as the remembrance of Him. The Companions said, "Is not fighting with the infidels also like this?" He said, "No, although he lights until his sword be broken."
"Shall I not inform you of an action which is better for you than fighting with infidels and cutting off their heads, and their cutting off yours?" The Companions said, Yes, inform us." The Prophet, said, "These actions are remembering God."
'Abdullah ibn Aus said :—An 'Arabi came to the Prophet and asked," Which is the best of men?" The Prophet said, "Blessed is the person whose life is long and whose actions are good." The 'Arabi said, "O Prophet! which is the best of actions, and the moat rewarded?" He said, "The best of actions is this, that you separate from the world, and die whilst your tongue is moist in repeating the name of God."
A man said, "O Prophet of God, really the rules of Islam are many, tell me a thing by which I may lay hold of rewards." The Prophet said, "Let your tongue be always moist in the remembrance of God."
"Verily there are ninety nine names of God; whosoever counts them up shall enter into Paradise." And in another tradition it is added, "God is Witr and like Witr."
When Zu 'n-Nun (Jonah) the prophet prayed his Lord, when he was in the fish's Belly, he said, "There is no Deity but Thee, I extol Thy holiness. Verily I am of the unjust ones." And a Mussalman who supplicated God with this petition will have his prayers granted.
The best expressions are these four: Subhana Allah; al-Hamdu Lillahi, La ilaha illa 'llabu, and Allahu akbar; and it does not matter with which of them you begin.
Verily I like repeating these four expressions: O Holy God! Praise be to God! There is no deity but God! and God is Great! better than anything upon which the sun shines.
No one can bring a better deed on the Day ,if Resurrection (unless he shall have said the like or added to it) than he who has recited, "O Holy God! Praise be to Thee! one hundred times every morning and evening.
There are two expressions light upon the tongue and heavy in time scale of good works, and they are, "O holy God! Praise be to Thee!" and "O Holy God! the Mighty One!
That person who shall say," "There is no deity but God, who has no partner, to whom is dominion and praise and power," one hundred times, shall receive rewards equal to the emancipating of ten slaves: and one hundred good actions shall be written for him, and one hundred of his sins shall be blotted out and those words shall he a protection to him from the devil and his wickedness, in that day in which he shall have repeated them until the night. Nor can anyone perform a better deed for the Day of Resurrection than this, unless he has done even mere
Moses said, "O my Lord, teach me how I am to call upon Thee," And God said, "O Moses, recite' There is no deity but God! "Then Moses said, "O my Lord; every one of Thy people say this." And God said. "O Moses, if the seven heavens and their inhabitants and the seven earths were put into one scale, and this expression, 'There is no deity but God,' into another, these words would exceed in weight."
Reciting "O Holy God" is half the scale of good works, and reciting "God be praised," fills the scale. The recital of "There is no deity but one," removes the curtain between the worshipper and his God.
He who recites with an unsallied heart "There is no deity but God," shall have the doors of heaven open for him until he reaches the throne of God, as long as he abstains from great sins.
The ejaculation, "There is no power and strength but in God," is medicine for ninety-nine pains, the least of which is melancholy.
"There are two qualities which, being practised by anyone, shall cause him to enter Paradise: they are small and easy, and it is easy for anyone to practise them. One of them is this: saying 'God is holy' ten times after every prayer, 'Praised be God' ten times, and 'God is great' ten times." And verily I saw the Prophet counting these words on his hand and he would say. "Then these words are one hundred and fifty the tongue in the day and night, but they one thousand and five hundred in the of actions, reckoning ten for one. And second is this: when be goes to his bedchamber, let him say, 'God is holy.' 'God be praised,' and God is great.' that is one hundred on the tongue and a thousand in the scales. Then which of you is it that commits two thousand live hundred vices in the day and night, so that these words may cover them?" The Companions said "If when we repeat these words we have so many rewards, why should we not say them?" The Prophet said, "The Devil comes to one of you when at prayers and says to him, 'Remember so-and-so.' till you have finished your prayers and the Devil comes to you in your bed-chamber, and is always making you sleep.
Based on Hughes, Dictionary of Islam


text:
Our new FAVORITE hotel in Albuquerque
December 21, 2010
JRFromm of Las Cruces, New Mexico
December 11, 2010
And it is "new" in the literal sense of the word, as well as being new to us. Being open just a little more than several months, this boutique hotel is a real gem. It is located just off of Interstate 25, on Central Avenue, making it not only easily accessible to travelers but centrally located for those who want to do any extensive exploring in the area. The hotel was originally the Santa Fe Hospital; it has been lovingly rehabilitated, preserving many of the original elements of the structure as well as adding many modern (and expected by most travelers) features.
The Apothecary Lounge, on the top floor, is a great place for a drink and a "small plate" meal. The lounge has both indoor and outdoor seating and boasts "the best view" in the city. Based on the sunset we saw the evening we were there this, is not an empty boast.
We intend to return!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A woosh sound panning from left to middel of a slide in effect.
Just what I needed! Thanks~
Cool! Thanks!
Good work. Thx for sharing!
Cool, just the job
 |  12 comments
Please log in to comment
Share url:
920 x 245
481 x 86
375 x 30
We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By browsing our site you agree to our use of cookies.
For more information check out our cookies policy.


text:
A large power outage left Grand Prairie residents in the dark early Monday morning.
The outage hit more than 5,600 customers near Interstate 20 and Great Southwest Parkway around 2 a.m. Monday.
Grand Prairie police increased patrols in the area during the outage.
Oncor crews were able to restore power to homes a few hours later.
A large power feeder may have been the cause of the outage.
Published at 9:44 AM CDT on Apr 1, 2013


text:
Sydney Law Review - Volume 29, Number 3, September 2007
Prosecution for OHS Offences: Deterrent or Disincentive?
Neil Gunningham
'Otherness' on the Bench: How Merit is Gendered
Margaret Thornton
Indigenous Sentencing Courts: Towards a Theoretical and Jurisprudential Model
Elena Marchetti & Kathleen Daly
A Revival of the Doctrine of Attainder? The Statutory Illegality Defences to Liability in Tort
James Goudkamp
Before the High Court
Attorney-General (Commonwealth) v Alinta Limited: Will the Takeovers Panel Survive Constitutional Challenge?
Emma Armson
Cases and Comments
A Heart of Darkness: The Mysterious Interior of Ferdinands v Commissioner for Public Employment
David Nguyen
Hicks v Ruddock versus The United States v Hicks
Marley Zelinka


text: I am looking to speak with anyone that has a 2007 or 2008 Shelby GT500 and has installed the Ford Performance package and also an adjustable panhard bar have a few concerns and would like to find out if anyone has the same concerns. Please let me know if you are a fellow owner and I will get you my contact information. Thanks


text:
It's time for the Securities and Exchange Commission to move on a "best-interest" fiduciary standard, and despite split views at the Commission on such a rule, SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White can move it forward, Richard Ketchum, chairman and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, said Monday.
It "would be far preferable to have a single, consistent [fiduciary] standard that operates out of the SEC across all [investment] vehicles that exist for the individual investor," Ketchum said Monday morning during a question-and-answer session with Ira Hammerman, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's executive vice president and general counsel, at SIFMA's Compliance and Legal Seminar in Phoenix.
Hammerman queried Ketchum on how White could "wrestle" a uniform fiduciary rulemaking to a resolution, given the polarizing views about such a rule among the SEC commissioners. "Nothing hard is easy; nothing worth doing is easy," Ketchum responded, adding that while he has "tremendous respect" for the "range of concerns" expressed by some SEC commissioners regarding a fiduciary rule for brokers, he has "great confidence" in White being able "to move this [rulemaking] forward."
Said Ketchum: "I'm confident that each of the commissioners recognizes the importance of the SEC playing a central role in defining a best interest of the customer standard for the industry."
Ketchum said during the Q&A that "if there's an impression in America that undisclosed backdoor payments are the driver of what goes on in the securities industry, that impression is false. Those payments would be illegal." He was referring to comments made by President Barack Obama in a Feb. 23 speech at AARP endorsing the Department of Labor's redraft of its rule to amend the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Any best interest standard, he continued, has to recognize that "significant change" needs to occur regarding disclosure and fees, and that that information should come "up front," suggesting that BDs should have to disclose such information to clients in a format similar to the Form ADV that advisors give to their clients.
In a separate interview with ThinkAdvisor, Ketchum said he had "tremendous respect" for White. "It does seem to me that this is the right time to move to a consistent, single standard that is focused on the best interest of the customer, and I'm confident that she's [White] the right person to lead us there."
White is set to speak Tuesday at the SIFMA event in a Q&A with SIFMA president and CEO Ken Bentsen.
Hammerman told Ketchum it would be a "good idea" for FINRA to enter the fiduciary debate by sending a comment letter to DOL.
"We certainly would like to be part of the discussion," Ketchum responded.
Ketchum told ThinkAdvisor that "we're more than willing to be in a dialogue with the SEC and, for that matter, the Labor Department" on a fiduciary rulemaking. "We really care about moving to the best interest standard [and] we will be responsive to anything the SEC thinks we should move forward on" in this regard.
SIFMA released the same day a study titled "Review of the White House Report: 'The Effects of Conflicted Investment Advice on Retirement Savings'" that it commissioned the National Economic Research Associates (NERA) to perform. SIFMA said the study identifies "flaws" in the White House's Council of Economic Advisers' claim that such advice costs Americans $17 billion a year.
The NERA report goes on to say that to calculate the aggregate estimate, "the authors of the report take the total value of load mutual funds in IRAs, plus the total value of annuities in IRAs, [which] at year-end 2013 stood at approximately $1.7 trillion. The report then claims that a survey of the academic literature supports a finding that savers lose about 1% per year due to conflicted payments. By multiplying these two numbers together, they produce the claimed aggregate cost number. This approach is flawed in multiple ways."
The NERA report also states that the administration ignores the negative consequences of similar retirement regulations in the U.K., noting that "a sizeable number of low-balance clients lost their advisor. [Consultancy] Europe Economics finds that just in the first three months of 2014, about 310,000 clients stopped being served by their brokers because their wealth was too small for the broker to advise profitably." An additional 60,000 investors were not accepted as new clients by brokers for the same reason over the same three months, NERA says.
Lisa Bleier, SIFMA's managing director, Public Policy and Advocacy, noted on a call with reporters that DOL sent its fiduciary redraft to the Office of Management and Budget on Feb. 23 and that the redraft "probably won't be there for the full 90-day" review period. The measure will likely be proposed by DOL in spring or early summer, she predicted.
Bensten noted on the call the "strong bipartisan opposition" to the prior rule issued by DOL in 2010, stating that he believes "there is still a bipartisan" opposition to the direction DOL will take with its new plan.
He stated that the White House report is "at best simplistic and has some problems," adding that as this fiduciary "process goes forward it's important to lay out all the facts."
--- Related on ThinkAdvisor:
- White House Is Not Fond of Hidden Retirement Fees
- DOL Has Worked 'Very Closely' With SEC on Fiduciary Plan: Perez
- GOP Reps Demand Proof DOL Didn't Go It Alone on Fiduciary
- Deconstructing One Broker's Take on a Fiduciary Standard
- A Fiduciary Standard May Leave Some Investors Out of Luck


text:
Real Housewives of Dallas Cast Revealed
An alert FrontBurnervian points us to the Reality Tea blog, which appears to have the scoop on long-rumored Real Housewives of Dallas. If the lineup is correct, two of the ladies surprise me. Tiffany Mullen? Sure. But Lisa Troutt and Rhonda Aikman? In any case, our Laura Kostelny must already be licking her chops.
UPDATE, 11 a.m.: Â Andy Cohen, vice president of programming for Bravo says via Twitter that Real Housewives of Dallas is not happening.


text:
Woods and Mickelson unite, is your golf game stagnant and stop competitors from getting into your head
Click here to listen.
Now that Presidents Cup fever has replaced FedEx Cup mayhem, it will be interesting to see how Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson perform as comrades uniting for a common goal.
Although Team U.S.A. has only five golfers ranked in the top-twenty of the PGA Tour's Official Golf Rankings, the combination of Woods, Mickelson, Stricker and Furyk will most certainly dominate at this year's event. With the addition of Scott Verplank and Stewart Cink, who always appear to keep cool under pressure, the "Internationals" will have a tough time holding on, in my opinion, even with Ernie Els leading the pack. Rory Sabbatini can't close a deal and gets flustered around Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh has missed his last two cuts and Mike Weir just hasn't shown much spunk this season. Hoping for Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy to hold off the Americans is like wishing for Colin Montgomerie to win an event on the PGA Tour here in the States…it just won't happen.
Phil Mickelson was featured in first few minutes of the latest Family Guy episode on the Fox Network. Actually, his wife Amy was the topic of discussion with Phil appearing as a cartoonish prop. The demeaning and vulgar commentary about Amy was too long, unnecessary and not really all that funny. Why did writer Alec Sulkin single out Mickelson? Could it be a weird twist on Mickelson's "family guy" image?
Or could it be because Elin Woods, a former bikini model, was just too easy a target and no one wishes to upset Woods, lest, in a fit of rage, Tiger decided to purchase the Fox Network and cancel the show!
Without watching the Turning Stone Resort Championship, it was totally up to the internet to provide us with Steve Flesch's terrific win. Congrats to Flesch although would he have had such an easy time if the top players in the world were competing at Atunyote? Or is this fall series, with the interest falling on keeping a PGA Tour card, more stressful than accruing FedEx Cup points?
Golf for Beginners podcast also discusses Mike Pedersen's new golf blog which takes us through the top reasons golfers just don't improve. In addition to these golf tips, we admit a flaw in last week's blog about the Solheim Cup and answer an email from a listener who asks, "how do you deal with playing partners who insist on keeping you up to date with your score when you'd rather not know your running score?"
Send commentary to email@example.com.
Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed: http://feeds.worldgolf.com/stacy_solomon or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.
You can also download previous Golf for Beginners episodes by clicking here.
"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"
This podcast is supported by Florida Golf Travel.
This podcast is supported by New Roc Harley Davidson, your worldwide parts and accessories distributor. Great rides start here!.
|« Phil Mickelson becomes the Presidents Cup punching bag
|Tiger Woods captures virgin FedEx Cup, Team USA clobbers ROW to retain Solheim Cup, sweep uphill chips and how to acheive a winning attitude »
No feedback yet
Comments are closed for this post.


text:
PlayStation Vita update 1.80 adds support for PSone Classics
Support for PSone Classics will finally be coming to the PlayStation Vita in "late August" as part the system software update v1.80, Sony announced at Gamescom today.
While PSone Classics are the highlight of the update, v1.80 will add a ton of other new features as well.
Another notable addition is the Cross-Controller feature which will allow you to use the PS Vita as a controller to play compatible games on PS3, such as LittleBigPlanet 2.
Below are some additional features that will be included in the update:
As many of you have requested, you will now have the option to control the home screen and some features of applications such as Videos and Music with the buttons on the PS Vita system.
Playlists will be supported in Music. You will be able to transfer iTunes (10.6.3 or later), M3U, and M3U8 playlists from a PS3 or a PC using Content Manager.
Web Browser
Rear touch pad operation will be supported by the browser, allowing you to scroll through and zoom out of pages without obscuring the screen.
The following controls have been added to Videos:
- Playback speed control
- Repeat play
Viewing photos in MPO format will now be supported, with the ability to transfer MPO files from PS3™ and PC using Content Manager.
* 3D and multi-angle viewing are NOT supported.
Group Messaging
Along with some new layout enhancements, you will be able to take photos to add as attachments when writing Group Messages.
The Maps feature has been improved by adding a button on the top screen to switch between "Search for Location" and "Search for Directions." You can also touch and hold a location on the map and place a user flag.
"near" will be able to gather the information of surrounding Wi-Fi access points without internet connection and update the location data based on it later. You can get location data within the area covered by Wi-Fi location services.


text:
After racing Hondas for much of his pro career, Andrea Dovizioso will join the Yamaha Monster Tech 3 team for '12 in MotoGP.
Italian motorcycle racer, Andrea Dovizioso will join the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team for the '12 MotoGP season. Dovizioso, 25, has been a long-time Honda racer and this will be the first-time he has ridden for another manufacturer since 2001.
"I'm happy to have reached this agreement with Tech 3 for next year and I want to thank Hervé Poncharal for the opportunity he is giving me," said Dovizioso. "I am excited to become part of Hervé's squad and to be teamed with Cal. I am sure this new challenge will be exciting, motivating and fun. Now that 2012 is sorted I want to focus on finishing the season in the best possible way."
"I am delighted that a rider of Andrea's stature has decided to commit his future to Tech 3 and Yamaha," added team manager, Herve Poncharal. "He is without doubt one of the fastest riders in the world who has proven on a regular basis that he is capable of challenging for the podium in MotoGP. I am thrilled that he trusts the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team to take his career to the next level and we can look forward to 2012 with high expectations. I am convinced that with Andrea and Cal we have one of the strongest line-ups on the grid in 2012 and both of them will demonstrate the potential of Yamaha's new 1000cc machine."


text:
I just received an invitation for my very first Divorce Party!
Now, normally I wouldn't celebrate something like the end of a marriage, but my friend has been in and out of court for two years in what has become a very contentious divorce, so this is a great way for her to blow off steam.
Let's face it, ladies, we love a party and I absolutely can't wait to see what she has in store after receiving my incredibly cool invitation…
Makes you want to go to the party doesn't it?!
So, we called Christine Gallagher from DivorcePartyPlanner.com to find out what we can expect from a Divorce Party - including Hooters, hot waiters and of course… cocktails!!!!
Have you ever been to a divorce party? Let us know what it was like in the comments section below!
More Jim & Kim On Fresh1027.com:


text:
Duties of an English Foreign Secretary
The speaker of Card's debut is a man at war with the shortness of his attention span: "How long is the comedy/ about me?" he asks. Yet Card is less interested in answering questions than in changing the subject. "There was a ship on fire last night," begins the opening poem. "I am ashamed and a burden to my friends." This can be frustrating, but when he allows us to follow the faint strands of logic in his language, as though following a thread through a hedge maze, Card's voice triumphs over its attention deficiency: "I need for you to wreck/ upon yourself// the salvage you recover/ from me." Card falters when he abandons this thread altogether, as if to suggest his bombastic speaker and his language "alone were fraught with confidence" the poems themselves need not surpass. Nevertheless, Card's strange and embattled voice works upon the ear long after the book is shut, and the originality of this debut is such that we might not yet know how to understand the operations of such a well-built yet brittle verbal machine. (Nov.)
Release date: 01/01/2010


text:
Take a peek!
Explore the experience and preview our classes. Like what you see? Get full access by purchasing a subscription.Join Now
Already a subscriber? Log in
Play music
No Music
Mute music
Runner's Workout II: Lower Body + Core
Your Instructor
0 people are discussing this workout.
Log in or Subscribe Now today to join in!


text:
It's playoffs or bust for the Cavaliers in 2013-14. At least that's the stated goal of the franchise after being one of the worst teams in the NBA during their post-LeBron era. In the three years since the King left for warmer climes, Cleveland has won a combined 64 games (or two fewer than they did in 2008-09 alone). There are plenty of reasons for optimism this season. They have a new coaching staff led by Mike Brown in his second coming to Cleveland. The Cavs also made some splashes in free agency (Andrew Bynum and Jarrett Jack), and they have a boatload of young talent captained by one of the most lethal fourth-quarter scorers in the league, Kyrie Irving.
If everything goes right, the Cavs could be a scary team in the Eastern Conference playoffs. However, there are a lot of blanks that need to be filled in just the right way for everything to go right. Bynum and fellow big man Anderson Varejao have been injury prone. Irving has also missed time with a variety of maladies throughout his short career. There are also a number of young players on the roster (Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, and Tyler Zeller) who will need to take a step forward in their development to help the team achieve its goals. If merely making the playoffs is the goal (and it is), then the Cavaliers should make good. Winning a playoff round may be beyond this team's ability, especially if they sneak in on the eighth seed and are forced to face the Heat in the first round.
As noted above, health will be a major factor in determining playing time. Bynum and Varejao are coming off major injuries. Varejao was limited to 25 games in 2012-13. Bynum didn't play at all for Philadelphia. They could both be brought along slowly, which could open playing time for Thompson, Zeller, and No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett, who is coming off shoulder surgery of his own. The five bigs will share the 96 minutes allotted to power forward and center early on, with the veterans taking on more time should they prove healthy. Alonzo Gee started all 82 games at small forward for the Cavaliers in 2012-13, but that was more of a necessity than a choice. He is more suited for a reserve role and may back up Earl Clark who brings more size and defensive versatility.
The Cavs' backcourt situation is more clear. Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Jarrett Jack will control the majority of the minutes. Irving played 35 minutes per game in 2012-13, which may be too many with his injury history. Jack's presence should allow Irving to play fewer minutes at point. Waiters will start at shooting guard and play there exclusively. Jack will come off the bench, but he'll get plenty of minutes because of his ability to play either guard spot. C.J. Miles and rookie Sergey Karasev could provide some scoring off the bench, but minutes will be limited.
Andrew Bynum: His perpetual absence due to injury sent Philadelphia to Skunksville, but the Cavaliers are pinning their hopes on the 7-footer after signing him to a low-risk, high-reward contract. When he's healthy, Bynum is among the top centers in the game. He averaged 18.1 points and 11.8 rebounds in 2011-12 during which he played 60 of the 66 games (four of which he was suspended) in the strike-shortened season. His coach at the time was Brown, so maybe the former Lakers coach has a magical elixir to keep Bynum healthy and productive. Bynum will be 26 years old when the season starts, and he'll be one of the biggest wild cards in fantasy drafts. He could be a mid-round bust but is certainly worth a late-round flier.
Tyler Zeller: Forced into a starter's role last year by Varejao's injury, Zeller looked like a serviceable backup center. The Tar Heel alumnus averaged 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds, which were not useful in most leagues. Zeller could be more effective in reduced minutes and may be able to carve a bench role for the Cavaliers, but there is little reason to draft him in all but the deepest of leagues.
Anderson Varejao: In the first six weeks of the 2012-13 season, the Brazilian big man put up some eye-popping numbers. He averaged 14.1 points and 14.4 rebounds but was felled by a knee injury on December 18, and a blood clot in his lung ended his season. Coach Brown will need to carefully monitor Varejao's minutes. He played 36 minutes in 2012-13, the team might be best served bringing Sideshow Andy off the bench. Even in reduced minutes, he could be an impact fantasy rebounder, but fantasy owners should temper their expectations.
Tristan Thompson: While starting next to Varejao last season, Thompson looked like he was going be nothing more than a slightly below average player. More doors opened for the 6-9 Canadian after Varejao was lost for the season, and Thompson produced buckets of double-doubles thereafter. He finished the season averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 9.4 rebounds. If Varejao and Bynum manage to stay healthy, Thompson's numbers will likely take a large dip, but he can be drafted and stashed in deeper leagues because the odds of Bynum and Varejao staying healthy aren't great.
Anthony Bennett: There haven't been lower expectations for a No. 1 pick since Kwame Brown took a daily tongue lashing from Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards. Comparing Bennett to Brown isn't exactly fair. Before he injured his shoulder last year with UNLV, Bennett looked like a monster prospect. He had eight double-doubles in his first 17 games. The 6-8 forward was slowed by injury and a bump in competition in conference play, but he has a diverse offensive game and enough athleticism to be a good rebounder and defender. The Cavs have said that Bennett will likely only play at power forward, and while it seems unlikely, the possibility remains that he could showcase his talen well enough in the preseason to fight for the starting job. We project him to come off the bench at the start of the season, but we'll also be keeping a close on his health and development in camp.
Earl Clark: It took Clark a few years to find his role in the NBA after being a lottery pick out of Louisville in 2010. The 6-10 jumping jack provided much needed youth and vigor to the aging Lakers last season. He started 36 games and should start for coach Brown with the Cavs. His averages of 7.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 2012-13 may represent his ceiling, so Clark has limited fantasy appeal.
Alonzo Gee: It's hard not to admire the former undrafted free agent who bounced around the NBA in 2009-10 and 2010-11. He made appearances with the Wizards and Spurs before latching on with Cleveland. However, if Gee is a team's starting small forward and plays 31 minutes per game, that team is likely not going far. Gee should come off the bench in 2012-13 and provide perimeter defense, but he will almost assuredly not score in double digits again.
Kenny Kadji: Kadji brings an interesting skill set for a 6-11 player. He was primarily a 3-point shooter for the Miami Hurricanes over the past two seasons. He may be a long shot to make the Cavaliers roster after going undrafted, and he is an even longer shot to get significant minutes.
Kyrie Irving: Irving has proven that he's a fantasy stud when he's on the court and healthy. The problem is that he's missed 50 games through his first two seasons. Last year, he had issues with his knee, shoulder, hand and an illness that caused him to miss 23 games. The one-and-done Blue Devil has the rare ability to take over games and has posted excellent shooting percentages (career numbers of 46 percent from the field, 39 percent from three-point land, and 86 percent from the line). He has much more help on the 2013-14 Cavaliers roster, which may allow him to be more effective. Irving is a borderline first-round pick in almost all fantasy leagues.
Jarrett Jack: After playing for four teams in his first seven years in the league, Jack found himself in his role with the Warriors last season. He came off the bench to support the young backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Jack should reprise that role with the Cavaliers. He'll allow Irving to play off the ball more and give the team a veteran point guard to run the show when Irving is resting. Jack may not top his 2012-13 averages of 12.9 points and 5.6 assists, but he will be a useful player who can be drafted in the mid to late rounds.
Dion Waiters: It should help Waiters' development to play just one position. After getting a trial as a combo guard as a rookie, Waiters will be limited to duty at shooting guard in his second year. The former-Syracuse player averaged 14.7 points but made just 41 percent of his field goals and 31 percent of his three-pointers. While he'll continue to start, his minutes may be limited by Jack's presence, but Waiters could contribute similar numbers if his shooting efficiency can improve.
C.J. Miles: In his first year as a Cavalier, Miles struggled to find a consistent role off the bench. He averaged 11.2 points in just 21 minutes and hit 38 percent of his three-pointers. The long-time Jazz reserve will likely not see as many minutes in 2013-14 but could provide some scoring spurts off the bench.
Sergey Karasev: The 19th pick of the 2013 draft is unlikely to see many minutes. He has good NBA size at 6-8, 200 lbs and could provide perimeter defense, but he's mainly known as a shooter. It's hard to see how he will have a major fantasy impact in 2013-14 unless major injuries hit the Cavaliers.
Carrick Felix: The second round pick out of Arizona State is an energy player who could provide a defensive spark to the Cavaliers' second unit.
Jarrett Jack: The reserve point guard is coming off an excellent season as he helped Golden State to the playoffs, where they knocked off Denver and took the Spurs to six games. Jack will provide enough points and three-pointers to be a fantasy asset. If Irving should continue to suffer injuries, Jack could be the focus of the Cavaliers offense.
Andrew Bynum: All of the noises out of Cleveland sound positive (as they often do prior to any season for any team). Here's what we know: Bynum missed last season with knee discomfort. He missed large chunks of nearly each of his seven previous seasons with the Lakers. If a fantasy player's league has an IR slot or a deep bench, then there is less risk in taking the 7-footer. In other leagues, owners would be wise to let Bynum be someone else's problem.


text:
Adjectives that should be banned
Sir, – Another one to add to Frank McNally's banned list (An Irishman's Diary, June 14th) might be "prestigious". Once described by Kingsley Amis as "an adjective of last resort", it has become ubiquitous. The use of it – usually in marketing literature – makes me distrust the (very) noun that it is supposed to be qualifying. I was tempted to start that last sentence with "paradoxically" but fear that your readers might be offended by the use of hanging adverbs; I wonder what views Frank McNally has on the latter. – Yours, etc,
Featherbed Lane,
Co Cork.


text:
Photo Galleries
Image 1 of 12
Former gang member Alfred Medina Jr., who served 17 years for drug-related crimes, lives at a residence for ex-prisoners run by the Amity Foundation in Los Angeles. The stars tattooed on his face, which he says used to represent six rival gang members he stabbed in prison, now stand for his six children.
Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Image 1 of 12
© The Christian Science Monitor. All Rights Reserved.


text:
It's been awhile since I harped on how important client satisfaction with their legal service provider is. Since starting this blog in January 2005, I have preached many, many times on how important feedback is for firms to retain existing clients or obtain referrals from them (See a few posts below on the subject). It… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: client retention
Are You Providing Clients Real Value?Posted in Marketing Tips
The key to success in any business is providing value. And in today's competitive legal market, any law firm that doesn't know that is not talking to their clients. Much less are they in tune with their marketplace. If you think you are providing value to your clients, but haven't asked them, how would you… Continue Reading
Why Clients Will Pay You MorePosted in Client Communications, Marketing Tips
Because they like you. They like you because you provide great value. You provide great value because you care about your clients, about being efficient and reducing costs, helping them achieve their personal and business goals, and you give them freebies (i.e. free advice occasionally, CLE, and more). The result: raving fans! Raving fans are willing to… Continue Reading
Some Real Blunders to Help Undermine Your Marketing EffortsPosted in Marketing Tips
Now let's think. If I wanted to do some really stupid things to hurt my chances of getting more legal business, and/or damage my reputation, as a lawyer what would they be. Here is my take on an article in Trey Ryder's recent newsletter where he identifies a dozen blunders (with his suggestions on countering… Continue Reading
Are You Too Timid to Ask Clients for Legal Work?Posted in Marketing Tips
A client of mine during one of our weekly coaching sessions last week told me that she was not comfortable asking clients for work. At first, I was taken aback, since I'm thinking that it isn't as tough as asking a prospect for work. I mean for goodness sake, it is a client that already knows and… Continue Reading
Down Economy Isn't Necessarily Bad For Smaller FirmsPosted in Marketing Tips
After reading for months about tons of layoffs of both lawyers and staff by BigLaw firms, one may think that the legal business is in trouble in this down economy. Not so fast. An article to the contrary by Thomas Adcock appears in the recent issue of Law.com's Small Firm Business. Adcock points to a… Continue Reading
Are You Interviewing Your Clients?Posted in Client Communications, Marketing Tips
Since I started interviewing law firm clients in 1990 (even used a film crew to capture five of them on a VHS tape – I'll bet you remember what those are), I have never waivered from the belief that it is one of the most important things a firm can do to retain clients. And developing… Continue Reading


text:
St. Charles Borromeo PK3 students recently celebrated Clifford The Big Red Dogs 50th birthday.
The classes participated in a national webcast from Scholastic that honored Cliffords creator, Norman Bridwell. Afterwards, the classes decorated cookies and sang "Happy Birthday" together as they wore their big red ears in honor of Clifford.


text:
Margaret Alice Second
Threshold Of Hope - Poem by Margaret Alice Second
Double vision, cannot read any more –
new pills will not be taken again, this is
worse than ever before, lack of muscle
tension and chemical depression will
combine to leave a catatonic wreck.
Ah well, this is a repetition of history –
only difference is I don't feel anxiety
while sinking into the depths of inertia,
eyes slits enabling me to see a little bit
while looking up synonyms:
Apathy and unresponsiveness- oh, the
the fungus cure on the Thesaurus page
with yellowing toe nails is atrocious – but
I remain calm, the chronic pain and fear
of the old days are gone, I know
This forced indolence and the boredom
accompanying it will pass and eventually
I shall be active and interested in life again,
following rules always brings me back to
the threshold of hope where I belong!
Poet's Notes about The Poem
Comments about Threshold Of Hope by Margaret Alice Second
Read this poem in other languages
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem »
Margaret Alice Second's Other Poems
Famous Poems
Phenomenal Woman
Maya Angelou
Still I Rise
Maya Angelou
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
If You Forget Me
Pablo Neruda
Langston Hughes
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
Caged Bird
Maya Angelou
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
Rudyard Kipling
I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You
Pablo Neruda


text:
Shocking new dash camera video released Friday shows a police officer firing shots at a minivan full of five kids after their mother appears to refuse to comply after being pulled over.
The video shows an unidentified New Mexico State Police officer confront Oriana Ferrell after stopping her vehicle on Oct. 28 for traveling 71 miles-per-hour in a 55 mile-per-hour zone.
— Scroll down for video —
Things escalate when Ferrell does not comply with the officer's order to turn off her car, but instead chooses to drive off.
She pulls over again and the infuriated officer immediately demands she exit the driver seat and step out of the vehicle.
"Look, I'm going to ask you one more time to get out of the vehicle and then I'm going to pull you out, OK?" the officer said. "You're already facing evading charges. You ran away from me."
"Sir, I pulled back over, I didn't run away," Ferrell responded. "You see my children. I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just trying to take them to the Rio Grande."
Ferrell reluctantly complies, but her cooperation doesn't last for long.
The mother of five makes a run for the drivers seat and engages in a struggle with the officer. At this point, the minivan of kids unloads and the officer appears to lose control of the scene. Somehow the mother and children all end up back in the vehicle.
Backup arrives, but the officers can't gain entry into the vehicle because of the locked doors.
As one officer starts smashing the vehicle's windows, the mother once again takes off.
At this juncture, one officer can be seen on video firing shots at the minivan.
The mother reportedly then led police on a high-speed chase before finally surrendering in front of a hotel. She was arrested at the scene, along with her 14 year-old-son, according to KRQE.
State police are now investigating the officers involved.
Follow Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) on Twitter


text:
Public record for Oct. 24, 2011
-- MATTHEW A. BURR, 26, of 819 Oriole, Janesville, at 7:45 p.m. Saturday on charges of operating while intoxicated and causing injury. He also was cited for hit and run at South Main and Carrington Streets when a 6-year-old was injured and taken to Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center, Janesville, for treatment of minor injuries.
Intoxicated driving arrests
-- CHRISTOPHER R. SCOTT, 26, of 8331 E. County A, Janesville, at 3:01 a.m. Saturday on Highway 14, near East Racine St., Janesville.
-- RYAN H. BENNETT, 22, of 3262 Riverside Drive, Beloit, at 2:36 a.m., Sunday, at the intersection of South Parker Drive and East Milwaukee St. Bennett�s vehicle was parked and when he attempted to leave the parking stall, he backed into a vehicle. This is reported as his second offense.
-- WILLIAM M. JONES, 35, of 2006 S. Terrace St., Janesville, at 1:51 a.m. Sunday at West Court Street and South Crosby Ave., Janesville.
-- INJURY at 12:36 p.m. Sunday at a Milton Township farm, on North Serns Road, Milton. A woman in her 50s was bucked off the horse she was riding and taken to Edgerton Hospital and Health Services, where she was listed in stable condition, according to a Milton Fire Department spokesman.
-- BURGLARY reported at 2:51 p.m. Friday in the 2300 block of East Milwaukee Street, Janesville. Taken were an Apple cordless keyboard and computer tower, a 32-inch flat screen TV, quilt and clothes hamper valued at $680.
-- SUBSTANTIAL BATTERY WITH INTENT TO CAUSE BODILY HARM reported at 11 p.m. Saturday in the 1300 block of Laramie Lane. A 24-year-old man physically assaulted his girlfriend.
Fire Calls
-- BRUSH FIRE at 12:39 p.m. Sunday. A controlled burn got out of control in a picked cornfield, 7866 N. Honeysuckle, Fulton Township. Edgerton firefighters used 600 gallons of water to extinguish the fire along with a neighbor who plowed up the field of corn stubble.
Last updated: 6:40 pm Thursday, December 13, 2012


text:
Exactly how bad will Dallas' curbside trash recycling program have to perform before anyone with city government acknowledges that it just ain't right?
Pretty bad, apparently, judging by the latest numbers in a national survey.
The survey published last month by the trade publication Waste News found that only 2.2 percent of the city's residential waste was recycled. Last year's rate was 4.6 percent. In 2001, it was 19 percent.
Buzz isn't great with numbers, so give us a moment to do some crunching to put those figures in perspective. Lessee, take 19, divide by the cosign, toss in a few logarithms. OK, here goes. The decline, in percentage terms, from 19 to 2.2 percent equals a whole freakin' lot of money down the rat hole.
Forgive the technical jargon. Numbers tend to get a bit slippery when it comes to recycling. The Dallas Observer learned that last year when we tried to figure out just how much the city's recyclers were putting out on the curb ("Garbage In, Garbage Out," by Charles Siderius, May 16). The Observer reported that Community Waste Disposal, the city's privately contracted recycling hauler, was operating with so little oversight that the city had no idea how much was being collected.
We said that it appeared that drivers were taking multiple trips across scales to get multiple credit for the same loads, that the company's scales were tipped in the company's favor and that some drivers invented the number of stops they made.
City officials were not alarmed by our first story. There might have been a slip up or two, but, they said, they were going to put together a recycling task force and were going to have meetings. The city's curbside recycling program, which cost water utility customers about $2.4 million last year, rolled on.
If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.
You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in!
John Barlow, manager of waste diversion for the city's sanitation department, says there are many reasons the recycling rate "appears" to have declined. For instance, Barlow says that the amount of recyclables collected dropped from 35,231 tons in 2001 to 14,033 last year because less metal and fewer tires were collected.
Regardless, performance of Dallas' recycling program is abysmal compared with other cities in the publication's survey.
Nineteen of the 25 cities that Waste News surveyed posted recycling rates in the double digits. Dallas had the lowest recycling rate and the lowest actual amount of materials collected of all but El Paso.
Still, it could be worse. Buzz figures that at the current rate of decline, in another couple of years the city will actually be dropping off bundles of old newspapers and beer bottles at every resident's door.


text:
- Font:
- +
- -
Sources tell Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan that the Rangers have no plans to call up Manny Ramirez, even with regular designated hitter Lance Berkman making little progress with his leg problems and weighing retirement. Ramirez went 1-for-4 on Thursday and is hitting .250/.318/.417 with three homers in 15 games for Triple-A Round Rock as he…


text: On Thu, Mar 30, 2006 at 12:26:58PM +0100, Simon Marlow wrote: > On 30 March 2006 11:42, John Meacham wrote: > > > Although I was skeptical at the beginning that we could come up with a > > standard based on forkIO that could encompass both models without > > compromising performance or implementation flexability, I now think > > that we can! and that is good, because it means we won't need to make > > concurrency an addendum or just accept the fact that many > > haskell-prime implementations will be incomplete! > > Which sounds like a win-win, but the concern Manuel rose earlier in this > thread still holds: namely that if we allow too much flexibility in the > standard, it becomes too hard to write portable applications. Someone > coding for GHC will almost certainly not insert enough 'yield's to make > their program work properly on a cooperative implementation. (hmm, I > wonder if GHC could be made to optionally behave like a cooperative > scheduler without too much effort. That would help). I was actually just thinking that if not using '-threaded' gave a true cooperative model, that could be useful. for pure IO multiplexing applications (editors,chat clients,web servers) it tends to be faster (hence the switch from pthreading to state-threading in many network servers). Though since ghc already has indirect function calls everywhere, the speed benefit might be neglegable. but the debugging/deterministic benefits could be useful. you could be guarenteed to reproduce a given sequence of context switches which could make finding concurrent heisenbugs easier. or something like concurrent 'hat' or another debugger might find it easier to work in such a mode. In any case, what I think of when I think of 'writing a portable app' is that from _the spec alone_ I can write something that I can expect to work on any compliant system. This goal can be achieved to various degrees. But if the specification says, 'the implementation might be cooperative' and I write assuming that, then it pretty much will definitly work anywhere perhaps with some spurious 'yields'. however if it says something to the effect of 'runnable threads will be timeshared via some fair algorithm for some definition of fair' then it doesn't help much writing portable apps since you would want to test on the various compilers to see what their definiton of "fair" is. It is not like inserting yields needs to be done much at all since we have progress guarentees, so we know the program is doing something and on any blocking call that could potentially take a while, the library will yield for you. at least it is clear from the spec exactly when you need to resort to implementation testing and that you shouldn't count on the scheduler behaving in too specific a way, which is just good advice in general when writing concurrent code. > Still, I think this makes an interesting proposal. Could you put it on > the wiki, perhaps replacing Proposal 3? Okay. I'll put something on the wiki along with the rationale. though, feel free to preempt (pun?) me with anything anyone wants to put there too. > > A sticky point might be whether we say anything about duplicated work, > > however, the haskell report never really says anything about > > guarenteed sharing anyway so we can probably be silent on the matter. > > Quite right, the standard doesn't need to mention this. > > > we certainly shouldn't treat state-threads as second class or a > > "lesser" implementation of the standard though! they can often be > > faster than OS threads but with their own set of tradeoffs. > > > > glossary: > > > > OS threaded - ghc -threaded, context switching at arbitrary points, > > not necessarily under the control of the haskell runtime. > > > > state-threading - hugs,jhc context switching at block-points chosen > > by the implementation and user via yield. > > > > yhc is somewhere in between. basically state-threading, but with more > > context switching under the control of the yhc run-time. > > I'm not sure I'd separate YHC from GHC. They both satisfy the fairness > properties we talked about earlier, and from a programmer's point of > view would be indistinguishable (to a very close approximation). It's > very hard to write a program that can tell them apart. I thought yhc supported unboxed values, so a loop like count 0 = 0 count n = count (n - 1) count 100000 could block the runtime (assuming it was properly unboxed by the compiler) since it never calls back into it and is just a straight up countdown loop? in any case, even if not, yhc might want to support unboxed values one day at which point it might jump categories, but get a speed boost in the process or they will come up with some clever way to have their cake and eat it too :) > I think if the standard were to go in this direction, then it would be > helpful to establish two versions of the fairness properties: the strong > version that includes GHC/YHC, and a weaker version that also admits > Hugs (eg. the progress guarantee you mentioned earlier). An > implementation would be required to say which of these it satisfies. sure. but I sort of object to the terms 'weak' and 'strong'. I think 'preemptive' vs 'cooperative' along with guarentees they make. of course, you might have things like semi-preemptive like nhc with unboxed values leading to possible loops that don't call back into the run-time that complicate things... in any case, we know we should definitly come to a concrete decision on what it means to support the 'weak' or 'cooperative' model and I think we have basically done so across all our threads. Probably some more discussion will be needed to figure out exactly what it means to support the 'strong' model. another case we might want to distinguish is the one where the system is _guarenteed_ to never preempt except at user decided points. though, perhaps this is getting too pedantic for the standard. John -- John Meacham - ⑆repetae.net⑆john⑈


text:
Creative inspiration
Keep your design work fresh with top tips from leading designers.
Keep your design work fresh with top tips from leading designers.
Digital Arts catches up with one of the UK's most prolific and best-known character artists to talk squirrels and success.
Rokkan has created an immersive, interactive Web site that gives gamers an authentic taste of hit sci-fi game BioShock.
French animators Pierre+Bertrand got the chance to transform a student project into a commercial for Mars' ad agency.
Smash-hit kill-by-numbers TV show Dexter got a visual-effects makeover for the upcoming third season.
Visual-effects studio Lobo pulled out all the stops for a full-CG spot on the 30 years since Lego launched its first Miniman.
From a decayed mummy to vast armies, Digital Domain served up some gory visual effects for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
Here are our essential tips for creatively handling colour.
Using impressive 3D elements in your artwork doesn't have to be a long, fiddly process: new batch of tools offers slick integration at a good price.
The financial climate is looking gloomy – but how will it affect your studio? Can you turn troubled times to your advantage?
Adobe has launched the fourth major release of its Creative Suite collection of tools for design, animation and editing across a wide range of output media, including print, Web, broadcast, optical disc or mobile phone – and we got our hands on the full set of beta versions of the tools to test them in-depth for you.
VFX house Gradient FX created a gory yet somehow charming singing heart to for Gnarls Barkley's new single.
An intricate animation of a full underwater orchestra for United Airlines by Shy the Sun and Lung has proven a stellar hit.
London VFX studio Double Negative translated the director's monster visions into over 1,000 shots for Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.


text:
View Single Post
March 3rd, 2012, 00:17
PvP servers are great fun! We had a horde troll hunter that was a notorious low-lever alliance ganker, spending his entire time hunting the innocent. Once when we were raiding Zul Gurub. We'd been wiping on ends so our tank, who was also our raid leader, had to exit the dungeon to do some repairs. So we waited, and waited. Then we started to hear some angry mumbling on ventrilo. People started to ask why he was taking so long. He replied angrily that he was getting ganked, so our entire raid sprang into action to rescue our leader. Outside an army of heavily 20 armed men and women ascended upon a horde troll hunter. The hunter had become the hunted! So the tales from the realm forums say.
Level N+1
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Southern parts of Norway
Posts: 1,141
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
View Public Profile
Find More Posts by hishadow


text:
ATP Madrid Open: Rafael Nadal wins his fifth title since returning from injury
Rafael Nadal clinched his third ATP Madrid Open title thanks to a 6-2 6-4 victory against Stanislas Wawrinka.
Last Updated: 14/05/13 11:16am
As the undisputed clay-court king, Nadal came through in just 71 minutes of action on the Caja Magica to record his fifth title in his seventh consecutive final since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for seven months.
The fifth-ranked Nadal cruised to his 55th career title - his 40th on clay - while extending his head-to-head record against the Swiss to 9-0.
Wawrinka, who was aiming to lift his second successive title having won in Portugal last week, struggled to cope with the Spaniard's power throughout.
Fast pace
The 11-time grand slam winner rolled through the first set, racing into a 4-0 and 5-1 lead at the outset.
He won two of his seven break points while not allowing Wawrinka any chance to hit back, before the Spaniard claimed the set with an ace in just 31 minutes.
Wawrinka, the 15th seed, tried to battle back in the second but again he could not create any break points on the Nadal serve and it was only a matter of time before the home favourite finished things off.
Nadal broke again to go ahead 4-3 before serving out to claim his 23rd Masters Series title.
"The truth is that I am very happy and perhaps this victory is even more special where we have come from," he said afterwards.
"Last season was a difficult season and to play for me was a dream.
"This is the most aggressive I have been in a match.
"I think these have been intense matches in which I have been able to play well and thanks to this excellent crowd it has been easier."


text:
He did lose his board. I have no idea why he wouldn't have swam in when he lost it. He was stuck way outside kind of floating around. He was kind of close to a jetty so maybe afraid to swim in near it?
Printable View
He did lose his board. I have no idea why he wouldn't have swam in when he lost it. He was stuck way outside kind of floating around. He was kind of close to a jetty so maybe afraid to swim in near it?
No other boarders offered some help? Since I'm not exactly sure what happened, I'm not trying to pass blame, but it seems kinda heartless to let some dude float around for two hours in the cold water risking hypothermia, and not offer some type of assistance if you're close by ... no set of waves is ever THAT good ...
Edit: Is this the story? ... Looks like he might have been surfing alone? From this video I don't see anyone else in the water with him.
Plenty of beat downs and close out barrells is what I saw. Oh yeah, freezing cold too. Guess that's epic in NJ though?
In re: the f'u'cast.....Solid call yesterday.
In VB: the f'u'cast was a complete miss today from CRO to North End; nearly ludicrous, in fact.
Go ahead .... shoot the messenger.
yankee, you're absolutely right haha. it was pretty fun except for the closeout sections. had to swim to the beach more than once to get my board. damn leash kept getting yanked off (no pun intended). today was damn near flat
i have been in central PA since Thursday (girlfriends birthday trumps surfing apparently) and was watching the surf cams on my phone the whole time. Just got home and wish i never logged on to this site. looks like i missed a fun one :(
We've had some good swells in our lifetimes but just about everyone that went out agreed, Friday was the best we've ever had it.
Thursday's lookin like round 2..maybe even bigger
Also heard that guy who got picked up on the heli has to pay a fine of $5000 for getting picked up hah..I woulda just told them to drop me down a Gatorade and let me be
Couple waves from Squan on my good buddies go pro http://vimeo.com/56168456


text:
Today's Throwback Video of the Day is "Cannonball" from [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]The Breeders[/lastfm]!!
It reminds us of when we used to yell "Cannonball!!" before jumping into the kiddie pool…
Originally a side project for [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Pixies[/lastfm] bassist Kim Deal, The Breeders found critical and commercial success in 1993 with their second album, Last Splash. It sold over a million copies and landed at No. 33 on the Billboard 200 chart.
The lead single, "Cannonball," was a Top 5 Modern Rock hit. The music video was directed by Spike Jonze and [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Sonic Youth[/lastfm]'s Kim Gordon, and VH1 placed it at No. 83 on their list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s.
Where to next?
Click here to return to the Jack Homepage
Log in to your Jack Nation account
Check out the latest Jack Music News
Listen to Jack's Song of the day
Enter to win Jack prizes online
Get a list of songs Jack played this hour
Check out the 100.3 Jack FM Photo Gallery


text:
Our Exquisite Corpse art sale fundraiser was a smashing success, raising more than $73,000 in support of MMW+C. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the 167 artists who donated their time and talents to our efforts by creating unique collaborative pieces for the sale or by participating in the book and film projects. We also want to thank our generous sponsors, who helped make the night so magical.
For those of you who could not attend the event, ten amazing exquisite corpses are now available for online purchase. Many of these are pieces created by the instructors you all know and love, including Craig Stevens, Cig Harvey, Keith Carter, Jean Miele, and Sean Kernan. See the complete list HERE, or stop by our Rockport gallery to see them in person.
Our book and film projects were also unveiled at the Exquisite Corpse event. You can see a slideshow of the book's 100 images as well as the strange and fun little film that a few brave faculty and alumni made below. Stop by our campus or gallery to buy the book, or CLICK HERE send us an email about making a purchase if you aren't nearby.
More images from the event can be found on our facebook page!
Check out this slideshow of images from our Exquisite Corpse book. 100 of you participated in the making of it.
Here is our zany Exquisite Corpse film, made 15 seconds at a time!


text:
Veterinarian needed for an emergency facility. Flexible scheduling allows the ability to enjoy all that the area has to offer. Full time or per diem considered in our progressive, compassionate facility in picturesque Littleton, NH. We are fortunate to have a large referral base and have diagnostic equipment such as digital radiology, US, and full in house lab to name a few. We provide an excellent compensation package including competitive base salary, production bonus, life, disability, health, IRA, sign on bonus, onsite housing available, paid CE and vacation. We are nestled in the beautiful White Mountains near all major amenities. Please contact us for more details by phone (603) 444 - 5533 or email your resume to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Copyright | Privacy | Accessibility | Feedback
(C) 2013 Western University of Health Sciences. All Rights Reserved


text:
A Christian college student was in for a cryptic surprise when she rejected a man who showed interest in her on OkCupid, an online dating website. Holly Mason, a senior at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Wash., claims that Adam Carter-Campbell threatened to kill her — and others — after she cutoff contact.
Here's how it reportedly went down: Mason, 21, turned the 24-year-old down. When he got angry as a result, she reported him to OkCupid and had him banned. Then, he reportedly created a new account and allegedly sent her a chilling message.
"I dream of a paradise where you and I can go to an [I]sland where no one can hear you scream," he purportedly wrote.
"You just got to be nicer to me. That way, I won't have the inclination to kill a bunch of people," a second message read.
Unsure of what to do, Mason called 911 and reported the threats. In an interview with KIRO-TV she said she wasn't sure what access Carter-Campbell might have to weapons or how sincere the threats might have been.
"I was worried for everyone else because he was so angry about something I did," she said. "It was more like I don't want this on my head and I don't want to see Seattle hurt."
Police arrested Carter-Campbell in Seattle last week and prosecutors claim he is a danger to himself and others, according to KIRO-TV.
He has been charged with felony cyber-stalking and his bail is currently set at $100,000.
(H/T: Christian Post)


text:
Being a parent makes a person highly aware. Aware of middle-of-the-night breathing, the size of the cut-up carrot chunks, the ingredients in fruit snacks. It also makes us highly aware of our own behavior, and if you're me, your flaws. There's one, in particular, that I like to call the "But Complex."
It happens with little things, it happens with big things. It happens nearly any time I get the chance to own a job well done, and it goes a little something like this:
"Your kids are so cute. You're doing a great job with them!"
Oh, thanks. It may seem that way, but I'm not, really. They're incredible kids, but I'm pretty sure I'm failing a little bit more each day and I fear I just may ruin them.
Or, at work: "Hey, that project you did? Great job!"
It may seem that way, but I really didn't. It's mediocre work at best. Thank you for not looking more closely.
"Those snacks you made for daycare were so cute!"
It may seem that way, but I didn't come up with the idea. I saw them on Pinterest. I wish that had been my creative brainchild, but nope.
"You look fabulous!"
It may seem that way, but I really don't. I assure you, if you could really see me, you'd see how flawed I am. How wrong I look. How much I need to change. How much I've let myself go. But thanks!
"That article/poem/whatever you wrote was great!"
Oh, that? Thanks. It might seem like it was good, but it wasn't. I assure you. I just won't let you read anything else I written so you don't find out that I'm a fraud who just happened to produce a lucky page.
"Oh hey, (insert any compliment here.)"
Thanks, BUT (deflect, deflect, deflect here.)
And, perhaps the worst of all, "Mommy, you're the best mommy ever."
Oh, honey. It may seem that way, but someday, when you're big, you'll realize that I'm just…not.
I don't say it, of course, but it's always there. That little voice. For me, and for many other women who really are fabulous but just can't let themselves truly know it.
Why the struggle to own our power, our talent, our strength? I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that of all the gifts I want to leave my children, this isn't one of them. They deserve to feel confident and wear a smile when they say, "Thank you!"…because I don't ever want them to know how much that "but" weighs.