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June 13, 1990, Section A, Page 1Buy Reprints
The occasional shaft of light descends from a grate 25 feet overhead, and rats scurry across the dirt floor, but otherwise the wide railroad tunnel beneath Riverside Park is a dark and peaceful place. It suits the needs of its inhabitants, who number perhaps 100 and sometimes call themselves the Mole People.
These men and women may be the most stable homeless settlement in New York City, although some of the old-timers would not describe it that way. After 15 years in the tunnel, they do not consider themselves homeless. They have plywood shanties and cinder-block bunkers with rugs, beds, night stands, kerosene lamps, wood and gas stoves, paintings on the walls, pets in the yard.
But the quiet life along the Hudson River is becoming problematic, both for the Mole People and for a neighboring group of squatters called the Rotunda Gang because of their home beneath the park's traffic circle at 79th Street. Change is coming to the Lower Upper West Side.
During the last two weeks the Parks Department has rousted the Rotunda Gang from the round arcade it inhabited for years. Down in the two-and-a-half-mile-long tunnel, Amtrak crews are laying track to bring trains through for the first time in 10 years, and the Mole People are wondering how their life style will coexist with locomotives.
And then there is the worrisome news from downtown: the evictions of the homeless from train stations and subway platforms. The Riverside squatters are sympathetic to the dispossessed, but they don't necessarily want those people in their neighborhood.
''We'd like to keep out the riffraff,'' said Joseph Milan, 44 years old, who built a shanty on the railroad land last summer. ''Around here we show responsibility. We go to work in the morning. We don't steal. We don't do drugs. We don't need those crackheads and addicts and alcoholics from the stations branching out here.''
'You Should Do Something'
The several dozen members of the Rotunda Gang, who have moved their cots and stoves to other parts of Riverside Park, blame newcomers for some of the problems that contributed to their eviction: drunken knife fights, muggings, crack dealing, and hookups of lights and television sets to the park's electrical system.
''We tried to keep this a nice area for the public,'' said Michael McDowell, 35, who moved into the rotunda three years ago. ''But the people from downtown came, and they have no pride. They sit around and curse and spit and play loud music. A lot of them are pandhandlers - that's the lowest. God gave you two hands, you should do something. With pandhandling you lose all self-respect, and we know what they do with that money - drugs.''
The Rotunda Gang elicited mixed reactions from neighbors at the 79th Street marina. A few yacht dwellers befriended them, bringing them meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but others objected. So did many Upper West Siders, said Charles McKinney, the director of Riverside Park.
''It was one of the chief complaints we heard from the public,'' Mr. McKinney said. ''Parents were afraid to take their children there.''
Mostly Middle-Aged
The Rotunda Gang and the Mole People are generally middle-aged men -white, black, Hispanic - who keep to themselves, although some live with girlfriends or share meals with neighbors. They spoke of past bouts with drugs or alcohol and mental illness, but most of those interviewed seemed sober and lucid.
Some work at outside jobs, go to school or survive on government checks mailed to churches or friends living nearby. Probably most are self-employed. They go off with shopping carts collecting scrap metal, cans, bottles, books and magazines to sell on nearby streets or redeem at recycling centers.
They go to public showers, take their clothes to self-service laundries and clip coupons to shop in the supermarket. Some of the couples cling to traditional domesticity: he goes to work, she stays home to clean and cook. In the evening they stroll along the river, read, listen to music, and gossip with neighbors. They keep in shape by playing basketball in the park and using old railroad ties for weight lifting.
In one sense they are historical restorationists. The mud flats along the Hudson were home to squatters when the railroad came in the mid-1800's, and there was a full-fledged shantytown until Robert Moses decided to put a park and a highway up the West Side in the 1930's.
Mr. Moses, the City Parks Commissioner and master builder, covered the New York Central railroad tracks, much to the relief of Riverside Drive residents who had endured smoky, noisy and smelly trains carrying cattle and pigs to downtown slaughterhouses. He built the park's promenades on top of the 75-foot-wide tunnel from 123d Street down to 72d Street, where the tracks emerge into the former railroad yard now owned by Donald J. Trump.
'You Learn to Adapt'
The tunnel was uninhabited in 1974, when a 27-year-old man named Joe moved in. He still lives there, which is why he asked that his Irish surname not be published.
''I don't want my kids to know I'm here,'' he said. ''They think I live on Madison Avenue. I've got a mailing address there, and when they come to town I borrow a guy's apartment, put my name on the door - it works out all right. You live down here, you learn to adapt.''
At first, Joe slept near the tunnel's southern entrance, below ground inside a huge scale used by the railroad. Then he and another pioneer, who is now 48 and gives his name as John J., moved into a cluster of cinder-block buildings once used by railroad workers inside the tunnel. John J. got the biggest home - bigger than most Manhattan studio apartments - and he has been decorating it ever since.
''I'm always rearranging things, cleaning up, bringing stuff from the trash,'' John J. said, pointing out some of his acquisitions - a sofa, coffee table, desk, floor lamp with burning candles in the socket, framed paintings, a ceramic statue of a lion, and several stuffed animals, including a four-foot bear propped up for display. A dozen kittens and a dog played on the rug.
'It's Not Too Bad'
''The only things we don't have are running water and electricity,'' said Joe. ''The other bad part is watching out for the jerks that come down the outside, the people who try to be smart and they're stupid. I've been in a few fights. Kids come in to steal things and start fires. There's a guy who wears a dress and cowboy boots who comes in a lot, and another guy who goes around offering people 20 bucks to beat him up.
''But mostly it's peaceful. It's all how you play it in your mind. If you don't make it today, you can make it tomorrow. I'd like to move out of here if I could get the money together, but I'm not homeless. A cardboard box, that's homeless. A park bench, that's homeless. Down here, it's not too bad.''
Joe estimated that 100 people now live in the tunnel. They arrived gradually over the years and are scattered along its sides for more than a mile. Some live in another cluster of buildings abandoned by the railroad. Others are up on catwalks, inside niches in the wall, on ledges and in various alcoves. Some built shanties in the middle of the tunnel, but they had to make way for the new track.
The track will be used by the Amtrak passenger trains that now go from upstate New York into Grand Central Terminal. The new route, bringing passengers directly into Amtrak's hub at Pennsylvania Station, is to have 20 trains a day, starting next spring.
''The people in the tunnel haven't caused us any problems so far,'' said Clifford Black, a spokesman for Amtrak, ''but they will be endangered by the trains, and we will do everything in our power to evict them. That's difficult to do in that cavernous expanse with all those dark recesses, but we have been trying to get the word out to them.''
A Universal Aspiration
Some of the Mole People are worried about the new railroad line; others are confident they will survive in their nooks. For now, they are more concerned with what seems to be a universal aspiration in the tunnel: getting enough money to move into an apartment. Despite their years in the tunnel, they still see it as a temporary address, a safer alternative to the city's shelters or the streets or the other shantytowns.
''I was planning to move out three days after I got here,'' said Douglas, 45, another man who did not want his children to read his last name. He moved into an alcove last summer, where he and a man named Shorty keep their beds neatly made and share their meals. Because Shorty has trouble working, Douglas has been supporting both of them by selling magazines on the Broadway sidewalk.
''It's been an adventure for me - I'll word it that way,'' Douglas said. ''You have to have a sense a humor. Look, we've got a river view. It's like going on an extended camping trip, except that instead of being able to go home when you're done, you are home. There are two things that I miss: a shower in the morning, and watching ''Eastenders'' at night. Everything else I can survive.''
After a year, even the rats did not bother him so much. When he heard a rustling against the tunnel wall, he explained that it must be a rat named Hippity-Hop.
''I call him that because he's missing his two front legs,'' Douglas said. ''I see him all the time. I've got a rattrap, but I can't bring myself to use it on him. I never thought I'd see the day when a rat would go by and I'd say go ahead, but that's the way it is down here. Live and let live.''


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With the new NBA season starting in just six days, here's a look at my preseason rankings for the 2012-13 season. Here's the article covering the lower half of the NBA and here's the article on the league's top 15 teams.
Category Archives: OJ Mayo
NBA Free Agency Update – July 20
Here's an update on the latest NBA free agency news via Reup Sports, including analysis on Jeremy Lin becoming a Rocket, updated Dwight Howard trade rumors and recent signings in Los Angeles. Check out the article here.
Chris Paul And LA Bench Provide Biggest Win In Clippers' History
Chris Paul led the way as the Clippers' got their biggest win in franchise history with an 82-72 Game 7 victory on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies earlier today. With the win, LAC won their third playoff series in 41 years and will advance to take on the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the second round.
Chris Paul had 19 points and nine rebounds in Los Angeles' impressive road win, but it was the Clippers' bench that provided the biggest spark to win the series. Kenyon Martin had 11 points (seven in the fourth quarter) and 10 rebounds, Nick Young had 13 and Mo Williams pitched in nine. Eric Bledsoe also added in eight points as the Clippers' bench scored half of LA's points and outscored the Grizzlies' bench 41-11. In fact, the bench played so well that Coach Vinny Del Negro opted to keep Blake Griffin out late in the game and leave Martin and a few other bench players in. The Clippers trailed by one after three quarters, but they opened the fourth quarter with a 16-5 run that silenced Memphis' home crowd and sent the Grizzlies home disappointed.
Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies with 19 points and nine rebounds while Marc Gasol also had 19. Zach Randolph led Memphis with 12 rebounds but only had nine points. And Mike Conley, who had been playing pretty even with Chris Paul throughout the series, was only able to muster seven points on 2-of-13 shooting. The Grizzlies really wasted their postseason opportunities this year. Memphis was probably the better overall team because of their frontcourt advantage, but they didn't start putting it to use until Game 5 when they faced a 3-1 deficit. They played great defense in the first few games (one of which was a monumental fourth quarter collapse) but struggled with turnovers and because of it, weren't able to gain much of an advantage from their steals. The Grizzlies surrendered two double digit fourth quarter leads in this series that translated into wins for the Clippers. O.J. Mayo and Marreese Speights disappeared completely, pretty much decimating the Grizzlies' bench production. And when it mattered most, Gasol and Z-Bo weren't able to dominate in the paint like they needed to. You can't give a guy like Chris Paul that many opportunities to capitalize, injured hip flexor or not. Credit Reggie Evans, Blake Griffin and Kenyon Martin for their physical defense, but it was a truly disappointing effort from the Grizzlies. Considering they were expected to take momentum from winning two straight into their home arena and blow out an injured CP3 and Griffin to take the series, it was a very underwhelming elimination game for Memphis.
Fortunately, the Clippers' bench took Memphis' mistakes and capitalized. They played stellar defense on Memphis' bigs while the Grizzlies' perimeter guards struggled to put up points. So even though Blake Griffin ended up with just eight points and four rebounds off of 3-for-11 shooting, the Clippers shocked the world with a huge road win to send them to the second round. The Clippers will need much better performances from their starters and the same type of effort from their bench to have even the slightest chance against the Spurs in the next round. Randy Foye will need to put up more than six points. Caron Butler will need to do better than eight. And DeAndre Jordan has to actually score. The Spurs are one of the highest-scoring teams in the NBA, so the Clippers need point production from guys other than Paul and Griffin if they want to contend.
Memphis Sends Series To Game 7
With a 90-88 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center, the Memphis Grizzlies swung momentum back in their favor, forcing Game 7 as they try to become the ninth team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and win the series. And with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin not at 100 percent, this resurgent and dangerous Grizzlies team might just do it.
Memphis had their work cut out for them facing a playoff hole, but the Grizzlies believed they should have been up in the series. After a historic Game 1 collapse and losing a few close games in LA, the Grizzlies were right to think so. But it wasn't until they started getting their star post players involved that Memphis was able to prove it. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have had back-to-back phenomenal games and with the offense operating through their post players, the Grizzlies once again look like the deadly playoff team that knocked the top seeded Spurs out in the first round last year. After blowing a few double digit leads in the series, it was the Grizzlies who owned the fourth quarter in Game 6, chipping away at an eight point deficit and eventually taking a five point lead with just under three minutes to play. Without Chris Paul making clutch shots or assists to Blake Griffin, the Clippers had little chance of coming back, even with their home crowd waiting to go wild if their team had been able to give them anything to cheer about.
Now the series shifts back to Memphis, with all the momentum in the Grizzlies' favor. CP3 and Griffin aren't at full strength. Memphis has won two games in a row. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have come to life and look impossible to stop. And Mike Conley is matching Lob City's star point guard blow for blow. So even though O.J. Mayo and Marreese Speights might be done contributing for the series, the Clippers' problems with their starting lineup look to be far more troublesome. In fact, it was Los Angeles' bench that kept the Clippers in the game last night. Eric Bledsoe had 14 points, Kenyon Martin had 10 and Reggie Evans had six points and 10 rebounds while playing his physical brand of defense that helped give his team their 3-1 advantage. Unfortunately for the Clips, Gasol and Randolph are unstoppable right now.
Gasol led the Grizzlies with 23 points and nine rebounds while Z-Bo had 18 points and 16 rebounds. Mike Conley pitched in 13 points and nine assists while Rudy Gay chipped in 13 points of his own. And even though the Grizzlies lost the turnover battle by a large margin (Memphis had 20 comported to LAC's seven), they also out-rebounded the Clippers by 16. Memphis has been getting the job done down low, they're now settling for outside jump shots in the fourth quarter, and because of it, they have a great chance to win this series. It's hard to underestimate Chris Paul in the playoffs, but if he's not playing at full strength (and he certainly didn't look like he was last night), Lob City's promising first year together might come to an abrupt end Sunday morning. The Clippers have their work cut out for them to win an elimination game in front of a packed house in Memphis that knows Los Angeles is vulnerable and believes they can win. If the Grizzlies continue to operate through their talented posts and the Clippers' two superstars aren't at 100 percent, Memphis will easily advance.
Grizzlies' Bigs Arrive
The Los Angeles Clippers had all the momentum heading into Game 5, but the Memphis Grizzlies played their patented style of basketball and forced another game with a 92-80 win last night. It took almost an entire series, but the Memphis Grizzlies finally returned to operating through their talented post players instead of Rudy Gay, making them a very dangerous team. Marc Gasol, who was averaging just 10.3 ppg heading into last night's potential elimination game, finally got involved on offense and led the Grizzlies with 23 points. Zach Randolph, who has failed to live up to his heroic playoff performance last year, notched a double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. And Rudy Gay, who had been hoisting up 17.8 shots per game, only put up 14 as Memphis seemed to remember what made them so effective in the postseason last year: operating through their skilled bigs.
When the Grizzlies' frontcourt shows up to play, they are incredibly tough to beat. So far, Los Angeles has benefitted from a Memphis offense consisting of Rudy Gay jacking up a bunch of perimeter shots. They also have outlasted surprisingly proficient scoring nights from Mike Conley. But last night, Marc Gasol finally played well against the Clippers' Reggie Evans, who has been a defensive nightmare for the Grizzlies up to this point. So even though Conley and Gay only scored a combined 23, Memphis still came out on top after their sizable lead dwindled down to just six points with less than a minute to play. The Grizzlies had surrendered large leads in the fourth quarter but were finally able to hang on to one and extend the series to six games. However, as helpful as it was for the Grizzlies to revert back to what makes them a dangerous playoff team, they did receive a little bit of help from Los Angeles, especially in the fourth quarter. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, who have been the two most dominant players on the court so far in the series, both missed time in the decisive fourth quarter because of injuries. Paul strained his right hip flexor and Griffin sprained his left knee. With the Clippers' two best players in and out, it's no surprise the Grizzlies were able to hold off a late Los Angeles run.
With the series shifting back to LA for Game 6, the Clippers absolutely need to finish this series off at home. Which means CP3 and Griffin will have to be able to play like they are 100 percent healthy. It's no question about whether or not these two will take the floor tomorrow night; but whether they will be effective or not is a pretty serious issue. Outside of Paul and Griffin, this Clippers team can't hold off the Grizzlies, especially if they continue to play like they did yesterday. Mo Williams led Los Angeles with 20 points and Randy Foye pitched in 11 yesterday, but the Clippers can't contend unless Griffin and Paul are both putting up 20-30 points every night. The Grizzlies have confidence and they've gone back to the style of play they've been missing for this entire series. If Paul and Griffin can't do what they normally do, the Clippers are in serious danger of dropping the series.
For the Clippers to win, they need Paul and Griffin to be healthy and continue to do what they do best. But they also need continued production from guys like Mo Williams, Caron Butler and Randy Foye. And although Reggie Evans doesn't have a knack for scoring, he should be starting over DeAndre Jordan by now, because if he can irritate Gasol and shut him down like he has for the majority of this series, the Grizzlies will come up short again. From Memphis' perspective, they need to operate through their big men just like they did in Game 5. You'd like to see Rudy Gay and Mike Conley get a little bit more involved on offense, but Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol still need to be the main focus here. Another thing the Grizzlies will focus on doing is using their scrappy defense to force turnovers again. After leading the league in steals, Memphis needs to put pressure on Chris Paul and the rest of the Clippers' point guards and turn defense into offense. Finally, the Grizzlies would really be in good shape if they could get anything more out of O.J. Mayo. Mayo put up 18.5 ppg in the Grizzlies' first two playoff games but has averaged just 5.7 in the last three. So even though Quincy Pondexter has been a nice surprise off the bench, they'll need Mayo to start contributing again if they want to be a serious contender.
Clippers Hold On, Take 2-1 Lead
The Los Angeles Clippers held off the Memphis Grizzlies and a late offensive onslaught from Rudy Gay yesterday to earn their first home playoff victory in six years. Despite missing some key free throws down the stretch, the Clippers beat the Grizzlies 87-86 in Staples Center and grabbed a 2-1 series lead. But for Memphis, a couple of bonehead plays were the biggest difference between winning and losing a game that came down to a missed shot at the buzzer.
Then again, if the Clippers had taken care of business at the free throw line, it wouldn't have even been a close game. Los Angeles shot a paltry 43 percent from the line and missed 17 of 30 free throws, including Eric Bledsoe's two attempts that would have given the Clips a three point lead with less than ten seconds to go. Rudy Gay had just hit two threes in a row to pull the Grizzlies within one, so missing those free throws with the game on the line was almost an extremely costly mistake and would have been one of the worst last-minute collapses I've ever seen if Gay's double pump jump shot at the buzzer had gone in. That being said, even though the Clippers' free throw shooting hurt them, the Grizzlies' inability to finish a game out and a few poor decisions gave Los Angeles momentum and ultimately, the win.
The first mistake that made the difference in this game (from a simple scoreboard perspective, at least) was Marreese Speights' horrible decision to throw a soft past to half court with 2.3 seconds left in the first half. Blake Griffin easily intercepted it and slammed it home right over Speights, who offered no resistance and actually tried to get out of the way. The pass was bad enough, but Speights compounded his poor decision by not fouling Griffin and making him earn the two points that ultimately mattered in a one-point game. The second poor decision on Memphis' part was made by Mike Conley at the very end of the game. I've been stressing all year how important it is to attack the basket with the game on the line, which makes Conley's decision to pull the ball back and pass it over to Gay for a contested jumper at the buzzer questionable. In his defense, Conley isn't a prolific scorer and Rudy Gay had just hit two incredible, contested 3-pointers to keep his team in the game. So I understand his thought process and at least he didn't do a few crossovers before pulling up for some ridiculous fadeaway 3-pointer like we see from so many superstars today. But after Bledsoe missed that second free throw, there were about eight seconds left and the Clippers' defense was in transition. Had Conley attacked the basket and tried to get to the rim or at least the free throw line, Memphis could have pulled off the incredible last-minute comeback. But instead, Gay had to double pump his contested jump shot with the game on the line (after already missing a game-winning attempt in Game 1) and it rimmed out.
Moving forward, both teams need to alter a few things to increase their chances of winning. On the Clippers' side of things, they have to shoot better from the line. While it was a good sign to see Caron Butler playing despite the broken hand (he played in a splint) and the bench finally contributing, they'll have an even bigger advantage if they make their free throws and take better care of the basketball. LAC also needs the bench to continue to produce on the offensive end to take the burden off Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Aside from Mo Williams and Nick Young putting up some points, Randy Foye dropping 16 after scoring just nine in his last two games was a very welcome sight. And despite going just 2-for-8 from the free throw line, Reggie Evans has taken over DeAndre Jordan's minutes by outperforming him on the offensive end and grabbing rebounds, evidenced by his four points and 11 rebounds compared to Jordan's zero points and three rebounds in Game 3. For the Grizzlies, O.J. Mayo, Marreese Speights, Tony Allen and Mike Conley all disappeared offensively, even if Quincy Pondexter had a surprisingly elevated offensive night. Zach Randolph seems to be distancing himself from Speights now that he's moved back into the starting lineup but the Grizzlies will still need him to be productive coming off the bench. Memphis also needs to learn how to bring the same effort and energy for a full four quarters, as they've surrendered two fourth quarter leads and should be up 2-1 (at least) in this series. This playoff matchup is still very much up in the air, but if the Clippers improve where they need to, they'll ultimately benefit from having home-court advantage in two of the next four potential games and have a greater chance of winning the series.
Grizzlies Stay Alive
After blowing a 27-point lead at home in one of the biggest playoff collapses in NBA history, it's safe to say Memphis' 105-98 Game 2 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday might have saved the series. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin gave LAC everything they had, but an all-around team effort from the Grizzlies took care of business and tied the series at one game apiece.
A second loss at home would have sent Memphis to Los Angeles facing a 2-0 deficit and the very real possibility of a sweep, but the Grizzlies seemed determined to not let Game 1's unbelievable collapse affect the rest of the series. Rudy Gay led the team with 21, but everyone came out firing on all cylinders: O.J. Mayo had 20 points off the bench; Mike Conley played well against Chris Paul again with 19 points and 6 assists; Zach Randolph and Marreese Speights made up an effective 1-2 punch yet again and combined for 26 points and 13 rebounds; even Tony Allen, who is not known for his offense, chipped in 10 points, which made up for Marc Gasol's poor shooting night. On the Clippers side of things, Chris Paul (29 points, 6 assists, 5 steals) and Blake Griffin (22 points, 9 rebounds) did their part, but no one other than Mo Williams and Nick Young really contributed very much. Bobby Simmons, who started in place of the injured Caron Butler, had nine points in his debut and shot effectively, but couldn't quite make up for Butler's absence.
With the series shifting back to Los Angeles, the Clippers still did what they had to going into Memphis: they got a valuable road win and head back to their home court for the next two games. If they take care of business at home, the Clippers exponentially increase their chances of moving on. Memphis put itself in a tough position by dropping Game 1 in such remarkable fashion, but can atone for that mistake by picking up a win on the road in Game 3 or 4. They'll need to bring the same all-around effort, scoring and defense they had in Game 2 and the majority of Game 1 to do so. If they can also limit the Clippers to just Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, those two guys alone can't beat this balanced Grizzlies team. CP3 and Griffin will continue to shine and grab highlights, but as long as Memphis doesn't allow the Clippers' role players to play well, they will have a big advantage. Another key factor will be making Los Angeles turn the ball over. In Game 2, the Grizzlies got their hands on 13 steals as the Clippers turned the ball over 20 times. If they can continue to get steals while limiting their own turnover (only 12 for the Grizzlies in Game 2), they will take valuable possessions away from an athletic and offensive-minded Clippers team.
On the Clippers side of things, Los Angeles' depth took a huge hit when it lost Chauncey Billups earlier in the season and now it will have to adapt again with Caron Butler gone. If the Clippers bench can find a way to pitch in some points, Los Angeles will have a huge advantage for the remainder of the series with three of five possible remaining games being played at Staples Center. Chris Paul needs to take better care of the basketball and LAC needs to take care of business at home today to send the message that all that really mattered from that road trip to Memphis was the Game 1 victory. In what will be their first home playoff game in years, nerves and history can't get in the way of playing a fundamentally sound basketball game. The highlights will come, but the Clippers just need to worry about taking care of the ball and not allowing the Grizzlies' good defense to translate into offense. Rebounding will also be key, as they were out-rebounded 37-28 in Game 2. If the Clippers take care of the basketball, rebound and get some offensive production out of their bench, they will get their first playoff victory in what feels like forever for LAC fans.

subset: commoncrawl


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Going to Egypt has been a dream for me since I was a small girl. I read this silly book called 'Egypt Games' that was a kind of Hardy Boys novel with an interest in Nefertiti. I was hooked. Egypt it seemed was the most exotic place I could imagine. My interests in old movies led me to see both the Vivienne Leigh and the Elizabeth Taylor versions of Cleopatra and to fantasize about milk baths and crocodiles. The reality was more than I ever imagined. My first trip in 2011 was an adventure, my second trip in 2013 was for pure relaxation.
What I packed:
*I should have brought my Chacos. My sandles were cute- but not suited for the heat. They soon melted out from under me.
*Ray Bans, Prada's and Juicy Sunglasses- too many? Not enough. Sunglasses cover half your face and in Egypt we were wearing them every day. It was nice to be able to switch them up.
*Chocolate brown, one shoulder, full length Ralph Lauren black label dress. It's light weight and durable jersey blend could be stuffed into my luggage and pulled out without any trouble for a fancy dinner. I found it important and interesting to properly cover myself. I was in an Islamic culture, where most of the women cover everything except their face- sometimes just their eyes and I wanted to be respectful. This dress made that easy.


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They never stop.
I'm writing this on a Tuesday night, from my queen-size bed in my one-bedroom apartment in the middle of Philadelphia. Outside my window, I can hear taxi cabs racing people off to their next bar, their latest love, their new favorite song. It seems like the world is in an uproar sometimes, climbing over itself to reach an undefined vantage point. I'm no stranger to it, either. It's easy to get caught up in the daily flurry of podcasts, @replies, Buzzfeed lists, tweets—impressions in the snow that never make a clear picture. It can become white noise, a neurotic clamor for the new that often causes me to put what's special on mute.
This blog is my attempt to slow things down, to turn over some of life's pleasures and pain in my hands and feel the grooves.
In a way, I'm sure this site will be no more or less self-indulgent than any other blog. I'll write about what I'm feeling and listening to, post links to pieces I find interesting, ramble on about topics that most readers find esoteric or flat-out boring. I'm human, after all.
But maybe here I can choose to rise above my worst impulses, the ones that cause me to move on after leaving a snarky comment for comment's sake. Maybe in this one place on the entire Internet I can practice my writing and my thinking, start something I can be proud of in a week or a month or a year.
Because the context blues never stop, but sometimes we can hit pause.


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Twinkling and sparkling string light
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Omniscale develops modern web applications and software solutions based on open source.
We focus on the development of geospatial applications and the provision of map data and services.
Map Services
Use our world wide map services in your applications as a web map service or a tile service.
- Clean design – flexible use
- Different coordinate systems
- High-resolution maps for printing
We develop the open source software MapProxy. As the initiator of this projects we offer:
- Further development
- Support
- Workshops & Training
We develop WebGIS solutions for public administration and the private sector.
- Compliant with open standards
- OGC- & INSPIRE-compliant
- Modern & mobile


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Returns & Exchanges
Need to make a return?If you have a problem with an item or order from EwingIrrigation.com, we'll do our best to make it right!
Return & Exchange Polices
- Returns and exchanges may be requested up to 30 days after your original date of purchase. After 30 days, please contact the product manufacturer about applicable warranty issues.
- Returns or exchanges may only be issued for items with a manufacturing defect in its materials or workmanship, damage, missing material(s), or if the wrong item was ordered or received.
- Items should be free from damages due to improper use or accidents after it was received.
- Items should be returned with all original packing and contents.
- Returned items may be subject to a restocking fee of 15% of the item's purchased value.
- Shipping or freight charges will not be refunded.
- Exchanges can only be made for the same item of equal value.
If your return or exchange does not meet this criteria, Ewing may not accept it.
Damaged, Missing or Incorrect Products
Damaged Products
- If you receive an order that has been damaged during the shipping process, please contact our Web Services department by phone or email within 72 hours of receiving the product to report the issue. Web Services will provide you with a label to return the product, and will either replace it or issue you a refund. After 72 hours, you will need to work with the shipping company for reimbursement of the damaged product.
Missing/Incorrect Products
- If you receive an order that has missing or incorrect items, please contact our Web Services department within 72 hours after receiving the shipment to report the error. The Web Services team will investigate; if an error has occurred on our end, we will either ship out the missing products or issue you a refund. Ewing reserves the right not to take action on errors or missing items reported after 72 hours of receiving the shipment.
How to Make a Return or ExchangeTo make a return, choose one of the following options:
- Visit a Ewing Location
Bring the item (including packaging and contents), your receipt and the payment card you used to make the purchase to a Ewing location.
A Ewing Service Professional will inspect the item and determine whether a return or exchange can be issued, and if a restocking fee is applicable. If the return is accepted, the credit/debit card used to make the purchase will be credited. Approved returns made with cash or check will receive in-store credit only. A new invoice will be emailed to you for the new item or credit issued to you.
- Contact Ewing Web Services
To request a shipping label to mail your item back to us for a return or exchange, email or call Ewing Web Services:
Ewing Web Services
Please provide your order number, item name or number, and the reason for your return or exchange. You will be emailed a shipping label to return your item. Ewing will inspect the item and issue a refund to the credit card or account used to purchase the item if it meets the return requirements.
Orders that are shipped may take up to seven days to be delivered once ordered. Please contact Ewing Web Services for a status of your order.Returning items purchased at a Ewing store?
Items purchased from Ewing stores and not ordered online may be subject to different terms and conditions. Please check your receipt for applicable return and exchange information.


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Rejoining Nova Masters
If you have formerly been a member of the Nova Masters and want to return to active status drop us an email to email@example.com and let us know which membership option you would like and what your start date will be.
(NOTE: You do not have to fill out another online registration)
You can find our current rates and membership options here
Remember all Nova Masters swimmers must have a current USMS/SPMA card. You can renew your membership for that here.
If you need to update your membership info including address, phone, email, billing details, drop us a note at the email address above requesting your login info so you can update it online.
We look forward to seeing you back in the water soon!


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Beyond the Fair Work Act: From 'Flexibility' to 'Sustainability' in Australia's workplaces
Speech to Workforce Conference - 23 November 2010
As a former industrial lawyer, and now the Greens' spokesperson on employment and workplace relations, I'm sure few will be surprised by my claim that IR is a centrally important policy and legislative agenda for any political party. However, as I am here today among the like minded, I take it as given that you already understand the importance of a strong and fair industrial relations system.
And given the topic of this conference, some of you I imagine are beginning to question the changes brought about by the Fair Work Act, if not from a political perspective at least from a practical one.
I'd like to use this opportunity to briefly reflect on the Fair Work Act and its predecessors, but also to raise some suggestions about where IR debate goes from here. One of the features of the new parliament is that it offers the opportunity for discussion about issues where the two old parties are of largely one mind but out of step with what many if not most of the population is thinking. Marriage equality is a recent example but IR is no exception.
In our view, whilst it does contain some welcome advances on WorkChoices, the Fair Work Act is the natural outcome of years of eroding employees' enshrined legislative rights for the benefit of employers.
For last 3 decades we've been told so-called deregulation and enterprise bargaining were the answer; that these twin principles of neoliberalism (or economic rationalism as it is sometimes called) would lead to higher productivity and more satisfied workers as this increased productivity was shared among all.
This commitment amongst the major parties to a neoliberal industrial relations policy culminated in the passage firstly of Workchoices and then the Fair Work Act.
The reregulation of the labour market over this period lead to a number of outcomes: let me touch on three.
1) Workers and their families are bearing the risk of a highly flexible and increasingly casualised workforce
The increased flexibility of work has led to a situation where there is no standard model for how households and individuals interact with the workplace. The number of single income households has decreased significantly over the last twenty years; there has been a concurrent increase in dual income, one and a half time and no income households.
Many of the new jobs created through the 90's and early 2000's were in low paid industries, such as retail and hospitality, where casual and part time positions dominated.
Those in casual and precarious work bear the most risk as a result of these flexible arrangements.
Casual workers, who can work for a company for many years without one day of paid sick leave, one day of paid annual leave or paid public holiday, are bearing the burden of what I refer to as 'flexibility from above'.
As Sydney University's Workplace Research Centre has recently found, Australian workers have absorbed more financial, social and economic risks.
Now, flexibility is a double edged sword - many of us enjoy the benefits of flexibility. I for one tried to juggle part-time work as a lawyer while completing my further study, by no means a perfect experience but one reflective of the desire of many of us to do more than work until we drop.
And that is exactly the challenge that I suggest will be important in the next wave of industrial relations discussions: how we ensure that people have control over their working lives so that flexibility works for them, how we move from flexibility to sustainability.
2) Many Australians are working far longer hours than they would like to, and some are working fewer
Some important research emanating out of University of South Australia reveals some interesting findings. Broadly speaking, it shows a mismatch of hours desired to hours worked.
Even taking into account the loss of income, a third of all Australians would like to work on average nearly six hours less per week. While working mothers make a large proportion of this figure, it is interesting that almost half the fathers in couple households report a desire to work less.
60% of Australian women and nearly half of all men feel consistently time pressured.
The majority of working Australians say that despite the benefits of employment, work still has far reaching negative impacts on their lives in the way it restricts the time they can spend on themselves, families, friends and communities.
The 40 hour working week is, for most, a fantasy. We are working harder and longer than ever before but have less to show for it.
So who then, is benefiting? Who is profiting from this increased 'flexibility from above? Is it really just perhaps a lengthening of the working day?
3) And this leads to the third outcome of our love affair with neoliberalism - business is reaping the lion's share of our increased productivity and longer hours
Wages as a share of GDP has fallen from a high of 62% in 1983 to just over 52% in 2008. This is a massive redirection of wealth away from workers pockets.
The rate of productivity rise has eased in recent years, but looking over the last two decades it is clear that productivity growth his significantly outpaced wages growth. (And as I have referred to earlier, the gains haven't translated into better working hours.)
To this one must add that in 1983 household debt was around 35% of household income. By 2008, this had increased to around 150%. And at the same time, we have a year on year increase in the number of workers reporting that they find it hard to get by on their income.
This is a picture of unsustainable tensions between work, life, income and debt. Something is likely to give.
But despite these increasing pressures, it is notable that during the recent election campaign, industrial relations didn't feature anywhere near as strongly as in 2007. The Your Rights at Work campaign - one of the most successful campaigns in recent political history - was absent. To the extent industrial relations appeared, it was a fear campaign against Tony Abbott. For all intents and purposes, the Fair Work Act was not criticised at all in the public sphere during the election campaign.
In fact, the only time industrial relations appeared during the election campaign was in the form of a fear campaign against Tony Abbott. This prompted Tony Abbott to announce that he would not make any changes to workplace relations legislation. There then followed a further push to show that there were nonetheless significant changes he could make without requiring legislative amendment. The ACTU announced that it had 'found 198 ways that Abbott could make changes through regulations or ministerial power'. From this we were asked to conclude that workers shouldn't vote for the Coalition.
But in fact the ACTU analysis had demonstrated potentially how weak the Fair Work Act actually is. It showed that so many aspects of protection of rights at work can be undone with the stroke of a pen. This is a fundamental concern with the legislation: it embodies a much broader trend away from broad based guaranteed protections and towards much more contingent forms of regulation. Why didn't a Labor government enshrine basic protections for workers in legislation and thus make these protections harder to remove? And why wasn't Labor being criticised for it?
While a robust debate on the merits or otherwise of Fair Work would have been a welcome development in the last election campaign, perhaps more importantly what was overlooked was any discussion about the impact of IR laws and employment policy on the everyday lives of Australians.
Working hours is still a barbeque stopper, but it seems no one was holding the front page to write about it.
We need to talk again about the importance of a fair and community focussed industrial relations system to living a good life.
Industrial relations academics and policy analysts have for some time been making a salient point.
We can no longer look at IR policy and laws in isolation.
More than any other policy area, IR has the capacity to reach into our homes and our intimate relationships with deeply felt consequences.
It is also inextricably interconnected not only with areas within social policy but other policy areas - transport, urban planning and immigration, to name a few.
The intersection between our working lives and our non-working lives has never been greater.
This is why, despite years of falling union membership, the campaign against Workchoices was so successful. Even non-unionised workers recognised that the attack represented by Workchoices was not simply about pay or conditions but rather one that cut to the core of who we are as individuals, families and communities.
It was Workchoices' perceived capacity to impact on who we are and what we do outside of work that was so offensive to so many Australians.
As a nation we must heed the advice of these academics and break out of our narrow thinking around IR and instead begin to think about a holistic approach to employment policy and practice.
The frenetic pace of the modern workplace, the time pressure that the majority of Australians are feeling and the financial squeeze on workers as more and more of our productivity gains are redirected away from wages all call for a reordering of workplace relations and employment policies around the principle of sustainability.
This means an industrial relations system where employees are encouraged and supported in their lives outside of work.
A system where control over hours is exercised from the bottom up.
A system where employees have greater control over their hours and the fruits of their labour - their productivity - would lead to better lives as we begin to structure our paid work day with the emphasis on our caring and community commitments and responsibilities.
This is not a throwback to the past: control over our own working lives will not necessarily come through greater prescription. But we must also put a persistent myth to bed about so-called deregulation. The forces of neoliberalism were the ones who wrote the most legislation and extended the law's tentacles deeper into the workplace relations system. The WR Act was significantly longer and more complex than its predecessors. Deregulation was always somewhat of an oxymoron. The real question is what kind of regulation we want, what objectives it should serve.
In my view, we should be looking at intervening to redress the obvious consequences of the last 30 years, namely that we have less control over our lives than before, that there is a mismatch between desired hours and hours worked, that debt is rising, and that this is unsustainable.
How might we then regulate? I offer no today no formal Greens policy prescriptions. But in the spirit of the new openness in public discussion, I suggest a number of avenues that could be explored:
- i) We could give people an enforceable right to work shorter working hours.
- ii) Alternatively, we could allow employees to start sharing in the productivity gains by allowing them to take gains in the form of fewer hours. That is, their hourly wages could perhaps rise by a basic cost of living increment, but any additional increase be foregone in lieu of working fewer hours. This could be an enforceable right that could be exercised in bargaining.
- iii) And of course, there is the obvious solution of legislating across the board for a shorter working week, and I note in this respect that the research shows a growing fondness amongst workers for the figure of 35 hours.
All of these ideas have pros and cons. For some, the cons may make them not worth pursuing. And there may be other policy suggestions that haven't been considered. But I suggest that it is around these questions that discussions needs to happen in the next period.
And of course addressing these questions involves dealing with the corollary issue: how do we address the situation of those who aren't working as much as they would like? The second string to the debate must be how to have a fairer spread of hours across the board. On figures from only a couple of years ago, full time workers worked an average of 44 hours per week and 29% of them wanted fewer hours of work. But part-time employees worked an average of 21 hours per week and 1 in 5 of them wanted to work more.
Despite what the government may have said to you at this conference yesterday, I am not proposing an across the board compulsion on us all to work less. I am proposing instead that we think about how people can work less if that's what they want, and how people can work more if that's what they want.
I also note that industries and workplaces are already offering their employees greater control over these important areas. However, like most positive changes in industrial relations, the uptake of these provisions have been quickest in highly skilled or white collar industries.
Therefore we must absolutely ensure that a move to more sustainable working conditions is not only limited highly skilled and white-collar workers. Indeed, it is particularly important that we continue to fight sustainable and equitable conditions for workers in low paid and unskilled employment. And we must also begin dismantling the barriers many of these workers face to sustainable and fulfilling work.
And this brings me to a second principle for improving the lives of workers and the community as a whole - the development of inclusive workplaces and employment practices.
Many in our community face significant barriers to securing sustainable employment. These barriers are pervasive and insidious. They affect those living with a disability, those with low educational attainment and recently arrived refugees and migrants. While these people do undertake paid work, it is often in industries and workplaces with little regulation and their duties are frequently mundane and often below their skill level. In other words, these workers are not fulfilling their potentiality and in turn are unfulfilled. And more importantly, it is very unlikely these individuals will be given the training and support to move into professional, secure and full time employment.
Other groups of people are affected by exclusive employment practices at particularly challenging times over the human life course, when we should in fact be offering greater support to stay in employment. This includes when employees become parents or carers or their own elderly parents.
Supporting these workers to find and maintain sustainable and fulfilling employment should be a priority of any Government. A commitment to inclusive workplaces would ensure that all Australians are living out their full potential and that we have happier and healthier communities.
At a minimum, as a society we should be aiming for guiding principles that include that:
- - Training in all professions and trades should be available to every member of society
- - All trades and professions should be open and supportive for both men and women
- - Workplaces are be accessible to employees with disabilities
- - Refugees and newly arrived migrants be presented with real pathways to sustainable employment that build on their existing skills and qualifications
- - Employers encourage both men and women to fulfil their caring responsibilities and to cultivate their life outside of the workplace
Today, I am going to finish by expanding on two of these pillars - sustainable employment for refugees and migrants and employment provisions that encourage both men and women to fulfil their caring responsibilities.
Migrants and refugees
In my electorate of Melbourne, it is notable how many migrants and refugees - especially from Africa - possess high levels of qualifications but are under- or unemployed.
Recent research from NATSEM and AMP is illuminating. The unemployment level in tertiary educated migrants from non-English speaking countries is four times higher than their Australian born, tertiary educated counterparts and double the level for tertiary educated people from English speaking countries other than Australia.
If you are tertiary educated migrant from a non English speaking country and you are lucky enough to have a job, you are twice as likely as an Australian born tertiary educated person to be working in a low skilled occupation.
While these figures indicate many things, I would like to suggest two key conclusions. The first, that Australian employers are cautious about taking on employees who are perceived to require special support in the workplace, especially in more white collar or more highly skilled professions.
The second - migrant employees and potential employers do not have access to adequate support in order to transition to sustainable, long term employment. This includes proper recognition of their qualifications obtained overseas and accessible bridging courses to allow them to work in an Australian context.
These are relatively simple problems to address. However, what is a simple policy gap has the capacity to turn into systematic and entrenched disadvantage.
However, where the traditional market has failed refugees and migrants in Australia, new forms of enterprise are appearing in this gap.
I am also lucky to be the Federal member for what I believe is the social enterprise capital of Australia. Social enterprises such as the Social Studio in Collingwood, which teaches fashion design and textiles to young refugees, is filling the gap vacated by Government and private enterprise.
What I particularly like about this enterprise is the way it has turned the traditional notion of training for vulnerable people on its head. Instead of funnelling these people into low paid and low skilled occupations, the Social Studio is saying to these young refugees that they have as much right to a fulfilling and sustainable career as young Australian born students.
Again, particularly in my electorate but across the whole of Australia, migrants and refugees have made a significant contribution to this country.
We must continue to support them in this fine tradition.
And I think we should explore further the role of self-organised social enterprises as a space for providing a place for sustainable engagement.
Family and community responsibilities
As I spoke about before, the composition of work type across households has changed dramatically in the last twenty years as more women moved into the workforce.
The significant drop in the number of single income households is due to this migration and I don't think anyone today would argue that this has not been a positive thing.
However, it also mean that there is anywhere between a FT or PT equivalent hours less per household that is available for non paid work related activities.
This means less time for child care, less time to care for elderly or unwell family members, less time to spend with friends or on leisure activities and less time for political or community engagement.
Most of us, with very few exceptions, will have caring responsibilities at some point in our lives, whether for our own children, our elderly parents, an ill partner or close friend. One of the greatest challenges for employment policy is encouraging employers to support their workers in these important responsibilities.
The Fair Work Act enshrined the right of parents of pre-school aged children to request flexible working arrangements. While this was heralded as a victory for working parents, many academics, policy analysts and indeed working parents were left scratching their heads. Leaving aside the fact that employers can simply refuse such flexible arrangements, the big question parents are asking is why this only applies to families with such young children? Pre-school aged children attending day care whilst their parents are working can be dropped off before work in the morning and usually picked up anytime until six, and later at some centres. School-aged children finish around 3pm, and even taking into account some formal after school hours care, there is still a gulf between a parent working something approximating full time hours finishing their work day and being able to pick up their kids.
The Fair Work Act does not protect a parent's right to care for their children, let alone fulfil their other caring responsibilities. Indeed, it is only thanks to the work of my predecessor in this portfolio, former Greens IR spokesperson Senator Rachel Siewert, that those caring for a family member with a disability have the right under the Fair Work Act to request flexible working provisions but there is no guarantee this may be granted.
Unsurprisingly, men request flexible working provisions less frequently than women, but interestingly are more likely to be refused.
Encouraging men to spend more time caring for their families and engaged with their communities is a priority for any inclusive industrial relations policy.
A more sustainable solution might be putting an onus on the employer to offer flexible working arrangements to working mothers and fathers of children of all ages. Of course, we need safeguards: many benefits such as rosters and penalty rates are enshrined in collective agreements and these benefits would dissolve if they could be bargained away individually. But if we can have real flexibility driven from below, I am confident we can start putting working lives on a more sustainable footing.
Inclusive and sustainable work practices are ones that support all employees in their outside of work lives and responsibilities.
People working long hours are unable to spend time enjoying their family and friends and their lives outside of the workplace. While we may be able to do this for short bursts, in the long term this is neither healthy nor sustainable for the individual and their family and community. Some may like working what others would consider excessive hours, and we need to deal with that respectfully. But when thinking about the organising principle for our industrial relations system, we need to move from flexibility to sustainability.
Work practices that are sustainable will build stronger communities and better families.
Those of us who want to ensure that we are all able to exercise more control over our working lives so as to make our lives sustainable will continue to engage in conversation to fully flesh out our blue print for a green Australia. But I believe the questions we are asking are the right ones.
As we translate these principles into policy and help take the IR debate into the 21st century, The Greens will also continue to push for the basic principles of equality and social justice to be enshrined in law.
We remain resolutely opposed to having differing standards of workplace laws for differing groups of people, and thus we oppose the ABCC. I note that the Ark Tribe decision is due to be handed down on Wednesday, and whatever the outcome, The Greens are committed to pursuing the repeal of the BCII Act. We also lend our full support to the equal pay case in the SACS sector and will push to ensure sufficient funds are made available to fund work equally.
And if there ever was a time to reflect on just how far workplace protections have eroded in our era of flexibility from above, I conclude by noting that this year Xmas day falls on a Sunday and that there is a suggestion people may not get holiday loading if they are rostered to work that day. And there is no guaranteed right to refuse work on that day.
Work - yes. Fair - no.


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33. Quod si interrogaverint to populus hic, vel Propheta, vel Sacerdos, dicendo. Quod onus Jehovae? Tunc dices illis, Quod onus? Derelinquam vos, inquit Jehova.
It appears sufficiently evident from this passage, -- that the contumacy of the Jews was so great, that they sought from every quarter some excuse for their insensibility, as though they could with impunity despise God when they rejected his word. For the devil by his artifice fascinates the reprobate, when he renders God's word either hateful or contemptible; and whenever he can exasperate their minds, so that they hear not God's word except with disdain and bitterness, he gains fully his object. The Jews, then, were led into such a state of mind, that they regarded God's word with hatred; and they were thus alienated from all docility and from every care for religion. In short, the prophets, as it is well known, everywhere employ the word ms', mesha, which means a burden.
Now, a burden means a prophecy, which terrifies the despisers of God by threatening them with vengeance. As, then, their minds were exasperated, they called through hatred the word of God a burden, and used it as a proverbial saying, |It is a burden, a burden.| They ought to have been moved by God's threatenings, and to have trembled on hearing that he was angry with them. The word burden, then, ought to have humbled them; but, on the contrary, they became exasperated, first, through haughtiness, then through an indomitable contumacy, and thirdly, they kindled into rage. We hence see how the expression arose, that the prophets called their prophecies burdens. God now severely condemns this fury, because they hesitated not thus openly to shew their insolence. It was surely a most shameful thing, that the word of God should be thus called in disdain and contempt, in the ways and streets; for they thus acted disdainfully and insolently against God; for it was the same as though they treated his word with open contempt. It was then no wonder that he reproved this fury with so much vehemence, by saying, But if this people ask thee, What is the burden of Jehovah?
This manner of asking was altogether derisive, when they said to Jeremiah and to other servants of God, |What is the burden?| that is, |What dost thou bring to us, what trouble is to come on us?| They thus not only spoke contemptuously of God's word, but, as though this wickedness was not sufficient, they became, as I have said, irritated and exasperated. If, then, they ask thee, What is the burden? And he speaks not only of the common people, but of the very prophets and priests.
We hence learn how great a contempt for God then prevailed, so that there was no integrity either in the priestly or the prophetic order. It is indeed wonderful with what impudence they dared to boast themselves to be God's servants, while they spoke with so much insolence! But the same thing happens in the world in our day; for we see that the ministers of Satan in no other way hold the world under their power, than by alluring the minds of the ungodly; and at the same time they cause God's word to be hated, and say that it brings not only troubles, but also torments. Since, then, these unprincipled men, who thus lead with hatred and disdain the true doctrine, occupy pulpits, we need not wonder that the same evil prevailed in the ancient Church.
It follows: If a prophet or a priest ask thee, What is the burden of Jehovah? thou shalt say to them, What burden? I will forsake thee, saith Jehovah. This was a most grievous threatening, but it has not been well considered and rightly understood; for interpreters have overlooked the implied contrast between the presence and the absence of God. Nothing could have been more acceptable to the Jews than God's silence. And yet in no other way does he more clearly show that he is a Father to us, caring for our salvation, than by familiarly addressing us. Whenever, then, the prophetic word is announced, we have a sure and a clear evidence of God's presence, as though he wished to be connected with us. But when the ungodly not only reject so remarkable a benefit, but also furiously repel, as far as they can, such a favor, they desire and seek the absence of God. Therefore God says, |Ye cannot bear my word, by which symbol I shew that I am present with you; I will forsake you;| that is, |I will no longer endure this indignity, but I will depart from you; there shall be hereafter no prophecy.|
At the first view this was not deemed grievous to the Jews; for as I have said, the ungodly desire nothing more than that God should be silent, and they thought that they had gained their greatest happiness, when with consciences lulled to sleep they indulged themselves in their filth. It was then their chief wish that God should depart from them. But yet there was nothing more to be dreaded. The Prophet then shews here that they were extremely infatuated and wholly fascinated by the devil, for they could desire nothing more dreadful than that God should depart from them; as though he had said, |My word is a weariness to you, and I in my turn will now avenge myself, for I am weary of forbearing you, when I see that you can by no means be healed; and as I have been hitherto assiduous in instructing you, and have found you unteachable, I will now in my turn leave you.| It follows, --


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The idea… it's a game of tag with a difference, rather than looking inwardly, we look outside ourselves and bless, praise and pray for one blog friend. By participating in this endeavour we not only make the recipient of the blessing feel valued and appreciated, but we are having some fun too. We're going to see how far the blogging' blessings can travel around the world and how many people can be blessed! Recipients of a blogging' blessing may upload the above image to their sidebar if they choose to.
"A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire" ~ Francois de la Rochefoucauld
Hence I guess it explains why I have uploaded this picture ;) but I was really tagged on this one below:
There are 10 points, and you are supposed to elaborate on each point. Here goes my interpretation.
1) It is important to be liked by others: I don't think so!!! as it's not necessary to be liked by others all the time.
There are 10 points, and you are supposed to elaborate on each point. Here goes my interpretation.
1) It is important to be liked by others: I don't think so!!! as it's not necessary to be liked by others all the time.
My belief is that one should like themselves first. If you are right and your heart agrees with what you are doing or thinking then rest falls in place. Its like the fragrance which spreads and those who like it will come to you! Doing something on the basis that people should like you; I don't know how far that goes but not for me!
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." ~Herm Albright
2) Obedience is a virtue:
For me it depends, as where it is coming from. We all have in our culture to respect elders and many times I have seen (not me though as that's why I am always the black sheep of the family .. lol) people obey as otherwise it will be disrespecting them. For me, ask, find out why's? and then one can decide whether to be obedient or not!!! As nothing can be fully obedience if its not from your heart.
"True obedience is true freedom." ~ Henry Ward Beecher
3) People are not malicious but they become so because of bad experiences or circumstances:
I think like all fingers are not same, the same goes for people no matter what gender, country, race or religion. The only one thing matters is how you control your inside evilness over the goodness and that decides the explanation for you to be malicious. Anger is something which can make one do things which even a powerful person will think twice to do as when one is in anger is not thinking from head; he or she is just responding to the trigger that occurred to loose his/her temperament. So the more control we have on ourselves the less animal we become ;)
"The pre-human creature from which man evolved was unlike any other living thing in its malicious viciousness toward its own kind. Humanization was not a leap forward but a groping toward survival." ~ Eric Hoffer
4) Education broadens our view and makes people more humane:
I disagree with the later part of the statement. Education is good and always brings awareness but its seldom that people take that into consideration for themselves. I have heard people talking nth time about not to discriminate in the name of race, gender or religion but the same person if it comes on him/herself the notion changes all of a sudden. I have heard educated people talking about all religion teaches same values and good faith and good deeds but the moment you speak about Muslims, they will start discriminating with the talks of all the fatwas and terrorism etc.
Also, I would like to bring this here that I have come across people who are not educated but they have their views with real life experience which has taught them some values and I see them more like humane than any other educated class.
"Education: a debt due from present to future generations". ~ George Peabody
5) People who have no money troubles are happier:
I think the trouble starts when people's need increases more than what people need at that time :). I remember when I came to Canada and was on my own with my struggling phase I was much happier with making friends and not thinking much but in that time frame itself I bought a house and then you start all the trouble of maintaining it and looking after other aspect of investment and what not??? More trouble and more headache :D!!! But yes, need is need and one can't deny that as we all tend to strive to be in a better future if not present :D!!! So, no money is not good but enough is better!
"Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one." ~ Benjamin Franklin
I admire the statement. When I look at my Dad, I still feel I can learn a lot from him and his grandkids could do more even ;) but I think how much we younger generation makes use of it from that will make the real sense. As I have always learnt to take lesson from others experience rather than your own ;) and getting older means becoming wiser and being expert I would say :)
"Follow then the shining ones, the wise, the awakened, the loving, for they know how to work and forbear." ~ Buddha
7) You can live on love and fresh air:
I think its more or less like a blessing. To live in this practical world just love and fresh air isn't sufficient :); I guess my friends will agree with me! Besides the basic necessity to live and survive if you have your loved ones who loves you and cares for you; then that's a true blessing and we all need that if not from anyone at least from God!! It's a support, faith that keeps you running in thick n thin stages.
"Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver". ~ Barbara De Angelis
8) There is a celestial guardian angel looking after each one of us:
This is true if you have that faith :), if you are a believer and I am one and I say this with my own experience.
"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.'" ~ The Talmud saying
9) All living beings reincarnate:
I am sorry but I don't believe in this. I remember as a kid, when I asked lot of questions to my Library Teacher, he started giving me big –big books on reincarnation and each time I complete the book to return I used to go through a session with him where I am still not convinced and he issues me with another one … lol! I don't believe unless I see some real proof which I don't think is possible!
"Reincarnation: People coming back to life at quitting time."
10) Heaven and Hell are places you go to after death:
I believe heaven or hell, it's we who make it and so its here right when we are alive. Death is that fear which we all have to face one day or the other and yet we won't be there to tell about it as what it was to be dead!!! So, I don't look forward for heaven or hell after my death as for me that's the dead end.
"I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious theories of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God" ~ Thomas Alva Edison
It was an interesting journey to start with liking, blessing and then death. Let's make someone part of this …hmm who could it be… Keshi, Art, Shiva and all others who want to voice their opinion :)
"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning." ~ Maya Angelou


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Portrait of artist Ken Currie, in his studio in Glasgow, Scotland. ©Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert 2013, all rights reserved. Last week I had the pleasure of a photography portrait assignment here in Glasgow, Scotland, to go and photograph renowned Glaswegian artist Ken … Continue reading
July 15, 2013
by Admin
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The About series is HAY's most versatile furniture series. It began with a chair and blossomed into a series with virtually unlimited potential. With the About series, Hee Welling has proven that a single strong idea can hold a wealth of development options. Today, the series includes dining and conference chairs, office chairs, bar stools, lounge chairs, tables, a foot stool and, as the latest addition, a sofa, and it is equally perfect for private and public settings. The About series is a true pragmatist, able to blend in or stand out, depending on the task it is assigned. Dramatize the silhouette with heavier upholstery, or opt for more subtle materials and colours. The many colour, upholstery and frame options are a particularly strong feature that allows you to tweak the design without compromising the basic concept.
This version of About a Chair has a swivel base in powder-coated steel, which gives the chair a more formal expression, both because the wooden frame has been replaced with steel and because the delicate and elegant legs fan out from the centred base, almost standing on tiptoes and optically raising the chair off the floor. Like the other versions, this version too is available with three upholstery options: full upholstery of the whole shell, upholstery on the front of the rounded shell or a seat cushion. All three versions allow you to vary the expression with relatively simple variations in upholstery, which of course owes a great deal to fabric textures and colours.
W 59 x D 52 x H 46/79 cm
Solid-coloured polypropylene
Swivel Base
Cast aluminium
With plastic or felt gliders
Shell – White, Black, Grey, Mustard, Coral red, Blue
Base – Black, White, Polished
Front or Full Upholstery
Coda Leather
Divina MD
Divina Melange
Sierra Leather
Silk Leather (Full Upholstery Only)


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Load Banks
Simplex 100-500 kW Merlin
Simplex 100-500 kW Merlin Specifications
The Simplex Merlin is a dual voltage (240/480V - 100KW-400KW; 416/480V - 500KW), fully instrumented portable Load Bank intended for maintenance, testing and performance proving of engine generator sets, UPS and other power systems in the 100KW-500KW range.
- Fan Reversal, Load Voltage Selector, and Control Voltage Selector switches.
- 3-phase, direct drive fan, 6,000-8,000CFM (depending on load configuration).
- Horizontal airflow - cold air intake from front, hot air exhaust out the rear.
- Sensors, alarms (alarm message on remote operator interface terminal), lock-outs as appropriate, for the following: fan failure, high exhaust temperature, high intake temperature, high interior temperature (sensed at three points).
- Master load toggle switch and load step toggle switches.
- 3-pole magnetic contactors.
- Control Wiring: 105°C, color coded.
- Power Wiring: 150°C XLP color-coded.
- 100KW-400KW: 12' connection cable set including 3-phase power cables, ground cable and external control power cord, stowed behind hinged door in rear compartment.
- 500KW: cam-type connectors and external control power cord.
- Portability features: lifting eyes, forklift channels, casters and moving handle.


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Digital download: Prayers, biblical reflections, responses, a song, a liturgy, a reflection, a story and a meditation to celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6th). Taken from the books Bare Feet and Buttercups and Acorns and Archangels, by Ruth Burgess.Contents:Opening and closing responses for the Feast of the Transfiguration, by Ruth BurgessThey saw his glory (biblical reflection), by David Lemmon Ever-changing God (prayer), by Jan Berry Prayer of confession, by Pat Bennett James and the giant cloud (biblical reflection), by Alison Adam Christ transfigured (song, words only - to be sung to the tune St Patrick), by Leith Fisher God of the ordinary (prayer), by Jan Berry Two blessings for the Feast of the Transfiguration (prayers), by Ruth Burgess Transfiguration (biblical reflection), by Penelope Hewlett Transfiguration: a disciple reflects (biblical reflection, based on Luke 9:28-42), by Carol Dixon A service for Hiroshima Day - 6th August (liturgy), by Kathy Galloway God of light and glory (prayer), by Cally Booker The day we went to Pitlochry (reflection), by Mary Hanrahan Jesus transfigured (meditation based on Mark 9:2-8), by Lynda Wright Thema (short story), David Hamflett 20 pages
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Evolution, Creation and Christianity
Posted by spritzophrenia on July 24, 2010
I had to laugh at this genuine tweet from today, "The Theory of Evaluation is a lie that is passed off as TRUTH." A comment on a YouTube video also amused me: "Brian, do you realise how creationist your idea is?" Oh noes – A new insult!
Do you groan when the so-called creation versus evolution debate comes up? I do. What pushes my buttons most is the popular impression there is only one Christian perspective on science and the Bible.
This post is a plea for charity, and a plea for awareness that there are multiple views of how God might have generated the world, held by genuine people of faith[1], and by genuine scientists. I'm tired of having the alternatives shouted down. Hopefully it's only a minority who proclaim that if you're not with them, you're not a true believer ™ .
While I often call myself an open agnostic, today I'm wearing my "Let's assume Christianity is true" hat. If you're not really interested, just stop reading here and enjoy the music:
La Roux | In For The Kill (Skream remix)
I've never accepted the earth is young. There is a grandeur to the thought of the Spirit brooding over the eons of Earth, patiently coaxing her into life, exulting in each step and life form. Billions of years for God's work of art to coalesce. Mainstream science teaches an ancient universe, but there are also many deeply committed Christians who agree.
Evangelical theologian Bernard Ramm wrote of his "conviction that the fundamental problem of Christianity in biology is not really evolution but a philosophy of biology" [2]. I suspect many secular biologists could also do with a good philosophy of biology, an area too easily neglected in the grinding process of long lab hours while earning one's PhD. While now over fifty years old, Ramm's "epochal work" is still worth a read as a foundation to thinking in this area.
So what are some Christian views on science and scripture? Years ago, I concluded there are about seven major approaches that are held, depending on how we categorise and name them. Each have theological views about how to interpret Genesis and scientific views about how the natural world came to be.
However, after much wrestling with this post, I decided to abandon any attempt to create the Mother of All Summaries, and concentrate on a few ideas that interest me right now. There's a useful comparison table here which unfortunately still neglects some views. Here's another useful summary.
Let's start with
Old Earth Views
Putting it simply, the evidence from geology and a number of other sources for dating the universe is overwhelming. For the purposes of this post I'm going to take this as a given. One of these Old-Earth creation views is:
Theistic Evolution
There are plenty of Christians who accept biological evolution in some form, and reconcile it with their faith. Even Bible-believing born-again types. See for example, Creation or Evolution: Do We Have To Choose?, Karl Giberson's Saving Darwin, many of the eminent scientists in this book and an increasing number of other books. There are some common responses concerned with the outcomes of theistic evolution – for example, Does it destroy belief in a literal Adam and Eve?, and Doesn't Genesis teach there was no pain and suffering until the fall, and therefore evolution cannot have been the mechanism? I don't think these need be problems (see here), and I was skeptical about evolution for many years. I'm sure you want to know whether I'm still skeptical now, right? Let me know if you want me to post about this. Keepin' this short, remember?
Some will immediately demonise anyone who even suggests theistic evolution, and argue for some kind of atheist conspiracy theory. I'm not an atheist, remember? A few of these people are probably in the Intelligent Design movement. I hesitate to mention Intelligent Design as I'm out of touch with it. It may be better categorized as a social-political movement rather than a distinct new interpretation. Broadly speaking, Intelligent Design proponents believe in an old Earth and may not require literal interpretations of Genesis, which is at least a step in the right direction, in my view. Speaking of which, …
Non-Literal Interpretations
I once hosted a talk by a friend who is both a working scientist with a PhD in chemistry and a Pentecostal minister. He proposed that a good look at the literary forms in Genesis reveals interesting things. These approaches can be loosely lumped together as the Literary Framework view.
This view says that Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 give a figurative framework— a topical and non-sequential account of creation—but not necessarily an historical account of the order of the creative process. And so it tells us we have structure— we have order in the account of Genesis Chapter One, but the structure does not correspond to the historical order. We are not to take the structure literally, yet we are not to hear a non-literal or a mythological reading of the text." from Dr Guy Waters' Four Prominent Interpretations .
I want to mention UK physicist Alan Hayward's "Fiat creation" idea because it hasn't had enough attention in my view [2]. I'd prefer to use another name as "Fiat creation" is also used by other viewpoints. Also, I can't help thinking about Italian cars.
Maybe we could call it
Spoken Word Creation?
I'm writing this from memory and summarising Hayward's more elegant prose. As I recall, Hayward notes that the original Hebrew of Genesis doesn't have punctuation (and certainly not verse numbers) and so scholars infer where to put punctuation as a part of the translation process. This also includes deciding where poetic or liturgic language appears. Modern translations usually lay out poetry in a slightly different format to indicate this – see the Psalms, for example.
Hayward suggests it is conceptually possible to read Genesis 1 as if it includes parentheses. For example:
And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.
(God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. )
And there was evening, and there was morning— the first day.
And God said, Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.
(So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse sky. )
And there was evening, and there was morning— the second day.
And God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear. And it was so.
(God called the dry ground land, and the gathered waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good.)
Then God said, Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so.
(The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.)
And there was evening, and there was morning— the third day.
The phrases in bold above are what God spoke over the six day period. The passages I've put in parentheses are a comment on the fiats, so to speak. There are much more elegant treatments of the poetry in Genesis 1, but hopefully you get the point.
This interpretation focuses on the idea that what God speaks, will inevitably happen. It does not require the outcome to occur immediately. In other words, the Genesis account is focused on God's speaking ("fiats"), not on how the results of God's spoken will are worked out through history. Interestingly, this view allows a believer to affirm that God created in a literal six days. It is the six days of God speaking that is the focus, the details of how it actually came to be can be left to science.
In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I got to say about that".
This post is a plea for charity, and a plea for awareness that there are multiple views of how God might have generated the world, held by genuine Christians, and by genuine scientists[4]. I'd like to hear your opinion. Here's my comment guidelines.
1. My apologies to Jews, Muslims and other theists, I'm limiting myself to Christian creation views here. Many of the theistic creation views held by Jews and Muslims seem to be comfortable with an old earth and evolution. All three faiths have Genesis in common, although it's reported many Muslims regard Genesis as a corrupted version of God's message.
2. Ramm p 179
3.Alan Hayward | Creation and Evolution: Rethinking the Evidence from Science and the Bible (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2005) seems to be a reprint of Hayward's 1995 work which I understand did not receive the attention it deserved in the USA because he heavily criticises young earth creation theories. Though slightly out of date now, I still believe it's one of the best books written about this topic.
4. You could look at the UK Christians in Science Association and the far-too-short Wikipedia list.
13 Responses to "Evolution, Creation and Christianity"
July 30, 2010 at 4:22 PM
[…] Evolution, Creation and Christianity […]
July 30, 2010 at 4:47 PM
At seminary, my teacher of Old Testament Studies argued (quite convincingly, IMO) that Genesis chapter 1 can be seen as a polemic against the gods of Egypt and other contemporary creation myths at the time that it was penned.
Things like "the greater and lesser light", and various other groups and signs mentioned, can be seen as the primary domains of influence which the Egyptian gods were considered to rule in. And the placing of humans as the peak of the creation myth demonstrates the value of humans in God's eyes compared to, for example, the position of humanity in the babylonian creation myth ("Enuma Elish") where they were an afterthought and slaves to the gods.
If one were to take the first chapter of genesis literally or even to attempt to literalistically harmonise the text with scientific findings then I think that you risk losing something of immense value; the text itself. Asking, "what does the text tell us about God? What does the text tell us about people?" seems to be a far more interesting question as to how we can, for example, smoosh its chronology into some kind of day-age pattern of scientific literalism (or "biblicism").
Also, by taking it as some kind of literal, sequential order, you immediately lose insights into meaning found in other patterns of analysis, e.g.
Day 1 (light/dark) >> Day 2 (skies/waters) >> Day 3 (earth/sea)
pairs vertically with,
Day 4 (sun/stars) >> Day 5 (birds/fish) >> Day 6 (people/animals)
There are just so many valuable ways of looking at the text other than a prima facie reading.
I can just imagine God doing a giant, heavenly face-palm at all the busy little bees in a fret about how to reconcile the chapter with science.
August 4, 2010 at 2:45 PM
[…] Evolution, Creation and Christianity […]
August 9, 2010 at 3:11 PM
Good post! There was so much in there I wonder how long it took you to write! I liked the sudden picture of the Fiat! Hilarious!
September 6, 2010 at 11:00 PM
[…] have to say atheist evolutionists because there are in fact a number of theistic evolutionists, as I write about here, even though the young earth nutters are more […]
October 20, 2010 at 9:43 AM
How blunt would you like me to be? (Don't answer that. It's rhetorical). I've been through this Creationist-Evolutionist thing 'til the cows've come home.
I think any Young Earth beliefs or theories are simply silly. (I'm attempting to play nice here). There's little more to say on that topic.
I believe in Darwinian Evolution (I also believe it is incomplete). I do not believe in Intelligent Design is really any sort of viable theory onto itself. It's good at pointing out the holes in the Theory of Evoltuion, but offers little by itself.
I think Intelligent Design can help fill in the holes in Darwinian Evolution so I suppose I'm a Theistic Evolutionist. (Although that in itself opens up a can of worms. The term 'theistic' suggests "God" and my understanding of g0d is so beyond the tribalistic Christian version that I doubt it would 'count').
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.


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Taylor's and Company. Their 1886 Ridge Runner in .45-70.
At first glance, it looked like any other lever action rifle with a few exceptions. The first thing I noticed was the matte blued finish. The matte complimented the rubber covered wood stock perfectly. The stock being covered in a rubberized finish was black and felt good in the hands. It provided a good grip without over doing it.
I really liked the big loop. Too many lever guns have a loop that does not fit bigger hands, and certainly not any hands in gloves. The Ridge Runner covers this with its generous loop. Lastly, I noticed the large muzzle brake on the end. Being a lover of big bore lever guns, I can appreciate any attempt to reduce recoil. It also comes with a thread protector if you want to take the muzzle brake off. Though, I do not know why anyone would.
Following the 1886 Winchester design, the Ridge Runner has a top eject, something I personally do not care for, but it is in keeping with the original design. To compensate for this, the Ridge Runner comes with a tactical rail mounted in front of the action to accommodate long eye relief optics. It also comes with a Skinner peep sight that is fast to acquire and pretty accurate from the factory. Minor adjustments were needed to get it on the steel targets, but it was simple enough.
Picking up the Ridge Runner the rifle just felt like a carbine big bore rifle should feel. Balanced, sturdy and well built. All of the fits were tight and well made. The action was tight at first, but after firing some rounds through it and working the action, it loosened up a bit, but not too much.
Proceeding to the firing range, I opened a box of Black Hills Ammunition's 405 grain .45-70 bullets. what a beast of a bullet! Made for their Cowboy action shooters, the Black Hills ammunition was the perfect fit for the Ridge Runner. This ammunition is the perfect companion for this style of rifle. I really like the vintage packaging that fits with the old style rifle. I will certainly shoot more Black Hills ammunition in the future.
I have shot and tested a lot of big bore lever guns, from all of the major manufacturers and I can say without hesitation that the Ridge Runner is the best shooting one of them all. The only draw back is the top ejection - which as I said earlier I am personally not fond of. But the feel, weight, balance and accuracy out of the box were extraordinary.
I had no way of testing the recoil difference. But when I removed the muzzle brake in favor of the thread protector it felt more like shooting a twelve gauge in 3 1/2" steel shot! With the muzzle brake on, it was a light 20 gauge. The difference was extreme. As a comparison, I shot fifty rounds of this rifle with the muzzle brake in place. Something I would never consider in any of my other lever guns. The most I have shot of my other .45-70 lever guns was ten shots before it becomes uncomfortable. Being able to shoot this rifle over and over is a thrill and the time on the range is extended due to the muzzle brake. I really wish other manufacturers offered this option on their big bore rifles.
MSRP on the Ridge Runner is $1,830. A bit steep for this market but a gun well worth the price. If you are looking for a big bore rifle that will put a smile on your face each time you shoot it, the Ridge Runner is the gun to choose. In the world of lever action rifles, the venerable 1886 action is a classic design that has proven the test of time. Marry this with a modern manufacturing process, muzzle brake and rubber coated stock, and you have the makings of a great rifle. The Ridge Runner, by Taylor's and Company is a great gun for your next purchase.