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Kampong Sungai Itek Things to Do
White Water Rafting @ Kampar River
This adventure began with a 6:30am departure from KL for our transfer to Sungai Itek which is in Kampar, Perak. We breakfasted at Tanjung Malim which is about 1 hour north of KL.
On arrival at the Tempurung Cave car park we changed into our bathers at the nearby change rooms.
Michael, the owner of MM Adventure Services, promised that our adventure begins here as we jumped onto the small truck with our raft tied to the back. And as we were driving along a narrow village track leading to the nearby Kampar River while bouncing on top of the raft I certainly had to agree with him.
On reaching the river we stopped and started applying our sunscreen lotion under a durian tree which was heavily in fruit. While my son was off chasing a monitor lizard into the jungle when I heard my daughter scream.
I quickly went to investigate and in the short time that it had taken for her to apply some lotion, a couple of leeches found their way up her leg. Not having much experience with removing these bloodthirsty critters I called for Michael's help.
But since the leeches were still marching up her legs, the only that was needed was a quick flick with a thumbnail to remove them. It's only when they stop and latch on that they become very difficult to remove. Then some suggested tactics were using either a cigarette ligher or some tobacco leaf to get them off.
We didn't need to employ either of these suggestions so I don't really know how effective they would have been. We then donned our helmets and were fitted with life jackets.
The first thing that our captain Mickey wanted to know was how well we could swim so we were ran into the river and were soon sucked into the fast flowing water and swam to a small sandy beach on the opposite bank. All my kids have been through an extensive swimming program down under so we all passed with flying colours.
With our captain satisfied in our swimming abilities, we then had a 10 minute safety briefing which covered paddling commands and techniques plus a man overboard and river rescue procedure.
From here it was into the rapids for our 8km or so river adventure. We rode through about a dozen rapids including the 'Double Decker' which consisted of two quick descents. Before entering this spot Mickey said we had a 50/50 chance of capsizing.
Luckily we negotiated this stretch by finishing on top of our raft and not under it. But I do think that we nearly bounced off it on the way down!
There are also long, calm sections of river where you will need to paddle. The Kampar River runs through a very deep valley surrounded by steep slopes covered in lush tropical jungle and is one of the most scenic parts of Malaysia that I have seen.
The Kampar River is fed from the 2,000m peaks of the Cameron Highlands so the waters are quite cool but certainly not cold. I can guarantee that you will get wet and you will end up in the river whether you want to or not. Watch out for Mickey, he has a mischievous streak of fun in him!
You will also get stretches of river where you can test your swimming skills with body rafting. This involves jumping into the river and being taken downstream with the current. All you need to do really is to steer yourself between the rocks which suck you in between their gaps and shoot you out the bottom. It's best to go feet first!
The total cost for this trip came to RM1,020 for three persons and included transfers from our KL accommodation, rafting, caving, Kellie's Castle side trip, meals and refreshments.Related to:
- Eco-Tourism
- Adventure Travel
- Rafting
Splash stop
At roughly the halfway point of our white water rafting adventure, the captain steered us to a small sandy beach along the river for a short stop.
He invited us to go for a swim and showed us a tree along the bank of the river which promised to be an excellent platform for jumping off.
All the kids, big and little, needed no further encouragement so I clambered up the opposite bank and climbed along the branch overhanging the river below. A young voice behind me yelled "you gotta jump sometime Dad!".
I was trying my best not to slip off and hopefully fall with some sort of style into the fast flowing waters. So I leapt into the river and anyone within reach was covered in the big splash from 'bombing' into the water.
After several jumps we were called to jump in our raft and man the oars for our final leg of this adventure.Related to:
- Adventure Travel
- Eco-Tourism
- Rafting
Tempurung Cave
When I first booked our white water rafting adventure I asked add the abseiling as our second adventure option. This would have involved rappeling down a waterfall but it required a minimum of eight participants to make this adventure viable. But unfortunately there were only the three of us so we had to make another choice.
The fall back option was to go caving instead of abseiling and as I had never done this before I agreed to it. Michael, the owner of MM Adventure Services, is an enthusiastic and dedicated caver with many years of experience.
Our caving adventure included learning about calcites, flowstones, stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, straws and columns. There was also plenty of fauna in the cave including thousands of bats and the odd False Scorpion Spider as well as various insects, worms and mites.
During the Malayan Emergency period between 1948 and 1960 saw the cave being used by the communists as their hideout. There is still grafitti on some walls as evidence of their occupation of the cave.
There is an underground river that runs for about 1.6km's through the cave and it is called Sungai Gua Tempurung. Part of the caving tour involved crawling on our hands and knees through this river with very little head clearance above.
It must have been raining outside because the water was flowing quite strongly and seemed to be increasing in volume. My suspicion was confirmed when Michael called out to us with a sense of urgency that "I need a little speed here guys!".
I encouraged my kids to faster and greater effort so we all sped off on all fours through the cold water with only a matter of a few inches clearance above our bobbing heads. With grazed knees we were very glad to be out of that tunnel and standing in broad daylight again.
I have always considered myself to be an outdoors type of person and my caving experience has certainly cemented that self belief. It was still raining as we left for our next destination and about an hour later Michael commented that the tunnels shouls be filled with water by now.
I couldn't take any pics while crawling through the tunnels but this link will take you to the MM Adventure Services photo album.Related to:
- Eco-Tourism
- Adventure Travel
- Family Travel
Kampong Sungai Itek Restaurants
Warung Kak Zizi: Local halal food
Warung Kak Zizi is a small restaurant located next to some souvenir shops just outside the Tempurung Cave car park.
The food is simple and tasty with dishes including fried rice, fried chicken, spicy chicken and a delicious omelette. The food here is completely halal and no alcohol is served.
Our meal was included as a part of the white water rafting tour and was served after the rafting and just before the caving tour.Related to:
- Food and Dining
- Family Travel
- Road Trip
Kampong Sungai Itek Transportation
Rubber raft
Michael, the owner of MM Adventure Services, promised that the adventure begins with jumping onto the rubber raft resting on the back of a small truck. And as we were driving along a narrow village track to the nearby river while bouncing on top of the raft I certainly had to agree with him.
The ten minute drive had us all doing various acrobatics attempting to stay onboard the boat which was bouncing us with every bump, ducking under low hanging branches to avoid decapitation, holding up the progress of a small motor bike overladen with freshly cut banana leaves and trying to identify various fruit trees along the way.
On finally reaching the river in one piece, we manhandled the raft off the back of the truck and ran it down to the rapids below in preparation for our much anticipated white water rafting adventure.Related to:
- Rafting
- Adventure Travel
- Eco-Tourism
MM's Merc
There are a few ways to get to Kampong Sungai Itek which includes buses and taxis that leave regularly from KL's Puduraya bus station.
Our transport came as a part of a package deal, departing from our KL accommodation, with MM Adventures on the White Water Rafting @ Kampar River Tour.
Because there was only myself and my two teenage kids we travelled there in Mike's gold Mercedes. Michael is the owner of MM Adventures and will use either a mini van or his own Merc depending on the tour numbers.Related to:
- Eco-Tourism
- Adventure Travel
- Rafting
Kampong Sungai Itek Hotels0 Hotels in Kampong Sungai Itek
Kampong Sungai Itek Favorites
More local fruit
Favorite thing: Not far from the white water rafting starting point I noticed a large-ish tree with some spiky fruit hanging from a single twig holding it to the main branch.
This was the tree bearing the famous king of fruit, the durian, much beloved for its by locals for its pungent taste.
The durian will fall of its own accord when it is ripe so they are never picked. Not unless the grower artificially ripen them. But connoisseurs claim to be able to taste the difference between the tree and gas ripened fruit.Related to:
- Eco-Tourism
- Adventure Travel
- Family Travel
Local fruit
Favorite thing: Sitting in the back of a small truck on the return trip from white water rafting I ducked under some low hanging branches when Michael, the owner of MM Adventures, yelled for the driver to stop and back up.
When we had reversed all the way back to the tree that I had dived under, Michael said that it was a rambutan tree in fruit.
He broke of some branches laden with the red 'hairy' fruits and tossed them into the rubber raft that we were sitting (bouncing) on.
The truck began to roll forward again and we peeled the skin from the fresh fruit and happilysavoured the sweet succulent flesh that it held within.Related to:
- Adventure Travel
- Eco-Tourism
- Rafting
Change rooms
Favorite thing: You will get very wet while white water rafting and definitely dirty down in the cave so do bring along a change of clean clothing.
There are well maintained change rooms and toilets provided near the Tempurung Cave car park where for a small fee you can get out of your wet and soiled gear into something dry and clean.
The toilets are Asian style but clean so rest assured that your fee is put to good use.Related to:
- Jungle and Rain Forest
- Adventure Travel
- Family Travel
Instant Answers: Kampong Sungai Itek
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More details about these headline statistics
is available in the NHS North of Tyne Strategic Health Needs
Assessment 2009/10.
The measure of the rate per 100,000 persons aged
16 years and over of self reported 4 week smoking quitters is
included in key plans across the local strategic partnership:
Over the past two years, NHS North of Tyne
focussed on developing robust mechanisms to make sure that local
people across Northumberland have the opportunity to influence
decisions about health developments and importantly, that their
comments are fed into the commissioning system and taken into
consideration whenever possible. Engagement activity includes
regular meetings with some groups in the rural communities and also
better links being developed with black and minority ethnic
communities and with the deaf community.
During 2009/10, the engagement team has
supported close involvement by the NHS Stop Smoking Service team
and NHS Health Trainers with the Health and Race Equality Forum
(HAREF) to discuss Supari addiction, which is linked with oral
cancer; further action is planned.
During 2009/10, NHS North of Tyne has made
concerted efforts to increase knowledge and competence in social
marketing and to formalise its use in strategic programming and the
development of public health campaigns.
Scoping work has been undertaken to help us to
tailor stop smoking messages for routine and manual groups to
attract them in to NHS Stop Smoking Services and better support
them in their quit attempts. Key messages and insights
arising from this work as follows:
In summary, stop smoking services must be
flexible and local to routine and manual workers so they can access
the services at time that is convenient to them.
The new tobacco control strategy for England,
published in February 2010, establishes a vision of eradicating
tobacco harms and creating a smokefree future, so that we can
support people to live healthier and longer lives. To deliver
a smokefree future, the strategy sets out three overarching
objectives to make significant progress towards a smokefree
The Health Act 2009, which received Royal Assent in
12th November 2009, includes legislation to remove
tobacco displays in shops and to restrict the sale of cigarettes
from vending machines, which were discussed in the
consultation on the future of tobacco control.
Virtually all enclosed public places and
workplaces in England must be smokefree, including all pubs, clubs,
membership clubs, cafes and restaurants as of 1 July 2007, in
accordance with the Health Act 2006.
Provides best practice guidance relevant to
the provision of all NHS stop smoking interventions and sets out
fundamental quality principles for the delivery of services which
can be used to inform the development of local commissioning
arrangements. It also includes full details of the data reporting
requirements for NHS Stop Smoking Services
This legislation, which came into effect in
October 2007, changed the age of sale from 16 years to 18 years for
tobacco products and strengthened sanctions against retailers for
under-age sale of tobacco.
This White Paper, published in 2004, sets out
the key principles for supporting the public to make healthier and
more informed choices in regards to their health.
The document, published in 1998, set out for the
first time in the UK, a comprehensive tobacco control strategy and
announced the introduction of a new NHS Stop Smoking Service.
The focus of the service would be to help all smokers quit smoking,
whilst specifically targeting young people, pregnant women and
socio-economically disadvantaged smokers.
Other tobacco and smoking related policy
documents are available from the
Department of Health website.
Better Health, Fairer Health
The North East's first ever health and wellbeing
strategy was launched in February 2008. This ambitious plan
aims to transform the region into the healthiest in England within
a generation. Tobacco is one of the key themes of this
A dedicated tobacco control
office, was set up in May 2005 following negotiations between
key partners including the Association of North East Councils, the
Regional Assembly, the Public Health Group North East, Primary Care
Trusts and both Strategic Health Authorities. It was agreed
that a
Regional Tobacco Strategy was needed, delivered by a coalition
of organisations and partners under the umbrella term of Fresh.
The ambitious five year plan aims to improve well-being and
health for almost 800,000 people living across Newcastle, North
Tyneside and
Northumberland. The Plan has been developed within the
context of health needs assessment which shows that many of the
major health conditions for the population are linked to lifestyle
choices. There is a clear link to the indicators that we have
selected as World Class Commissioning (WCC) outcomes - including
the measure of smoking quitters.
The North of Tyne annual operational plan sets out the
developments we are planning over the next year to improve health
and well-being and health services across Newcastle, North Tyneside
and Northumberland. The plan has been drafted in line with
national and local priorities and reflects discussions we have had
over the past year with key partners including members of the
This report documents current performance
against the national health inequalities target, focussing
particularly on the life expectancy target. It includes
consideration of performance across NHS North of Tyne in the
implementation of key highlighted evidence based interventions
which have the potential to narrow the life expectancy gap and the
formulation of an action plan intended to accelerate performance
towards the target.
The current Sustainable Community Strategy for
Northumberland was adopted by the partnership in September 2007 and
covers the period to 2021. It outlines an aspirational
long-term vision for the communities of Northumberland and defines
a series of shared priority outcomes that form the basis for
delivering a fundamental step change to the quality of life in
Northumberland. "Lead healthier lifestyles" is one of the key
themes of the strategy. The Strategy will be updated during
Local Area Agreement 2008-2011, and refreshed targets
as at March 2010 include a target to maintain the rate of self
reported 4 week smoking quitters.
A strategy to improve health and well-being in
Northumberland, published in 2007, includes tackling smoking as a
We have identified reducing the prevalence of
smoking as the number one priority for reducing inequalities in
life expectancy. Action to tackle smoking prevalence is drawn
from the wider Tobacco Control agenda; increasing smoking quit
rates through the NHS Stop Smoking Service is only one element of
this work.
Due to difficulties in maintaining year on
year increases in smoking quit rates against a backdrop of falling
prevalence, the two NHS Stop Smoking Services covering North of
Tyne were recommended for internal improvement review. The
review aimed to expand the reach, appropriateness and effectiveness
of NHS support for all smokers by implementing a package of
interventions, phased in according to available resource. Key
recommendations include the following:
In response to the detailed social marking
work with routine and manual smokers, we are implementing the
following into our programme for tackling smoking:
In addition to helping smokers quit, we must
strive to reduce the inflow of young people recruited as
smokers. We are currently evaluating the young people's
theatre in education package facilitated in 2009/10 in seven
Newcastle high schools and will develop a youth prevention
programme focusing on access to cigarettes via illicit routes, to
build on this approach.
The Northumberland Tobacco Alliance will be
reviewing its work programme in the light of the recently published
Tobacco Control Strategy for England.
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text:
HelloGiggles at The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 Premiere
HOORAY FOR THE FAN-PIRES! On my way to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 premiere, the unthinkable happened… The zipper on my dress got stuck, leaving the whole side completely open. Not having enough time to stop, change or do anything about it, I rushed through the huge LA Live complex downtown towards the premiere, when I was stopped by a smiling girl wearing a Twilight t-shirt. "Would you like me to help pin that up for you?" she asked. "Oh gosh yes thank you!" I replied, and a few safety pins later, I was good to go and happy to pretend I was channelling Elizabeth Hurley circa 1994.
For me, that small encounter sums up the fans of Twilight. Say what you will about them, it's so rare to see a huge group of people who are so devoted to one thing, yet so nice to each other. This final Twilight premiere was packed with fans who had camped out for days, and felt like a celebration of them and the entire franchise instead of just one movie. So, dress fixed, I grabbed the cast to talk about ending the franchise, and the love they have for the fans.


text:
Follow these instructions to activate your new or Certified Pre-Owned 3G Android tablet.
Activate your tablet.Before turning on your new tablet, call (877) 807-4646 and follow the prompts to activate it.
Have your Customer Receipt with you because you may be asked to confirm information from it, such as the mobile number assigned to your tablet. If prompted, follow the instructions to accept the Customer Agreement.
Set up your new tablet.
Your tablet is ready for use.
- Charge your tablet.
- Power on the tablet.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to activate your tablet, set up a Google account, and download or enable Backup Assistant1 to transfer your contacts. Refer to the How to Use Guide: Backup Assistant for instructions on backing up your contacts.
- Charge your tablet.
1 For Prepaid customers, data charges may apply for download (1 MB) and usage. Compatible device required.
Android is a trademark of Google, Inc. Use of this trademark is subject to Google Permissions.
Google and the Google logo are trademarks of Google, Inc.


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Article ID: 898715 - View products that this article applies to.
Microsoft Windows Installer version 3.1 was included with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1. This article discusses how to obtain an update for Windows Installer for the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Server 2003 SP1 and for the 64-bit editions of Windows XP. You can use this update on both IA-64-based systems and x64-based systems.
Windows Installer 3.1 General Distribution Release addresses the issue that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
898628Before the release of Windows Installer 3.1, during a silent installation process, a package could not install a later version of a file that was protected by the Windows File Protection (WFP) feature. However, the installation process would continue and would report as successful.
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/898628/ )Windows Installer fails silently after you upgrade to Windows Installer 3.1
With the release of Windows Installer 3.1, this behavior has changed. In version 3.1, the silent installation process does not succeed and then rolls back the installation if the silent installation process cannot install the WFP-protected file.
WFP prevents applications from overwriting system files. Windows Installer cannot overwrite WFP-protected files. To resolve this problem, obtain the Windows Installer 3.1 General Distribution Release update.
The preferred method to obtain this update is to use Windows Update.
If the computer does not have a connection to the Internet, you may obtain the update and manually apply the update to the computer.
The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
For more information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Download the 898715 package now.
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119591Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591/ )How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/824684/ )Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates
Article ID: 898715 - Last Review: March 23, 2007 - Revision: 1.5
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text:
Django Reloaded, Workshop, Part 6
Programming with the Python Django web frameworkBy
The screencast is from Douglas Napoleone of the Python Software Foundation, programming with the Django Framework.
The Return of Django, part 6/6
Douglas Napoleone is programming a Web database with Django.
Issue 180/2015
Buy this issue as a PDF
Dyreza Malware is Back
Powerful man-in-the-middle attack is now targeting online shopping.
Kernel Developer Matthew Garrett Forks the Linux Kernel
Another high-profile coder says the kernel team needs a kinder, gentler culture.
Bugzilla Bug
Bug database has a bug of its own that could allow an intruder to create an unauthorized account.
US Launches New Strategy for Broadband Access
Report focuses federal resources on achieving universal Internet access.
RC4 Finally Gets the Fork
Leading browser makers say "no" to porous encryption algorithm
IBM Says TOR Network a Vehicle for Ransomware
Report from the X-Force group says attackers are using TOR to hide their crimes
Mozilla Announces new Firefox API
Future Firefox extensions will be compatible with Chrome.
Weird Security Flaw Affected Intel Chips for 16 Years
Better read this if you bought your computer before 2011
OpenSSH 7.0 Secure Shell Arrives
Users should upgrade to the new version as soon as possible
Qemu Flaw Lets the Guest Escape
Xen project announces a privilege escalation problem for Qemu host systems


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Peace to my man Trento....
The Promised Land: In Canaan or in Nubia?
Avner Ramu. Journal of Religious Thought. Washington: 2001-2005. Vol.57/58, Iss. 2/1-2; pg. 83, 10 pgs
Abstract (Document Summary)
In spite of statements made by later scribes, authentic biblical references to the land of the patriarchs apparently do not claim that their land was in Canaan. Ramu proposes that the genuine biblical description of the land of the patriarchs refers to the western Nubian Desert. Ancient Egyptian inscriptions mention a few Nubian place names, some of those bear a similarity to the biblical place names associated with the lives of the patriarchs.
Full Text (4092 words)
Copyright Howard University 2001-2005
According to the Bible, Abraham was the first follower of the Lord. The first revelation of the Lord occurred to Abraham in Haran: "And the Lord said to Abram: Go from your country, and your birthplace to the land that I will show you" (Gen. 12:1). Shortly after arriving there, near a place called Shechem, the Lord said to Abraham, "To your offspring I will give this land" (Gen. 12:7). Later, Abraham settled in Alonei Mamre, where, apparently, the Lord promised him, "To your descendants I give this land" (Gen. 15:18). Up to this point in the biblical narrative about Abraham, the Lord's name in the Hebrew Bible was Yahweh, and he had not yet specified the name of the land promised to Abraham's descendants.
Noticeable changes occur in Genesis 17, where God is referred to by two new Hebrew names, El-Shadai and Elohim. Now we read for the first time: "I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land of your residence, all the land of Canaan, a holding forever" (Gen. 17:8). Julius Wellhausen indicated that although God is Elohim in two of the sources of the biblical material, it is the priestly source that emphasizes the need to obey the religious rituals and laws.1 The essence of the covenant in Genesis 17 is the law about circumcising every newborn male on the eighth day. Such content suggests that the chapter is of a priestly source, which generally is dated to the sixth or fifth century BCE. Therefore, the reference to Canaan in Genesis 17:8 is probably a late addition to the biblical text.
If the biblical Abraham is a historical person, he most probably lived in the first part of the second millennium BCE. However, there is no extra biblical evidence that Shechem, Alonei Mamre, or any other place name that is associated with Abraham existed in Abraham's era in Canaan. Furthermore, I will demonstrate that although the biblical description of the land of the patriarchs is not compatible with Canaan, it could be located in the western Nubian Desert.
Is Hurran the Biblical Haran?
If Haran was indeed the birthplace of Abraham (Gen. 12:1), then verses 11:31 and 15:7, which mention "Ur of the Chaldees," could not be genuine. In addition to the book of Genesis, forty-one other biblical verses refer to Abraham. The only other verse that tells us he came from "Ur of the Chaldees" is in the book of Nehemiah (9:7). Because that book was written in the Persian period (538-333 BCE), the credibility of its information about an event that occurred many centuries earlier may be doubted. The town of Ur (150 miles southwest of Susa) is mentioned in the records of the Persian King Artaxerxes II.
Nehemiah, as a high court official in Susa (Neh. 2:1-9), was probably aware of the impressive remains of the great Ziggurat of Ur. That structure had been built many centuries earlier when Ur was the capital of Sumer. Because the first biblical account about Abraham appears immediately after the narrative about the tower built in Shinar (corresponds to the region of Sumer), it is not improbable that Nehemiah-or a contemporary scribe-assumed that Abraham was from Ur. In the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian period, Sumer was referred to as Chaldea, and the expression "Ur of the Chaldees" is a further indication that some material was added to the text in this late period.
However, if the scribe's assumption is incorrect and if the journey of Abraham did not begin in the land of the Chaldees, one has to wonder where Haran was located. It is generally assumed that the ancient ruins near Hurran, a town situated on the river Belikh in southeast Turkey, is the biblical Haran.2 In the early second millennium BCE, Hurran was controlled by the Hurrians, whose heartland was northern Mesopotamia. The Hurrians had a well-developed culture (as is evident from the remains of the towns of Mari and Nuzi) and a written language. The Hurrian language, which is not Semitic, includes Indo-Iranian names and shows the influence of languages of the Caucasus region. In the biblical accounts that relate to the birthplace of Abraham, one finds no clue that suggests a connection to the Hurrian culture or that language. On the contrary, the patriarchs are clearly Semitic; therefore, it is unlikely that the Hurran is the biblical Haran. The location of the biblical Haran remains unknown.
In Search of the Promised Land
As indicated above, in Genesis 12, the Lord sent Abraham to an unnamed country, yet we read that "they set forth to go to the land of Canaan, and they had come to the land of Canaan.... At that time, the Canaanites were in the land" (Gen. 12:5-6). From the beginning of the Bible until the end of the book of Joshua, the word "Canaan" appears in sixty biblical verses (excluding the mention of men named Canaan). In fifty-nine of those verses, we find the expression "land of Canaan." In the remaining part of the Bible, the phrase "land of Canaan" appears in only five verses. Besides Genesis 12:5, there is one other verse in which the land of Canaan appears twice. In an awkwardly constructed verse, we read that "As you are coming to the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan by its borders" (Num. 34:2). In a manner similar to that found in Genesis 12:5, the writer of Numbers 34:2 appears to make the utmost effort to inform the reader that the Hebrews are about to take possession of Canaan and not of any other place.
The geographical name "Canaan" appears in Tell el-Amarna's letters (written between 1400 and 1300 BCE). Although the borders of the Egyptian province of Canaan shifted from one period to the next, the name "Canaan" generally referred to an area along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Similarly, the biblical "land of Canaan" is roughly between the town of Gaza in the south and Syria in the north (Gen. 10:19). The writer of Genesis 12:5-6 apparently knew the location of Canaan, but it is not clear whether he indeed knew, or just assumed, that Abraham came from Haran to the land of Canaan. In fact, there are a number of reasons to conclude that the land reached by Abraham was not Canaan.
We read that shortly after Abraham's arrival "There was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there ... for the famine was severe in the land" (Gen. 12:10). Famine was not an unusual event in the patriarchs' land, and the severe famine that occurred during Isaac's time nearly compelled him to go to Egypt. Later, because of yet another extended famine, Jacob had to order his sons-twice in fact-to go to Egypt and buy food. Finally, the famine forced Jacob and his household to pack up all their belongings and immigrate to Egypt.
James Hoffmeier believes that from time immemorial hunger and thirst drove the pastoral nomads of Canaan and the Sinai with their flocks to Egypt's lush Nile Delta. Hoffmeier's belief relies on his interpretation of lines 91-93 of the Merikare.3 However, in those lines, the speaker explains the causes for the nomadic lifestyle of the miserable Asiatic, but not necessarily the reasons for the immigration of some of them to Egypt. Undoubtedly, in various historic periods, Asiatic people have immigrated to the Nile Delta and have settled as farmers or have raised cattle. But it is highly improbable that the delta's farmers would let pastoral nomads tend their flocks in the Egyptians' cultivated fields. In fact, the Bible tells us "all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians" (Gen. 47:34).
Water as a Clue
Although not "a land flowing with milk and honey," Canaan had water resources that could always sustain a population much larger than the patriarchs' families. The climatic history of the Middle East indicates that, although no major changes have occurred in the last five millennia, the region is somewhat more arid today than it was in the past. Throughout history, people left (willingly or not) the land of Canaan for a variety of reasons. However, with the exception of Genesis, no biblical account provides any evidence that people of Canaan moved to Egypt as a result of a famine or lack of water. It is thus unlikely that the land of the biblical patriarchs was in Canaan.
Water wells and the scarcity of water play a pivotal role in biblical descriptions of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yet rainfall is not mentioned even once. Although the annual rainfall in the land of Canaan varies considerably from one year to the next, I am not aware of any evidence suggesting that there was ever a year with no rain at all. In Canaan, the rainy season begins in the fall and ends in the spring. Rain clouds arrive from the west and release most of their content over the western slopes of the mountain ranges extending in a north-south direction in the center of the country. The eastern slopes of the Samaria and Judea mountains experience much less precipitation than do the western slopes. The north-south distribution of rain is not even, and the southern regions receive much less rainfall than the north of Canaan.
Before the completion of the National Water Carrier Project some years ago, farming was limited primarily to the northern half of Israel, and the relatively arid south was the domain of pastoral nomads (e.g., Bedouins). In years with exceptionally low rainfall, a migration of the Bedouins with their herds to the north, where grass was more abundant, was a common practice. In such dry years, even the most ignorant herdsman in Palestine would not have contemplated the idea of driving his flock southwest through the dry and barren deserts of the Negeb and the Sinai Peninsula (which are even more arid than southern Canaan) to Egypt.
Thus, if the pastoral biblical patriarchs were forced by famine in their land to go down to Egypt, it is very unlikely that their land was in Canaan. In Genesis 41:54-57, we are told about a period of seven years of famine in Egypt. During most, or all, of that period, there was also a famine in the land of the biblical patriarchs (Gen. 42:1-2, 45:6-11). Because the climatic systems responsible for the weather in Canaan are independent of the systems causing the monsoon rains in the Ethiopian highland (which determine the annual water flow rate in the Nile), it is unlikely that such an extended famine would occur in Canaan and Egypt at the same time. We, therefore, need to search for the land of the biblical patriarchs in a region that is influenced by the same climatic systems that affect Egypt. One such area is located south of Egypt.
"Going Down" as a Clue
Whenever the Bible describes the movements of the pastoral patriarchs from one region of their land to another, the following expressions are used: "passed through the land to the place of," "he removed from there to a mountain," and "he went on his journey from," but the phrases "going up" or "going down" are not once used. However, when Abraham was forced by the famine to leave his land and go to Egypt, the Bible states that "There was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt" (Gen. 12:10), and "So Abram went up from Egypt ... Hanegba" (Gen. 13:1).
The repeated biblical use of the term "going down" to describe a journey taken from the land of the patriarchs to Egypt was not missed by the renovators of the modern Hebrew language. The contemporary Hebrew word for an immigrant to Israel literally means "one who goes up," and a person who emigrates from Israel is called "one who goes down." Viewing the Middle East on a map usually does not raise questions regarding the use of "going down" to describe a southwestward voyage from Canaan to Egypt, but the experience on the ground is totally different. A journey from the Beer-Sheba region in the land of Canaan through the northern Sinai Peninsula to Egypt does not give the perception of "going down."
One biblical figure who took part in a journey from Canaan to Egypt was the prophet Jeremiah. Although Jeremiah referred multiple times to such journeys from Canaan to Egypt, or from Egypt to Canaan, at no time did he use the expression "going down to Egypt" or "going up from Egypt" (Jer. 2:18, 26:21, 37:5, 37:7, 41:17, 42:15, 42:17, 42:19, 43:2). If the biblical patriarchs indeed "went down" from their land to Egypt and were "going up" on their return, we should seek the location of their land somewhere other than Canaan.
The Bible tells us where we should look: "So Abram went up from Egypt ... Hanegba" (Gen. 13:1). The Hebrew word Hanegba means "southward." Coming out of Egypt, one may experience the sensation of "going up" only when following a southward direction. If one uses no other mean, watching the flow of the Nile river may give such an impression. Incidentally, the ancient Egyptians referred to the southern part of their land as Upper Egypt, which suggests the possibility that the land of the biblical patriarchs was somewhere in northern Sudan. That area is very arid, and the local rainfall is so scant and infrequent that it has almost no effect on the water supply. Furthermore, throughout history, the pastorals of Nubia (the desert regions of northern Sudan) in a similar manner to the biblical patriarchs had to migrate far and wide to maintain their herds. They also frequently reached the areas controlled by Egypt.


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It's Your Business: Ava Maria's water named state's best tasting two years running
Ave Maria's drinking water couldn't taste any better if it was holy.
Ave Maria Utility Company recently won the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association's Best Tasting Water contest, according to a news release.
Ave Maria beat out 10 other regional finalists to win its second state title, and second in a row. It is the first time the water works association has named a repeat winner, according to a news release.
The city of Newberry near Gainesville took second place.
The planned community's 1.67 million-gallons-per-day water treatment plant was designed, built and operated by CH2M Hill for the Ave Maria Utility Company. It uses membrane softening to treat water drawn from the Lower Tamiami aquifer.
AMUC will compete in June for the nationwide title in Boston.
The other regional finalists are: Jacksonville Electric Authority; the Orlando Utilities Commission; the city of Dunedin; the village of Palm Springs; the city of North Miami; Martin County; Destin Water Users and Sarasota County.
The American Water Works Association is the largest nonprofit, scientific and educational association dedicated to managing and treating water.
Andalucia model grand opening in May
FrontDoor Communities and John R. Wood Properties will host a model home grand opening on May 3 & 4 for Andalucia, a 78-acre neighborhood in the Naples area.
The grand opening, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, features The Cordoba, a two-story family style home with up to five bedrooms and bathrooms.
Andalucia will include 167 homes at completion. It is located at 1336 Andalucia Way, off Whippoorwill Lane and south of Pine Ridge Road.
For more information, visit www.andalucianaples.com or www.JohnRWood.com.
People on the move:
--- Craig Naber has joined Advanced Programming Group, Inc. as their national sales executive in Naples. APG is an information technology recruiting/search company that provides contractors and permanent placements.
--- Christine and Pete Jones, Realtors with Berkshire Hathaway HS Florida Realty, have been awarded the President's Circle Award for 2013 and recognized as I the top 3 percent of teams in the Florida network of BHHS Florida Realty.
Subscribe to the Naples Daily News
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Olsen Jury Selected; Murder Trial Starts Monday
Updated: 02/09/2009 - Ten women and four men have been selected as the twelve jurors and two alternates. The trial begins at 8:30 a.m. on February 16.
Updated: 02/09/2009 - Ten women and four men have been selected as the twelve jurors and two alternates. The trial begins at 8:30 a.m. on February 16.
Updated: 02/23/2012 - The threat of severe weather has ended. Clearing skies and decreasing temperatures can be expected for Wednesday.
Updated: 02/09/2009 - Art helps celebrate the 200th Anniversary of President Lincoln's birth.
Updated: 02/09/2009 - Tuesday, the founder of Adam Corporation will announce the creation of a new bank in the Twin Cities, American Momentum.
Posted: 02/09/2009 - As soon as alcohol sales were passed in parts of Leon county, a group of Normangee parents started working to put more controls in place. Now their work has paid off.
Posted: 02/09/2009 - Blinn College Service Learning program was named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Updated: 02/08/2009 - It has now been two-and-a-half months -- 76 days as of Sunday -- since Bryan Police Chief Ty Morrow went on administrative leave.
Updated: 02/09/2009 - The Bryan city council is set to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would recommend dissolving the current inter-local agreement between Bryan and College Station in order to create a new agency to run landfill operations.
Updated: 02/09/2009 - A College Station woman says she's done some of the leg work to help Police catch a thief, but that detectives tell her they don't have time to look into her case, because of a backlog.
Updated: 02/09/2009 - A Madisonville man is dead following a head-on collision that tied up Interstate 45 Sunday afternoon.
Posted: 02/08/2009 - Takia Starks and Sydney Carter had 13 points each to lead No. 10 Texas A&M to an easy 86-43 win over Nebraska on Sunday.
Updated: 02/07/2009 - Lots of people saw video of the fire that scorched Brent Riethmayer's land and burned his hay, but an 8-year-old viewer in Anderson decided to help.
Updated: 02/07/2009 - A Burton man has begun serving a life sentence for the murder of an elderly woman who had hired him for odd jobs around the house.
Updated: 02/08/2009 - Saturday marked the final night of the 4th annual Daddy Daughter Dance at the Children's Museum in downtown Bryan.
Updated: 02/07/2009 - Man and man's best friend will be reunited after a few days of searching following a bad accident.
Updated: 02/07/2009 - The 13th Annual Cattle Baron's Ball was an opportunity to Kick Up Your Heels and Party With a Purpose.
Updated: 02/07/2009 - GPS devices are becoming more and more common. Now, the Texas Military will be using them to improve disaster response.
Updated: 02/07/2009 - The Kansas State men's basketball team collected a potentially crucial Big XII Conference win over Texas A&M at Reed Arena Saturday afternoon.
Updated: 02/07/2009 - With all of the recalls these days, people are becoming uneasy about the products that they are purchasing. But Kroger shoppers are now able to check their receipts for some guidance.
Posted: 02/06/2009 - Two days after a Bryan woman was attacked and stabbed, her alleged assailant has been caught.
Updated: 02/06/2009 - A 3-month-old boy who died while in the care of a Bryan in-home day care died of accidental suffocation, according to autopsy results released Friday.
Updated: 02/06/2009 - It is an experience hundreds of local girls won't soon forget. Third and fourth graders from Bryan and College Station attended the KEYS Girls' Health Initiative Friday night at the Lincoln Center.
Updated: 02/07/2009 - A local child molester will be spending the next 14 years in prison.
Updated: 02/06/2009 - It will be a homecoming of sorts for this year's main attraction at Chilifest.
Updated: 02/06/2009 - It's a question one local rancher is hoping to get answered: Who's responsible for a controlled burn that quickly spun out of control and onto his property?


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Ho PARAMETER FOR PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF CONVENTIONAL BREAKWATER STRUCTURAL HEAD. DATA ANALYSIS OF SPANISH NORTH COAST HARBOURS
The determination of the response of a Coastal Structures to waves is almost determined by model tests of using formulae fitted to model data. Using results of Aalborg University, 1987- 88, and Collecting Spanish data from the North Coast, 1988, we approach for preliminary design the dimensionless wave height parameter, H0, Van der Meer, 1988 for conventional breakwater, structural head, and start of damage and collapse of the structure. The effect of wave length, storm duration, and the influence of the breakwater geometry, interlocking blocks and water depth will be include in the future for better calibration of Van der Meer parameter.
Spain; preliminary design; breakwater; breakwater head
Full Text:PDF
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9753/icce.v24.%25p


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Article ID: 892428 - View products that this article applies to.
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This article describes the general troubleshooting steps that you can use to resolve issues with Microsoft Office for Mac programs. The troubleshooting steps that are included in this article use the Mac OS X Safe Boot feature to remove preference files and to reinstall software.
This article discusses general troubleshooting steps that you can use to resolve an issue that occurs when you use an Office for Mac program on a computer that is running Mac OS X 10.2.x or Mac OS X10.3.x. Use one of the following methods to troubleshoot an issue in an Office for Mac program. The methods are listed in the order of complexity and intrusiveness. Follow the steps in a specific method, and then work with the Office for Mac program for a sufficient time to determine whether the issue has been resolved before you go to the next method.
Before you perform any one of these methods, make sure that you apply the current updates for the operating system and for the Office for Mac program. All updates for Office for Mac products are located at the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloadsFor Apple updates, you can run the software update tool by clicking Software Update on the Apple menu while you are connected to the Internet.
After you install all the required updates, try to reproduce the issue again to see if the issue has been resolved. If the issue still occurs, continue with the appropriate troubleshooting method.
Problems that occur with Microsoft Word for Mac onlyIf the problem only occurs with Microsoft Word for Mac only, follow these troubleshooting steps:
Note While there is a separate file for Microsoft Excel for Mac and Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac toolbars, the Word for Mac toolbar preferences are held inside the Normal file.
Use the Safe Mode in Mac OS XYou can use the Safe Mode to troubleshoot startup issues that occur in Mac OS X 10.2 or later versions.
This method requires that you move the /Library/StartupItems folder. This folder only exists if you installed software that requires that the software start running when you start your computer. Antivirus software and font management software are the most common programs that install items in the /Library/StartupItems folder.
For example, when you try to start Word for Mac, Excel for Mac, and PowerPoint for Mac, you experience the issue where the programs do not start as expected. However, the programs may suddenly start as expected after you start the programs in Safe Mode.
To start an Office for Mac program in Safe Mode, follow these steps in the order that they are presented.
Create and move a StartupItems folder
Restart your computer
After you finish performing this troubleshooting step, follow these steps to restore the startup items:
When you perform a Safe Boot, the following items are affected:
For more information about Safe Mode and Safe Boot, visit the following AppleCare article:
The Repair Disk Permissions optionYou can use the Repair Disk Permissions option to troubleshoot permissions issues in Mac OS X 10.2 or later versions. If the permissions for your Microsoft software are incorrect, the Office for Mac programs may be slow to start or may have a slower performance. To use the Repair Disk Permissions option, follow these steps:
For more information about the Repair Disk Permissions option, visit the following AppleCare article:
Move the Office preferences files to the desktopIf you have an Office for Mac program that unexpectedly quits when you try to start it or that stops responding frequently, there may be an issue with that program's preference files.
To move the preference files, follow these steps.
Note If multiple programs have similar problems, move the whole Microsoft folder to the desktop instead of moving just the preference files for one program when you follow these steps. Try to start one of the programs to see if the issue still occurs.
Office for Mac programs will re-create their preference files, using the default values for each.
If moving the preference files out of the Library/Preferences/Microsoft folder does not resolve the issue, put the Microsoft preference files back in to the Library/Preferences/Microsoft folder to replace the new preferences files that were created.
If these steps resolve the issue, you can test each preference file for the Office for Mac program that is in question until you determine which file in the Microsoft preference folder is the cause of the issue. After you find the file that is causing the issue, you can put the rest of the preference files back in to the Library/Preferences/Microsoft folder to replace the new preference files that were created.
For more information about additional troubleshooting steps for Microsoft for Mac programs, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/312209/ )Error message when you open Word: The application Microsoft Word has unexpectedly quit
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/313535/ )How to troubleshoot font problems in Office for Mac programs
Move the "com.microsoft.program_name.plist" files to the desktopIf the issue is not resolved after you move the preference files, you can move the "com.microsoft.program_name.plist" files to the Preferences folder that you in the "Move the Office preferences files to the desktop" section. To do this, follow these steps:
Create a new userYou may notice that every time that you start an Office for Mac program, the computer will stop responding or the program will quit. If you have tried removing the preference files and are still receiving the errors, creating a new user will help determine whether the error is limited to just the user or is system wide. To do this, follow these steps.
If the issue no longer occurs, the issue exists within the user's home folder. If you think that the user account was responsible, you can continue troubleshooting by using the new user account.
Note You should contact Apple if you need help with moving your user files to the new account.
Remove and then reinstall the Office for Mac programIf the following conditions are true, you will have to remove all copies of Office for Mac from your computer:
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/312172/ )How to remove Office v. X for Mac and Office 2004 for Mac Standard Edition from your computer
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/871018/ )Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Installation Read Me
(https://support.microsoft.com/kb/311939/ )How to install Office v. X for Mac OS X (10.1)
Install a clean version of Mac OS XYou should install a clean version of the Mac OS X if the following conditions are true:
Before you install a clean copy of Mac OS X, use the Remove Office utility to remove Office for Mac from your computer. This utility also removes any preferences from the Library/Preferences folder in your home folder that pertain to Office for Mac. This include the Microsoft Office folder and the Microsoft preferences folder.
If you more information about how to install a clean copy of Mac OS X, contact Apple. You can contact Apple support at 1-800-275-2273 or visit the Apple Care support Web site for more information:
Article ID: 892428 - Last Review: July 10, 2012 - Revision: 5.0
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What causes diarrhea and general weakness? 35 possible conditions
See a list of possible causes in order from the most common to the least.
This condition is considered a medical emergency. Urgent care may be required.
Food poisoning occurs when you consume foods contaminated with bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Symptoms are usually uncomfortable but not severe. Serious reactions can be life threatening and require medical treatment.
Lactose intolerence occurs when a person's small intestine can't break down lactose, an enzyme found in dairy foods. The condition can cause many gastrointestinal symptoms.
In UC, the lining of the large intestine and the rectum become inflamed. This produces tiny sores or ulcers on the lining of the colon, often accompanied by diarrhea and cramping.
Celiac disease is a digestive disorder caused by an immune reaction to gluten. Symptoms vary but can include arthritis, fatigue, and abdominal symptoms.
Crohn's disease is a chronic bowel disease that causes severe inflammation of the digestive tract. It is associated with abdominal pain, diarrhea, and may affect your quality of life. Crohn's disease is characterized b...
PMS symptoms start five to 11 days before menstruation and typically go away once menstruation begins. The cause of PMS is unknown.
Colorectal cancer is a cancer that originates in the rectum or colon. Both of these organs are located at the lower portion of your digestive system. The colon is at the end of the large intestine and the rectum is a...
Diabetic neuropathy is a common complication of types 1 and 2 diabetes due to uncontrolled high blood sugar levels that result in damage to the nerves. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), between 6...
You're at risk for caffeine overdose when you ingest more than 200 to 300 mg of caffeine (about three 8-oz cups of coffee) in a day. Dizziness, diarrhea, headache, and severe thirst may occur.
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disorder that affects cells that produce mucous, sweat, and digestive juices. It may cause severe problems in the lungs, pancreas, liver, and intestine
E. coli is a type of bacteria normally found in intestines. But certain kinds of E. coli can cause infection and severe symptoms like diarrhea and dehydration.
Peripheral neuropathy occurs when nerves malfunction because they're damaged or destroyed. You'll notice a tingling, numbness, or weakness, and possibly sweating, constipation, or diarrhea.
The thyroid gland produces a hormone that controls how your cells use energy (metabolize). Hyperthyroidism occurs when the body produces excessive amounts, causing rapid heart rates, weight loss, and heat intolerance.
Megaloblastic anemia is a blood disorder marked by the appearance of very large red blood cells that crowd out healthy cells, causing anemia. Numbness or tingling in hands and feet is common sign.
Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that develops in tissues of the sympathetic nervous system (the system that carries brain signals to the body). Early symptoms of the cancer can include fever, diarrhea, and others.
Legionnaires' disease is a serious type of lung infection, or pneumonia, caused by bacteria. Fever, chills, cough, and head and muscle aches are common symptoms.
This condition is considered a medical emergency. Urgent care may be required.
Ebola disease is a rare, often fatal illness. One of its late-stage symptoms is a bleeding rash over the entire body.
Please consult a healthcare professional if you have health concerns.
Click to add a symptom to your list
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Soundtracks: Silversun Pickups Carnavas
First I loved Silversun Pickups because they're named for my favorite place to buy booze (Silversun Liquors in Silver Lake) and because their first single "Kissing Families" felt like my heart was being ripped out and made into something cleaner and dirtier at the same time. Then I loved them more because bassist/singer Nikki Monninger turned out to be one of those sophisticated-and-serene-looking indie-rock girls who transmogrifies into a snarly, spazzy monster onstage. There's just something so exciting about watching ostensibly reserved ladies make big huge rock in A-line skirts.
Right now I can't stop listening to "Lazy Eye" off Silversun Pickups' debut full-length Carnavas, out today and totally goosebump-inducing.


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This is the 12th consecutive year that the North Bank Communities Fund has awarded teacher grants as part of its community grant-making program. To date, the fund has awarded nearly $30,000 to more than 100 classroom teachers in north bank communities to support school enrichment programming.
The fund's Advisory Committee awarded grants in varying amounts up to $400 to support a variety of special student learning opportunities and classroom experiences not covered by regular school budgets. All of the classroom teachers receiving grants will incorporate their special learning activities into the current school year.
Recipients of 2011 North Bank Communities Fund Teacher Grants, and the purpose and amount of their grant, are:
— Amy Berry and Julie Marcus, Holmes Elementary School: Environmental Awareness Club, $325.
— Julie Marcus, Holmes Elementary School: reading assistive technology, $310.
— Irene Sipe, Lake Hills Elementary School: environmental art project/recycling, $325.
— Cara Guzman, Spring Lake Intermediate School: leveled books for science instruction, $325.
— Stacey Peterson, Spring Lake Middle School: Check Book Credit Score Math, $325.
— Elizabeth Schanhals, Spring Lake High School: dissolved oxygen/AP biology, $299.
— Jennifer Prescott, Walden Green Montessori School: learning environment ball chairs, $300.
— Stefanie Anderson, Walden Green Montessori School: raised bed peace garden project, $400.
— Tisha Lankamp and Jessica Dyball, West Michigan Arts & Academics Academy: classification of West Michigan native animals, $380.
All classroom teachers in public, private and charter schools located in the north bank communities are eligible to participate and were invited to submit grant applications to the annual competitive grant program.
The North Bank Communities Fund is a component fund of the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation. Established in 1990, all gifts and donations to the fund become part of the permanent endowment that supports the efforts of the fund, with only the growth and earnings of the used to support projects such as the teacher grant program.


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By Mark Richardson | 14 Comments
Avatar: Why do Pandorans get to be Traditionalists?
The blockbuster film Avatar has just been released. It's about a group of humans who wish to mine the resources of the planet Pandora. The humans are portrayed as white, industrial society imperialists and the Pandorans as pre-industrial, close to nature indigenes. One of the whites is rescued by a Pandoran woman, taken up by the tribe and learns to love their traditional ways. He becomes the hero of the film by turning against his own race and leading the fight of the natives to preserve their existence.
The blogger Fjordman is not impressed:
Avatar has to be one of the most anti-Western and especially anti-white Hollywood movies I have seen in a long time.
The hero is the U.S. Marine Jake Sully who has been sent to the planet-like moon Pandora because humans desire the mineral resources found of Pandora, which is inhabited by a race of tall, blue-skinned aliens, the Na'vi. They have a non-industrial civilization technologically inferior to ours but apparently spiritually richer and in perfect ecological harmony with the natural environment. The hero predictably falls in love with the native culture and connects with a native girl …
Basically, the white characters are portrayed as brutal, greedy and insensitive beasts who rape the environment and destroy other cultures with a smile in the search for profit. The main antagonist is the white Colonel Quaritch, a brute who hardly possesses a single positive character trait. The final climax of the movie is when he screams "How does it feel to betray your race?" to the protagonist while he is trying to murder him.
Although a few of the white characters such as Jake Sully are portrayed in a more redeeming light this is only because they totally reject their own civilization and join the other team in the fight. In other words: the only good whites are the ones who utterly turn their backs on their own destructive and evil culture. As reviewer Armond White put it, "Avatar is the corniest movie ever made about the white man's need to lose his identity and assuage racial, political, sexual and historical guilt."
Fjordman isn't alone in taking the film this way. Another reviewer writes:
Avatar is just the latest scifi rehash of an old white guilt fantasy . . . it's undeniable that the film … is emphatically a fantasy about race. Specifically, it's a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people. Avatar and scifi films like it give us the opportunity to answer the question: What do white people fantasize about when they fantasize about racial identity?
If we think of Avatar and its ilk as white fantasies about race, what kinds of patterns do we see emerging in these fantasies?
In both Avatar and District 9, humans are the cause of alien oppression and distress. Then, a white man who was one of the oppressors switches sides at the last minute, assimilating into the alien culture and becoming its savior . . .
These are movies about white guilt. Our main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color — their cultures, their habitats, and their populations. The whites realize this when they begin to assimilate into the "alien" cultures and see things from a new perspective. To purge their overwhelming sense of guilt, they switch sides, become "race traitors," and fight against their old comrades. But then they go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare . . .
There are two things that have to be explained about all this. The first is why white liberals would fantasise about being traitors to their own race. The second is why liberal moderns, who think of themselves as progressives, would support the traditionalism of non-white societies.
It can seem very confusing. In the film the native Pandorans are portrayed in the most positive terms for having "a direct line to their ancestors." You would think, then, that the whites in the film would be encouraged to have a strong sense of ancestry and ancestral loyalty. But they don't. Quite the opposite — their path to redemption is to become race traitors.
So why do liberal moderns have a fantasy of fighting against their own race? I put forward part of an explanation just a few weeks ago. I'd noticed that Australian men were being told that domestic violence was a product of a patriarchal male culture. In other words, men committed violence against women in order to perpetuate their own unjust privilege in society.
I cautioned men against accepting this idea because of what it logically entailed. Once a man accepts that masculinity and masculine culture are an oppressive source of privilege and injustice, then he loses moral status and authority in society. This in itself is bad enough, but worse follows. What the domestic violence campaigners then tell men is that they can redeem themselves, and restore their moral status and authority, by breaking ranks with other men and acting against the masculine culture. They are redeemed, not only by forfeiting their own masculine self-identity, but by identifying in opposition to the masculine in society.
And a similar logic applies when it comes to race. Once a white person accepts the idea that whites are privileged at the expense of the non-white other, then there is a loss which will be hard for the most conscientious and politically aware to bear. Such people will want to speak with moral authority in society, but how can they as white oppressors? The path to redemption is, again, to break ranks and to identify with the non-white other in opposition to other unenlightened whites.
This helps to explain why some liberal whites are so obsessed with an anti-white/pro-other agenda. It comes to express their self-concept and identity. It lies at the heart of how they see themselves and the ground on which they stand.
But why do white liberals praise what is traditional and non-liberal in native societies? Why are the Pandorans allowed to express a connection to ancestry and to defend their own culture but not whites?
If I understand Lawrence Auster correctly, a possible answer is as follows. There are white liberals, white non-liberals and non-white non-liberals. All three are necessary for the liberal script to play out in society. White liberals see themselves as morally virtuous because, in contrast to white non-liberals, they are open and accepting of the non-white other. But this then requires the non-whites to remain something "other" to the white liberal. What could be more "other" to the white liberal than non-white traditionalists?
In other words, the white liberal is practising his "virtue" by identifying with non-Western traditionalists. He is being a liberal in the very act of romanticising what is traditional and non-liberal.
Here's something else to consider. Liberals want equality and yet there appears to be inequality of power and wealth between different races and cultures. How can this be explained?
There are left liberals who believe that such inequality came about when one group of people, "whites," invented race and racism as an excuse to dominate and exploit other groups of people. Therefore whites are exceptional — exceptionally bad, that is. All that's necessary to restore equality is to attack white privilege and power.
If you believe this, then you'll get upset with any expression of white group identity. Even the most harmless expressions of such identity will be condemned as an attempt to defend "supremacy." But the identity of other groups won't matter so much, since they aren't seen as being tied to power, privilege and inequality. In fact, they might even be tied to resistance to whites and therefore be seen as progressive.
This is another reason for whites being treated differently to others and not being allowed to express a communal identity, whilst the identity of other groups gets a free pass.
Or there's the issue of dissent. There are left-liberals who see themselves as dissenters to the establishment (even though they are themselves a significant part of the establishment). But how do you demonstrate your dissent? If you think the establishment is a conservative bulwark against reform, then you can express your dissent in a predictable way — by advocating for progressive reform.
But what if you see the establishment as a soulless, materialistic, powerful Western industrial complex squashing the small, indigenous tribes in its path? Then perhaps you will express your dissent by identifying against the Western power complex in favour of the disappearing underdog tribes with their ancient wisdoms.
You might even then have a politically legitimate way to identify with things that you really do feel are lacking in more atomised modern liberal societies. You might even sound at times like a bit of a traditionalist — just not for the mainstream Western culture which retains its negative status as powerfully oppressive and destructive.
From Oz Conservative, December 21, 2009
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"There are two things that have to be explained about all this. The first is why white liberals would fantasise about being traitors to their own race. The second is why liberal moderns, who think of themselves as progressives, would support the traditionalism of non-white societies."
This last sentence shows the link between Liberals and Conservatives, and would be one, if not the, reason I would give if anyone asked me why I am not either.
Liberal moderns would support the traditional non-White society for the same reason Conservatives would support the tradional White society.
What is the reason?
The reason is they both believe that somewhere at some time in the past there was a place of perfect order and value. A place where man was perfectly adapted to his environment.
This belief is founded on a sentimentality.
There has never been a time where mankind has been perfectly adapted to his environment. Something a glance at mankind's history ought to make perfectly obvious.
As far as I can see our only salvation lies in accepting this fact.
In any event. When you wish to feel superior to someone you have two options.
Hurt them or Help them.
You can only hurt those who will truly be effected in some way by your attempts to hurt them. When one group of Whites accused another in the past of being morally and intellectually inferior they could have simply ignored each other.
But when one of them got hold of some real power they could do all sorts of things.
It's good, old-fashioned cruelty. Taking active pleasure in hurting someone and concealing this primitive cruelty in moral self-rigtheousness, by being "kind" to someone else. But both are violations.
As this charade became more transparent, and the violation revealed, the need to seriously limit free speech became paramount. And, even more important, the need to limit, or eliminate, free assembly!
With "bad" Whites the "good" ones get to play the Old Testament God (Judgmental and Merciless)
While with their non-White dependents the "good" Whites get to play the New Testament God (Understanding, Merciful, and Compassionate).
In short, they are absolutely stuck in a dreary ritual of forcing themselves and everyone else to act out rigid roles by reading from an ancient script.
Funny, doesn't sound very progressive to me.
Ahhh I was waiting for a review of Avatar to be put up on TOQOnline!
I was switched on throughout the whole film and what I saw [besides Dances With Smurfs] was James Cameron jerking it to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Pure unadulterated Post-Colonial twaddle. The story was in terms of colonisers and the colonised. I had to laugh when Cameron couldn't make up his mind whether the Na'vi were Africans or American Indians, though that of course didn't matter, they're an indigenous people UN style i.e. non-whites colonised by whites; whites can never be indigenous.
Of course the race traitor protagonist is a Southerner! Going on an epic physical and inner journey leading to his anti-white redemption. Methinks Avatar was ghost written by Morris Dees!
I nearly threw my 3D glasses at the screen at the line about the Na'vi connexion with their ancestors was something the evil whites were going to sever. Non-white traditions are to be romanticised and ultimately adopted by whites whose own traditions are supremacist and destroy non-white traditions.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that saw the exact same messages in the latest anti-white propaganda flick out of Hollywood. Don't take your children or younger brothers and sisters to see it!
The liberal love affair with the traditionalism of non-white societies is really a desire for pre-European contact, a harkening back to the good times when White people did not exist in the non-white universe. Translated to real world politics, this attitude invariably leads to a policy of racial extermination. Hence, the liberal need to push an agenda of anti-White discrimination, persecution, and genocide-through-mass-immigration and miscegenation.
The evil force isn't White America, it's a multinational corporation portrayed as a multicultural hodge-podge of mostly latino and black mercenaries. If anything, this film is anti-globalist and anti-industrialist. The idea that it's a White Guilt movie is a paranoid delusion.
When liberal, Hollywood Directors want to make a white guilt film nowadays, they're direct. They don't need to construct elaborate metaphors.
The Jake Sully character is both human and Na'vi. He has one mind that moves back and forth between two bodies. He falls in love with a Na'vi as a Na'vi, and when he defends their culture and heritage, he's defending his own culture and heritage. Again, you need to see the movie to really see the big picture.
"Basically, the white characters are portrayed as brutal, greedy and insensitive beasts" is a disgusting oversimplification. There was one white villain, Colonel Quatrich, who has a legion of primarily non-white soldiers who look like they came from ghettos and barrios. On the other hand the "good humans" (there's a group of them) are almost all white.
Aside from that, it was a fantastic movie and the fact that a few critics have inferred some deep propaganda message based entirely on their own imaginations is absolutely insane. Conspiracy theories based on one or two bits of information really do nothing to help our movement.
The author of this article is absolutely correct in his criticism of liberalism's racial double-standard. But it has absolutely nothing to do with this movie.
I had wanted to watch it, think ill go watch something not preachy…Second thoughts I had better just sit here in silence.
Why waste 10+ dollars a person to watch these stupid and pointless Hollywood movies, so-called 'films' which are entirely detrimental to White/Western culture? If you really insist on seeing one of these Hollywood 'films' just wait until they finish their run in the main theaters and move on to the 1-2 dollar theaters in about a month in a half or so, that way Hollywood Jews aren't making any more money on them.
It is pretty sad to me what White America has become, a nation devoid of any true nationwide culture since it has been subverted and near-destroyed in the last few decades, a nation's mass-culture replaced by anti-cultural Jewish Hollywood movies and idiotic cable television (talmudivision) shows; these Hollywood movies and TV shows seem to be about the only things that bind many Americans together nowadays in a wider/nationwide cultural sense, which is truly pathetic.
Or just watch the stupid movie for free online. Then ridicule it more.
I think everyone here needs to read Ian's comment. Seems rather insightful. A lot of people, especially the more angry and vocal of the pro-White movement, seem to have gone into this film looking for a negative message. Why not explore the idea that perhaps the multiracial, greedy, imperialistic, and degenerate corporate entity is not us, but what we stand against, while the Na'vi are really our own agrarian ancestors that represent a folkish aspect of our race. Just because they don't have White skin doesn't mean we can or cannot relate to something.
I mostly took Levis view on it, but also Ian is just wrong.
I saw the movie yesterday, and while the most anti white thing in the movie which it really would be insane to IGNORE is when the 2-dimensional marine commander says "how does it feel to betray your race?!?" at a point in the movie when the audience has already obviously chosen sides and become emotionally attached to the 3-dimensional protagonist and his righteousness. That was a blatant turning of the movie into a great big conditioning weapon which will go straight into unwitting children's minds and help form their opinions about "race traitors". A good person, an environmental activist, a great warrior, a campassionate savior is one who not only does not care about race, he betrays it. There is simply no denying the nature of that.
On the other hand, I too imagined the "aliens" as being like the northern Europeans, maybe even the Nazis. Their world-tree is so much like the Yggadrisil from northern European myth it is uncanny. The multi-legged horses reminded me of Odin's 8-legged steed. The "corporation" I replaced in my mind with the allies in WW2 including the massively selfish and greedy masses of communism destroying the volunteer, multinational, organic and natural Nazi movement concerned with soil and ancestors and invasion by greedy foreign races (Jews) and led by a Hero. Closer to the present, you could equate the corporation with the Jewish "oligarchs" who raped Russia of it's natural resources. Nazis passed some of the first sweeping animal anti-cruelty laws also.
Northern Europeans have always been at the forefront of conservation efforts. We believe money, or greed, should not rule. In third-world countries or those with primitive cultures like the one the aliens had, often greed and money and brute power and murder are all that rule. Just turn it around in your head so it makes actual moral sense and enjoy it. I told my kids what to expect, they heard the quote I spoke of, and I pointed out the ridiculousness of that theme. They could see it.
Train your kids to pick that stuff out. Then they can enjoy movies and maybe become immune to the conditioning. I told them all about how white people are the fairest, most objective, truth-seeking, generous, caring, BEST people on Earth, not the villans they constantly see and are taught about. We are very sensitive to nature — that is how we discovered evolution, that is how we discovered chemistry, physics, and everything else of science. We are the OPPOSITE of villans.. we are good, no, GREAT people!! Use the movies as an opportunity to teach, get some popcorn, and enjoy them.
Steven, I too made the Yggadrisil connection and drew parallels between the Na'vi and ancient Europe.
While I'd normally take your position on anything I interpreted as a message of race treason, the "how does it feel" line had very little effect on me, largely because Sully was not a human. He was Pandoran not only culturally, but biologically. For this reason – I didn't interpret his actions as treason, but as defense of his own kin. (It is science fiction, after all).
I can see where you're coming from, but I still see no reason to interpret the film's villainous corporation as a metaphor for White civilization. If that was the message Cameron wanted to send, he could've easily had the Na'vi refer to humans as "pale people", or at least made all the humans White (the average viewer would likely not have taken notice). At the very worst, any cosmopolitan message that may be gleaned from this movie is harmless compared to the barrage of blatant anti-White, pro-black crime propaganda that Hollywood exposes us too on a regular basis.
Doesnt anyone seem to find it odd in a movie about greenism. preservation, and the beauty of nature, that every landscape is digital? Furthermore the entire society works less like yggdrasil and more like a giant computer, or perhaps the internet. I think there is a lot of analysis in this area.
The racial politics seem to vague in the movie to make it the focus.
I'm giving away my age, I suppose, but I think that the fact that most movies these days are cartoons… eh… high tech I mean… shows that the levels of intellect and intelligence are decreasing rapidly.
Ian's comment is not entirely false, but not entirely correct. Yes, the invaders are a multinational corporation staffed by a multiracial bunch. But the leaders of the corporation were all white males. And there WAS more than one white villian. The other main one was the "corporate administer," who keeps pushing the need to be mindful of the company's bottom line. The character played by this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Ribisi
The key exchange in the film is when the woman scientist, the Sigorney Weaver character, starts talking about her theory that the "N'eva" peoples are somehow directly connected to the fundamental substance that holds together the plantet's biosphere, or some such talk. And her boss, the white supervisor, who earlier looking at a globe of the planet and its material riches, said "look at all that cheese," responds to Weaver's argument with a derisive laugh and the retort "What the hell are you people smoking?!"
This is the image of whites: as the supreme movers and beneficiaries of capitalism, as ignorant of the immaterial, as uninterested in scientific progress unless it can be harnessed to improve technology . As greed, materialistic savages.
At the same time, of course, the HEROES of the film are almost all white as well, too. Implicitely so. A point which many anti-white critics have pointed out. I remember reading some speech of William Pierce in which he claims that on some issues, white nationalists are much more comfortable with what is today considered to be "on the left." And the first example he mentioned was environmentalism. In light of this, what the film makes me ask myself is, is it fair to associate white people with these particular negative aspects of capitalism and technological progress, since it is whites and their dynamic spirit that (still) is pushing this progress forward?
Someone should write an essay on "Global warming, white guilt and White Nationalism" One question to explore: what are the responsibilities of whites toward transnational environmental concerns that impact whites, but neither directly nor exclusively?
Ideally, writer would be someone who can grapple honestly with these issues without reflexively and exclusively shifting the blame for everything unsavory about capitalism and modernity on the Jews. And, of course, someone whose arguments cannot be reflexively dismissed based on him or her having Jewish ancestry.
The Pandorans can also be seen as the Native whites of northern Europe who were forced to adopt a Jewish religion by the Roman Empire.
The trees, the harmony with nature, and the tribal way were how whites lived for 10s of thousands of years.
If in fact the industrial way of life kills or nearly kills the world, we can go back to the ways of our ancestors, who lived sustainably, and with "low carbon footprints" and in tax-free economies.
We could live that way for eternity, or at least until the sun consumes the earth.