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A Maryland lawmaker involved in a boating crash that injured several people was sentenced to 30 days in jail on Tuesday for operating a motorboat under the influence of alcohol, but his attorney has appealed the case to a higher court.
David Fischer appealed Anne Arundel District Court Judge Robert Wilcox's decision shortly after Delegate Don Dwyer's sentence was announced. That means the case will go to Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, and the sentence is put on hold. The case may not be resolved for another 45 to 60 days, Fischer said.
"We'll be discussing our legal options over the next couple of weeks," Fischer said in a telephone interview.
Dwyer, 55, pleaded guilty Tuesday to operating his boat under the influence of alcohol, but the judge did not accept the terms of a plea deal calling for no incarceration. He also fined Dwyer $1,000.
Dwyer was operating a 26-foot Baja motorboat with another adult on board. The other boat, an 18-foot Bayliner, was carrying five children and two adults. Several people were injured in the crash, including Dwyer.
Dwyer, R-Anne Arundel, and Fischer held a news conference Monday to announce the delegate's plans to plead guilty. Dwyer's blood alcohol content after the August accident on the Magothy River was .24 percent -- three times the legal limit to operate a boat. Dwyer apologized for driving his boat after drinking but said the accident wasn't his fault.
He spent a weekend in a rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse and is in a 26-week treatment program.
Fischer said he believed he could have successfully had the report on Dwyer's blood-alcohol content thrown out on a technicality. He contends an officer wrongly took an automatic blood sample without asking Dwyer's permission in a case that did not involve life-threatening injuries. Fischer said Dwyer decided to plead guilty anyway, and he said Tuesday he didn't believe Dwyer would change his mind.
Dwyer, who has been serving in the House of Delegates since 2003, was reassigned from his position on the House Judiciary Committee to the House Ways and Means Committee in January because of the charges.
It's the second case involving a public official in Maryland this year in which prosecutors recommended no jail time but the judge imposed incarceration. In March, a judge sentenced former Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold to 30 days in jail for misconduct in office.
Md. Del. Appeals 30 Day-Sentence for Boating Drunk
A Maryland lawmaker involved in a boating crash that injured several people was sentenced to 30 days in jail on Tuesday for operating a motorboat under the influence of alcohol, but his attorney has appealed the case to a higher court.


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GREENSBORO � Every team, regardless of the sport or the level on which it plays, has its own personal ceiling. At North Carolina, the ceiling for the basketball team is usually about as high as a New York City skyscraper.
But while fans might expect coach Roy Williams to get his Tar Heels to the Final Four every year and the media automatically pencils them into its preseason top 15 simply because of the words �North� and �Carolina� stitched across the front of their powder blue uniforms, the reality is that expectations change greatly from year to year.
Even in Chapel Hill.
That�s how last year�s team, led by four first-round NBA draft choices, can be considered a disappointment despite winning 32 games while Williams� current group of players � with eight fewer victories and a third-place regular season finish � are now generally considered an unexpected success.
It�s all about reaching or exceeding your ceiling.
Whether it was because of injuries to Kendall Marshall and John Henson or not, that 2012 team fell short of its potential. These 2013 Tar Heels, by contrast, have already realized theirs.
That was evident in Sunday�s 87-77 loss to top-seeded Miami in the ACC tournament championship game at Greensboro Coliseum.
The Tar Heels played close to their absolute best � hitting 13 3-pointers, getting another heroic performance from sophomore P.J. Hairston and forcing the regular-season champion Hurricanes into adjusting their own lineup to create a better matchup instead of vice versa. But even that wasn�t enough to get them over the hump.
That would normally be cause for tears of disappointment. In this case, the moisture welling up in Williams� eyes during his postgame press conference were those of pride and a sense of accomplishment.
�Ninety percent of the people in this room abandoned ship. Ninety-five percent of our fans did,� said Williams, whose team will be the No. 8 seed in the NCAA�s South Region. �Nobody knows how hard these kids have worked, and you get right here and you�d like them to be rewarded more. � But I�m proud of how my team got better. I�m proud of these kids.�
That pride stems from the fact that as recently as early February, there was serious discussion about whether the Tar Heels might be on the wrong side of the NCAA bubble. They changed that perception by making a drastic change following a humiliating 26-point loss at Miami.
Finally giving in to the inevitable, Williams inserted Hairston into the starting lineup as part of a smaller, quicker four-guard lineup.
Though the new approach left UNC vulnerable on the boards, it also allowed the team to play more to its strengths. The result was eight wins in 11 games, including victories against Florida State and Maryland this week in Greensboro.
Even in Sunday�s defeat, the Tar Heels were significantly better than they were the last time they played the Hurricanes.
Led by Hairston, who made six 3-pointers and scored 28 points despite playing with eight stitches in his left hand, UNC was able to build a 67-64 advantage with 7:24 remaining before finally being done in by an 8-0 Miami run.
If the gallant effort that fell short at the end proved nothing else, it�s that for as much as the Tar Heels have improved since Williams begrudgingly switched his lineup on Feb. 13, their ultimate ceiling still just isn�t high enough to beat elite teams the caliber of the Hurricanes and Duke.
�We wanted to give them a run for their money,� freshman point guard Marcus Paige said. �We had the game, but it was a couple of mistakes that they capitalized on. I felt like my team wanted to win this game, and we came out and played our hardest.�
That wasn�t good enough, as it turned out.
But sometimes that�s all you can ask of a team � even one wearing powder blue uniforms with �North� and �Carolina� stitched across the front.
Brett Friedlander can be reached at email@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Does anybody know how to speed up pixel data transfer to and from graphic cards without involving CPU cycles ?
I am trying to develop a test application on TI OMAP3530 beagleboard that loads 24-bit bmp images, rotates each bmp image, and displays the rotated images.
I modified one of the openVG tranining sample code (OVGPatternFill.cpp) that came with OMAP35x_Graphics_SDK_3_00_00_06. To load bmp, I added loadBMP() in
http://www.videotutorialsrock.com/openg … t/home.php.
I built/ran the code for beagleboard and found out that the bottleneck is in the memory to GPU memory transfering (actually done by vgImageSubData() ). To transfer a 512x512 bmp image from local memory to GPU, it took around 500 msec.
I heard Pixel Buffer Objects (PBO) are often suggested for faster image transfer (http://www.songho.ca/opengl/gl_pbo.html), but it seems that PBO is not supported by OpenGL ES /OpenVG.
Any help would be appreciated !
Thank you.


text:
Wake up to the digital skills gap!
The irreversible path towards Cloud-based applications is deeply impacting enterprise learning needs.
Only 53% of the labor force said they are confident that their level of computer and/or internet skills are sufficient.
The annual cost of IT help desk support for computer-related problems is estimated at $2,900 annually for every employee.
The loss of productivity time is estimated to be more than 5.45 hours by every employee each month. That's almost an entire work day!
Each and every individual performance counts, in order to succeed the Digital Transformation
Enterprises looking to capitalize on new technologies must stay ahead of the Digital Skills gap and its rising challenges
Desktop application migration
Some 25% of SMEs are still running Windows XP and Office 2003 - Microsoft's 10 years old systems that are now end of support. What does this mean? Soon, millions of users are facing a massive change!
Digital Transformation
Transportation, finance, service, … no matter where you are, the Digital Transformation is unavoidable and irreversible. Invading the business environment with digital tools and cloud-based applications, it is coming fast and impacting every employee in your organization.
Digital Corporate Universities
The Cloud came bringing us a great opportunity: building large and massive Digital Corporate Universities that can respond to the learning need of every employee, even in the biggest organizations. And along came the challenges.
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IT & Digital Skills
Hello, Bonjour, Hallo, ¡Hola!, Olá, 你好
These companies trust us with their training
Hundreds of thousands of users are using the Vodeclic solution everyday to develop their digital skills.
Skillsoft announces acquisition of Vodeclic
Skillsoft Limited, a global leader in learning and talent management, has completed the acquisition of Vodeclic, a leading provider of new generation video courses
White paper - Microlearning: when less is more
The "digitalization" of training is here to stay. But as the behavior of the "Connected Learners" is yet to be understood, how to engage them is still the question. Microlearning might be just the right answer.


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On raising a son on the autism spectrum, progressive politics, pop culture, and coffee addiction.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Steve Jobs: Thinking different, changing lives
No, I didn't expect that. Not really.
But, damn. He was Steve Jobs. If anyone could have pulled that off, it would have been him.
But it wasn't. And now it never will be. And I'm really, really sad.
It wasn't just that Steve was a genius disguised as an Everyman - like he was just cool Uncle Steve, always showing up for holiday dinners with the hottest new toys. It wasn't even that he singlehandedly made it cool to be a geek, raising the market value for so many of us as we make our way in this world.
It was that Steve Jobs changed my son's life.
Where would Bud be right now if Bill Gates had not had Steve Jobs to engage him in the continual battle of one-upsmanship that made home computing what it is today? Where would he be without the point-and-click technology that Jobs pioneered - the technology that works in absolute congruence with his non-typical brain? For Bud, computers are the one intuitive thing he has in a world that is otherwise almost entirely counter-intuitive. Bud has been computing since he was a toddler, and in all that time, computers have not just given him a sense of competence. They have given him a sense of mastery. They are the arena in which he knows that he is not just on par with his peers; he surpasses them.
And it was Steve Jobs who brought us the iPad, the device that has been transformative for so many children with autism - the device that has given them independence and helped them find their voices. While the iPad has not been quite as life-changing for Bud, it's clear that we have only begun to recognize the possibilities that it holds for him as an educational tool. For now, though, it is the ultimate imagination machine, which Bud uses to experiment with multimedia, casting himself as designer, producer, narrator, and foley artist of his own creations. And where will his iPad take him from here? It will be fascinating to find out.
And the iPod - the single most powerful tool in Bud's arsenal. The iPod is Bud's armor in battle, his passport in interaction, and his solace in times of stress. A quick glance through the pages of this blog would reveal how often the iPod makes an appearance here. A look through our (digital - thanks, Steve) photo albums would show you that the iPod is Bud's personal American Express - he won't leave home without it. Would Bud ever have become the model patient at the pediatric dentist if he hadn't had his iPod to help him self-regulate through those early years of visits? Would he ever have conquered his fear of thunderstorms without his iPod to temper the fury? It is hard to imagine.
Without Steve Jobs's iPod, Bud would probably spend most of his time in the public arena with his fingers in his ears or with sound-blocking headphones standing between him and the rest of the world. From a distance, he would look, to strangers and peers, a little different, a little odd, a little "other." But now, with his iPod in hand and his earphones in place? He just looks like the cool kid that he is.
The iPod is his conversation starter ("Hey, Bud - what are you listening to?"). It is his shelter from the storm. It is his socially acceptable and entirely private way to restore local coherence when the world gets overwhelming, allowing him to replay brief snippets of songs or sound bites, over, and over, and over again, as he reclaims control when his world is too unpredictable, as he restores his own sense of internal order when his external environment seems in chaos. For Bud, it's a life-saver - and a gift that only Steve Jobs could give.
Perhaps most importantly, though, it was Steve Jobs who framed a cultural philosophy that makes the world a safer place for my son to be himself, because it was Steve who challenged us to "think different." And for a child whose brain is designed to think different, that celebration of difference, that trumpeting of both the value and the importance of difference - well... it's everything.
We will miss you, Uncle Steve. The holiday dinner table just won't be the same without you. But, truly, your legacy will continue in ways that even you might never have imagined were possible - and, as we all know, that's really saying something.
And, oh yeah, one more thing: Thank you - from the bottom of my heart.
12 comments:
- Alysia said...
a beautiful tribute to Uncle Steve and his impact on your life. I was struggling to figure out why I was still so sad, and you hit it. It's like a family member is gone. Weird for someone I've never met. But it's like he's been a part of our family for years now.
Thank you for making things so clear for me with your amazing words, as usual.
- October 06, 2011 6:51 PM
- *m* said...
Beautifully said. What an amazing legacy he leaves behind.
- October 06, 2011 6:52 PM
- Terri Mauro said...
Lovely. I've added this to my round-up of posts about Steve Jobs from special-needs bloggers at http://specialchildren.about.com/b/2011/10/06/what-steve-jobs-meant-to-parents-of-children-with-special-needs.htm.
- October 06, 2011 7:42 PM
- Solitary Diner (Also Known as The Frugalish Physician) said...
A beautiful post. Reading all the tributes to Steve Jobs, it's amazing the impact that he had on so many people.
- October 06, 2011 7:47 PM
"Perhaps most importantly, though, it was Steve Jobs who framed a cultural philosophy that makes the world a safer place for my son to be himself, because it was Steve who challenged us to "think different." And for a child whose brain is designed to think different, that celebration of difference, that trumpeting of both the value and the importance of difference - well... it's everything."
Yes. It is everything. Beautiful post.
- October 06, 2011 8:36 PM
- Niksmom said...
I was surprised, too, at how strongly I reacted to the news. As you know, Nik's iPad has changed his life in so many ways!
- October 06, 2011 9:04 PM
- Boy Wonder's Mom said...
yes it's changed so much for our kids. In ways we wanted and in ways we never expected.
- October 07, 2011 9:11 AM
- kristina said...
Too well said, as always.
I am late! Happy birthday, Bud. Teenager-hood is indeed different (and full of many a challenge), but things do keep getting better.
- October 10, 2011 1:01 AM
The story of your son's image being changed through the appearance of the 'cool' iPod earbuds in the place of bulky sound-canceling earphones is breathtaking. It clearly shows how Jobs led a paradigm shift for the entire world.
Thank you for sharing this post, reminding us that those who think differently can have a profound impact on the rest of us.
- October 20, 2011 3:26 PM
- Electronic Medical Records said...
Sue his contributed is irrefutable and we will remember him through the good work that he has left for us and the world.
- October 21, 2011 11:51 AM
- Darius said...
So true. When I treat the autistic children, the ipad makes them able to sit still so that I can actually do something. But I never thought about it the way you wrote it. God bless Steve Jobs!
- October 27, 2011 3:17 AM
- Unknown said...
If your son was a true computer geek he would realize how much of a crook, thief, and immoral person steve jobs was. Think different? Is every product locked into an interface with no freedom considered different? Different should be customization and open source. The ipad is the greatest joke to befall computing. Any one of the cheaper competitors has it beat. My toshiba thrive tablet is much better. Apple over prices everything they make and calls it new. Tablets have been around for 10 years. Apple did the ipod right? It was based off of the mp3 players of the time. Itunes is a terrible music experience which locks you into the ipod/itunes interface. I have autism/aspergers. I am going to say straight up i am anti anything apple. I'm a windows guy. Bill gates has aspergers. He has donated billions to charity. Steve jobs stopped all charity when he became ceo of apple.
- January 08, 2012 6:10 AM


text:
Tie Dye Skull Tee
Red and blue cotton skull print tie-dye T-shirt from Amiri featuring a round neck, short sleeves, a straight hem, a tie-dye print and a graphic print.
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Looking for a new job can be stressful and time consuming. Luckily, Marquette offers several services to aid you in this important search.
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text: On 2/29/08, Nicolas Will <nico at youplala.net> wrote: > hmmm... > > guys. > > First thing: on a Debian or Ubuntu system, I never needed the full Linux > sources to compile a v4l-dvb tree. The headers were always enough. > > Second thing: when you compile a v4l-dvb tree on the side, I do not > think that it is adding anything in the headers. > So, if you subsequently need to compile a driver that needs stuff from a > recent v4l-dvb tree, it won't find it. > > Third thing: That weird driver of yours is probably looking for its > stuff either int the headers (were there will not be anything good to > find because of the point made above) or in an available kernel source > tree (where it will probably not find anything that will make it happy > because your recent v4l-dvb tree is elsewhere). > > May I suggest to get a kernel source tree (from the appropriate > package), incorporate the v4l-dvb tree in it, then try to compile your > weird driver against this. > > Getting rid of the headers may help. > When you compile the v4l-dvb or v4l-dvb-experimental tree it will update your whole v4l and dvb subsystem. As soon as you do so it won't work to install any other external media drivers anymore, beside that v4l-dvb is much bigger than the snipped out em28xx driver. em28xx-userspace2 and userspace-drivers only contains the drivers for em28xx based devices and won't affect any other drivers on the system. Since the uvc driver is also out of tree it won't break compiling/using the uvc driver against the current running kernel. The kernel sources are needed because some internal headers are needed for the em28xx to build an alternative tuning system for hybrid radio/analogue TV/DTV devices. It should work flawlessly with older kernel releases where v4l-dvb already fails to compile. It's also easier to keep backward compatibility while not breaking any other drivers on the system that way (and this is seriously needed) Beside all that: There's a .deb package available I posted the link very early already compiling from source can always introduce some mess so you better know what you do otherwise you have to learn how it works... The build scripts already do alot work there for several different distributions Markus


text:
Browsing Conference Papers (IBC) by Author "Odgaard, Anna Elisabeth"
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Nistrup Madsen, Bodil; Erdman Thomsen, Hanne; Lassen, Tine; Pram Nielsen, Louise; Odgaard, Anna Elisabeth; Hoffmann, Pia Lyngby (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this paper we will describe some problems related to the defini-tion of a set of data categories as well as to the import and merging of data from various resources. First, we illustrate how organizing a taxonomy of data cate-gories is facilitated by using the principles for creating a terminological ontolo-gy (or concept system). Next, we discuss how multiple terminological entries referring to the same concept can be identified with the purpose of merging them. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8491
Files in this item: 1Nistrup_Erdman.pdf (833.3Kb)
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text: Christ is the reason for St. Stephen School. He is the unseen but ever present teacher in our classes. He is the model of our faculty and the inspiration of our students. In this spirit-filled, safe and supportive environment, the dedicated faculty of St. Stephen School works closely with families to provide students with a solid academic foundation for their future studies and a solid spiritual foundation, based on the values of the Catholic faith, to last a lifetime. We want our students to catch this Spirit!


text:
New Boat-Billed Herons in the Rain Forest!
Two boat-billed herons, transported to Baltimore from the Buffalo Zoo, have been introduced into our Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibit!
Boat-billed herons are found in forested areas near water from Mexico to Argentina. These stocky birds feed mostly on fish, invertebrates, and small amphibians.
Did you know? The large characteristic beak that gives the bird it's name is used for both food gathering and for social signaling between other members of the species!
Both of our herons are females, estimated to be about six-years-old. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at one of our herons getting a quick exam before going on exhibit:
Be sure to check back every Friday to find out what's happening!


text:
Kentucky's Beautiful Loreal
[Our Beauty Of The Day]
Where She's From: Loreal S. Jones was born in Franklin, Kentucky, and raised in Clarksville, Tennessee until the age of 12 and then was raised in Russellville, KY.
"The most important things I've learned from my parents is to do my best in everything I do and go for my dreams," Loreal says.
She is currently attending Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY, where she is a junior. "I started modeling in June 2007 as a runway model, but now I have more experience in other areas. So far 2008 is going great for me," she adds.
Where She's At: "I see my modeling career going very far. I really hope to be in big time magazines and in calendars," Loreal continues. "I am proud to have been in two runway shows in Louisville, KY and the photo shoots I have to come. Although models can be judged on beauty, I would have to say that having brains is a must in order to make it in this industry."
So how does this emerging model prepare to step out?
"As long as the clothes are cute, I don't really look into it that much as to whether or not it's a brand name," Loreal says. "I mean I do wear some brand name clothes, but it's not extremely important. My favorite lotion is Keri and as far as perfume goes, I just buy what smells good."
Loreal's Words Of Wisdom: "Don't let rejection stop you from fulfilling your dreams."
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Loreal's Favorite Three Movies: "Roger Rabbit, Superstar, and The Color Purple."
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The First Three Things Loreal Would Do As President: "Provide better health care for everyone; lower tuition; and, eliminate hunger around the world."
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Also visit out sister publications Harlem Business News www.harlembusinessnews.com and The Groove music magazine at www.thegroovemag.com
"Speaking Truth To Empower."
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I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...


text:
1 1/2 yards white fabric for sashing/borders
1/2 yard fabric for binding
1 1/2 yards of fabric for backing
batting that measures 44″ x 55″
quilting thread
please note: 1/4″ seams are used throughout this project.
Sew coins together. I found it very helpful to match the pinked edges with pinked edges and straight edges with straight edges when piecing.
Sew sashing to the coin strips. Press all seams toward the white.Cut 2 pieces 3.5″ x 41″ for the top and bottom of the quilt. Sew together and press well.
I just love the one strip of patchwork on the backing. Wash and dry your quilt for that soft crinkly goodness.
The finished quilt measures approximately 41″ x 50″.


text:
In South Walton, opportunities to eat, dink, and be merry are seldom passed up, and last week was a prime example.
I want to thank Seagrove Garden Club's president Jan Schott and its members for again honoring me with an honorary membership in the club. The membership held its monthly luncheon meeting last Wednesday at Nick's at the beach. Russ Barley again presented his holiday decorating program to the delight of members. Among those seen enjoying were Tim Ryan, Donna Gibson, Jan Schott, Tricia Sloan, Cobb Sheriff, Caroline Wallace, Lynn Abbit, Georgeen Newell, Cappy Testa, Jo Handley, Patti Johnson, Sharon Jenkins, Deb Eberhart, Jan Stanko, Betty Mustaschio, Judy Sullivan, Tricia Fiorenza, Kathy Carpenter, Mary Slater, Sarah Modica, Donna Vann, Irene Sopa, and Rachel Strawbridge.
That evening, George and Ann Hartley hosted a Merryvale/Starmont wine dinner at George's in Alys Beach. Michael McIntosh of Republic National Wine Distributors poured a variety of excellent wines ranging in value from $20 to $85 that perfectly complemented Chef Gregg Smith's fabulous six-course dinner of squash ravioli, butter poached prawn, a sea scallop stack, sesame seared beef tenderloin, pork tenderloin schnitzel, and topped off with a dark chocolate gateau. Barron and Nancy Strother, Linda Miller and Darrel Russell, and Susan and Phil Benton were some who enjoyed.
Last Thursday night was the annual Beaujolais Nouveau celebration held at Grand Boulevard. Seven eateries served French-style dishes such as bison on a bun, rabbit and veggie croissant, and French-style pastries to attendees. Stacey, Mike and Samantha Brady, Malayne and Robert DeMars, Rhonda Chaloupka and James Murray, Gary and Jan Serafin, Denise Creehan, Cara Roy, and Michael McIntosh were there.
Baytowne Wharf hosted a Sparkling Wines & Holiday Lights champagne taster Saturday night, as an appetizer to the annual Sandestin Wine Festival. Marlin Grill's baked brie and Bistro Bijoux's deviled quail eggs were divine. I saw Peggy and Kent Lillie, John Stasko, and Jim Sheperd and his daughter there.
Also Saturday night, Marinella Monk gave husband Robert a huge catered 70th birthday party at their beautiful home on the bayou. John Stasko, Sandy and Greig Buckley, Dom and Tammy Damiano, Kay Crawford, Toy and Rena Arnett, Matt Babcock, Dennis and Andrea Soltis, Dr. Adil Ceydeli, and Laurie Hood, were some who attended.
Barbara May hosted 35 members of Women's Art Network at her beautiful Grayton home Nov. 12.
I saw Heavenly and Bill Dawson in Seaside on Sunday.
I can now report that I have seen "Skyfall." After the movie, I visited Cuvee Bistro and enjoyed their escargot, fried oysters, and sliders. Sandy and Greig Buckley, and Demetria and Richard McNeese, were also there.
Congratulations to Dale Smith and Brian Stackable on their recent nuptials.
Helen and John Barnhart of Seacrest celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary Nov. 19. They were married at the base chapel at Bitburg Air Base, Germany, in 1966 where Helen was a fifth grade teacher for the DOD and John was a captain in the USAF. They re-visited the town several years ago and it has really changed after 40-plus years, said John. As opposed to two-lane roads around this rural area, they now have big autobahns everywhere. But they found the house where they lived for three years in the little village of Ehrang just north of Trier. �Really brought back fond memories of our �three-year honeymoon� in Europe,� he said. Congratulations!
Columnist Ron Hart saw Shaquille O'Neal at CNN headquarters.
Fodor's Travel has recognized Sandestin as a "Fodor's Choice" property. This distinction was given to Sandestin for service, quality, and value in 2012.
Convention South magazine awarded Sandestin as a "Reader's Choice" recipient, for exemplary service for group events as rated by professional meeting planners. This marks the third consecutive year that Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort has received this award.
Wish a "happy birthday" on Thanksgiving Day to 30A Posse�s Wayne Carlisle, Sandestin�s Carol Saucier, and Kim Pall.
Friday to Realtor Sherry Carter, Sandestin�s Denise Dobolek and Ray Kostick.
Monday to wine man Chan Cox.
Tuesday to Joan Luchese and Jan Stanko.
Wednesday to Fire's Brenda Darr, artist Robin Wiesneth, and wine man Shane Hicks.
Thursday to Jamie Conley, Franko "Washboard" Jackson, and DuRee Stewart.
And Friday to Gale Culling and sports lady Tina Harbuck.
I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Spend it with family and/or loved ones!
Deborah Wheeler is the arts and entertainment reporter for The Walton Sun. She may be reached at 654-8443, 687-1239, or email email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @WaltonSunDeb. Party Line appears weekly in The Sun.


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Many years ago, I worked with a company that sold health insurance to small business owners. The product was pretty good and the compensation was attractive. The typical work week was only three and a half days, and to add to the appeal, all leads were furnished. Therefore, all we did was schedule our appointments each Monday, see prospects on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and turn in our paperwork each Thursday.
At the beginning of each week we received a report on how each rep had performed the prior week. One rep in particular was always at or near the top of the list. This person became well known in the company as one of its top salesmen. As a "newer" rep, I was quite interested in learning his secret. The truth is, most salespeople are motivated by recognition and I was no different.
After several months, when the opportunity finally presented itself, I spoke with him, expecting to learn some magnificent sales technique. What I found was quite the opposite. As it turned out, I learned he was greatly exaggerating the benefits of the policy. Eventually, customer complaints ensued and his employment was terminated.
That experience taught me a valuable lesson. A person may succeed by lying for a brief period. However, if the goal is to build a career, it's imperative to do what's best for the client! In the final analysis, we will not be judged by the amount of material possessions we accumulate, but by the honesty and integrity with which we conduct ourselves. As I've said before, but which I believe bears repeating, our reputation is our greatest asset.
I realize that for many of you this discussion is unnecessary. However, if there is just one reader who needs to hear this, if there is even one person standing at the cross road of Ethical St. and Unethical Avenue, never forget. You may fool some of the people some of the time, but eventually, the truth will emerge. Therefore, always do what's in the best interest of your client. This is the only way to build a sustainable business.
As a final note, whenever an advisor acts in an unethical manner, it hurts everyone as it creates distrust, making it more difficult for the rest of us. Since trust is the most important factor in any relationship, let's do everything possible to support it. I long to see the day when our industry is viewed no longer as a bunch of people trying to sell products, but as advisors dispensing advice. However, for this to occur, we need to focus on the client and not on our compensation. In fact, we probably need a new compensation model. That's when we will be able to call it a "profession" and gain the respect it deserves.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!


text:
Contact: Jennifer Hollingshead
Office: (573) 882-0601
E-mail: email@example.com
What: Tuition forum hosted by University of Missouri President Elson S. Floyd
Where: Board Room of J.W. Jones Student Union, Northwest Missouri State University campus, 800 University, Maryville, Mo.
When: 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005
University of Missouri President Elson S. Floyd to Talk Tuition at Northwest
University of Missouri President Elson S. Floyd wants to hear what you think about tuition. Continuing his statewide tour, President Floyd will hold a public forum at Northwest Missouri State University to seek input about the concept of guaranteed tuition. The forum will be held at 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005 in the Boardroom, J.W. Jones Student Union, Northwest Missouri State University campus. All members of the public are welcome.
The concept to be discussed will be a guaranteed tuition rate for incoming University of Missouri undergraduate students that would not increase for four years or for the approved duration of their programs. Undergraduate students already enrolled at the University would have a guaranteed rate for four, three or two years, depending on remaining program duration.
"Let me emphasize that the University is simply examining the guaranteed tuition approach," President Floyd said, noting that no decision has been made to pursue the concept. "The purpose of my visits to Missouri communities is to discuss the pros and cons involved and listen to what you have to say. The feedback that I receive at these public forums will weigh heavily in any decisions the University ultimately makes."
Possible benefits to guaranteed tuition rates could include allowing students and their families to budget with greater confidence over a four-year period and encouraging timely graduation.
For a complete schedule of the University of Missouri tuition forums, please visit this Web address: www.umsystem.edu/tuitionlisten. Or you can e-mail your suggestions or comments regarding the guaranteed tuition concept to firstname.lastname@example.com. You may also send ideas to 309B University Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., 65211.
Reviewed 2010-06-16


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Thank you very much, it's just great to be here. I've been commenting all evening that I haven't been on the CSUN campus in a long time. Some years back when I wasn't so occupied over at Grace Church (I don't need any water, John, I'll spill it, thank you). When I wasn't so occupied with so many different things, I used to come out here quite regularly and sometimes speak out in the . . . they used to have a kind of a quad area over by the gym, and a little bit off from there, and we used to come out and do some "open air deals" and some evening evangelistic outreaches and all kinds of fun things in years past, and being back here reminds me of those old days. We used to do that at UCLA, we used to do it at Valley College, occasionally down at USC and just had a great time doing that. In fact, for a number of years, I kind of floated around the country doing that kind of thing on college campuses and really had a great time doing it, and I have to offer an apology that it's been so long since I've been here, and I don't even recognize the place with all these trailers and new buildings since the earthquake . . . but it's great to be back here.
And as John said, I did come back from the Master's Golf Tournament today, in fact, jet travel is really amazing. I mean, I was standing on the green next to Arnold Palmer this morning when he made a birdie. That was kind of fun, and then I got on a plane and here I am with you tonight.
And I count it a great privilege, really, to talk to you about what is dear to my heart. I probably should start by saying that I am not a preacher because somebody made me do this. I know that probably if you are not familiar with preachers or pastors you look at them as some kind of weird, sort of sanctimonious, you know, stained glass type people . . . and that's really not the case. I mean in my college days, I can still remember that far back, it doesn't seem that long ago to be truthful with you. In my college days I basically was your average jock, I never let my books get in the way of my education and that is for sure. I mean if there was something happening to goof off, I was there, goofing off with everybody else. I was involved, primarily as an athlete. My juices got flowing on a football field. I played football and basketball and baseball and all of that. That was kind of what I lived for. I thought I was headed for a professional athletic career. Really, that was my goal, that was the direction that I was going and the Lord redirected me a little bit and I got . . . I'll tell you how it happened, just in a real brief little vignette.
My senior year in college I had a great football season, we had a great team that year. I played for Pacific College. We had a great team. We were . . . in fact, in those days we played, with this school, used to be known as San Fernando Valley State and we played some of the same schools that CSUN through the years has played, it was the college division of the NCAA . But we had a great team that year. We ended up second in the nation in pass offense. And I ended up second in the nation in receptions. I was a wide receiver, and a defensive back, and a punter, and a kick returner, and stuff like that. After that year was over I was invited to a couple of training camps at the end of my junior year, for the NFL, then in the AFL, AFC, and tried to decide what I wanted to do. And after my senior year a most amazing thing happened.
After football season was over and I was trying to decide . . . my coach was talking to me about what I was going to do in my future and all this kind of stuff, I got a phone call from a woman at Thousand Oaks High School. And she said, "I heard about you and I heard that you are a Christian athlete," because I went to some Kiwanis thing and they gave me some award, and some gold football that I lost 20 years. And I gave a testimony regarding my faith in Christ at that time and so this lady had gotten the word and she said, "Would you go to the hospital and visit my daughter?"
And I said, "Wait, I mean, I'm just a college guy and I'm not too sure what the situation is," so I said, "What's wrong with your daughter?" She said, "She's paralyzed. She's a quadriplegic, it just happened." I said, "How did it happen?"
She said she and her boyfriend were in the backyard, her name was Polly Grider (sp.), she was head cheerleader at Thousand Oaks High School as a senior and a gun went off and shot her through the neck and severed her spinal cord. And she asked me if I'd go by the hospital to visit this girl. You know that's a pretty formidable job for somebody so young . . . and I said well I'm willing to do that, I don't know what I'll say, but I'll certainly go and tell her about my faith in Christ. And the lady said, you know, she's in such terrible despair we don't know what to do with her. And I don't even know how the Lord worked that connection so I went in, it was Glendale Adventist Hospital, and I went in there and she was lying on a sheepskin, you know because people who can't move get severe bedsores, they put them on something like sheepskin. And I'll never forget the conversation . . . it was an amazing conversation.
I introduced myself, I said, "Hi, I'm John MacArthur, Polly. You don't know me but, (I think it was her mother, or maybe it was her aunt), called and asked if I would come by and talk to you and all I can do is tell you about my relationship to Jesus Christ." And she said to me, "If I could move, I'd kill myself. I can't imagine living my life like this." Your talking about a 17 year-old kid, and her boyfriend, he was history, he wasn't about to hang onto a quadriplegic, so she said, "If I could kill myself, I'd kill myself, I can't move anything." All she could move was her head. And I remember saying to her and I have rehearsed it many times since then . . . I wrote a little article about it and it was published in a little magazine . . . I said to her, "You know Jesus Christ can make your life worth living even if you could never move again." I mean I thought that was the right thing to say and it was true. And I thought, you know, she just probably won't buy that. But she had the most amazing response. She said, "I have to have something to live for." And so I presented to her how she could know Christ, have her sins forgiven, be on her way to Heaven, have a reason to live, have joy and hope and peace and meaning . . . and she said, "I think I want Christ in my life," after about a 45 minute discussion. I said then, "Well, why don't you just tell Him that, He's here, He's alive, He'll come into your life." She prayed a prayer, and she confessed her sin and asked the Lord to forgive her sin and to come into her life, and take over her life, and give her a reason to live, and all of this, and then I just kind of touched her face, because that's the only thing she could feel and said "Goodbye." And she said, "Will you come back tomorrow?" I said, "Sure." So I came back the next day and I'll never forget what she said to me. She said to me, "You know John, (she said), I have to tell you in all honesty, I am kind of glad that this accident happened, because if it hadn't happened I never would have met Jesus. And I was absolutely knocked over. I mean, I couldn't believe what I had just heard, a quadriplegic saying that, in 24 hours, that kind of transformation--that changed my life.
I went back to my football coach and I said, "Would you please tell all these teams that have asked, showing interest in drafting me, would you tell them I am not going to play. Would you tell them I am going to go to seminary." That was the moment, that was the moment of crisis in my life when I determined what really mattered and what I really wanted to do with my life.
By the way, Polly's story got really magnificent. She came out of the hospital, came through rehab . . . obviously the paralysis didn't change, there was a wonderful Christian young man, who fell in love with her and married her and as far as I know now, (she has kind of passed out of my life), but I followed her for a number of years and she had a happy and fulfilled life.
And that was the turning point in my life. And I just kind of feel like I need to say that, because I don't know whether people think pastors just sort of drop out of the air, you know, or fall out of Heaven or get raised by monks, well that wouldn't work, would it? But you know we are just like anybody else--life has choices and you make them, right?
I went off to seminary, I finished seminary. After my first year of seminary I got a call from the Cleveland Browns . . . Paul Warfield was their outstanding wide receiver, broke his collarbone and my name pops up on the computer, and they want to know if I'll come to training camp, and I am tested again after one year of seminary. Seminary's a bear, you know . . . it's a lot of work and drudgery and studying Greek and Hebrew and you know, I mean, a little hoopla on a football field wouldn't be half bad after a year of that, but I was fixed in the direction I was going to go, and that's why I do what I do. I came into the San Fernando Valley, to Grace Community Church in 1969, in my 20's, and I've been here ever since. And I'm not really any different than any of you, I just, with all the options of life out there, I just felt that the most important thing I could do with my life was to tell people about Jesus Christ and tell them about the Word of God.
And so that's what I've done all these years and that's really why I'm here tonight. I mean, I don't know where all of you are, I know some of you because I know you from our church, but the rest of you I don't know. I have to kind of start at ground zero with kind of where we are and the environment in which we are living today and particularly in your university environment. I've been out here before, I've talked to classes, lots of classes in years passed. I've talked to the philosophy classes and I have talked to classes in the P.E. Department, because some of the guys from our church have taught in the P.E. Dept. for years here, Nick Bright, and Sam Briton and others through the years. I keep my eye, kind of, on the university scene and interact a little bit with what's going on in terms of the thinking of the current culture and I think the major question right now that is facing our society is a very basic, simple question, and that is the question of, "Is there a God?" I mean, "Is there really a God?"
Just two days ago . . . three days ago or so . . . somebody in New England donated a book to the public library of a town in New England. A book that advocated a God, and said that everything that existed in the universe was created by that God, as opposed to the typical evolutionary approach. This book held a creationist view that there is a God and the God created everything. And the library refused the book. This is America. You know there is a code of ethics built into the libraries of America . . . that every bona fide library has to sign a code of ethics that they'll not discriminate.
But it's that unpopular to postulate God. And people would like us to believe that it's an intellectual thing, you know, that they've thought about it and they've come to the conclusion that it's irrational to believe in God. It doesn't make sense to believe in God. It's an irrational thing. And that's the ploy today that a really educated person doesn't believe in God, he believes in chance, he believes in evolution. He believes this equation: "nobody times nothing equals everything," and that if you don't believe that, you're irrational. That's the mentality.
About three weeks ago, I picked up Newsweek magazine and I read a fascinating article by George Will. George Will writes some very interesting things, he's a very provocative thinker. This article was quite interesting. Here's what the article was about, it was about "black revisionist history." What is happening today is you've got a group of black people in the educational realm, (you can read it in a month ago Newsweek), and they go around to universities, they have PhDs, and they are basically teaching a history that never happened. They are teaching, for example, that all of western culture had its roots in black culture, and that Cleopatra was black, and Socrates was black, and Aristotle was black, and all of this. And everybody knows it isn't true. And in the article scholars have confronted these people going to the major universities and teaching this and saying, "Wait a minute, we know this is not true." And the response is, "So what? What does that have to do with anything? Truth isn't the issue, we're trying to empower black people, and it makes them feel better about themselves if we rewrite history for their benefit." Now, we might want to debate and justifiably debate whether black people have been treated right; whether they are treated right, now or not, that is an issue that needs to be addressed, but that's not the issue at hand.
The issue at hand is, are we replacing truth with whatever works. Have we become so pragmatic that we can absolutely rewrite reality in favor of whatever works? Well, that's frightening. I mean, I'd hate to have a guy who believed like that doing brain surgery on my head. I'd like him to have a heavy dose of commitment to reality, wouldn't you? Somebody taking my heart out and doing something with it, in surgery, I'd like him to be functioning in a real world and not doing fantasy surgery. How would you like a revisionist surgeon?
But the premium nowadays is on empowerment, not on truth. And the issue in regard to God has nothing to do with rationality, because it's irrational not to believe in God. It's as irrational as looking at this building and saying, "Well, how did this come here?" Well, it's really strange . . . after the Northridge Earthquake, after everything flew around; this is how it all landed. You know if you kept saying that they'd put you somewhere--that's so irrational. I mean those kinds of arguments are nonsense.
Nobody times nothing equals everything is bizarre. You can't for a moment believe that one of the great space machines that goes up into outer space in its incredible display of scientific ingenuity flies around and does whatever it does and ends up in orbit sending back all these messages, could occur by an explosion in a metal factory . . . you can't have that from random--that takes an incredible amount of intelligence to produce.
How in the world could you explain the universe with any other thing than an intelligent Creator. But as soon as you have an intelligent creator, you have a problem and you know what the problem is? Somebody bigger than you is in charge. It is not an intellectual thing. There's not a rejection of God on campuses today and universities today because it's intellectually reasonable, it is because nobody wants anybody being their judge. That's the issue.
On August 7th, 1961, 26 year old Major German Titov (sp.) the second Soviet cosmonaut to orbit the earth and return safely . . . that's a long time ago . . . '61. Climaxing a monumental feat for mankind--he orbited the earth. Sometime later, speaking at the world's fair, he recounted his experience--a very unique experience, (not too many have it). In a rather interesting pronouncement, on a triumphalist note this is what he said, "In my excursion into space, I did not see God." Now, he was an atheist, right? A Russian communist atheist, and he wanted to make it clear that he had been around the earth and he didn't see God. Upon hearing of this exuberant argument from silence, someone quipped, "Had he stepped out of his space suit, he would have."
On Christmas day, 1968, three American astronauts were the first human beings to go around the dark side of the moon, away from the earth. They fired their rockets and were homebound on Apollo VIII. They looked at our planet in a way that human eyes had never witnessed it before. Some of you have seen the blue planet picture that came out of that Apollo VIII. They saw earth rise over the horizon of the moon draped in a beauteous mixture of white and blue bordered by the glistening light of the sun against the black void of space, and in the throes of this awe inspiring experience they opened the book of Genesis and those astronauts read this . . . "In the beginning Godcreated the heavens and the earth." Two similar experiences of awe and exhilaration, two diametrically opposed conclusions about the nature of the world. One said, "I went around and didn't see God," the others came back and said, "We saw God crystal clear!"
There is no explanation; there is no rational explanation for the existence of the universe apart from a rational mind. And the reason people want to reject the rational conclusion that there must be, (listen), a cause for this effect, the reason they reject it, has nothing to do with the mind but it has everything to do with the heart. It's a moral issue. They don't want responsibility. They don't want some moral judge telling them how to live. That's the issue. And so God is rejected, supposedly intellectually, and when you reject God, all hell breaks loose, because if there is no creator, if no one is in charge, and if you are not accountable to someone, and if there is not a moral law, and a moral law giver, and a judge in the universe, then everything goes and anything goes, and what does that produce? Self-destruction.
Several years ago Encyclopedia Britannica published a fifty-five volume series entitled "The Great Books of the Western World." Mortimer Adler, noted philosopher and legal scholar was co-editor of the series. Basically the series marshaled the most eminent thinkers of the western world, their writings and the most important ideas, in other words, it's all the great thinking of the western culture. These ideas involve law, science, philosophy, history, theology, and even love. Everything that has shaped the minds and destinies of people--Fifty-five volumes. Do you know what the longest essay in those 55 volumes is on? The longest essay is on God--is on God.
When Mortimer Adler was asked by a reviewer why this theme merited such protracted coverage his answer was uncompromising. "It is because," he said, "more consequences from life follow from that one issue than any other." If there is God, then everything flows from His existence. All created matter and all moral law. If there is no God then how can you explain anything? There is no law, except that which we make up for ourselves, there is no accountability, there is no source for this, there's no rhyme or reason and that is absolutely irrational on the one hand and morally suicidal on the other. But I submit to you that nothing will have more impact on your life than whether or not you believe in God. It'll have personal impact on your life. It has an immense impact on a culture, and the destiny of nations.
If you believe in a Creator, Sustainer and Law-Giver, then you have some shape to your life. I mean, imagine children, no parents, "Lord of the Flies." No parents, no rules. What happens? Barbaric devastation. Where you have father, mother, who create, control, constrain, give rules, teach behavior, you have order. I mean in a little microcosm . . . that's a simple illustration of the existence of God.
But man has always rejected God. I mean just generally, Romans, chapter 1, in the Bible, says that men "when they knew God glorified Him not as God and weren't thankful." Why? Because they don't want somebody sitting in judgment on their sins. "Men love darkness," the Bible says, "rather than light." You love your sin, I mean how hard is it to do good? Compare that with how easy it is to sin, to do evil. When you eliminate God, what you have is no control.
G. K. Chesterton (sp.), the British philosopher said, "God is like the sun, you can't look at it, but without it, you can't see anything else." Apart from God, everything is black pointlessness.
To show you how silly it gets in the Science Digest, which is an evolutionary digest, a sort of a heady, academic thing, there is an article called, "The Accidental Universe," in one of their issues in 1992. The author is a scientist by the name of Trion (sp.), listen to what he says. This is the Science Digest, this is a heady science journal. He says this, "Our universe is simply one of those things that happens from time to time." What an unbelievable statement! ". . . just happens from time to time . . ." and yet that evolutionary lie permeates education, law, government, politics, sociology and morality and all areas of human endeavor and human relationships.
If there is no God then everybody is free to live any way they want. And according to Scripture, you'll pay for that, you'll pay seriously for that. You see, preachers, and teachers of Christianity and Christians, we're not running around trying to rain on your parade. We're not trying to introduce you to the God who is the cosmic killjoy, and always goes around saying, "There's one whose having fun . . . GET HIM!" That's not the idea. We're here to tell you the Good News. You know what the Good News is? There is a God and if you've got your head screwed on, you have to conclude that--you HAVE to conclude that, because you cannot explain the complexity of the universe by chance. It can't be done. Everything can't come from nothing.
And even if it was just mechanical, where did personality come from? Where did love come from? Wisdom? And why are men so different than animals? I know that the evolutionists want to believe that a rock is a rat is a dog is a boy equation, but dogs don't write symphonies and neither do rats. And dogs don't blast off in their own private deals into space and they don't create dog universities. There is a huge gap between all animals and man because man is created in the very image of God, he bears the stamp of God--personality, will, choice, intellect--there is no explanation for the universe apart from the fact that there is a Creator.
Philip Johnson, a graduate of Harvard Law School, principal law teacher at, I think it's Bolt School of Law at Berkeley, has written a book, "Darwin on Trial" in which, from purely argumentative basis, not from the Bible he dismantles evolution and he goes across the country debating all of this and giving these tremendous speeches about the irrationality of evolution, and he is arguing as a courtroom lawyer who is a genius. And he just dismantles the whole system and they throw him out of school, after school, after school. Why? Because if there is God, then somebody's in charge and there is a rule giver, a law giver, and a judge, and accountability. And if there is God, then I have got to live according to His standards, and I don't want anybody messing with my lifestyle. I wish I could say it was intellectual--it's really moral.
Dr. Edward Wilson, writing in a humanist magazine, he teaches at Harvard, he said this, "Bitter experience has taught us that Fundamental Christianity is one of the unmitigated evils of the world." Why do they hate Christianity? Because we say that God has given laws and when you break them there are consequences. We ought to know that anyway. We have laws in our country don't we? We have laws. When you break them there are consequences--where did that come from?
So, where does Christianity fit into all this? Well, we want to bring the reality of God clearly to human hearts.
By the way, before Darwin, nobody questioned the existence of God. Darwin invented an anti-God system. But in our modern world, they do question it, so the first thing we want to do is to bring people back to the fact that there has to be a God, and that that God is Creator, Sustainer, and Law Giver, (and listen to this, this is really important), and that you have all broken His law. I am obligated to tell you that. We've all come short of His law. We have broken His law--we know it. You say, "How do you know it?" Because you have a conscience that tells you that.
Now God has given you two things, and I often talk about this, God's given you two ways to know He exists.
1. Reason
First is Reason. What does reason do? Reason works through a cause and effect pattern. I have a microphone on, reason tells me somebody made it. There's a soundboard back there, reason tells me somebody made it. There's a building here, this is an effect--something caused this--an architect, some builders and so forth. And you keep reasoning back and back and finally you get to the biggest effect, which is the universe, and you say, somebody made this. Somebody with tremendous intelligence, with a tremendous love of beauty and harmony and variety and etc., etc.
2. Conscience
So, the first thing that takes you to God is reason, but the second thing that takes you to God is conscience. This is very important for me to talk about for a minute. Conscience is a little built-in device that God has put in you to react to the moral law that is written in your heart. When you come into this world, you know what is right and wrong--basically, basically.
There is a moral law written in your heart--you know that, you know that right now. You know that if you do certain things that you are going to feel guilty about those things. You go into a classroom and you cheat, I hope you feel guilty. You might say, "I got away with it, I got away with it," but in the darkness of the night when you are going to sleep, maybe your conscience jumps up and grabs you by the throat . . . "You cheater!" You steal something somewhere; whatever it might be. You act in an immoral fashion, and something grabs you and you fight against that guilt.
Well, that's what our society is doing on the academic level, in the universities, and they're cranking out all the lawyers and educators and everybody, so it gets all over everywhere. They are cutting themselves off from God by saying, "No, it all evolved . . . once there was a one celled thing that said, 'Let's be two' . . . we don't know where the one celled thing came from . . . and once there was a big explosion of stuff that didn't exist and we don't know where the stuff that didn't exist came into existence so it could blow up, but that's what we believe, because we don't want to think of God, because that puts too much pressure on us. So we ignore that path, cut it off, bring in evolution and cut people off from God. And the second thing they do in our society today is try to destroy the function of conscience.
Now let me tell you how conscience functions. Your conscience is a warning system and it just makes you feel bad when you do what's wrong. So if you want to get out of that you can do two things. You can reprogram yourself so that your moral system is really completely reversed. In other words, if you have a certain moral standard built into you when you come into the world and it makes you feel guilty about things, you've got to reconstruct your morals system so you don't feel guilty about those things anymore, right? That's what you're having in our culture today. Immorality's good, homosexuality is good, anything is good, bestiality is good, anything you want to do is good, it's all fine, it's all wonderful. Let's create a whole new moral system.
And there's a second thing you can do if you want to get rid of guilt, and that is, you can just shut your conscience up by just saying, "Well, my problem is I don't have enough self-esteem. My problem is that I need to feel good about myself, I shouldn't feel bad about myself, I'm a wonderful person, I'm an excellent person. I need to feel better about myself not worse about myself--and you just play psychological games with your conscience.
Let me tell you how this works. I'll give you an illustration. In 1984 an Avianca jet crashed, Avianca is the European airlines from Spain. An Avianca jet crashed in Spain, I mean it was a big jet and it crashed into a mountain, and everybody was just instantly dead. As investigators began to study the accident they made an eerie discovery and this discovery that they make often is the curiosity that all of us look for, you know when they find the little black flight recorder. The black box cockpit recorder revealed that several minutes before a fatal impact, (the plane ran right into the side of a mountain), several minutes before the fatal impact there was a shrill computer synthesized voice like you hear on the telephone sometimes, a computer voice. And the little voice said in English, "Pull up, pull up, pull up, pull up, pull up!". Well it was a warning system, right? The pilot, (and the flight recorder had this on it), the pilot inexplicably snapped back, "Shut up Gringo . . . shut up Gringo!" and flipped off the warning voice . . . flipped the switch. Minutes later the plane smashed into the mountain and everybody was dead. That's a parable of how people are treating their consciences today. "Shut up gringo!"
Psychologist's tell you, "Don't feel guilty, don't feel shame, don't feel remorse, don't feel bad, it's not your fault, you're a victim, you're not to blame, and by the way you can do anything you want, and you shouldn't feel bad about anything, it's up to you, nobody's going to tell you what to do, you can live your own life any old way you want to live your life. Don't let your conscience do that to you. Don't feel bad about things!" And you begin to train yourself to ignore that little voice. That's deadly.
Let me tell you something, it's a parallel to pain. Pain's a good thing, because pain tells you something is wrong with you. Did you watch John McSherry, that umpire fall over dead. You know the day before he had pain, and he was going to go to the doctor and he didn't go to the doctor. If he had gone to the doctor they might have put him in the hospital and done some surgery and saved his life. He ignored the pain and dropped dead. You can't ignore . . . pain tells you something's wrong. You know pain is a gift from God so you don't kill yourself. Pain is a good thing, because when your body is screaming with pain, you've got to deal with that.
I just talked to a young lady here who had terrible pain and had to go to the doctor and what was it? It was on the verge of a burst appendix. What happens if she says, "Oh, I hate pain, pain go away, get off my back pain!" You're dead! It's a gift.
Conscience is a gift. It's a warning system. But people today are being trained by the psychology of today to ignore, to flip the switch . . . "Shut up Gringo!" . . . there's nothing wrong with me.
And the second thing they are doing today, and this is constant, is redefining the moral system so the conscience doesn't know what to react to. In other words, your conscience can only react to your moral system and if you rewrite the moral system, then conscience has nothing to react to but error. This is classic stuff today.
MTV, which I don't usually watch, but MTV did a special series, I wrote about it in one of my books, "The Vanishing Conscience," but they had a special series on the seven deadly sins.
Now some medieval monks, you know back in the medieval times between 500 and 1500, took all the sins and sort of spread them out over a table and they drew them all together in groups and they decided that they all sort of got reduced down to seven sort of motivational sins that were behind all sins and they were called the "Seven Deadly Sins." The seven deadly sins are: pride, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and laziness. These medieval monks said all sin kind of fits into those categories. And these were the categorical sort of underpinnings or attitudes of the heart that led to all kinds of sin. Now that wasn't a biblical group but it was sort of a classic group by those medieval theologians.
Recently MTV decided to ask people what they thought of the seven deadly sins. And they did. They asked Queen Latiffa (sp.) what she thought about pride. She said, "Pride is a sin? I wasn't aware of that." They asked Kirstie Ally (sp.) of Cheers about pride. She said, "I don't think pride is a sin, I think some idiot made that up". And they asked one of the rockers from Aerosmith if he thought lust was a sin. This is what he said, quote, "Lust is what I live for, it's what I got into the band for, man, the little girls on the front row!" And then they asked, no less a theologian than Ice Tea if he thought anger was a sin and he said, "Anger is no sin, anger's necessary man. You have to release this tension because life brings tension and we release anger when we do our records. When we did 'Cop Killer,' we were angry and the cops got angry back." And Michael Douglas plays a character from the movie 'Wallstreet,' and his line is "Greed is good!" And then they went back to Ice Tea and asked him about pride and he said, "Pride's mandatory man! I got into a gang because of pride." You see everything is totally reversed.
You just cut off the lines to God. You cut it off rationally by evolution. You cut it off morally by the psychological effort to stamp out your conscience and flip the switch, and by reconstruction of all moral values and reversing everything. You know what you've got . . . .you know what you've got . . . you've got a group of people with no God and no control and you've got hell on earth. And that's where our culture is. And I have to tell you how bad it is before I can tell you it can get better.
By the way, according to MTV, there is no moral standard, no absolute moral standards they say. You do whatever you want. What is sin to me may not be sin to you. And then they ended the program, two-hour program with this unbelievable statement, "The most evil sin in the world is the killjoy attitude of those who think sin is an offense to a Holy God." That's the worst sin, to think sin is an offense to a Holy God. How twisted is that? There's no God, there's no holy standard, there's no sin, and so sin is when you think there is. You've sinned against yourself because you've made yourself feel bad.
People have gone to any lengths to rationalize their iniquity and their sin, but you know I really believe in my heart that God has put a rational mind in us, since we are made in his image as humans and a moral law in us to the degree that you just can't quite ever really destroy it. It sneaks back up and says, "Yes, there's a God and yes there's a moral law, and yes you are violating it." And that's why the Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Everybody's in the same boat, I am in the same boat with all of you, everybody. We all sin and the Bible says the wages of sin is death. That's the simple truth of the gospel. We all sin against God and the wages of sin is death. That's why we die. Everybody dies, why? Because of sin. That's why there's death in the world . . . because there's sin in the world.
That's why the second law of thermodynamics, the Law of Entropy works. Everything breaks down. Sin has cursed the universe and it's all disintegrating and crumbling and going down and you and me with it. It's not getting better. Wouldn't you think this deal would be getting better? Right? I mean we've been around a long time, haven't we? Human beings have been around a long time? You'd think we'd have figured out something, right? We are massacring each other faster than we ever have in human history. There are more wars now than ever. More people die now than ever. Do you know there are even more Christians being persecuted to death in the world today, this year, than in the past? It's a hostile, ugly, wicked world.
You'd think in America we would learn how to control crime and abuse. We can't. It just escalates and escalates because we have a whole realm of sinners, all of us. And the wages of that sin is death and after death it is appointed unto men to be judged by God. And what happens to those who die in their sins? Jesus says they go to hell forever. God is a just judge and He sends sinners to eternal hell. They can't be in His presence . . . they can't be in His presence, He's a holy God. That's the bad news.
It's bad news, but if you don't understand the bad news, folks, you can't hear the good news. I mean, if you don't understand the disease, you can't get the cure, right? We have to explain to you what's wrong before you can look for what's right. And that's the sad reality. You see as long as people deny the reality of sin they cut themselves off from the hope of salvation from it. If you're going to go around thinking you are really intellectual and deny there is a God, and cut yourself off from God, you have cut yourself off forever from God and that's called eternal Hell.
God does exist whether you want to acknowledge it or not, and He does establish a moral law by which He judges every human being in the world, whether you want to acknowledge that law or not. My responsibility and the responsibility of every Christian is to tell you that. What you do with that is between you and God.
Now I've discharged my responsibility to tell you that there is a God and I may not be the most intelligent person in the world, but I'm not stupid and I know that for every effect there is a cause. Something is behind everything in this universe. Somebody made it. God alone makes it and I'll tell you something else, that God has a moral law and He has written it in your heart and then He has written it in this book, called the Bible. And then God says every human being falls short of living up to this standard. And not everybody's as bad as everybody else and not everybody's as bad as they could be. Some people are about as bad as they could be, but not everybody's as bad as they could be, but everybody has broken God's law and the wages of sin is death. And after death, Hell. And the Bible describes Hell as a place of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth . . . a horrible, horrible place, cut off from God forever in eternal torment. That's the bad news.
But quickly, the good news . . . if you'll accept the bad news, young people if you'll just accept the bad news then you're in a position to get the good news. If you deny the reality of the bad news, you've basically damned yourself. Let me tell you what the good news is . . . God forgives sinners. That's the good news. That's the gospel. That's the simple truth . . . God forgives sinners. You say, "Well how much of their sin does He forgive?" All of it. Scripture says that He forgives all their trespasses. Why would He do that? Because He's a loving, gracious, merciful God and He wants to display that. Because the Bible says He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Because He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God forgives sinners, that's what Christianity teaches.
Let me tell you a little story. I was flying to El Paso the other day and I sat down next to this guy on a plane. And I had my Bible and I was reading. I was going out to speak to a men's conference in the civic center in El Paso. And this guy sat next to me, he was Arabic guy and I've been in the Middle East a number of times and I always enjoy Arabic people and there a lot of them around here . . . some of them come to our church and I always have a great time getting to know them and so I just sat there and I said, "Hi, my names John." And then I went on reading my Bible, kind of getting ready for what I was going to say and so as we were going along he finally says to me, "Could I ask you a question?" He was from Iran. He said, "Could I ask you a question?" I said, "Sure." He said, "I'm new in America . . . I'm just going through my citizenship . . . " and he said, "I just don't understand religion in America, maybe you could help me." I said, "Be glad to." He said, "Could you tell me the difference between a Catholic, a Protestant, and a Baptist?" I mean, that's the question he asked, right? So I said, "Yeah, sure."
So I went through an explanation of Roman Catholicism, you know, kind of a sacramental, sacerdotal, ceremonial, kind of external approach with a lot of standing up and sitting down kind of form, and all of that and then I talked about Protestantism, and that Baptists were within the framework of Protestantism and just went through this kind of thing and so I explained it to him.
And I said, "Are you Muslim?" "Oh, yes," he said, "I'm Muslim." I said, "Well, could I ask you . . . I have always wanted to ask you Muslims a question . . . maybe I could ask you." He said, "O.K." I said, "Do you have sins?" "Oh yeah", he said, "many sins, we have so many sins, I don't even know them all . . . many sins." I said, "Well, let me ask you another question. Do you commit them?" "Oh yes," he says, "all the time." He said, "In fact, I am flying to El Paso to commit some." That's what he said. He said, he said, "I met this girl, and I'm going down there to sin with her." He was that open. And I said, "Well look, so you commit all these sins, right?" "Yes," he says, "yes." I said, "Well, do you feel bad about it?" He said, "Yeah, I feel very bad about it, but I can't help it, right? I can't help it." So I said, "Well look, what are you going to do about this? What is Allah going to do to you?"
"Oh," he said, "I don't know." I said, "Well, what does your religion say he is going to do to you?" "Oh, I don't know." I said, "Well, what do you hope he's going to do to you?" He said, "Well, I hope he is going to do nothing." And then he said this, this interesting thing . . . he said, "I hope the god will forgive me." I said, "You do? You hope the god will forgive you?"
I said, "Let me tell you something . . . " . . . and I didn't realize just how this would come across to him, but I said to him, "I know Him personally, and He won't." And he looked at me, he looked at me and he said, "You know the god personally?" Blew his mind! Because we as Christians talk about a personal knowledge of Christ but Muslims . . . "You know Allah personally?" "What are you doing in coach?" You know, what is this? You should have your own private jet if you know god! It just blew his mind . . . but I said to him, I said, "I know God personally and I know He will not forgive you." He said, "Oh . . . ", he said, "He won't forgive me?" I said, "No, He absolutely will not forgive you. You will die in your sins."
"Now," I said, "that hurts to hear that doesn't it?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Can I give you some good news and explain to you the difference between Christianity and Islam? Here is the difference . . . Jesus, God in human flesh, came into the world to die on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins so that God would be free to forgive you." I said, "That's what Christianity is . . . it's all about the forgiveness of all your sins." He couldn't believe it. He said, "I wondered what Jesus was all about. I wondered why He came into the world." Because most people think, you know, He was this good teacher and He went around with a beard patting little children on the head, and He died and some people think He rose from the dead, but it was just a figment of the imagination of the well intentioned disciples who wanted Him alive so bad that they had a virtual reality resurrection. But I told him, I said, "The distinction of Christianity is that you don't have to sit and hope that the god will forgive you. I can promise you, He won't unless you have come to commit your life to His Son." And I said, "That's the message." And we had a great talk. In fact before the conversation was over I had given him the address of Chuck Swindoll's church and he was going to go there the Sunday he got back from El Paso. I can only imagine how messed up his plans in El Paso were after that conversation. Whatever guilt he may have felt before he met me was significantly exacerbated I'm afraid.
Christianity is not a complex thing, it's all about forgiveness of sins. There is God, He has a law, you have broken it and that means you're condemned, but He will forgive. And you see, God is just, so if He's going to forgive . . . He has to have His justice satisfied. Somebody has to pay the price. He sends His own Son into the world. Jesus is a part of the Trinity, comes into the world, and dies in your place. You say, "How did that work?"
Well, it's simply this, God treated Jesus as if He had committed all the sins of all the people who would ever believe. You get that? Jesus didn't become a sinner on the cross . . . people who say that aren't telling the truth. He didn't become a sinner, He was always sinless . . . perfect. But God put your punishment on Him. He wasn't guilty but God put your punishment on Him. Now here is the incredible exchange . . . He became sin in the sense that God treated Him as if He had committed every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe. That's an incredible thing.
God just took our sin, as it were, and had Him pay the price for it. So you know what? We don't have to pay the price for our sins . . . that's what forgiveness is about. And then God did something else. God took all the righteousness of Christ . . . all the perfection and all the holiness and put it to your account . . . just like you put your sin to Christ's account.
Let me say it another way. He treated Him as if He had committed all your sins and He treats you as if you had done all His righteousness. That's the great doctrine of imputation . . . the tremendous heart of Christianity right there. I'm a Christian, does that mean I'm perfect? No. Does that mean I'm absolutely righteous? No. Does that mean I'm holy. No. But what it does mean is God treats me as if I was. He treated Christ as if He were a sinner, He treats you as if you were Christ. And God looks at the repentent sinner who has committed his life to Christ and sees Christ. We're not better than anybody else.
People say, "Well, I don't know about Christians, they're certainly not perfect." You've got that right! But we are forgiven and that's the issue. If you desire to have your sins forgiven and to be cleansed and to be granted righteousness and Heaven eternal . . . I am just finishing a book on Heaven. If you want Heaven and joy and peace and forgiveness--come to Christ. That's the issue.
You say, "Well how do I do that?" Ask Him to forgive your sin . . . how hard is that? You say, "Do I have to do some works?" No. No . . . it's a gift . . . right? "Not of works, lest any man should boast." We'd all go around saying, "I did it, I did it!" No, it's a gift. If you want your sins forgiven . . . a simple prayer . . . Lord Jesus, I believe you died for me . . . and by the way . . . He rose from the dead. The Father raised Him from the dead to prove that He had satisfactorily paid the price for your sins. The Father was pleased with what He had done. He said . . . remember he said, "It is finished."? He did it and God was satisfied and raised Him from the dead . . . and He now lives to be your Savior. And you say how do I make Him mine? Believe what I have told you from the Scriptures and ask Him to forgive your sin and to take over your life. That's it. You pass from death to life . . . from doubt to knowledge . . . from fear to joy . . . that's the simple message of Christianity.
And the only difference here tonight between the Christians and the non-Christians is that the Christians have been forgiven and have been set on a new path and a new course. Part of that forgiveness is also a transformation of the inner person. We're just different . . . you can't see it yet because the outside hasn't been transformed but the inside has. We are different. We have different longings. We have different desires . . . different passions . . . different loves.
You know I talked to a guy a long time ago . . . he said, "I can't become a Christian, man, because if I become a Christian I'll have to get rid of everything I like . . . you know I got booze and drugs and girls and money and whatever values . . . ". And the guy says, "If I become a Christian I'm going to have to throw all that stuff away and then I'll have to do church and Bible reading and I'm not interested in that." And I said, "No, you've got it wrong, it doesn't work like that. Here's how it works . . . you gotta table here and you got all this stuff in your life . . . you become a Christian . . . you know what happens? You get a whole new set of price tags . . . you just go back to the table and say, 'Wait a minute, that doesn't mean anything to me anymore.'" And all of a sudden you love different things. I don't feel like I made a big sacrifice. I do what I love, I do what I enjoy, I do what fulfills me, I give my heart to what rewards me, what makes my life rich and meaningful. My whole approach is different. Everything is different. That's the transformation. Forgiveness and a transformed life, that's what Jesus Christ offers you and that's the message of Christianity in it's wonderful simplicity.
Bow with me in a word of prayer, would you?
We are so grateful to you for first of all creating this universe and this world in which we live. Lord, we're grateful that you've filled it with so much wonder and so much beauty and so much variety and so much richness. It's hard to even imagine what kind of God you are with so many interests and such vast power and intelligence, and yet you are not just the God of the earthquake but you're the God of the fragile petal of a rose . . . delicate. You're the God of great movements of the ocean and you're the God of a butterfly. You're the God who fills our lives with tenderness, and kindness, and love and compassion . . . as well as drive and energy. All of this reflects something of what you are. And the fact that we can know you . . . that we can have the barrier of sin removed by forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ and His death for us thrills us. I pray Father, tonight, first that every person here that they might know the Lord Jesus Christ and that their sins would be forever forgiven, permanently forgiven, and that their life would be transformed. Oh God, I pray that you will do that work in the hearts of many. We thank you that you have risen from the dead so that someday when we leave this world that we might rise to the glory of the Heaven you have created for your own. Thank you Father, for loving us enough to send your Son to die for us and to forgive our sins and to take us to be with you forever. We praise you. We ask Lord that you would be gracious to many hearts and bring them to the knowledge of Christ. In whose Name we pray . . . Amen.
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Because public speaking was such a big part of Thatcher's political career, the movie promises many scenes that recreate not only her speeches, but how her advisers prepared her for them--and how she took control of her own public image and speaking style. Reviewers are already describing the role as another in which Streep appears to become the character she's playing.
You can keep up with the news on the UK official blog for the movie. Here's the full-length trailer, below. Will you go see this film?
(Photo by Alex Bailey, courtesy of Pathe Productions Ltd.)
Related posts: Famous Speech Friday: Margaret Thatcher's "Iron Lady" speech


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Foxy's Frozen Yogurt
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Price: $4.99


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Why Teach With Google Earth?
Jump down to a discussion comparing Google Earth with GIS
- presents a great deal of information in a geographic context
- is easy to install and use
- is an excellent venue for inquiry-based activities
- is appropriate for educational use in a wide range of subject areas
- is an effective tool integrating the study of multiple disciplines
- is a great research tool
- has a large active user community with a public discussion forum
- is pre-loaded with a wide variety useful data
- enables users to create and display their own data
- can be launched easily to explore an issue that arises during an informal discussion
- can work with abundant third-party data that is available on the web
- is available for free download
With Google Earth, students can browse casually on their own or engage in structured inquiry-based explorations individually or in teams. Since Google Earth is available to download for free for all the major operating systems, students can use it in school as well as for homework or fun. They can easily create their own data and save the information in KMZ data files, or as saved images for incorporation into oral presentations or reports. This data can be rendered on maps in combination with any other data made available to the students.
In addition to making it available for students to use for inquiry-driven activities, educators can employ Google Earth directly as a presentation tool for classes or as a means of saving graphics for use in lectures. They can also use it to research topics for use in a variety of educational venues that incorporate electronic presentations, or printed materials that include maps or other graphics. Google for Educators - Earth presents advice on how to use Google Earth in educational settings.
In addition to its educational utility, Google Earth is a great research tool. The imagery itself contains a great deal of information about the natural landscape and human infrastructure on the Earth's surface. The constantly growing Street View layer adds dimensionality to this imagery by offering a dense array of 360° panoramic photographs for many cities, towns, and other places around the world. The terrain and 3D Buildings layers also contribute information to the three-dimensional Google Earth experience. The other Google Earth layers offer a wealth of additional geographic information. Many web sites, including the Google Earth Community, offer data designed specifically for use in Google Earth. There are also much data, including imagery and vector data that can be adapted for use in Google Earth even though it was not created for that purpose.
Google Earth, due to its ease of use, can become a standard part of everyday discussion in the classroom. For example, if a question about a particular coastal feature or hurricane arises during a course on coastal processes, Google Earth can provide a quick look at the appropriate aerial imagery or plotted hurricane path, especially if the instructor or an enrolled student is familiar with the body of data that is online and available for access.
Google Earth is available for free download on Google's Explore, Search, and Discover (more info) page. However, Google also offers various forms of support for educators, students, scientists, and non-profit organizations in the form of software or financial support. Through the KML in Research Competition, scientists, researchers, and students can have their work showcased at Google's booth at the American Geophysical Union (more info) and win GPS and iPod equipment. Geo Challenge Grants provide between $5,000 and $100,000 to "legally qualified, public charitable organizations with a compelling idea about how maps can help them work more effectively". Google Earth Pro grants provide the Pro version of Google Earth for free to organizations thatt have current 501(c)(3) status.
No software product is perfectly designed, and with Google Earth, there are design features that some people would like to see improved. For example, with the settings on the timeline, inexperienced users may become confused. Labels on the map can cause confusion when they become closely spaced at some zoom levels. The Google Earth Design blog contains a great deal of useful information about Google Earth, including design limitations, and how to compensate for some of the them.
Setting up simple customized Google Maps and posting them on the web requires logging into a free Google account and activating the My Maps tab. A set of tools enables the creation of points, lines and polygons on the map. Descriptive information can be connected with these features for viewing by the user. The map is automatically assigned a url that can be emailed or hyperlinked in a web page in order to share it students or other people. After the map is created, HTML code is also displayed that can be copied into a web page in order to include the map as an embedded object. A web browser is sufficient for viewing maps created in this manner, therefore these maps are a good option in venues where Google Earth might not be available. A KML file that has been stored on a web server can be opened in Google Maps by entering its url in the Google Maps search box. However, while these simple Google Maps are easy to create and share, they are not as feature-rich as Google Earth.
Google Earth or GIS?
While Google Earth is an excellent teaching tool, it does not offer the analytical capabilities of a full-featured geographic information system such as ArcGIS or MapInfo. Alan Glennon wrote two essays, in favor of and opposed to, respectively, the practice of promoting Naive Geography, the field of study that is concerned with using formal models of the common-sense geographic world in the classroom. In Comments Supporting Naive Geography , Glennon argues that "Incorporating common sense conceptions of the geographical world into GIS will make the software more usable, thus adding meaning and value. As multibillion dollar companies like Google and Microsoft formally declare that they are designing spatial software to be understandable and usable for regular users, the impact of the naive geography design philosophy is becoming unmistakable". However, in Comments Against Naive Geography , he points out the dangers that people may develop overly simplistic conceptualizations, that they may be frustrated by finding geographic software less capable than what they expected, and that simplified software may hinder creativity on the part of the user by offering reduced opportunity for control in comparison to GIS software.
While these essays do a nice job of presenting opposing views, when considered together they make the case that Google Earth and GIS each have important roles in education and research. In order to mitigate the hazards of using one approach exclusively, and to gain the advantages of each, educators who engage students in using Google Earth should provide students with a sense of how its small set of analytical capabilities differs from those of a full-featured GIS. In courses that include a relatively small amount of map use that does not require a great deal of analysis, Google Earth is generally the best choice. This can be followed by a discussion or demonstration of what GIS can do. However, instructors who include multiple map-oriented exercises in their courses can base at least one of them on GIS, with the inclusion of some analysis that utilizes spatial attributes or other properties of the data, if appropriate for the course material. See Teaching with GIS in the Geosciences in order to compare how using GIS for education differs from using Google Earth.


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SD design radial shaft seals
SD design radial shaft seals (fig 1) have a primary seal lip and an auxiliary dust lip. The lips are made of polyurethane (AU) and the reinforcement ring is made of polyamide (PA) instead of metal.
The auxiliary lip is the smaller of the two lips and designed with zero lip/shaft interference to avoid additional friction, heat and energy losses.
The primary seal lip, i.e. the larger of the two lips, is a contact seal and should always point toward the medium that is to be sealed. Therefore, if the primarily function is protection against ingress of contaminants, the primary lip should face outward. The auxiliary lip contributes to retain lubricant in the bearing arrangement.
In applications whereas the main purpose is retaining the lubricant, the primary lip should face inward, toward the bearing.
The cavity between the two lips should be filled with a grease that is compatible with the lubricant used in the application. This provides additional protection and prevent the seal from dry running.
SD seals are resistant to lubricating oils, even those containing small quantities of EP additives, and also to mineral oil based greases.
Depending on the counterface of the shaft, SD seals can also be used as wiper seals for linear applications with speeds up to 3 m/s.