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It has been a bad season for the image of Hinduism and swamis in the world. Firstly, a federal grand jury indicted Swami Kirtanananda, controversial leader of the 600-member New Vrindavan Krishna community in West Virginia. The swami was charged with racketeering and other crimes related to the murder of two members, one alleged to be a contract hit for which the Krishna leadership paid US $8,000. We will report more on that trial in future issues.
Next headlines blazed with tales of a "Rajneesh Hit Squad" when the US Justice Department arrested overseas four ex-followers of the late cult leader. All of the women were "sannyasins" at Rajneesh's 64,000-acre Oregon commune when they allegedly conspired to kill Oregon's US Attorney Charles Turner. The murder never happened. But the world media went on a feeding-frenzy pursuing the wild rise and fall of the ex-Jain guru who owned 94 Rolls-Royces and was forced out of America by immigration authorities. The public is largely unaware that Rajneesh is not a Hindu and makes little or no distinction between real swamis and his "sannyasins." So our Hindu holy men were indirectly slandered when Rajneesh disciples managed to engineer the largest marriage fraud case in the history of the United States, the largest wiretapping case in the history of the US and the largest poisoning case in the history of the US – over 750 people poisoned in local restaurants.
I know this doesn't sound much like dharma, but wait, there's more. In late October orange-robed sadhus and sannyasins were in the news every day, shown on world television brandishing a wild arsenal of hand-held weapons, attacking the 450-year-old, run-down mosque in northern India, swearing viciously and threatening violently to break through the cordon of police and army sent to prevent death and destruction. One outspoken sadhu said that, if necessary, that Ayodhya temple would be built not with bricks but with human skulls. Hindu fundamentalism, like the fundamentalism of any religion, can be a powerful and cruel force when unleashed upon others.
This is all horridly sad. Sad because at its heart Hinduism is so gentle, so wise and compassionate. Sad because people are suffering and dying. Sad because it offends the deepest Hindu ethic, ahimsa, or nonviolence.
When people in the West talk about nonviolence, they think of a man named Gandhi and another who was inspired by him, Martin Luther King. They think of nonviolence as civil disobedience, as not killing others, of avoiding physical injury. But nonviolence means so much more than that. Our scriptures enjoin us from injury by thought and word as well as deed. How subtle is this commandment which instructs us not to be hurtful with our hands, with our speech, even with others emotionally, we attack them mentally. But ahimsa nevertheless remains our moral compass.
Or it should. In fact, Hindus are being quite hurtful these days in India, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. They feel they have taken enough. They have been hurt and offended by others, and they are striking out from the depths of their frustration, from the depths of their anger and confusion. They forget the words of the 2,000-year-old Holy Kural, "It is the principle of the pure in heart never to injure others, even when they themselves have been hatefully injured." They forget the Vedic hymn, "Do not injure the beings living on the earth, in the air and in the water." They smell vengeance and they have the power to extract it. They smell vengeance and they have the power to extract it. Hindu fundamentalists no longer quote from peace-loving scripture. Instead they quote from the Mahabharata or Ramayana to justify the warring, to rationalize the pain they bring upon others.
Was Mahatma Gandhi wrong about the power of nonviolence? Are the strategies and ideals he proved no longer dear to us? Is there hope for a return to kindlier days?
An experience we had in April of 1988 promises at least the possibility. The publisher and I were at Oxford University where several hundred politicians and spiritual leaders of the major faiths had gathered for a five-day discussion on human survival. Each afternoon we met in small conference rooms, about 25 in a group, for private discussion and exchange of ideas. No press was allowed, and so the exchanges were delightfully candid, even though six languages were being translated.
Toward the end of the week I was standing in the modern hall outside, waiting for the session to resume. Quite suddenly, a bearded Muslim delegate stood in front of me. He came quite close, smiled and then reached out to take my two hands in his. For a full fifteen minutes we chatted, my hands cradled in his. He said softly that he was a devout Moslem and felt a great sympathy with the Hindu views on spirituality which I had been sharing with the group all week. He noted that Islam and Hinduism "are true religions, for they both embrace every part of life, not a single human need or activity is left outside of the faith." There were a few less charitable words about less complete paths, but for the most part he spoke of a natural affinity between his and mine, and he did so with such quiet intensity that the encounter continued to echo in my head for days.
Here was one of Islam's world leaders reaching out to a Hindu swami, telling him in essence that followers of our two traditions have every reason to get along. Ironically, while we two were communicating harmoniously, millions were combating hatefully. Why? Clearly Moslem and Hindu leadership is responsible. When leaders call for blood, crowds see that it flows in wide, sanguinary rivers. When leaders urge patience and negotiation of differences, the people listen, wait and seek change in more humane ways. It is the leaders who set the tone in any negotiation. But it is the people who choose those who will lead them.
In the Ayodhya affair, HINDUISM TODAY'S staff is very much in support of the effort to reclaim Hindu temples that were unjustly destroyed. But it must be done ethically. We can never condone violent methods to achieve this goal, however noble. We urge all Hindus to rediscover the power of harmlessness, whether personal, political, economic, military or cultural. Keep the goal, but find a better means.
When a man beats his wife, the whole family is hurt. When a terrorist kills, the whole nation dies. Everyone is a victim of every violent act, for they tear the very fabric of our humanness. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism have been teaching non-hurtfulness as a spiritual principle and practical ethic for millennia. Let us not abandon its ideals.
Ironically, many who flocked to Hindu dharma in this century were fleeing in disgust from religions that indulged in crusades, in condoning animosity and death in the name of God. They imagined that true spirituality must be kindly, that a true God would condemn, not condone, barbarism. They found solace in Hinduism's devotion and freedom in its cosmic vision. They found peace in the meditative impulse so prevalent in India. They learned that people never hurt what they revere, and that Hindus revere all life, all creatures large and small. Many of us now seem intent on destroying this. I hope there are more who are not.
Article copyright Himalayan Academy.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Las Vegas, NV (USA) – UFC 91 Heavyweight Contender Brock Lesnar will be in the national spotlight next Tuesday night when ESPN's only primetime newsmagazine show, E:60, airs an in depth story on this former WWE wrestling star turned Ultimate Fighter. The ESPN E:60 will premiere Tuesday, Oct. 21st at 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT on ESPN.
TO BE FEATURED ON ESPN's E:60
ESPN FEATURE PREMIERES TUESDAY, OCT 21 at 7PM ET/PT
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – UFC 91 Heavyweight Contender Brock Lesnar will be in the national spotlight next Tuesday night when ESPN's only primetime newsmagazine show, E:60, airs an in depth story on this former WWE wrestling star turned Ultimate Fighter. The ESPN E:60 will premiere Tuesday, Oct. 21st at 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT on ESPN.
E:60 reporter Tom Farrey talks in-depth to Lesnar about his childhood in South Dakota, his path to success as a professional fighter, his disappointment in not making it in the NFL and subsequent reluctance to be in the public eye and his return to the Octagon™ as he prepares for his November 15th UFC 91 championship fight vs. reigning title-holder Randy Couture.
E:60 will cover Lesnar's athletic career from high school all the way to his current preparation for the battle with Randy Couture:
Brock Lesnar was a standout high-school wrestler who went on to win the junior college heavyweight title and the NCAA heavyweight title. He then went on to become one of the biggest stars, called "The Next Big Thing," for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Lesnar made millions of dollars and his likeness appears in several popular video games. But in 2004, at the height of his fame and success as a professional wrestler, Lesnar abruptly walked away from the WWE to pursue his childhood dream to play in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings. Lesnar didn't make it out of training camp, and since then has kept a low profile. That is, until now.
Lesnar sat down with E:60 correspondent Tom Farrey for an in-depth interview in which he discussed growing up on a dairy farm on the outskirts of Webster, N.D., his days with the WWE, rumors of steroid use, his tryout in the NFL, his Playboy centerfold wife, and now, his life as a mixed martial arts fighter. With only three professional fights under his belt, Lesnar will face five-time champion Randy Couture in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight bout at UFC 91 on November 15.
"I don't know, what's addiction? Did I take too damn many pills? Yeah. Did I drink too much? Yes. Did I become aware that I was drinking and taking too many pills? Yes, I did." – Lesnar, on whether he was addicted
About E:60
E:60 is ESPN's only primetime multi-subject newsmagazine show. It features in-depth reporting, long-form stories and a roster of award-winning reporters. Click http://espnmediazone.com/press_kits/E60 for releases, correspondents and executive production team bios and video clips. For complete E:60 features and expanded versions of the reporter-producer meetings, click http://www.e60.com.
About The Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world's leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN Entertainment, Bell ExpressVU, SaskTel Max™, Shaw Pay-Per-View, Viewers Choice, and WOWOW in Japan, and via the Internet worldwide on Yahoo! Sports, and commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. In addition to its North American distribution, UFC programming is distributed in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting, UFC, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa™, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.
UFC Performance Institute
Dana White On The Opening Of UFC PI Mexico


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February 29, 2008
Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs Joins Coalition to Sponsor 10th Annual National Consumer Protection Week
February 29, 2008
Atlanta, GA - The Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs has joined a group of federal, state, and local government agencies and national consumer advocacy organizations to launch the 10th annual National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), March 2-8, 2008. NCPW highlights consumer education efforts in the fight against fraud in communities across the nation. NCPW 2008's organizers encourage people from coast to coast to fortify their financial know-how. Financially savvy consumers are likely to make smarter decisions about managing their money, using credit wisely, and building a solid financial foundation.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers conduct some type of financial transaction requiring an educated decision every day: shopping for a mortgage or auto loan; understanding and reconciling credit card statements and telephone bills; choosing savings and retirement plans; comparing health insurance policies; understanding their credit report and how it affects their ability to get credit and on what terms; or simply deciding how to pay for a purchase.
The Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) offers the following advice to Georgians on being better informed consumers and avoiding fraud:
Used Car Purchases – A lot of consumers shopping for used cars end up with vehicles that don't perform as promised or whose contracts contain fees or terms that the buyer was not aware of. Remember to follow these tips when shopping for a used car:
- View advertising with a cautious eye and do not make assumptions. Look for fine print, asterisks, limitations or conditions to the offer. Remember: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
- Run a vehicle history report to find out accident and repair history, the number of previous owners, recalls, whether the vehicle was salvaged or in a flood, and to verify the accuracy of the odometer reading.
- Have the automobile inspected by a qualified mechanic that you trust.
- Be sure before you sign your contract. There is no "cooling off" period when it comes to car purchases. What's more, all vehicles are sold AS IS unless otherwise specified in writing. So unless you have a specific written promise or purchase a service contract, the seller may not be liable for any problems the vehicle has.
Tax Refund Anticipation Loans – Cash-strapped consumers may be attracted to the appeal of Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) offered by tax preparers, which promise to get cash in the hands of tax payers sooner than waiting for a refund from Uncle Sam. The problem is that RALs come with very high annual interest rates, ranging from about 35% to over 500% and often don't get consumers their money any faster than filing a standard claim. Consumers should avoid these high-interest loans and consider taking advantage of free e-filing through the IRS and its registered partners.
Debt Collectors – If youare being hassled by debt collectors you do have rights and recourse. While you cannot erase debt you actually owe, if you write a letter to a debt collector requesting that they stop contacting you, they must refrain from doing so except to acknowledge that there will be no further contact or to notify you that they intend to take some specific action. If you do not owe the debt in question, you should advise the collector of that in writing and pull a copy of your credit reports to make sure that an identity thief has not opened up an account in your name. If a debt collector continues to contact you after you have requested that he stop, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP or visiting www.ftc.gov.
Credit Repair & Debt Management Companies – Companies that promise to erase bad credit, remove bankruptcies and bad loans from your credit report, and legally create a new credit identity cannot live up to their promises. Consumers who fall prey to these false testimonies may lose hundreds or thousands of dollars without any improvement to their credit. Remember: no one can legally remove correct information from your credit report, even if it negatively reflects on you. If you need professional help managing or getting out of debt, there are legitimate companies who can assist you. Georgia consumers should know their rights by being aware of the laws that regulate the activities of these companies:
- A debt adjuster may not charge you a fee of more than 7.5 percent of the amount you pay monthly for distribution to your creditors.
- All funds received from you, minus authorized fees, must be disbursed to creditors within 30 days of receiving them.
- A separate trust account must be maintained for your funds, and it must be audited annually.
- Copies of these audits and proof of insurance coverage must be filed annually with the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs.
Internet Scams
- Phishing - Beware of unsolicited emails that ask you for personal information such as your social security number, bank information, PIN numbers, etc., as the sender is likely an identity thief. Companies you do business with should already have this information on file. However, if you think the request may be legitimate, don't respond to the email or web page links in question; instead, contact them directly via the number on your account statement, credit card, or by requesting the number from directory assistance.
- Internet Auctions – Many consumers get conned when they buy or sell goods via Internet auctions. Fraudsters may accept your payment but fail to ship the item. Or they may misrepresent the quality or value of the item. To help prevent these types of fraud, consumers should only use reputable auction sites and always read the feedback on the seller beforehand to see if the reviews are positive (and numerous). Avoid paying by wire transfer; instead use an online payment service, such as PayPal, or your credit card, which may offer additional protections. If you are selling merchandise online, be suspicious if someone offers to pay more than the sales price. This is usually a scam, in which the buyer sends you a check for more than the agreed-upon price and then asks you to mail or wire him funds to cover the overage. The buyer's check turns out to be counterfeit, and the victim is out the value of the product shipped, as well as the money he sent the buyer.
Sweepstakes/Lotteries – Phony lotteries and sweepstakes, many of them foreign, promise the participant that he or she has already won a prize and just needs to send in a check to pay for taxes, handling fees, etc. Sometimes the mail piece includes the sweepstakes winnings in the form of a check, which, of course, turns out to be fraudulent. It is illegal to charge someone for a prize. So, it's simple: if you are asked to send in money in order to collect winnings or a prize, it's a scam.
Home Repairs – Many Georgians are hiring contractors to do home repair/home improvement work, only to find that the work is done poorly or that the costs exceed the agreed-upon price. To avoid being taken advantage of by a disreputable contractor:
- Obtain written bids from at least three different contractors.
- Make sure you get a written contract that includes the scope of work to be done, the starting and completion dates, the cost of the total project and all warranties.
- Ask for references and check them out.
For more information, contact Bill Cloud, Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs, at 404-656-3790.


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Control costs with software
Time is money whether it's finishing a job or figuring out job costs in between. You can't wait for your accounting system anymore.
By Daniel Brown, Contributing Editor
Suppose you bid a large excavation job to use an excavator and trucks to produce 300 cubic yards per hour. Say on a Tuesday you work 10 hours , produce 3,000 cubic yards, and production is on target. But is the job in over budget?
How do you make sure you know if you're over budget? How do you know what's wrong?
Waiting for your accounting system — which might provide feedback in a week or two — just won't cut it.
Modern software can make the difference. Here are just a few examples of just how it can work with your numbers.
"Costs are only gathered in your accounting system once a week, and by the time you got that report and looked at it, you might have forgotten what you were doing that day," says Bill Woodford, chief estimator for Trumbull Corp., a large Pittsburgh-based contractor. "You might find that although you're making production, you've got too many people on the crew, or you're using a different spread of equipment than what the estimators originally figured."
To control daily costs for labor and equipment, Trumbull uses Heavy Job software from HCSS. Each day, a foreman enters labor and equipment costs into a computer. "Then we know what our costs are and we can compare them against our budget," Woodford says.
At Trumbull, Heavy Job software integrates with Profitool, which is accounting software. Profitool is used to track costs for subcontractors and materials and summarize all costs on a monthly basis. Heavy Job is used to track labor and equipment on a daily basis.
"We and most contractors separate them that way because labor and equipment is a very constant ongoing and changing cost, whereas most contractors have a pretty good handle on what their subcontractor and material costs are," Woodford says.
Seamless exporting for labor, equipment costs
At W.W. Clyde & Co, a large contractor from Springville, Utah, project teams also use Heavy Job, but they integrate it with Viewpoint Construction Software for accounting purposes. Project personnel enter labor and equipment costs daily. "Job personnel have the ability to track costs daily within Heavy Job, but we also export that information each week to Viewpoint," says Scott Okelberry, a vice president at Clyde.
"We could export it more often, but we choose to do it weekly because the jobs have their daily information in Heavy Job at their fingertips," Okelberry says. "So to put it daily into Viewpoint doesn't make that much sense for us."
For estimating, W.W. Clyde uses Heavy Bid, which is a companion piece of software to Heavy Job. "Our estimates roll from Heavy Bid to Heavy Job and Viewpoint — two places," he says. "The seamless export to accounting is very important. A lot of programs can export data that can be manipulated, but it's not very easy to do. Heavy Job is very user-friendly and it's pretty simple to make the transition between Heavy Job and Viewpoint.
He says Heavy Job allows a contractor to do "what if" scenarios on daily costs. Suppose a pipe-laying crew is not meeting budget. They decide they need another excavator, so they plug another crew scenario into Heavy Job. They could get maybe 25 percent more production for 15 percent higher costs, Okelberry says. Heavy Job will tell the project manager what the projected unit cost would be. "They would try it out the next day, or the next week, and see what difference the added excavator makes," Okelberry says.
Does Heavy Job help Clyde make more money?
"We try to give projects the information they need every day about whether they're meeting budget or not," Okelberry says. "And we expect them to use that information to make decisions to improve.
"So I would say it helps us to either make more money than we might have, or to lose less," he says. "If you can figure it out early then you can turn it around early. It may mean that you're losing less money, but it's a change for the better overall."
He says Clyde uses a junior office/field engineer to make sure that the data entered into Heavy Job is accurate and put into the right cost codes. "We get a more accurate daily cost with fewer mistakes by having an engineer do that — a graduate engineer who's been out of school, say, less than five years," Okelberry says. "He or she is learning the job, learning project cost accounting; it's a training ground."
When that field engineer has made the comparison of costs to the budget, he gives that information to the foreman, the superintendent, and the project manager. "At every daily foremen's meeting, where all the superintendents and foremen come together, that field engineer can hand them a report that says, 'Here's what your operations cost yesterday,'" Okelberry says.
Woodford says Trumbull's job personnel report labor and equipment costs using laptops, desktop computers in the field office, or even from home computers. Any Internet connection will work, and the software is not Web-based. Instead, Trumbull people tie into a remote connectivity program called Citrix, and use it to gain access to the company's servers.
"It can be a very poor Internet connection, but the guys can still connect from wherever because the processing isn't happening back and forth across the Internet connection," Woodford says. "It's happening here in our office."
He likes the uniformity of the Heavy Job reporting process. All jobs report costs the same way; before, they used spreadsheets that were different for every manager. And sometimes they were not properly set up.
W.W. Clyde also uses weekly job status reports to compare actual total costs to the budget. Those reports come from Viewpoint. They incorporate costs for materials, subcontractors, and other costs that are not counted daily. Plus, every month W.W. Clyde does a job cost projection that presents a detailed look at what the firm expects costs to be for the entire project. "If it's projected to be over budget or under budget, then we claim profitability based on those projections," Okelberry says.
Gorman Brothers Inc., a paving contractor based in Albany, N.Y., does business a little differently. Gorman performs approximately 600 projects per year and many of them last only a few days.
Using laptop computers and USB broadband cards to access the Internet, each of more than 20 field personnel on a daily basis enters labor hours, equipment hours, materials used and production achieved. To do that, the company employs a program called hh2 Web Services (Remote Payroll and Field Reports) by Digital Business Integration. Job cost information is keyed into a computer just once, by the foremen, says Barbara Morse, Gorman's IT Director. Labor and equipment hours are imported to a database, then into Sage's Timberline Office program. The hh2 program integrates seamlessly with Sage Timberline Office. An administrative person reviews each day's job costs and makes sure that the foremen fill out their reports properly.
Prior to using hh2, Gorman used paper forms. Foremen had to find a fax machine or visit the home office. Handwriting was hard to read. The paper had to be reviewed, approved, and compiled. Then it had to be keyed into another database and analyzed by that database before being imported into Timberline for accounting purposes.
The payroll process now goes much faster. Long-time field foremen, not used to computers, like the hh2 system. "They said, 'Oh, this is a lot faster than paper,'" Morse says.
Now, instead of working feverishly on Thursdays to meet a direct deposit deadline, Gorman is processing payroll on Wednesdays. Friday is payday for the previous week. "The savings there was substantial," Morse says. "Now we have more information sooner, which is also good for the sales people who are estimating and managing jobs. The payback has been well worth the cost. The seamless integration with hh2 and Sage's Timberline Office has made those systems much more efficient."
Gorman's sales people use Timberline software to estimate projects. "That works well for us," Morse says. "We put that in several years ago and it was an awakening for the sales people because when they did their estimates manually they often didn't consider overhead costs like the time to transport equipment from job to job."
Gorman accounted for those costs through job cost accounting, but they really weren't included at the beginning of a project. Now all costs are included and the sales people have a more accurate price per unit of pavement to start projects.
Morse says Gorman built the estimating database by individual paving processes. Timberline calls each paving process an assembly, or it could be called a model. There's a model for a certain chip seal process, another one for the NovaChip process, another one for FiberMat, and so forth.
"If the sales person has a customer who is just interested in FiberMat process, they'll just pick that model, and the software asks them certain questions," says Morse. Many of the questions are take-offs from the project design: length, width, square yards, hours per day worked, estimated production per day, and so forth. Using those numbers, the software produces a unit cost, say per square yard, for that pavement process.
In turn, Gorman exports those estimates out of the estimating software and imports them into a database that's in Microsoft Access. "We compare those estimates to actual costs that happen in Timberline," Morse says. "So in Timberline you get costs from payroll, costs from accounts payable, costs from equipment, and so on. We compare all those costs with what the sales person estimated the project to be.
"We're starting this new commitment process," Morse says. "If I'm a salesperson and I've got a customer who is 95 percent sure he's going through with a project, I will enter the estimate, called a projection, which will get imported into our job cost database.
"From there, now every week, sales people are going to get reports where they can compare their estimates against budget," Morse continues. "So variances from budget will be reviewed on a weekly basis rather than monthly, as we did before." v


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By Elaine Sanchez American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 9, 2011 - When Army Staff Sgt. Hayford Owusu deployed to Afghanistan in April, he knew he'd be gone for a major milestone -- his son's high school graduation. So he offered his son, Prince, two options: he would take leave to attend the graduation ceremony, or he would travel with his son to their birthplace of Ghana upon his return. Owusu is among the deployed military parents from bases across Europe and the Pacific who will be able to watch their teenagers graduate from high school via live webcast. "I know he can't make it, so being able to watch it online is a fantastic idea," said Prince, a senior and soon-to-be honor graduate from Baumholder Middle-High School in Germany. "It means a lot to me. I'm glad he can see me graduate." About 60 parents deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations around the world have been invited to watch 12 graduation ceremonies taking place on bases in Germany, Italy and England through June 14, thanks to a cooperative effort between Department of Defense Dependents Schools Europe, U.S. Army Europe and the U.S. Army 5th Signal Command. Additionally, several schools in the Pacific will offer a live webcast of their graduation ceremonies this year through "an entirely homegrown effort," a Department of Defense Education Activity official said. Staff and student volunteers from DOD schools in Japan, Guam and South Korea are launching this pilot program in hopes of expanding on it in future years. At Baumholder, about 80 percent of the students' parents are deployed, but nearly all were able to take leave to attend graduation this year, said Danny Robinson, the school's principal. Just two students, with Prince being one, will have a parent deployed during the ceremony. But that doesn't make the effort any less significant, noted Nancy Bresell, director of Department of Defense Dependents Schools Europe. "It's so important to the students that their parents are part of a really big event in their lives," she said. "That's why we do what we do and why military services have been supporting this for so long." This effort to connect deployed parents with their graduating teens in Europe dates back eight years, Bresell explained, citing the extensive work that goes on behind the scenes. Planning starts months in advance, when high school officials identify which seniors will have a deployed parent on graduation night, she said, followed by an effort to notify the parent about the upcoming broadcast. The school system then takes on a back-seat role, as the services step in to provide the technology and the people to set up the webcasts, Bresell said. "It's a gargantuan effort on their part – the work, time and cost," she said. "There's no question that without their efforts, we couldn't do this." As an added measure, many students record messages to their parents beforehand that are broadcast with the ceremony, Bresell said, noting the messages tend to have a common theme. "The kids let their parents know how much they love them, how important they are to them, and how they wish they could be here to see them walk across that stage," she said. "They're usually cheerful, but kids choke up as they're giving them." Some deployed parents also record messages for their kids, she said, and "that's very touching as well." The feedback from deployed parents has been overwhelmingly positive, Bresell said. "They're thankful for this effort and the fact they were able to see their kids on such an important occasion," she added. Robinson, who has been the Baumholder principal for six years, recalled his school's graduation two years ago, when students were heavily affected by a large-scale deployment to Iraq. The base set up a two-way video teleconference at graduation so students could wave to their parents as they crossed the stage and their parents could wave back and cheer them on. School officials also tucked a personal message from deployed parents to their student into the diploma covers. "There were a lot of tears," he said. "It was a very emotional time." These types of extra efforts aren't surprising, Bresell said. The military has made a priority to keep deployed service members in touch with their families. "It's all about the kids and the families," she said. "We'll do whatever it takes and whatever we can to bring them together for such an important event in a child's life -- probably the single most important event." The following graduations in Europe and the Pacific will be broadcast online: -- Today: Ansbach, Bamberg and Heidelberg High Schools in Germany; -- Tomorrow: Baumholder, Hohenfels and Kaiserslautern High Schools in Germany; Lakenheath High School in England; Vicenza High School in Italy; Guam High School in Guam; Edgren High School in Japan; and Daegu American School in South Korea; -- June 11: Bitburg and Mannheim High Schools in Germany and Kubasaki High School in Japan; -- June 12: Wiesbaden High School in Germany; and -- June 14: Ramstein High School in Germany. To watch a graduation, family and friends can get access information from their graduating senior or local Defense Department school. Along with the webcast, the Pacific ceremonies will be recorded and available for on-demand viewing next week. |
Related Sites: Department of Defense Dependents Schools Europe Department of Defense Education Activity Pacific Department of Defense Education Activity Baumholder Middle-High School |
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Technology Enables Deployed Parents to See Graduations
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I want to begin this column with an apology. I went completely ballistic in my last column (Urban Comedy: Tavis Smiley - A Crab Determined to Reach Beyond His Grasp). Although I feel that it was with good cause, a cooler head convinced me that even though he may agree with my sentiment, by indulging my need to rant, I did both the readers, and the publications that provide me with a platform to keep the public informed, a gross disservice, and I agree.
I don't work for Fox News, so it's not my job to ram my opinion down the readers' throats. As a responsible columnist my job is to simply present the facts, discuss what those facts represent from my point of view, then allow the readers to make up their own minds. Anything short of that is both condescending and less than informative to the reader. So again, I want to apologize. But while I apologize for admittedly falling short of professionalism in my approach, I don't retract one word of my sentiment in this matter.
On Tuesday, February23, Tavis Smiley went on Tom Joyner's Morning Show and did a commentary indicating that Rev. Al Sharpton, Ben Jealous, Charles Ogletree, Valerie Jarrett, Marc Morial, and Dr. Dorothy Height said that President Obama doesn't need a Black agenda. In doing so he not only grossly distorted Sharpton's comment that the president didn't need to "ballyhoo" a Black agenda, but he also left the impression that President Obama was ignoring the plight of the Black community - which is blatantly untrue.
So yes, I was quite angry - and one of the things that set me off was his disingenuous self-righteousness. He said:
"I choose to identify with the underprivileged. I choose to identify with the poor. I choose to give my life for the hungry. I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity. This is the way I'm going. If it means suffering a little bit, I'm going that way. If it means dying for them, I'm going that way. Because I heard a voice saying, 'Do something for others."
For a man who loves to quote scripture, he seems to have missed King James 3:14 - "But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth." One would have to be blind to believe that Tavis is less than envious of President Obama, or that he doesn't have selfish ambition in his heart. And one would have to be a fool to believe that Tavis is willing to die for the hungry. Personally, I don't see that kind of selflessness in his character. And while he may indeed be genuine about hearing voices, whose voice he's hearing should be up for serious debate.
But I was angered even more by his hypocrisy. It was clear that he requested to go on the Tom Joyner show (after giving up his spot as a regular commentator on the show well over a year earlier) to create a controversy just to promote an event that he organized in Chicago for later this month. In his commentary he said the following:
"I know 'What's going on.' I know "We shall overcome,' but I don't know this new tune, the president doesn't need a Black agenda. And I've been hearing from other members, Tom, of our Black chorale, all across America as well, who either, like me, don't know these new lyrics or have heard the song but ain't down with singing it. That said, it's time for a choir rehearsal so that we're all singing from the same page. And so, our choir rehearsal will be held Saturday, March 20, in Chicago at 8:00 am, at Chicago State University, with Dr. Wayne Watson. Now, for all of those who can't attend the choir rehearsal in person, this rehearsal will be broadcast[ed] on national television."
Don't forget to Mark you're calendars, now. That's Saturday, March 20, at . . . He sounded like he was doing a used car commercial.
Tavis is also fixated on accountability, and how "he choose to identify with the underprivileged," yet, as I pointed out two years ago in my article, The 2008 State of The Black Union, while he may choose to identify with the underprivileged, he hangs out with the heads of corporations - and you're known by the company you keep:
". . . how accountable is it to produce a show called The State of the Black Union then sponsor it with companies that are largely responsible for the very conditions that you're complaining about? One of the sponsors was Allstate Insurance–a company that is alleged to have denied the claims of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims. One victim, Michael Homan, alleges that Allstate denied his claim based on their position that Katrina wasn't windy enough. Another sponsor was Exxon/Mobile–a company that's raking in record profits while many Black people have to flip a coin to decide whether they're going to eat or put enough gas in their car to get to work. Wal-Mart was another sponsor–a company that's committed to blocking collective bargaining, providing their employees fair wages and healthcare, who destroy jobs by running other businesses out of the community and purchasing their merchandise from outside the United States, and who humiliate their customers by searching them before they leave the store."
Is that accountability? Does it sound like any of those companies are committed to a Black agenda? It sure doesn't sound like it to me, and I'm a mere heathen who's not willing to die for any cause. As a former Marine I was taught that we don't willingly die for anything - boot camp 101. "A Marine only dies, because he failed to duck.
I was also angry with Tavis because he's preaching to the Black community through ignorance. He's trying to lead Black people while he himself is obviously ignorant of history. He seems to be completely unaware of the fact that Richard Nixon also had a Black agenda. Nixon was the president who signed affirmative action into being, and when he did it, he had his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek.
Prior to AA we had a thriving civil rights movement. Not only Blacks, but thousands of whites were out marching with Martin Luther King, demanding equal opportunity for Blacks people.
Then President Nixon said, Ok, they want to fight for the rights of Black people, let's see how they feel when I allow Blacks to start taking their jobs and replacing their kids in the universities - and his scheme to undermine the Black movement worked like a charm.
While we were busy celebrating our shortsighted "victory," our victory led to USC v. Bakke, the emergence of Ronald Reagan, and White folks flooding into the Republican Party in droves. These people were far from racists, but it's human nature to protect one's own interest. Thus, Bakke's lawsuit against affirmative action brought White support for the civil rights movement to a screeching halt, and led directly to Ronald Reagan and the Republican era.
And what did we get in return? The only people in the Black community that benefitted were those who needed the help least. The cream of the crop was skimmed out of the community and went to work for large corporations. And with them, they took all of the talent, imagination, entrepreneurial skills, role models, and jobs. That, in turn, left young Black people with no one to look up to in the community but drug dealers.
Then thirty years later Barack Obama arrived on the scene, and the GOP was caught completely off guard. They were shocked. Where did he come from? But more importantly, where did all these people come from who're willing to vote for a Black man for president?
I'll tell you where they came from. Those were young Whites, and the closet moderates and progressives that fled the Democratic Party during the Affirmative Action era. They were so anxious for a change from the GOP that they got behind Obama even before Black people saw the light - that's why I'm so critical of Obama for failing to firmly initiate the change that he promised, an accommodation to the GOP that may, indeed, lead to his downfall.
But while I strongly disagree with his policy to be less than firm with the GOP, Obama is a very astute and intelligent man, so he's not about to listen to the rantings of Tavis Smiley. He understands history, and he's not about to make the same mistake twice.
Affirmative Action was a wonderful initiative, but as a result of it, the Black community was bamboozled into making the biggest political mistake in modern history - allowing AA to be based on race rather than need. Had it been based on need, it's roots would have reached down into the Black community to those who needed it most. It would have also included poor Whites, which would have prevented the GOP from using it as a weapon against us.
So as a direct result of the very kind of policy that Tavis Smiley is advocating, the GOP was able to turn AA into a liability for the Democratic Party that destroyed the most effective progressive coalition that this country has ever known. It was AA that allowed the GOP to turn the term "liberal" into a curse word in the political lexicon.
AA was also used to create Judases like Clarence Thomas, Michael Steele, and Alan Keyes - and they're not the only ones. Anyone who has ever worked in a major corporation or a government agency knows that these Judases are sprinkled throughout our workforce. As we speak, I'm investigating a piece on the Los Angeles District of the U.S. Postal Service where I have absolute proof that minorities (including veterans) are being forced under the threat of losing their job to work as much as a half day (daily) without pay.
Think about that - I have proof that Blacks and Hispanics who have risen to positions of authority due to Affirmative Action are now being used, and given huge bonuses, as overseers in a United States Government agency to enforce slave labor in the twenty first century! It's been going on for years (I have documented proof of that as well), and the unions and the Inspector General's Office know about it (also documented), and they're doing absolutely nothing about it.
So yes, I'm angry, because Tavis is a corporate tool and manipulator. While he's trying to keep the people focused on the last war in order to promote his own interests, the powers that be have moved on to a class war. They don't care any more about poor White folks than they do Black people - the healthcare debate should demonstrate that to anyone with any sense at all. Sen. Joe Lieberman just told the White folks of Connecticut to go to Hell.
So if the people would open their eyes they'd see that Tavis' self-serving nonsense is an unnecessary distraction. Blacks, and Whites, are now under the gun. So this is no time to be distracted by a self-serving wannabe. He's not one of us, the poor and middle class struggling to survive - he's made a few dollars. His chumminess with Walmart and those who oppress us clearly demonstrates that he's one of them. But don't take my word for it - ask the people of Inglewood, Ca. whose agenda he promoted during their battle with Walmart.
Obviously, the only thing that will satisfy Tavis and his cohorts is for President Obama to throw his fist in the air every time they play Hail to the Chief. While Tavis is demagogueing the issue to promote his own agenda, here's what the president is doing for ALL of the people, including the Black community:
- Support Historically Black Colleges and Universities: "The Budget proposes $642 million, an increase of $30 million over the 2010 level, to support Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In addition to this discretionary funding increase for MSIs, the Administration supports legislation passed by the House of Representatives and pending in the Senate that would provide $2.55 billion in mandatory funding to MSIs over 10 years."
- Help Families Struggling with Child Care Costs: "The Budget will nearly double the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for middle-class families making under $85,000 a year by increasing their credit rate from 20 percent to 35 percent of child care expenses. Nearly all eligible families making under $115,000 a year would see a larger credit. The Budget also provides critical support for young children and their families by building on historic increases provided in ARRA. The Budget provides an additional $989 million for Head Start and Early Head Start to continue to serve 64,000 additional children and families funded in ARRA."
- Reform Elementary and Secondary School Funding: "The Budget supports the Administration's new vision for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) … The Budget provides a $3 billion increase in funding for K-12 education programs authorized in the ESEA, including $900 million for School Turnaround Grants, and the Administration will request up to $1 billion in additional funding if Congress successfully completes ESEA reauthorization."
- Increase Pell Grants: "The Recovery Act and 2009 appropriations bill increased the maximum Pell Grant by more than $600 for a total award of $5,350. The Budget proposes to make that increase permanent and put them on a path to grow faster than inflation every year, increasing the maximum grant by $1,000, expanding eligibility, and nearly doubling the total amount of Pell grants since the President took office."
- Help Relieve Student Loan Debt: "To help graduates overburdened with student loan debt, the Administration will strengthen income-based repayment plans for student loans by reducing monthly payments and shortening the repayment period so that overburdened borrowers will pay only 10 percent of their discretionary income in loan repayments and can have their remaining debt forgiven after 20 years. Those in public service careers will have their debt forgiven after 10 years. The Budget also expands low-cost Perkins student loans."
- Prevent Hunger and Improve Nutrition: "The President's Budget provides $8.1 billion for discretionary nutrition program supports, which is a $400 million increase over the 2010 enacted level. Funding supports 10 million participants in the WIC program, which is critical to the health of pregnant women, new mothers, and their infants. The Budget also supports a strong Child Nutrition and WIC reauthorization package that will ensure that school children have access to healthy meals and to help fulfill the President's pledge to end childhood hunger. The President continues to support the nutrition provisions incorporated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)."
- Revitalize Distressed Urban Neighborhoods: "The Budget includes $250 million for HUD's Choice Neighborhoods program, which will target neighborhoods anchored by distressed public or assisted housing with physical and social revitalization grounded in promising, measurable, and evidence-based strategies."
- Increase Funding for the Housing Choice Voucher Program: "The President's Budget requests $19.6 billion for the Housing Choice Voucher program to help more than two million extremely low income families with rental assistance to live in decent housing in neighborhoods of their choice. The Budget continues funding for all existing mainstream vouchers and provides flexibility to support new vouchers that were leased and $85 million in special purpose vouchers for homeless families with children, families at risk of homelessness, and persons with disabilities."
- Preserve 1.3 Million Affordable Rental Units through Project-Based Rental Assistance Program: "The President's Budget provides $9.4 billion for the Project-Based Rental Assistance program to preserve approximately 1.3 million affordable rental units through increased funding for contracts with private owners of multifamily properties. This critical investment will help low-income households to obtain or retain decent, safe and sanitary housing. In addition, the Administration requests $350 million to fund the first phase of this multi-year initiative to regionalize the Housing Choice Voucher program and convert Public Housing to project-based vouchers."
- Promote Affordable Homeownership and Protect Families from Mortgage Fraud: "The Budget requests $88 million for HUD to support homeownership and foreclosure prevention through Housing Counseling and $20 million to combat mortgage fraud. In addition, the Budget requests $250 million for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation's (NRC) grant and training programs. Of the $250 million, $113 million is requested for foreclosure prevention activities, a $48 million increase (74 percent) over 2010."
- Fight Gang Violence and Violent Crime: "The Budget provides $112 million for place-based, evidence supported, initiatives to combat violence in local communities, including $25 million for the Community-Based Violence Prevention Initiatives that aim to reduce gun and other violence among youth gangs in cities and towns across the country, and $37 million for the Attorney General's Children Exposed to Violence Initiative, which targets the youth most affected by violence and most susceptible to propagating it as they grow up."
- Expand Prisoner Re-entry Programs: "The Budget provides $144 million for Department Justice prisoner re-entry programs, including an additional $100 million for the Office of Justice Programs to administer grant programs authorized by the Second Chance Act and $30 million for residential substance abuse treatment programs in State and local prisons and jails. In addition, the Budget provides $98 million for Department of Labor programs that provide employment-centered services to adult and youth ex-offenders and at-risk youth.."
- Fully Fund the Community Development Block Grant Program: "The Budget provides $4.4 billion for the Community Development Fund, including $3.99 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Formula Program (CDBG), and $150 million for the creation of a Catalytic Investment Competition Grants program. The new Catalytic Competition Grants program uses the authorities of CDBG, but will provide capital to bring innovative economic development projects to scale to make a measurable impact."
Eric L. Wattree
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
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Dr. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz is the current holder of the Kościuszko Chair of Polish Studies, which was formally inaugurated at The Institute of World Politics on November 7, 2008.
Originally established at the University of Virginia in 1998 by the American Institute of Polish Culture (AIPC) and Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, the Chair was transferred back into AIPC's care after a period of inactivity until a suitable replacement could be found. Happily, following a nationwide competition among fourteen major academic institutions, AIPC decided that IWP was best suited to carry out the Chair's mission. AIPC and IWP reached an agreement whereby AIPC pledged a $1 million challenge grant to IWP for the purpose of establishing the new chair. IWP matched that grant in 2019.
The Kościuszko Chair serves as a center for Polish Studies in the broadest sense, including learning, teaching, researching, and writing about Poland's culture, history, heritage, religion, government, economy, and successes in the arts, sciences, and letters, with special emphasis on the achievements of Polish civilization and its relation to other nations, particularly the United States.
The mission of the Chair is premised, in part, on the belief that over the last several centuries, the written record of Polish history has been shaped by political forces inimical to Polish independence and culture: including the imperial powers that partitioned Poland in the 18th century, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union.
There are also a significant number of contemporary pundits and academics who, compounding the errors of the past, are further distorting the Polish record today. In light of this situation, the work of the Kościuszko Chair will serve as a valuable corrective of the historical narrative.
The accurate study of Polish history and culture serves several valuable purposes. One, of course, is to teach important lessons for the defense of liberty, both in Poland and the United States. These concern the nature and strategies of imperialist powers, including aggressive totalitarian regimes such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
The study of Poland's past, with its five century-old noble democracy, elective monarchy, habeas corpus, property rights, religious liberty, and political freedom also yields vital lessons for the political health of free societies, particularly the United States and her people. Finally, Poland remains an important country today given its strategic position in Europe, its role in the defense of Western Civilization, and its affinities and alliance with NATO and the United States. Thus, the Kościuszko Chair will also take an active interest in Polish current events.


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"Chapter 31: Thrift, Industry, and Self-Reliance," Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (1997), 225–33
"Chapter 31," Teachings: Brigham Young, 225–33
Chapter 31
Thrift, Industry, and Self-Reliance
President Brigham Young knew the value of hard work in preparing the Saints to build the kingdom of God. He counseled the pioneers, "Instead of searching after what the Lord is going to do for us, let us inquire what we can do for ourselves" (DBY, 293). President Heber C. Kimball, President Young's friend and Counselor in the First Presidency, worked many days in the fields with him and later remembered that time as follows: "[Brother] Brigham and myself used to work hard, side by side, for fifty cents a day and board ourselves; we had seventy-five cents a day when we worked in the hayfield; we would work from sunrise to sunset, and until nine o'clock at night if there was sign of rain. We would rake and bind after a cradler for a bushel of wheat a day, and chop wood, with snow to our waist for eighteen cents a cord, and take our pay in corn at seventy-five cents a bushel" (DNW, 30 July 1862). President Young emphasized the importance of thrift, industry, and self-reliance, saying: "They who secure eternal life are doers of the word as well as hearers" (DBY, 290).
Teachings of Brigham Young
We should work hard and use our time wisely to serve our families and build up the kingdom of God.
What have we? Our time. Spend it as you will. Time is given to you; and when this is spent to the best possible advantage for promoting truth upon the earth, it is placed to our account, and blessed are you; but when we spend our time in idleness and folly it will be placed against us (DBY, 290).
We have to give an account of the days we spend in folly (DBY, 290).
Of the time that is allotted to man here on the earth there is none to lose or to run to waste. After suitable rest and relaxation there is not a day, hour or minute that we should spend in idleness, but every minute of every day of our lives we should strive to improve our minds and to increase the faith of the holy Gospel, in charity, patience, and good works, that we may grow in the knowledge of the truth as it is spoken and prophesied of and written about (DBY, 290).
Idleness and wastefulness are not according to the rules of heaven. Preserve all you can, that you may have abundance to bless your friends and your enemies (DBY, 290).
Everything connected with building up Zion requires actual, severe labor [see 2 Nephi 5:17]. It is nonsense to talk about building up any kingdom except by labor; it requires the labor of every part of our organization, whether it be mental, physical, or spiritual, and that is the only way to build up the Kingdom of God (DBY, 291).
Is not the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God on earth a temporal labor all the time? (DBY, 290–91).
This is the greatest wealth we possess—to know how to direct our labors rightly, spending every hour advantageously for the benefit of our wives and children and neighbors (DBY, 290).
We will have to go to work and get the gold out of the mountains to lay down, if we ever walk in streets paved with gold. The angels that now walk in their golden streets, and they have the tree of life within their paradise, had to obtain that gold and put it there. When we have streets paved with gold, we will have placed it there ourselves. When we enjoy a Zion in its beauty and glory, it will be when we have built it. If we enjoy the Zion that we now anticipate, it will be after we redeem and prepare it. If we live in the city of the New Jerusalem, it will be because we lay the foundation and build it. If we do not as individuals complete that work, we shall lay the foundation for our children and our children's children, as Adam has. If we are to be saved in an ark, as Noah and his family were, it will be because we build it. If the Gospel is preached to the nations, it is because the Elders of Israel … preach the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth (DBY, 291).
My faith does not lead me to think the Lord will provide us with roast pigs, bread already buttered, etc.; he will give us the ability to raise the grain, to obtain the fruits of the earth, to make habitations, to procure a few boards to make a box, and when harvest comes, giving us the grain, it is for us to preserve it—to save the wheat until we have one, two, five, or seven years' provisions on hand, until there is enough of the staff of life saved by the people to [provide] bread [for] themselves and those who will come here seeking for safety (DBY, 291–92).
The Lord has provided an abundance in the earth for our use.
I say to my brethren and sisters, come let us learn how to gather around us from the elements an abundance of every comfort of life, and convert them to our wants and happiness [see D&C 59:18–20]. Let us not remain ignorant, with the ignorant, but let us show the ignorant how to be wise (DBY, 294).
The Lord has done his share of the work; he has surrounded us with elements containing wheat, meat, flax, wool, silk, fruit, and everything with which to build up, beautify and glorify the Zion of the last days, and it is our business to mould these elements to our wants and necessities, according to the knowledge we now have and the wisdom we can obtain from the heavens through our faithfulness. In this way will the Lord bring again Zion upon the earth, and in no other (DBY, 294).
It is our duty to be active and diligent in doing everything we can to sustain ourselves, to build up His Kingdom, to defend ourselves against our enemies, to lay our plans wisely, and to prosecute [perform] every method that can be devised to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth, and to sanctify and prepare ourselves to dwell in His presence (DBY, 294–95).
While we have a rich soil in this valley, and seed to put in the ground, we need not ask God to feed us, nor follow us round with a loaf of bread begging of us to eat it. He will not do it, neither would I, were I the Lord. We can feed ourselves here; and if we are ever placed in circumstances where we cannot, it will then be time enough for the Lord to work a miracle to sustain us (DBY, 294).
People are contending, quarreling, seeking how to get the advantage of each other, and how to get all the wealth there is in the world. … But suppose we go to work to gather up all that there is in the bosom and upon the surface of our mother earth and bring it into use, is there any lack? There is not, there is enough for all. Then do look at these things as they are, Latter-day Saints, and you who are not Latter-day Saints, look at things as they are. And I do hope and pray for your sakes, outsiders, and for the sakes of those who profess to be Latter-day Saints, that we shall have good peace for a time here, so that we can build our furnaces, open our mines, make our railroads, till the soil, follow our mercantile business uninterrupted; that we may attend to the business of beautifying the earth (DBY, 295).
We should be wise in using the resources the Lord has given us.
The riches of a kingdom or nation do not consist so much in the fulness of its treasury as in the fertility of its soil and the industry of its people (DBY, 297).
Time and the ability to labor are the capital stock of the whole world of mankind, and we are all indebted to God for the ability to use time to advantage and he will require of us a strict account of the disposition we make of this ability; and he will not only require an account of our acts, but our words and thoughts will also be brought into judgment (DBY, 301).
All the capital there is upon the earth is the bone and sinew of workingmen and women. … Labor builds our meetinghouses, temples, courthouses, fine halls for music and fine schoolhouses; it is labor that teaches our children, and makes them acquainted with the various branches of education, that makes them proficient in their own language and in other languages, and in every branch of knowledge understood by the children of men (DBY, 300).
Never let anything go to waste. Be prudent, save everything, and what you get more than you can take care of yourselves, ask your neighbors to help you consume (DBY, 292).
Take things calm and easy, pick up everything, let nothing go to waste (DBY, 292).
Never consider that you have bread enough around you to suffer your children to waste a crust or a crumb of it. If a man is worth millions of bushels of wheat and corn, he is not wealthy enough to … sweep a single kernel of it into the fire; let it be eaten by something and pass again into the earth, and thus fulfil the purpose for which it grew. Remember it, do not waste anything, but take care of everything (DBY, 292).
It is to our advantage to take good care of the blessings God bestows upon us; if we pursue the opposite course, we cut off the power and glory God designs we should inherit. It is through our own carefulness, frugality, and judgment which God has given us, that we are enabled to preserve our grain, our flocks and herds, … houses and lands, and increase them around us, continually gaining power and influence for ourselves as individuals and for the Kingdom of God as a whole (DBY, 292).
Use just enough of your earnings to make your bodies and your families happy and comfortable, and save the residue (DBY, 292).
If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage (DBY, 292).
We should build good homes and create beautiful communities.
Let the people build good houses, plant good vineyards and orchards, make good roads, build beautiful cities in which may be found magnificent edifices for the convenience of the public, handsome streets skirted with shade trees, fountains of water, crystal streams, and every tree, shrub and flower that will flourish in this climate, to make our mountain home a paradise and our hearts wells of gratitude to the God of Joseph, enjoying it all with thankful hearts, saying constantly, "not mine but thy will be done, O Father" (DBY, 302).
Beautify your gardens, your houses, your farms; beautify the city. This will make us happy, and produce plenty. The earth is a good earth, the elements are good if we will use them for our own benefit, in truth and righteousness. Then let us be content, and go to with our mights to make ourselves healthy, wealthy, and beautiful, and preserve ourselves in the best possible manner, and live just as long as we can, and do all the good we can (DBY, 302).
Every improvement that we make not only adds to our comfort but to our wealth (DBY, 302).
It is your right, wives, to ask your husbands to set out beautiful shade and fruit trees, and to get you some vines and flowers with which to adorn the outside of your dwellings; and if your husbands have not time, get them yourselves and plant them out. Some, perhaps, will say, "Oh, I have nothing but a log house, and it is not worth that." Yes; it is worth it. Whitewash and plaster it up, and get vines to run over the door, so that everybody who passes will say, "What a lovely little cottage!" This is your privilege and I wish you to exercise yourselves in your own rights (DBY, 200).
Make good houses; learn how to build; become good mechanics and business men, that you may know how to build a house, a barn, or a storehouse, how to make a farm, and how to raise stock, and take every care of it by providing proper shelter and every suitable convenience for keeping it through the winter; and prove yourselves worthy of the greater riches that will be committed to you than this valley and what it can produce (DBY, 302).
I have been into houses which have not had the least convenience for the women, not so much as a bench to set their water pails on, and they have to set them on the floor, and yet their husbands will sit there year after year, and never make so much improvement as a bench to set the pail on. Yet they have the ability, but they will not exercise it (DBY, 198–99).
Let the husband make an improvement upon his kitchen and pantry and upon his bedrooms for the benefit of his family, and improve his gardens, walks, etc, beautifying your habitations and their surroundings, making pavements and planting shade trees (DBY, 198).
William Carter plowing at his home, St. George, Utah, 1893
We should be self-reliant as families and as a people.
We want you henceforth to be a self-sustaining [self-reliant] people [see D&C 78:14]. Hear it, O Israel! hear it, neighbors, friends and enemies, this is what the Lord requires of this people (DBY, 293).
Ye Latter-day Saints, learn to sustain yourselves. If you cannot obtain all you wish for today, learn to do without that which you cannot purchase and pay for; and bring your minds into subjection that you must and will live within your means (DBY, 293).
Who are deserving of praise? The persons who take care of themselves or the ones who always trust in the great mercies of the Lord to take care of them? It is just as consistent to expect that the Lord will supply us with fruit when we do not plant the trees; or that when we do not plow and sow and are saved the labor of harvesting, we should cry to the Lord to save us from want, as to ask him to save us from the consequences of our own folly, disobedience and waste (DBY, 293).
Implied faith and confidence in God is for you and me to do everything we can to sustain and preserve ourselves; and the community that works together, heart and hand, to accomplish this, their efforts will be like the efforts of one man (DBY, 293).
Brethren, learn. You have learned a good deal, it is true; but learn more; learn to sustain yourselves; lay up grain and flour, and save it against a day of scarcity. Sisters, do not ask your husbands to sell the last bushel of grain you have to buy something for you out of the stores, but aid your husbands in storing it up against a day of want, and always have a year's, or two, provision on hand (DBY, 293).
Instead of searching after what the Lord is going to do for us, let us inquire what we can do for ourselves (DBY, 293).
Whatever the Latter-day Saints have gained has been obtained by sheer wrestling and unconquerable resolution (DBY, 294).
Suggestions for Study
We should work hard and use our time wisely to serve our families and build up the kingdom of God.
What was President Young's counsel about the use of "every minute of every day"? (See also Alma 34:33.) Why is time such a precious gift? What principles have helped you improve the way you spend your time?
Why are idleness and wastefulness contrary to the "rules of heaven"? (See also Doctrine and Covenants 42:42.)
Why will building Zion require all types of labor? In what ways must we labor mentally, physically, and spiritually to build Zion?
The Lord has provided an abundance in the earth for our use.
How will the Lord "bring again Zion upon the earth"? In what specific ways can we help build Zion?
President Young said that "in the bosom and upon the surface of our mother earth … there is enough for all." Why then do you think there is so much poverty in the world? What can we do in our families, Church organizations, and communities to share with each other what the Lord has given us? (See also Jacob 2:18–19; D&C 104:14–18.)
We should be wise in using the resources the Lord has given us.
Why should we "not waste anything, but take care of everything"? How might we apply President Young's counsel on this subject to food storage and emergency preparedness?
How do we "cut off the power and glory God designs we should inherit"?
How can we apply President Young's counsel, "A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage"?
We should build good homes and create beautiful communities.
What did President Young say the Saints should do to make their "home a paradise and [their] hearts wells of gratitude"? What can we do to make our homes and communities more beautiful? (See also D&C 82:14.) How do beautiful surroundings help us physically, emotionally, and spiritually?
We should be self-reliant as families and as a people.
What was President Young's advice about how to live within our means? Why are these simple guidelines sometimes difficult to follow? What are some specific ways we can ensure that we live within our means?
Evaluate what President Young said about sustaining ourselves, and consider what you have done to ensure that your family will be self-reliant in a time of need. Make a plan for increasing your self-reliance in your family and community.
How is diligent labor a demonstration of faith? What is the relationship between self-reliance and relying on the merits of Christ?
President Young urged the Saints to take care of themselves, but he also counseled them to unite in their communities. How do our efforts to sustain ourselves and build our communities work together? How have the efforts of others helped you to be more self-sustaining?


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One of the things that has always intrigued me, although I personally lack the requisite skills, is origami and other elaborate papercraft work.
I'm also a sucker for anything Star Wars this side of Jar Jar Binks, so you can imagine how excited I was when this tricked-out papercraft X-Wing fighter and Millennium Falcon turned up.
To make the papercraft spaceships even more interesting, they were created using the pages of a Star Wars novel. The papercraft was commissioned by a fan from an artist known as Jodi. The body of the X-Wing is made out of cardboard for the body, with pages from the book layered on the outside. The finished spacecraft is mounted so that it looks like it's popping out of the Star Wars novel.
The mounting was done using five thin pieces of wire. The artist also created a paper Millennium Falcon from pages of the book that isn't quite as cool in my opinion. Interestingly, the artist admits to having never watched the films. Clearly, she did a lot of research because the X-Wing is right on from the movies, although the Millennium Falcon isn't as accurate or cool.
The artist also has some other very impressive paper art on her DeviantArt page. I found the Exorcist Book Sculpture particularly disturbing. Then again, she even has a Harry Potter sculpture for fans of JK Rowling, while building the likenesses of Harry, Hermione, and Ron out of pages of The Deathly Hallows.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
City of Garland Code of Ordinances Chapter 52.39 states that no person may engage in the collection of solid waste, landscape waste, bulky waste, or recycle materials within the City without first entering into a franchise agreement with the City for that purpose.
Haulers must obtain an annual permit from the City. To become a permitted hauler, businesses must apply for the permit with the City of Garland Sanitation Dept.
To obtain a permit, haulers must pay a fee of 5 percent of the revenue earned for collecting, transporting and disposing of debris originating in Garland quarterly. Each quarterly payment shall be accompanied by a financial accounting report. The fee must be paid within 30 days of the conclusion of each quarter to keep the permit active.
The franchise agreement lasts for one year and automatically renews on the anniversary date of the original agreement.
To become a permitted hauler, fill out this form and a City of Garland Sanitation representative will contact you.


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Click on the photo to see it larger size
Old-Time Bonspiel in Edinburgh
I recently came across a photograph of a group of curlers posing in front of a motley selection of ancient curling stones. Since Lindsay Scotland was in the picture I sent it to him.
He in turn sent it to Bob Cowan to test how many of the curlers Bob could name. Bob forwarded it to me with the request that I write 'a wee post around' the photo.
Here goes.
On 30 December 1972 the Abbotsford Curling Society had a game 'using Dave Smith's collection of old stones', as the Scottish Curler put it in its account of the game in February 1973, under the above title.
"Since none of the old stones matched, either in size, shape, weight or running property, it was decided to revert to the late 18 th century custom of having eight in a rink, each throwing one stone. This, of course, meant that six were available for sooping…Sometimes the skips couldn't see the stone for brushes, besoms and bottoms (when there are six sweepers helping the stone along it's not always easy to 'sweep to a side')... It took a couple of ends to learn the idiosyncracies of one's allotted stone, but thereafter the standard of play was high."
Eleven ends were played in two and a half hours; Professor Murray McGregor from Guelph, Canada, ably assisted by his two sons, Bob and Scott, skipped the winning rink; and beat the said Dave Smith by 16 shots to 6.
The photograph shows: back row, left to right: Calwell Loughridge, David Brown, Lindsay Scotland, Sandy Moffat, David B Smith, Jim Gardner, Alastair Stewart, ?, Murray McGregor and Ronnie Malcolm; front row: Bob McGregor, Hazel Smith, Bob Martin, Janice McGregor, Jessie Loughridge, and Scott McGregor.
Dave Smith was the only person who followed his own suggestion that people might like to dress up in a sort of eighteenth century style!
Sadly two of the curlers are no longer with us, but most of the remaining Scots are still actively involved in the game one way or another. So obsessed with it did Ronnie Malcolm become that he chose to be manager of Murrayfield Ice Rink.
Murray McGregor was professor of agricultural economics at the University of Guelph, Ontario, and he and his family, of two sons and a daughter of curling age, and a daughter who was too young and therefore kept her mother off the ice, spent a year's sabbatical in Scotland. So keen were they on curling that before the year was over they had curled in nearly every ice rink in Scotland, and made friends all over the country. When he left Murray donated a fine silver quaich for competition in Edinburgh. I am very proud to have won it.
As can be seen from the photograph the stones were mainly single-soled, circular, early nineteenth century. The sharp-eyed may think they can discern the massive Jubilee Stane, but, no, it was a fibre-glass replica included in the picture to enhance the 'old-time' atmosphere.
David B Smith.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
3 comments:
This is a great picture and article. I am the grandson of Murray and the son of Bob. I will pass this article along to my father who still curls on a regular basis...but now with rocks of the same weight, shape and size!
- February 17, 2010 9:29 pm
- Alice said...
A question for you! I noticed in many of the outdoor curling pix what looked like wood bowling pins marking the center of the house. What were those called? Are they still in regular use for outdoor curling?
I saw one old photo of curlers in Switzerland with what looked like a carved wooded pin with a hook on top. Ever seen one of those in use? - March 26, 2010 7:04 am
I am also the grandson of murray but son of the middle daughter it is a great article and picture thank you
- January 12, 2011 3:43 pm
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It seems to me that one of the things a teacher can do to "re-enchant" education is draw his students' attention to the world we live in, and to the world we have built around us - the language of form in architecture. We can connect this easily with mathematics, geometry, astronomy, music, and history. An article by philosopher John Haldane in The Catholic Herald for 30 August 2009 even gives us a way to connect it with biology.
The architects of classical antiquity and of renaissance and later neo-classicism were resolute humanists. For them, man and measure go together, either with man being the measure of all things, or else in his measuring cosmic order through his ability to discern mathematical sequences, ratios and parallels.Of course, the "living world of ordered growth" is itself a mathematical order, and the Gothic masons probably understood it as such. Nevertheless, Haldane is absolutely right that in a Gothic cathedral we easily imagine ourselves "standing beneath the canopy formed in an avenue of over-lapping trees, or imagine the undersides of the leaves of those trees." And it is surely true that "the power of England's Gothic cathedrals to prompt wonder at the order of nature and to encourage speculation about the source of that order is not altogether diminished. Hundreds of years on from their first appearance they remain sources of theological inspiration and reminders of the possibility of integrating intellect, imagination and sense in the embodiment and recognition of religious meanings."
The principle architectural expression of this abstract ordering is the façade or wall divided into parts: surface and spaces defined by classical geometry. When competently conceived and executed such schemes are undeniably pleasing, like the rhythm of a well-ordered rhyme. But the inspiration is less to do with what is observed in nature than with what is reasoned to through mathematics and philosophy. The Gothic, by contrast, takes its key from the living world of ordered growth. From beneath the earth the germinated seed breaks through, first establishing a stem, then branching, next putting out leaves and buds, then in turn producing flowers and fruits. The order is not one of mathematical design but of organic progression; and it pre-exists invisible but immanent within the seed.
Like plants, Gothic buildings grow out of the earth and are developed upwards, drawing material from below but reaching for the light. They represent a recognition of the order of nature and an identification with it; acknowledging and seeking to imitate divine design.
Born in Britain but living in California, the architect Christopher Alexander believes that architecture should be rooted in a profound understanding of the human person as spiritually transcendent, yet intimately related to the cosmos. His book series The Nature of Order (2004) opens with an assault on the mechanistic idea of order, which he traces back to Descartes in the seventeenth century. He argues against this idea that matter and space possess degrees of life, because the elements of which they are made relate to each other as mutually supporting "centers", making the whole more than the sum of its parts. He illustrates this by means of the patterns in a Turkish carpet and the architectural and decorative features of buildings like the Alhambra and Chartres Cathedral.
Alexander defines fifteen structural features that correlate with degrees of life. This enables him to become quite practical in his recommendations. The examples he chooses are eclectic, ranging from mud huts to palaces, from Shaker furniture to Persian glassware, from electrical discharges to cell walls, from the branches of plants to the cracking of mud and the formation of crystals and feathers. He suggests that his approach offers a way beyond Hume's fact-value distinction. Our feeling-response to things, properly discerned, is an objective measure of their structural wholeness. The implications of all this for education remain to be explored.
Take a look at the "50 most extraordinary churches in the world" and see if you agree with your friends on which are the most beautiful!


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Hot Import Look
How was your weekend? I had a very nice one…not too busy for once. Friday night I ended the last big event of all the sorority stuff I've been doing lately so now I'll have much more free time! Saturday and Sunday were pretty relaxed. I spent a lot of quality time with my boyfriend since I've been really busy lately with the sorority. It was so nice…he treated me like a princess. I told him that I was definitely feeling the love and he told me that he's been making it a focus of his to make sure and spend quality time with me so that he doesn't take me for granted…can you say awww?
Saturday we went to dinner and then out to the club to meet up with a friend of mine who flew into town for her grad school spring break. I was sooo glad he came with me. My friend was already there with my roommate and we ended up meeting them there. They were rolling with about 8-10 grown frat boys. By this I mean that they were grown men, probably near or in their early 30's, but still acting like little boys. Being that I was with my boyfriend, they didn't try to prey on me like they did to my two friends. They had no shame, trying to coerce any person with female genitalia to spend the night with them. AHHHHHH, I hate when frat boys act like they're the ISH and automatically treat you like a groupie. As grown men they should know by now how to treat women with respect. I won't go into too much detail for fear of incriminating some of my friends…but by the end of the night, as soon as the lights turned on in the club I booked it! I didn't want to be Mrs. Mommy again and make sure everybody was being on their best behavior. If anything was going to happen that I wasn't going to approve of...I didn't want to see it. So I made sure my friends were okay, and then went home.
Anyways…that was Saturday. Sunday I slept in and my boyfriend offered to wash my car and vacuum it and everything. I went with him and just sat in the car as I watched him wash it. That's real love right there! My car was getting way toodirty…beforehand if I even brushed against it I automatically got gray soot on my pants. Now it's so shiny and nice. If I had rims they'd be blinging!
In terms of makeup, I wore my import girl look out to the club on Saturday…it's really really easy to do actually. I even wore my "new york" lashes out (as if New York from VH1's I Love New York)…the really long ones. I posted my tutorial on You Tube this Sunday as well. Take into account that this was filmed BEFORE I cut my hair. I think some of the you tubers were a lil confused, lol. Someone on my wall asked if I put in extensions, he he. Fortunately, my loyal viewers corrected any confusion for me and responded to the people on the wall. This comes in real handy b/c a lot of time other viewers answer questions before I even have to respond…and I do not mind that at all!
Per Alien Man's request, I'm also going to post pics so you guys can see the end product in case you can't view vids at work ;)
Hope you enjoy!
What I Used (All MAC unless otherwise specified):
-smashbox color correcting primer (the green one)
-select moisture concealer in NW37
-mineralized satinfinish foundation in NC42
-mineralized skinfinish natural in medium dark
-bronzing powder in bronze
-sculpt & shape duo in lightsweep and shadester
-idol eyes e/s
-black tied e/s
-sketch e/s
-motif e/s
-revlon colorstay liquid liner in blackest black
-kohl pencil in smolder
-l'oreal telescopic mascara
-elise false lashes
-duo lash adhesive
-brow pencil in spiked
-cork lip pencil
-beaux lustreglass
-uberpeach chromeglass


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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Once the Chicago White Sox had put two runs on the board — it took them all of one inning — it was up to Hector Santiago to simply pour strikes into the zone.
The Kansas City Royals' punchless offense couldn't touch him.
Santiago wound up pitching a career-best eight innings, and long home runs by Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza turned Friday night's game into a 9-1 rout by the White Sox.
"Getting ahead early and getting the lead, we just kept putting on and putting on," said Santiago, who has taken over injured starter Gavin Floyd's spot in the rotation.
"You want to go out every inning and show them you're fighting," he said. "They score runs and you want to get them back in so they keep scoring."
Viciedo's three-run shot capped a five-run third inning, and De Aza's two-run homer in the sixth put the game away. Tyler Flowers was the only member of the White Sox starting lineup without a hit against Jeremy Guthrie, reliever Bruce Chen and the Royals' roughed-up bullpen.
"It was a good first inning," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said, "and I think the approach all night, and against those two guys, having Guthrie and Chen in there at the same time, as tough as they've been on us, you're exorcising some curse or something. It was good."
It was easily Santiago's best performance since going seven scoreless innings May 7 against the New York Mets. It also helped the scuffling White Sox get back on track after losing 17 of 22 and dropping a season-high 12 games below .500.
The left-hander gave up just three hits and a walk, and Eric Hosmer's homer in the sixth represented the only run Santiago (3-5) has allowed to the Royals in 19 1-3 career innings.
"He got that early lead. He was pounding the strike zone and letting his defense do the work," Hosmer said. "He had a lot of run support and he was feeling confident. When you have that lead you can tell the hitter, 'Here it is. Hit it.'"
On a warm, windy night at Kauffman Stadium, Guthrie (7-5) walked three of the first five batters he faced, and the bases-loaded free pass that he issued to Paul Konerko brought in the game's first run. Conor Gillaspie added a sacrifice fly later in the first to make it 2-0.
The real trouble for Guthrie came in the third, when Alexei Ramirez led off with a single and Alex Rios doubled over the head of Alex Gordon in left field. Adam Dunn's single drove in another run, and Gillaspie's single knocked Guthrie from the game.
Viciedo greeted Chen with a three-run shot to give the White Sox a 7-0 lead.
"I just couldn't find the strike zone," Guthrie said. "I created a mess in the first inning and gave up a bunch of base hits in the third."
Guthrie wound up allowing six runs on five hits and three walks in 2 1-3 innings, his shortest start since going the same distance for the Orioles on July 7, 2009. It was his second straight shaky outing, too — he allowed five runs over seven innings Saturday night at Tampa Bay.
All the more puzzling is that Guthrie had been having success against the White Sox. Since joining the Royals last year, the right-hander had been 3-0 in six starts against their AL Central rivals, giving up just two earned runs in 44 2-3 innings.
Guthrie had given up that many Friday night before escaping the first inning.
"He just didn't have it," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It was one of those nights when he didn't have much going for him."
De Aza's two-run homer in the sixth made it 9-0, the most runs that the Royals' stingy pitching staff had allowed since an 11-6 loss to the New York Yankees on May 10. It was also the most runs the White Sox had scored since beating Toronto 10-6 on June 10.
"That's how this team is, going back to last year," Dunn said. "But you could see it, a little sigh of relief. You get a couple hits and you get a little excitement on the bench."
White Sox roll over Royals 9-1
Major League Baseball
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