text:
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal agents dealt another major blow to New York's five Mafia crime families by arresting more than 100 suspected mobsters throughout the Northeast on charges including murder, extortion and narcotics trafficking.
The FBI said most of the arrests were made Thursday morning. Many were in Brooklyn, but they also occurred throughout New York City and in New Jersey and New England.
Luigi Manocchio, the reputed head of New England's Patriarca crime family, was arrested Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the U.S. attorney's office in Providence said. A newly unsealed indictment accused him of collecting protection payments from strip club-owners. Also arrested was Thomas Iafrate, who worked as a bookkeeper for strip clubs and set aside money for Manocchio, prosecutors said.
The takedown was the result of multiple investigations. Federal probes aided by mob turncoats have decimated the families' ranks in recent years and have resulted in lengthy prison terms for several leaders.
On Friday, a federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced John "Sonny" Franzese, 93, to eight years in prison for extorting Manhattan strip clubs and a pizzeria on Long Island.
Federal prosecutors had sought at least 12 years behind bars for the underboss of the Colombo crime family — in effect, a life term. To bolster their argument, they had an FBI agent testify that Franzese bragged about killing 60 people over the years and once contemplated putting out a hit on his own son for becoming a government cooperator.
In October, Mafia turncoat Salvatore Vitale was sentenced to time served after federal prosecutors praised his total betrayal of his own crime syndicate — and after he apologized to the families of his victims. Authorities said he had a hand in at least 11 murders, including that of a fellow gangster in the fallout from the infamous Donnie Brasco case.
The evidence provided after his arrest in 2003 helped decimate the once-fearsome Bonanno organized crime family, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Andres said.
"The Mafia today is weaker because of his cooperation," Andres said. "Mr. Vitale provided lead after lead. ... The results speak for themselves."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.


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I have added a couple of new things to my sidebar. For those that don't have a feed reader you can now subscribe by email. I'm hoping this makes it easier for family members. I also have added links to my "Shared Items," posts by others that I've enjoyed and hope you will too. Be sure to read "A Bit of Fun" !
John sent me this and I thought I'd share it :-)
A little boy was walking down a dirt road after church one Sunday afternoon when he came to a crossroads where he met a little girl coming from the other direction.
"Hello," said the little boy
"Hi," replied the little girl.
"Where are you going?" asked the little boy.
"I've been to church this morning and I'm on my way home," answered the little girl.
"I'm also on my way home from church. Which church do you go to?" asked the little boy.
"I go to the Baptist church back down the road," replied the little girl. "What about you?"
"I go to the Methodist church back at the top of the hill," replied the little boy.
They discover that they are both going the same way so they decided that they'd walk together.
They came to a low spot in the road where spring rains had partially flooded the road, so there was no way that they could get across to the other side without getting wet.
"If I get my new Sunday dress wet, my Mom's going to skin me alive," said the little girl.
"My Mom'll tan my hide, too, if I get my new Sunday suit wet," replied the little boy
"I tell you what I think I'll do," said the little girl. "I'm gonna pull off all my clothes and hold them over my head and wade across."
"That's a good idea,"replied the little boy. "I'm going to do the same thing with my suit."
So they both undressed and waded across to the other side without getting their clothes wet.
They were standing there in the sun waiting to drip dry before putting their clothes back on, when the little boy finally remarked,
"You know, I never realized before just how much difference there really is between a Baptist and a Methodist!

subset: commoncrawl


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Interior. Friday , November 03rd , 2017 - 18:54:42 PM
Quote from Cheap and Unique Dorm Room Decor :
If you start to go to through your college life and start living in a dorm, you may need to find the unique Dorm Room Decor that is suitable with your style. There are a lot of inspiring designs of dormitory decoration that will be suitable with your style. You could find the ideas in the internet or in another sources that you think is helpful for you to help in deciding the design for your dorm. When you want to decorate the dorm room, you need to consider the size of the room as well as the budget that you have. You should not choose the decoration ideas that spend a lot of money.
There are a lot of cheap and effective ways to decorate the dorm. The design that you choose should be unique, bold, and represents yourself. There are a lot of things that you could do to decorate the dorm in economical way. You could use your creativity to make room decoration by the things that you already have in your dorm.
The decoration that you use in your dorm must be stylish and efficient because the space that you have in your dorm is limited. You should also consider that the decoration will not disturb you concentration when you study in the dorm. Besides of that, the decoration should make the room feel refreshing and inviting so it will not make you feel stressed or depressed. You could add small decoration such as posters, pillows or clock as the decoration for the dorm.
You could put some posters of your idol on the wall and also you could stick it with glue or tapes. Besides poster, you could add decorative wall clock and your collections in your bedroom. You could add a lot of colors inside the dorm to make it look attractive. Give space in the dorm for you to study as well as express your hobbies. Your dorm will be very functional and beneficial to support your study.
If you like to create the good design of dorm, you could put your effort to make the things that you already have as the decoration. Then, you could start to design and put the things in the dorm to beautify the look of the dorm. Choose the decoration that will not disturb your study instead it will make you feel refreshed with the Dorm Room Decor.
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Teknologikal Nomenklature
Though, invariably, naming will vary wildly from faction to faction as a large, diverse array of players contributes to the BrikVersian narrative, there is a very general and very basic schema for naming and identifying teknology. As with anything BrikWars, players are never restricted to this schema and can always forgo it in favor of their own. However, the approach presented here provides a default fallback for players without one of their own and a default organizational structure within which players can place their teknologies for reference purposes. The scheme remains the same in format but may sometimes change in individual definition for particular types of Tek. Where this is the case, it will be noted in that type of tek's article entry.
Type or Name
The most basic part of a particular piece of teknology's reference ID is it's type, or name. This might be deciding on something to call a tank or a gun or a space station or it may be calling out the item's owner, whether by faction or individual.
A teknology's class groups it into a broad, general family of design. Class is a top level concept, encompassing the other conventions to follow.
A piece of Tek's specification is a description of its design specs that are altered from from the main, central design presented by the tek's class. Various specs that contain a common design, with only a few parts significantly altered, are grouped under the same class.
A tek's designations are description tags that further identify and define the tek in full. These tags might identify a design element created by a particular inventor or engineer, the tek's movement, offense, or defense capabilities, or the function or purpose of the design as pertains to an individual or faction.


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Find Your Perfect Home.
Osseo Real Estate
Osseo is located in Michigan. Osseo, Michigan has a population of 3,062. Osseo is less family-centric than the surrounding county with 21.74% of the households containing married families with children. The county average for households married with children is 28.52%.
The median household income in Osseo, Michigan is $45,213. The median household income for the surrounding county is $42,183 compared to the national median of $53,482. The median age of people living in Osseo is 46.5 years.
Osseo Weather
The average high temperature in July is 82.2 degrees, with an average low temperature in January of 14.5 degrees. The average rainfall is approximately 36.6 inches per year, with inches of snow per year.
Osseo Map
Real Estate Near Osseo
Nearby Cities
Nearby Cities Homes for Sale
Osseo Zip Codes


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Here Are Your Most Spectacular Breakup Stories
We asked our beloved commenters for their best and worst breakup stories. We received lots of tales of heartbreak that would make even the most diehard romantic hate Valentine's Day. But, naturally, there could only be one winner.
Before we get to the most heart-wrenching story of all, let's look at some of the honorable mentions. Here are some stories that make us want to stay single forever. The authors were all awarded a gold star for sharing their misery. The titles are ours, but the pain is all theirs. Click on the name to read the story.
- Salts in the Wound by TotalBetty
- Family Affair by Horsenpony
- Camp Joinaculta by Resu427
- Breakdown Lane by AllNeonLike
- Imaginary Boyfriend by RenobKilla
- Irish Goodbye by BeachLover
- Bad Vibrations by JustFuckIt
- Every Rose Has Its Thorn by TonsOfFuckingSequins
- Getting Clocked by by HoundstoothHurricane
But there was one tale of woe that was head and shoulders above the rest. Not only does it entail a horribly brusque brush-off, but the bloody death of a loved one at the hands of his ex. Commenter President Camacho wins the grand prize of a box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers for his tale, My Bloody Valentine:
I was just thinking about this the other day, actually. In my mid-20s I had been dating a girl seriously for almost a year. We were watching a movie in my townhouse one night, and she was acting really weird, kind of distant and standoffish, which was very unlike her normal behavior. As it started to get late she told me she had to go back to her apartment, which was also unusual since she typically stayed at my place several nights a week, and certainly if we were hanging out late at night. But I told her goodbye, and didn't think that much of it. The next morning I went to feed my dog, who pretty much lived in the backyard during the nice times of the year, but he was nowhere to be found. I knew he wiggled under the fence sometimes, and although I had made efforts to patch up/chicken wire the weak spots he would still sometimes find a way to get out. So I went to the front door, figuring he might be out in the neighborhood somewhere. As I opened the front door, I was greeted by the site of my dead dog on the porch, with a note from my girlfriend saying she was breaking up with me and sorry about the dog. Apparently in her haste to get away from me the night before she had accidentally run over poor Jonny Johnson, who had been lying behind her car in the driveway. So, yeah. Pretty much the worst thing I've ever experienced.
Wow, that was a doozy, wasn't it? President Camacho, Email us to redeem your prize. And thanks to everyone who took part. We know things can get tough at times, but you're all still our Valentines. As Kiki DuRane says, "If we could love, we'd love you all."


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To use an Xbox Live app on your console, you need:
To start the Xbox Live app later, go to Apps and select the app.
If these instructions don't work for you, your app may require more specific installation instructions. For more help, look for the specific app at Apps.
Thanks for your feedback!
Provide feedback for this topic
Would you like to contact Support regarding the "Set up an Xbox Live app" issue you were reading about or a different issue?


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Last updated: October 28, 2012
San Francisco hosts 62nd annual meeting of ASHG, Nov. 6-10
San Francisco hosts 62nd annual meeting of ASHG, Nov. 6-10
NHGRI showcased in research, workshops, awards and exhibit-see booth #825
ASHG is the primary professional membership organization for human genetics specialists worldwide. The society has nearly 8,000 members who contribute to the scientific community, including researchers, clinicians, academicians, ethicists, genetic counselors, nurses and others with a special interest in human genetics.
More than 6,000 scientists, medical geneticists and genetic counselors are expected to attend the ASHG annual meeting, the world's largest scientific conference on human genetics. It will be held at San Francisco's Moscone Center.
"The ASHG annual meeting provides a forum for presenting the highest quality basic and translational science and the latest clinical information in human genetics, as well as nurturing scientific collaborations through networking" said ASHG Executive Vice President Joann Boughman, Ph.D.
Topics of the ASHG meeting's invited scientific sessions, platform presentations and posters will include:
- gene discovery in human genetics
- new insights and challenges in next generation sequencing
- revelations about human genes from studies of model organisms
- progress in gene therapy
- advances in non-invasive prenatal diagnosis
- implications of population genetic studies
- modeling in statistical genetics
- data centralization and its implications for genetics
- cancer genetics
- clinical and social implications of genomics
- improvements in genetics education
Alec Wilson, Ph.D., co-branch chief of NHGRI's Inherited Diseases Research Branch serves on the 2012 ASHG Program Committee. "I have been tremendously impressed by the unseen choreography of the ASHG meeting staff," he said. "Nearly a year before the meeting actually takes place they focused the very diverse group of scientists that comprise the Program Committee to craft sessions that are timely and reflect cutting edge research."
Elaine Ostrander, Ph.D., NIH Distinguished Investigator and chief of NHGRI's Cancer Genetics Branch also served on the ASHG Program Committee "We've worked hard to be topical and focus on areas of interest and need," she said, adding that the committee made effort to attract "the best of genetics research and genomic science."
Invited sessions will be among the array of scientific talks. At one on Wednesday morning, Ellen Sidransky, M.D., Ph.D., senior investigator in NHGRI's Medical Genetics Branch, will explore the link between the enzyme glucocerbrosidase and Parkinson's disease. At another on Saturday morning, Leslie Biesecker, M.D., Ph.D., chief of NHGRI's Genetic Diseases Research Branch, will discuss ClinSeqTM, a pilot study of large-scale medical sequencing.
Four of the 20 concurrent sessions will be moderated by NHGRI investigators. More than 10 platform talks will be delivered by individuals selected from NHGRI laboratories to present findings, from the genetics of obesity and diabetes to pharmacogenomic decision making for global populations. NHGRI research teams will present more than 40 posters among a dizzying array of more than 3,300 posters in the poster sessions.
As in years past, the NHGRI exhibit will be on display, this year in booth # 825. The booth will be staffed by NHGRI exhibit manager Omar McCrimmon, who will be joined by staff and scientists from the institute throughout the hours the exhibit is opened. For a schedule of those times, see ASHG Meeting Staff Booth Schedule
In conjunction with the ASHG meeting, NHGRI science policy analyst Jonathan Gitlin will moderate a special workshop on Wednesday evening to discuss strategies that scientists can adopt for using social media to advance their research and careers. The workshop will provide an overview of different social media platforms and will demonstrate how social media can be used in the context of genetics and genomics work. Jeannine Mjoseth, NHGRI deputy chief of communications, will be a workshop panelist and will discuss the role that social media plays in NHGRI's communications outreach.
An additional special event planned for Friday evening, in conjunction with the ASHG meeting, is an interactive play aimed at illuminating the ethical, psychological, social, legal and policy issues raised by sharing information from next-generation DNA sequencing. NHGRI advisor Karen Rothenberg developed the play, which will include a guest role for Carla Easter, Ph.D., deputy chief of NHGRI's Education and Community Involvement Branch.
The final day of the meeting, Saturday, Nov. 10, will feature ASHG's annual awards, including the 2012 Victor A. McKusick Leadership Award that will be presented to Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Collins will be the sixth recipient of the award, named in honor of the late Dr. Victor A. McKusick, a medical genetics pioneer who during a 60-year medical was an early proponent of mapping the human genome.
For a complete selection of NHGRI participation in the 62nd Annual ASHG meeting, go to ASHG 62nd Annual Meeting Schedule
Posted: October 28, 2012


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Follow-Up Care for Melanoma
Dear OncoLink "Ask The Experts,"
I am a 29-year-old female with melanoma, stage T2N0M0. I am getting every-3-month follow-up visits/exams with every-6-month chest x-rays & blood work. Is there any opinion on getting any routine brain scans, since melanoma's "favorite" metastasis sites are chest & brain? I do not presently have any neurological symptoms.
Keith T. Flaherty, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), responds:
The most appropriate method of following a person who has had a melanoma resected has not been sorted out. In fact, there is a great deal of debate among melanoma experts regarding the most reasonable and effective method. Having said that, there is some agreement on the basic elements.
Regular physical examination with blood work (including LDH) is considered standard. The frequency of those visits can be every six to twelve months.
Some believe that an annual chest x-ray is advisable, since the most common site of melanoma metastasis is the lung. Having said that, there is no evidence to support that this benefits patients in any way.
Having regularly scheduled CT, MRI, or PET scans is not recommended by the majority of melanoma experts, but some feel that there is a role for such scans. The brain is not the most common site of metastasis, and having brain metastasis in the absence of other sites (lung, liver, bone, etc.) is very unlikely. Therefore, routine brain scans are not recommended. CT scans of the body or PET scans are advocated by some, but not most, melanoma experts. The problem with both methods is that, in the setting of looking for recurrent melanoma, they will frequently identify abnormalities which have nothing to do with melanoma. Such findings will lead to unnecessary worry and, in some cases, biopsies and surgeries which have risks of complications.
While there is no easy answer to the question of follow-up after removal of melanoma, it is safe to say that regular physical exams with blood work are the backbone. An annual chest x-ray can be considered. Performing scans beyond that is generally not recommended. However, the ultimate decision on these issues is between the patient and his or her doctor.


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21 Night South Pacific (San Francisco To Sydney)
1000 Photos
More About Queen Victoria
Dec 2007Built
9 yrs agoRefurbished
2014Total Passengers
2.01Crew to Passenger Ratio
12Number of Decks
0Total Cabins
18Cabin Categories
Explore Cabins
Queen Victoria has 0 cabins and 18 cabin categories. See what each category has to offer and read cabin reviews from the community.
Avg. Size: 228 sq. ft.
Avg. Cost: $166 per night
Avg. Size: 194 sq. ft.
Avg. Cost: $196 per night
Avg. Size: 398 sq. ft.
Avg. Cost: $236 per night
Avg. Size: 840 sq. ft.
Avg. Cost: $538 per night
Queen Victoria Features
Explore all 48 on board venues and features.
Britannia Restaurant
When you see the world from the comfort of the Britannia Staterooms, you''ll revel in the splendid nightly occasion of dining in the magnificent two-tiered Britannia Restaurant which pays glorious homage to the opulent dining salons from ocean travel's golden heyday. Pillars and art deco arches add decorative flourishes to a rich culinary experience, complemented by fine wines and attentive service. Choose between an early sitting at 6pm or a late sitting at 8.30pm.
Our three favorite letters are b, a, and r because they spell bar, which is our favorite place. Here you''ll find whatever wets your whistle.
Card Room
Try your hand at a game of gin rummy or simply take in the lovely sea view in this intimate space.
Art Gallery
The Art Gallery features originals and lithographs by great 20th century masters such as Dali, Chagall, Erte and Picasso as well as renowned contemporary artists such as Alexandra Nechita, Howard Behrens, Martiros and Bill Mack among others. Our knowledgeable Art Director is available to provide information about the artists and their work.


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After being found on Jan. 5, the secret dossier was given to The Sun newspaper, which gave it back to the police.
"Restricted" files spell out the security plans in place at the sites of events and provide minutes of top-level meetings in which ways to beat terrorists were discussed.
A spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police downplayed the documents' significance. Translation: We're really glad whoever found this gave it to an honest news outlet like The Sun.


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HANGZHOU, China In an abrupt move, Alibaba has removed thepresident of its video streaming business Youku.
In a securities filing on Tuesday, Alibaba named Luyuan Fan as president of Youku, replacing Weidong Yang whilevirtually accusing him of unethical or unlawful conduct.
Yang had been with Youku in various capacities for five-and-a-half years, having joined the group in March 2013. At the time of his removal on Tuesday, the platform had 500 million active users.
It is undertstood Yang has been arrested and is under police investigation in China for alleged acceptance of improper payments.Mr.Yang was arrested by police on Monday.Alibaba Group said it is cooperating fully with the investigation.
In November, Mr.Fan had previously replaced Mr.Yang as rotating president of Alibaba Groups digital media and entertainment business, which includes Youku and other businesses, Alibaba said in its US Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday.
Alibaba Group is committed to the highest standards of business conduct in our relationships with each of our stakeholders, including our customers, business partners and shareholders.
We require all employees to conduct our business in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations and in accordance with the Alibaba Group Code of Business Conduct.We do not tolerate any form of unethical or unlawful conduct, said the Alibaba SEC filing.


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Business Process Outsourcing
BPO is not just about "outsourcing". Rather, it is an ongoing process that has covered miles today, including everything that may mean good for your business starting right from diving into new business, sustaining your present business and eventually maintaining the overall growth as well. Your valuable time is for thinking about the core business activities to achieve the growth, the rest is all our responsibility.
The considerable growth of the business process outsourcing industry has led to the inclusion of new opportunities, making it a paced process promising business growth. Be it taking best care of your potential customers, management of all your important data, or trouble shooting technical problems or administration issues, BPO brings you solutions and opportunities in all forms. Let BPO professionals seek out the ways for you, while you stress on the core competencies of your business leaving behind the tension of planning, analyzing, management, strategizing and recruitment.
What is need of the hour?
The trend of outsourcing, especially offshore, has accelerated dramatically in recent years. Outsourcing is a wide and profitable option especially when you are outsourcing to India, because for those who would like to concentrate on core processes and leave the work to a reliable service provider who specializes in the field required outsourcing is almost a compulsion.
Offshore outsourcing refers to the increasing trend of relocating entire business functions to third party service providers, typically low-cost locations. Many companies and organizations today prefer to outsource works to offshore locations, as it proves to be cost effective and more profitable option, and removes management headaches as well.
Blue Pacific infoline Services: Step to Quality in wide areas of Business processes
We have expertise in every business and knowledge processes like Data Administration, Inbound-outbound call administration, Tele Marketing services, Online Data entry, Data Conversion process, Data backups, Web development and web hosting and maintenance services along with SEO for effective internet marketing, Back office solutions like Customer tele-support, order taking services, office administration services. We also offer services on the field of Digital photo editing covering image enhancement, photo restoration, image clipping and much more. Our all-embracing array of services also includes Technical Support Services, customer care services, bpo solutions, bpo consulting, global bpo services and other offshore BPO services. No matter what your requirements are, Blue Pacific infoline India is constantly around for you.
Blue Pacific infoline being a "Global BPO" offers advanced business process outsourcing services to several organizations seeking greater flexibility, higher operational effectiveness and low operating costs. However, the operational setup is functioning in India to provide most cost effective services to it's client. Further opening of more and more BPO units is our priority.
Why Blue Pacific infoline?
We are committed, we are determined, we stand for quality. And above all, we are running with highly and professionally trained team leaders with a proficient employee team. We carry out the work with great quality and also strictly observe time schedule for completion of the work. Both quality control and timely completion have been our top priority since the very beginning. Our back office support services ensures smooth running of processes to support your business along with timely generation of updates to your core office location in desired time and format. We are operating our force at India with professional touch on cost reduction concept simultaneously maintaining the best services in all areas to enable us to offer most competitive rates prevailing in the market for various BPO Services. So if you are thinking of so called "outsourcing bpo services" we are the best possible choice.
What makes us an ultimate BPO company?
- We focus on our client's needs
- We also provide knowledge process outsourcing ( or KPO)
- We offer quality , cost efficiency and timely completion in every single venture
- Clarity and transparency of well-defined BPO processes
- Use of robust call center services with Hi-Tech availabilities.
- Process specific knowledge in all available processes
- Workflow orientation
- 24x7x365 support as per client needs
- Effective business process outsourcing solutions for call center needs
- Efficient Data management services including all types of Data processing
- Telesales Marketing.
- Web Designing with all kind of support for web hosting and SEO


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Computer Science Education Week
This week was declared Computer Science Education Week by the US Congress. I heard when the declaration was made a couple of months ago, but heard nothing at all this week. Anyone across the pond care to comment on how it is preceding? Getting the public to understand that computing is an academic discipline rather than just a technology on their desks and in their pockets is a vital task, and this week is one of our best opportunities to accomplish that.
Comments: Post a Comment
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My Favorite Flirts is a feature that lets you reach your favorite Flirts easily from My Account or on 1-800-TO-FLIRT.Manage My Favorites
Mandy California
$0.69 per volley.
(1 Reviews)
Upscale Conversation Has A Price, You're Going To Pay It
I'm Mandy and most definitely not your typical phone sex professional. I prefer to be thought of as a phone domination specialist. Specializing in a higher end conversation of humiliation and a variety of other topics. I'm a true California snobby spoiled Jewish Princess. I'm attractive, smart, highly educated, well traveled, a connoisseur of fine wine particularly Bordeauxs and I dine at all the finest restaurants and stay in the top hotels in the world when I travel. Yes, I'm better then you and you are my spending money. You are my fun money paying for my cases of wine and bottles of champagne, you are the cash I spend when I'm traveling and laying out by a pool and then shopping all day. I like to keep my identity private not that you deserve 100% of my hotness anyway. I get off on ridiculing men and taking advantage for my own pleasure.
I take advantage and use all kinds. Do you jerk off to a hot financial domination session where a Blond Jewish bitch takes all your money and leaves you hard? Do you jerk off to being berated while you confess that you're a sissy who wears panties? Do you have a cock thats so small that you notice every Woman is laughing at it? Do you stroke your cock wishing you were a cuckold to a wife was was out getting fucked by your friend with the huge cock? Do you understand that you need to be used and taken advantage of by ME. You never really stood a chance. Upscale conversation has a price and you're going to pay it
My menu of expertise. Sex Advice, Sex advisor, Humiliation, Cuckold, Cuckolding, Sissy, Feminization, Relationship Issue,Domination, Financial Domination


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The Close To You International Puppet Festival embraces Taipei's coffee shops, bars and "art spaces" to bring audiences a different kind of theater experience
By Ian Bartholomew / Staff reporter
It is a common complaint that small, intimate theater venues are few and far between in Taipei, but this is changing as theater companies and curators seek out unconventional venues to stage exhibitions and performances. The Close To You International Puppet Festival (超親密小戲節), now in its third year, has embraced the city's many coffee shops, bars and "art spaces" to bring Taipei audiences a different kind of theater experience from that found in major auditoriums.
The festival, which opens today and runs until Oct. 21, presents nine shows at nine venues around the city. Although it bills itself as a puppet festival, its definition of puppetry is eclectic in the extreme, and the subject matter ranges from magical rabbits to reflections on the Holocaust. The participants are equally diverse, from established puppeteers to artists, and theater technicians of various stripes who wish to experiment with the use of puppets as an expressive medium.
Event curator and artistic director of Flying Group Theater (飛人集社劇團) Shih Pei-yu (石佩玉) told the Taipei Times that one of the fundamentals of the festival was that people not directly associated with puppetry could reach out beyond their own media. "You might have a background in performance art or music, but my aim is for people to work together, and use their expertise within the realm of puppetry," she said. "The festival is a creative platform where people can experiment with puppetry."
The festival also includes a masterclass on "how to transform normal things in our life into puppetry creation," led by puppeteers Chris Green and Erin Orr.
Shih said that she got the idea for the festival while studying in Europe, when she had an opportunity to experience theater in small spaces, "even in people's living rooms."
"In Taiwan, I probably would not be welcome into people's homes," she said, "but there are now many multifunctional spaces in Taipei which would serve equally well."
Each show is about 20 minutes, and each event is a block of three shows at different venues centered on a specific area. The Shida Commercial District (師大商圈), which played an important role in the development of the festival, has been abandoned as a result of the recent controversy over the area's development. The Yong Kang Street Area (永康街區) continues as part of the festival, and two new areas have this year been included: the Mingsheng Community (民生社區) and the Renai Circle (仁愛圓環). Audiences are required to walk from one venue to the next.
"Moving from one venue to another, people will relax, even talk together," Shih said. "Going to the theater does not have to be such a serious and constricted activity. There will even be a guide to take the audience onto the next venue, and they will provide a commentary about the area along the way."
This is also a chance for performers interested or directly involved in puppetry to create their own personal works that might be distinct from the repertoire of the company or companies they work for. Artistic director of the Taiyuan Puppet Theater (台原偶戲團) Robin Ruizendaal takes to the stage for a very personal piece of theater that looks into the lives of children who died as a result of the Holocaust in I Have a Name (我有名字). As part of the same series of performances at the Renai Circle, artists Tseng Yen-ting (曾彥婷) and Chen Chia-hui (陳佳慧) use flour, water and an oven to bring their world of puppetry alive in a show titled The Greatest Thing Since The Bread (麵包以後).


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Theresa Robinson, 39, owns and runs an online jewelry business, does freelance writing, and is working towards her B.A. in English with a concentration in professional writing at Ellis College of New York Institute of Technology.
With two jobs, a husband, and a seven-year-old son, Theresa Robinson's hands are quite full, so going back to school seemed unlikely until she considered started looking at online degree programs.
"I've long wanted to go back to school, first to finish my B.A. and second, because I simply love learning," Theresa says. "Due to my husband's schedule and the fact that I have a seven-year-old son, I really couldn't figure a way to schedule classes in between the time constraints of everyone's day. Online seemed the perfect solution; I could work whenever I had time during the week and I didn't have to worry about finding childcare."
Theresa ultimately decided that Ellis College was the best choice for her schedule, her curriculum needs, and her chosen degree path. "There were many factors that went into my choice of Ellis but the bottom line was it felt right."
For Theresa, online learning turned out to be just the thing. She explains, "I can work at my own pace and never worry about missing a class due to a family commitment or a sick child or a bad day health-wise for myself." Simply put, she receives the benefits of a traditional college setting without dealing with "the tension of 'rushing' from here to there to get everything done."
Theresa says the only disadvantage to an online education is that many people do not view it as a "real education," and that it seems that in these people's eyes, a degree isn't legitimate if it didn't involve a blackboard, physical bodies, set schedules, and the eternal struggle to find a parking spot.
Online learning is just as effective - if not more so - than traditional learning in a classroom. "It's still thinking and reading and writing and putting everything together on your own, submitting work on time, and hoping you've done your very best," she says. "Whether in a 'regular' classroom or a cyber one, your education is primarily dependent on what you put into it."
Theresa's choice of the self-paced learning model makes even more sense when you look at her sources of income. Theresa owns and runs an online craft and jewelry business called TeaBee Designs, and she works as a freelance writer for The Brighter Writer. Both of these jobs require a self-starter who knows how to keep on top of tasks even when no one is standing there making sure things get done - a personality type which is also a good fit for online study. Since these jobs take up a lot of Theresa's day, she would not have nearly enough time to make both her work responsibilities and her educational goals possible if she was confined to a strict, traditional college schedule.
However, the fact that Theresa has found a balance between her education, business, and family life does not mean that her tasks are easy. On the contrary, her schedule is as jam-packed as any traditional student's schedule - she just has the ability to spread out her activities better than she could with a strict classroom schedule.
Theresa's secret to success? "I stay up late!" she quips. But she's also able to fit class work into just about any moment of her day that allows her to sit for a few minutes. "I can take the iBook to my son's karate studio and work while he's in class. I can take the computer to the town pool. I can work on the sofa while the family is watching a movie. The flexibility of my work allows me to schedule slots of time for studying and reading and doing my class work."
It is not always easy to keep up with so many things at once, but thankfully Theresa's family is supportive of her many endeavors. This is especially true when it comes to Theresa's young son. "My little boy loves it when I'm doing my homework; I think it's good for him to see me furthering my education because the best gift I can give him is the idea that learning never stops."
Theresa says of the value of her online learning experience, "I think it's given me a sense of being on the right track in my life and that makes everything feel easier. And much better."


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When you look at what makes a man a man in our modern society today, it can be pretty discouraging. Men are judged by their physic, their physical form. Men are judged by their looks. Men are judged by their money, their possessions, their success, their job. But when it comes to the Word of God, really one thing defines manliness there is a basic fundamental virtue of manliness. There is a trait that I think distinguishes a man most distinctively, the solitary foundation of manhood. And I want to sum it up in one word, it's the word fortitude. Now I know that's not an often used word today and that's why I picked it. It's not one that has a lot of baggage. It's one that may come to you sort of from out of left field and you're wondering what it means. Let me tell you what it means. Webster's dictionary says, "Fortitude is that strength or firmness of mind, courage of soul which enables a person to encounter danger with coolness, to bear pain or adversity without murmuring, depression or despondency." And then we could sum that up by saying, "Fortitude is courage built on strength of soul." Fortitude is a good word because it combines courage with strength but it also has a third component and that is conviction. Fortitude is the combination of those three things: conviction, courage and strength.
Because a man is basically a man when he stands on principle and has the courage to uphold that principle, and the strength to sustain and attack against that principle, he has fortitude. It is the willingness, even the desire to face challenges, to attack difficulties, to bear adversity and to do it triumphantly. Women, on the other hand, seek to be protected. They seek to be nourished and cherished, to borrow biblical words. They seek to be made secure. That's natural for women. Men, on the other hand, are designed by God to be the protectors, to be the saviors, if you will, of their wives and families, to provide the security, to accomplish everything necessary to the well-being of the wife and children, all that is needed to provide the haven for the woman and the children. Manliness is really summed up with that notion of fortitude.
And if I can stretch it a little bit further, just remember these things. It is conviction, it is courage and it is strength, but there's one other thing that has to be added in the Christian environment and that is truth. The convictions, the principles that form the convictions for us rise out of the Bible. For a Christian man, he is a man of the Word who knows the truth, who has convictions about the truth and that is they are non-negotiable and non-compromising convictions. And because of those convictions he is courageous to confront anything that assaults those truths and he has the strength to withstand that confrontation. That's manliness. Just in general, men were designed by God to be the protectors and the providers and the saviors and the deliverers and the securers of their wives and their children. True manliness is summed up in words like conviction, courage and strength.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 16 there is an interesting verse. You might want to look at it for a moment. First Corinthians 16:13 and in that verse we have this same definition given us by the Apostle Paul. He says, first of all in verse 13, "Be on the alert." Another element of being a man is knowing that you are the protector and so you have to be alert. "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." Now this is a fascinating verse, it is one of those brief verses that embraces a wealth of truth. You will notice the faith is mentioned there, that's THE faith, definite article, the faith being the revelation of God in Scripture. So we start with the faith, that's the truth. We stand firm in the faith, that's conviction. Conviction means that I take my stand on the faith and I do not waver, I do not vacillate.
Then he follows that up with, "Act like men," the New King James translates it, "Be brave." Literally the verb means to conduct oneself in a courageous way. So you have the truth, then you have conviction, here you have courage, and finally be strong. There are all the components...truth, conviction, courage and strength. And that's how men act. That's why the translators said, "Act like men." Men are courageous. Men have convictions on which they unwaveringly stand. And men are strong. How do men act then? That's how they act, with conviction, with courage, and with strength. Then verse 14 adds a wonderful balance. "Let all that you do be done in love." Now there's a man. Not weak, not vacillating, not fearful, and not unloving, but a man with fortitude in an environment of love. Real men are watchful of the dangers around them. They're very, very sensitive to the dangers that come against their wives and the dangers that come against their children. And they know how to protect their wives and their children. They know that they must have the truth, they must have unwavering conviction about the truth, they must have the courage to stand for those convictions and the strength to withstand the assault. That's what defines a man. A man is known by his character, by his fortitude.
Just to show you replete the Scripture is with this matter, turn in your Bible back to the last book of the Pentateuch, the writings of Moses, Deuteronomy chapter 31. And in Deuteronomy 31 Moses is speaking to Joshua. Moses says, you remember, was not allowed to enter the promised land. Joshua became the commander in chief of the nation Israel as they entered into the land of promise, the land of Canaan. And they knew they were going to run into formidable foes and enemies and they did, and they had many battles. And so in verse 6 Moses says to Joshua, "Be strong and courageous," exactly the same things that we just read in 1 Corinthians 16, "Be strong and courageous." This is how a man acts. This is how a man engaged in an absolutely unthinkable leadership responsibility with a generation of people, a whole nation of people going into a foreign land to conquer that land and establish itself, this is absolutely essential for the man who is the leader...be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, that is the enemies, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all people, first privately then publicly, "Be strong and courageous for you shall go with these people into the land which the Lord has sword to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance and the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you, He will be with you, He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Then again in verse 23 He commissioned Joshua, the son of Nun, and said, "Be strong and courageous for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them and I will be with you." A formidable task, a formidable enemy and God instructs Joshua through His servant Moses that it demands all that a man is, it demands strength, it demands courage. Those defining virtues that are manly.
In 2 Samuel chapter 10, Joab speaks to the Israelites about going to battle. Verse 12, 2 Samuel 10:12, "Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God and may the Lord do what is good in His sight. And so Joab and the people were with him drew near to the battle." That's what men need to be, strong and courageous.
In 1 Kings David speaks to Solomon, 1 Kings 2, verse 1, David's time to die drew near. He charged Solomon, his son, saying, "I'm going the way of all the earth," everybody dies. He says to Solomon, "Be strong therefore and show yourself a man." Literally, be strong and become a man, a man is synonymous with strong and courageous. And verse 3 he says, "And keep the charge of the Lord your God to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances and His testimonies according to what is written in the law of Moses that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn." You want to be a man? Obey the Word of God. You want to be a man? Don't waver. You want to be a man? Be strong...strong being attached to being faithful to the Word of God and unwavering in your convictions. Again David spoke in 1 Chronicles 22, again to Solomon, verse 11. "Now, my son, the Lord be with you that you may be successful and build the house of the Lord your God just as He has spoken concerning you. Only the Lord give you discretion and understanding and give you charge over Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God, then you shall prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel...then this...be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed." There again is the same direction to Solomon, be strong, be courageous, be a man. Second Chronicles 32, Hezekiah, the king, is speaking to his officials, his officers as he begins in verse 1 talking about the invasion of Judah, and down in verse 7 to the military officers mentioned in verse 6, he says, "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the multitude which is with him for the One with us is greater than the one with him."
Well whether it's Moses to Joshua, whether it's Joab to the Israelite soldiers, whether it's David to Solomon, whether it's Hezekiah to the military officers, whether it's Psalm 27, "Be strong and let your heart take courage," whatever it is the idea of manliness is associated with fortitude, with courage, and strength. Men don't give into fear. Men don't give into pressure. Men don't give into intimidation. They don't cave in to temptation. They don't seek the easy way, the secure place. They fight the war, they fight the battle. They live on principle. They live on conviction. And they have the courage of those convictions and they stand strong against the opposition and they bravely face the challenges that those convictions bring and they have the strength to withstand those challenges. When we talk about being a man, as David talked to his son Solomon on being a man, we're talking about fortitude, contending with difficulty, facing the challenge, meeting the enemy, bearing the pain, maintaining self-discipline, upholding truth and pressing to the goal...that is what distinguishes a man. Then one other Old Testament passage must be addressed, Joshua chapter 1. This is a magnificent sort of summation of the passages I read earlier. Joshua 1, the chapter begins as God says to Joshua, "Moses is now dead and you are the leader, you are now the man and I'm going to give you the land...verse 4...from the wilderness in this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites as far as the great sea for the setting of the sun will be your territory." Everything from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates and north and south, the great fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, it's all going to be your land, "And nobody is going to be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I have been with Moses I'll be with you, I'll not fail you or forsake you." And then comes this in verse 6, "Be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them," repeats it, "only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you, do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous, then you will have success. Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous? Do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." What a great passage.
Joshua, you are the man, be strong, be courageous, don't be afraid and don't be dismayed. Stand firm. He says in verse 7, "Obey the Word of God." In verse 8, "Meditate on it and do everything written in it, then you will gave prosperity, then you will have success." You have the promise in verse 5 of the presence of God. You have the instruction in verse 6 of the right cause, the land that I promised to give you. You have the pledge of the sovereign providence of God in verses 7 and 8, I'll be there and I'll give you success. But through it all you have the duty of obedience, obey My Word, meditate on My Word, do everything that is written in it and you'll succeed. Now there is a formula for a man, a Christian man. He believes the Word of God because the Word of God is true he builds his convictions on the Word of God. He has the courage to live those convictions no matter how difficult and the strength to withstand the assault against them. That is a man. And let me tell you something. It takes a father like that to raise a son like that. Spiritual men are uncompromising. They are bold. They are strong. They are principled. They are courageous. Man like that is a haven for his wife, she feels secure, she feels protected, she feels nourished, and cherished. And the children of a man like that grow up to be courageous men and secure women. And when you look at a family and you see insecure women running around trying to find their security by associating themselves with a peer group in the world, or when you see young men with no convictions playing on the edge of the sinful indulgences of the society, you have to ask yourself if the father had fortitude. Fortitude produces courageous men and secure women, men who don't need to run on the edges of worldliness and iniquity because they've been trained to be strong and have convictions based on the truth. And women who don't need to find their security in the affirmation of a peer group or the affirmation of some worldly person because they're so secure in the truth and in the home. And I'm like you, I hear, I read, I see so much nonsense about how to be an effective father. I mean, there are books, Christian books, Christian tapes and you've heard it on the radio and seen it on television, all this silly, shallow advice about how to be a good father, it's all about, you know, working in the yard together, playing catch, developing self-esteem in your children, etc., etc., etc., etc. What makes strong, secure children is fortitude in the man, fortitude balanced with love, as we saw in 1 Corinthians 16. What makes a strong courageous secure loving child is a father of fortitude.
In another evidence of how far our society has sunk into the morass of stupidity, there was a survey done recently at great expense, the results of which came out in the last couple of days and the result of this national study was that children raised in families with fathers do far better in life. Really! And God can overcome the lack of a father with fortitude, but it is a benediction of all benedictions of all benedictions to sons and daughters to have such a father. It matters little what the financial capability of what that father is, it matters little where his social status lies, it matters little what he looks like, how popular he may be, or how esteemed by the community. What really matters is does he have fortitude? Is he a man of truth? Does he have convictions? Does he have the courage of those convictions? And does he have the strength to stand when those convictions are assaulted? That is a man of fortitude, that's the legacy that man leaves to his family that produces a haven for his wife, courageous sons and secure daughters.
And perhaps getting a little bit deeper into the detail of that, this is a man who has learned to resist temptation to sin personally. This is a man who isn't a hypocrite. This is a man whose wife and children see consistency, a resolute strength no matter how much the society, how much the world and the flesh and the devil get cranked up to a fever pitch, he doesn't waver, he doesn't fall. He has the strength, he has the fortitude to resist the temptation to sin personally because he has built his life on a belief that the Word of God is true, that's where his convictions come from and on those convictions he stands with courage and by the grace of God and the strength of the Spirit he stands against all assaults against that.
I don't believe there's any reason to assume that a man necessarily needs to fall into sin that destroys his testimony, destroys his life. I think the grace of God and the truth of Scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit is given to us with the promise of God that if we appropriate those things, it doesn't have to happen. But a man with fortitude is seen by the people closest to him as having the strength to stand personally against temptation.
Secondly, a man with fortitude is seen by the people closest to him as a man who never compromises his convictions. If something is a conviction, if something is a non-negotiable, he never vacillates at that point. Whether the appeal to him is for money or for more power, or for prestige, or whatever, to waylay some level of conflict, a man with fortitude does not compromise his convictions. And a third thing you would say about a man of fortitude, he not only stands against assaults on him personally, he not only holds to his convictions courageously, but thirdly, he is able to resist the temptation to tolerate sin around him. That is to say it negatively. Positively he has the strength not to tolerate sin around him. Once he has affirmed something is wrong, it's not only wrong for him, it's wrong for everybody in his family and it's wrong for everybody around him. And so he holds the standard high at every front. He isn't a man who says this is right, and I will do it, this is wrong and I will not, and then says to his family, this is right and I will do it, this is wrong and I will not and I want you to follow me in that, and then goes to his office or goes into his relationships and tolerates the wrong in others. He's not that kind of man. He has fortitude and he is intolerant of what violates the Word of God and what dishonors God whether it's himself, his family, or his friends.
See, being a good father is not related to some gimmick. I mean, you really just can't sort of do it with smoke and mirrors, you know. It's a matter of character. It's the product of fortitude and that, I have to say, is an alien concept in our world. I don't think our society, for the most part, even knows what a man of conviction is like. We don't have any of them, or many of them in the public view, do we? A man of conviction would be branded in most cases in our society a bigot. He would be silenced, sued and pushed out of the public discourse. I mean, you don't get to a prominent place in our society if you're a man of conviction. You're gone long before we ever know about you. Certainly that's true politically, since politics is the art of compromise, you start compromising at the very beginning and by the time you get where anybody knows you, you aren't a man of conviction. There are few cases where that is different but those people never seem to be able to achieve the offices they desire. We're not used to people with conviction. We redefine those people as scandalously bigoted. And we don't know about men of courage. We have a whole generation of men growing up free from war, free from the conflicts of war and therefore they don't know what it means to be in a battle for life and death, to be following a leader who has courage. We live in a world of compromise. It seems like in our world everybody has a price, everybody adjusts their morality according to the latest survey.
Now compromise is the point at which you sell your conviction. Compromise is the point at which you sell out your ideal or the point which you stop obeying God. Fortitude is connected also to integrity. Integrity is a great word. The dictionary defines it as the quality of being undivided. That's good, a quality of being undivided. In other words, you're just absolutely whole, you are one. It's from the mathematic term integer, one, a whole. Integrity means everything is whole. There's not two things about you, speaking out of both sides of your mouth, we often say, or having duplicity or being double-minded, or being hypocritical. I think personally that is an absolute disaster for a father to tell your children there is a standard according to the Word of God but not to live it. This not only destroys your credibility, but it destroys the credibility of the Scriptures because if you're not even serious about the Word of God, why would you expect your child to be? The legacy of hypocrisy for a child is devastating, absolutely devastating as well as for a wife. If a wife can't trust her husband to be the protector not only physically but to be protector of the spiritual life of the family, the moral purity of the family, then she can't find a haven there for her and her children. To have integrity is to have honesty, simplicity, incorruptibility, the absence of hypocrisy. The opposite of integrity is compromise. Compromise is the abandonment of principle to gain some end...the abandonment of principle to gain some end. That's how most people live their lives. When Solomon finished building the temple, according to 1 Kings 9, the house of the Lord, the Lord appeared to him and said this, "I have heard your prayer and your supplication which you have made before Me. I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. And as for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel."
Now we all know that in David's early life he had his problems, didn't he? But he got his act together and he was a man of integrity. And here is the Word of God, 1 Kings 9, right out of heaven and God says you need to walk in integrity like your father did. Now let me take you back to when David was speaking to Solomon and said, "Be strong and of good courage and do everything that is written in the law of God and obey it all." David was saying that to his son and it was being spoken out of a life of integrity so that Solomon could hear what his father said against the backdrop of the way his father lived. And God says if you'll live the way your father lived and walk in integrity, that is in singularity and wholeness in honesty without duplicity and without hypocrisy, if you'll be a man of fortitude, be strong and courageous and you will keep my statutes and my ordinances, then I will bless you. Those who are uncompromising have the promise of divine blessing. You make the choice in life. Oh you're worried about what the boss thinks, you're worried about what somebody else thinks, you cave in at some particular point, you put yourself, you think, in their better graces and you've just taken yourself out of the place of the blessing of God. Take your choice. "O Lord," says Psalm 15, "who may abide in Your tent? Who can dwell on Your holy hill? Who can live with You? He who walks with integrity and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart." People of integrity are the ones who please God.
And I'm telling you, it's such a sad day in which we live. We not only have the absence of fortitude and courage and manliness among men in the public eye but even in the church. I'm continually amazed at even those in church leadership, even pastors, I would like to be able to say to you, "Well if you want to see a man of integrity, if you want to see a man of fortitude, if you want to see a man of courage, a man of conviction, a man of principle, a man whose life is built on truth, a man who lives that and has the strength to fight against the onslaught, if you want to see that kind of man, go to a church and find a pastor," but I can't say that.
Men say they believe the Bible, yet they don't teach it. Men agree that sin must be punished, they say it from the pulpit but if those are the sins of their children, it's a different story. Men oppose dishonesty and corruption until they confront their bosses and risk losing their jobs. If confronting the dishonesty of your company might bring the loss of your job, would you say something? A man with fortitude would. Men maintain high moral standards until their own lusts are kindled by some illicit desire and then all of a sudden there's another standard for them. Men are honest until a little dishonesty would save them some money. Men have a conviction until it's challenged by someone they admire, or someone they fear. Even Scripture is full of people who compromise. Adam compromised by disobeying God's law following his wife's sin, lost paradise. Abraham compromised the truth, lied about his wife Sarah and nearly lost her. Moses compromised God's command, lost the privilege of entering the promised land. Samson compromised his vow to God and lost his strength, lost his eyesight and lost his life. Israel compromised the commands of the Lord, lived in sin, and, as you'll remember when fighting the Philistines, lost the ark of God...eventually lost the homeland. Saul compromised God's divine word by not slaying the animals of the enemy, you remember, and lost his kingdom. David compromised early with his terrible sin with Bathsheba and lost his infant son. Solomon compromised his convictions by marrying foreign wives and lost the united kingdom. And so it goes. Judas compromised his supposed devotion for Christ for 30 pieces of silver and lost his soul forever in hell. Peter compromised his conviction and his devotion to Christ, denied Him, lost his joy, and so it goes. There are always those who will compromise.
But manliness, even in a human realm, is defined as courageous, strong conviction, certainly for Christians because all of that is built on the truth of the Word of God. We should define manliness. People...it's a strange thing, you know, in some ways, but people will ask me, "Does it worry you when you say something that's very strong? Do you worry about people's response?" I can honestly say to you that I don't worry about anybody's response, personally I don't even think about it because I am bound by my conscience to the truth of God. You understand that, don't you? It isn't a question of...am I trying to say something that will achieve a certain end? All I'm trying to say is what is true, the end of which is in the hands of God, and I leave it there. Now there are people who don't like that, that's why I have all these security guys around the front here and growing every week. But that doesn't change anything. And you don't have to do that in an unloving way. You don't have to do that without grace and kindness, but you have to do it.
Lack of fortitude is the failure of fathers. Lack of fortitude is the failure of men not having the spiritual discipline, the love for God, the conviction of the truth, the strength of purpose, the dependence on grace, the loyalty to Jesus Christ, to be alert, to stand firm in the faith, to act like men, to be strong. That manliness will always be tested. The pressure will always come to ignore error, to ignore sin because it may cause conflict in the church, to ignore error and sin or dishonesty or whatever might be in your work. I mean, it could come in any way. It's another way in which the world squeezes you into its mold.
So if I could have a word for you fathers today on Father's Day, be courageous, know the truth, build convictions on the truth, have the courage to take your stand on those convictions and the strength to win the battle. I said to our staff a couple of weeks ago, the reason we don't have any courage, we've seen the feminazation of the church. It's as if the church has become feminized, rather than being courageous, the church today is not courageous at all. And the reason it has no courage, the reason church leaders have no courage is because they have no convictions. They reason they have no convictions is because they don't know the truth. As soon as you abandon doctrine, the whole thing falls down because you can't have convictions if you don't know the truth of God, therefore there's nothing to be courageous about and strong to defend. Let me give you just a closing illustration. Turn to Daniel chapter 1. Let's put some flesh on this little talk this morning and the flesh is in the form of Daniel. I know you know the story of Daniel but if you wanted to find in the Bible the illustration of a man with fortitude, this would be the man. Now what makes this really wonderful is that by the time Daniel enters the scene in this wonderful book, it is the third year, according to chapter 1 verse 1, of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. The year is 604, 605 B.C. The northern kingdom of Israel, the kingdom was split because of Solomon's sin, the northern kingdom Israel, southern kingdom Judah. The northern kingdom has gone into captivity about 120 years before this. Now Judah is going to go into captivity and the Babylonians have come. They came in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, about 604, 605. They came back in 597, they came back for their final trip in 586, totally destroyed Jerusalem, totally destroyed the temple and took the last group of Jewish captives into Babylon. But in the first deportation we read this, "In the year...the third year in the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, besieged it, the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand along with some of his vessels of the house of god, brought them to the land of Shinar to the house of his God and brought the vessels into the treasury of his god." I'll just tell you what that is all about. When the pagan comes to conquer the Jews, he wasn't able on that first time to destroy Jerusalem totally, to destroy the temple. But what he did do was sack the temple and take some of the implements of worship out of there and he drags them back and takes them back to Babylon and puts...Babylon, and puts them in the temple of their false gods. The reason they do that was that it assured the people that the gods of Babylon were stronger than the God of Israel because the God of Israel was not able to protect His own temple from being sacked and so that's a confirmation that there's nothing to fear because our gods are more powerful than the God of Israel. So that's what they did.
In the first deportation, the king ordered Ashpenaz, it may be a title or it may be a proper name, but this is was the chief of his officials, this was a man in the court of Nebuchadnezzar who has great responsibility in the king's court, the king's house. And he orders Ashpenaz to bring in some of the sons of Israel. In the first deportation they wanted to take some of the young men of Israel, some of the nobles, including some of the royal family, as well as the nobles. Daniel came from noble family. They needed to be young, it says in verse 4...I'll just stop right here long enough to say Daniel was probably about 15 years old. We know that because he was in Babylon for 70 years, so that would make him 85 at the end, so we assume that he was a young man at this point, 15 years old. He was one of those young nobles, one of the upper class Jewish young men, about 15. And he said, did the king to Ashpenaz, "I want you to pick these young men from the royal family and the nobles, youths in whom there was no defect, no disability, good looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, had the ability for serving in the king's court." So they had a great strategy. If you're going to bring a people captive, if you're going to bring hundreds of thousands of Jews in over to Babylon, you've got a problem, right? Because we have to rule over these Jews. A way to make that as easy as possible is to take some young bright Jewish men who have all the necessary intellectual skills and social skills and leadership skills and we'll put them over the Jewish people so that we'll mediate our rule over the Jews through these men after...look at the end of verse 4...we have taught them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. Once we brainwash them and once we turn them into Chaldeans, we can use them to lead and rule over the Jews because they know them and they know their tendencies and their religion. That was the plan.
So Ashpenaz did that. Young man is the word yelladeem(???), means teenagers, teenagers. And one of them was Daniel. Now these were very choice young men. Physically they had no defect and they were good looking. They realized that leadership does have something to do with appearance on the human level. They had mental abilities, intellect. They were intelligent, wise, understanding. They were able to think critically. That's what it means to discern knowledge. They were problem solvers, that is still a premium in the world today. I mean if you have no defect, you're good looking, you're intelligent, you are wise, you have understanding and you can solve problems and you have the social graces and the sense of poise and manners and refinement and grace to serve in a king;'s court, you're a valuable commodity, always have been, always will be. It's the cream of the crop. The plot was brainwash them, brainwash them. This is pretty sophisticated stuff. This is high-powered pressure coming down from the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who, by the way, was the ruler of the world at that time.
Now the literature and language of the Chaldeans, the general culture of the Babylonian elite is what is in view here. They had a complex theology of men and gods, involving magic and sorcery and enchantments and demons and myths and legends, as well as astrology which is a sort of...sort of a mystical spin on astronomy. They also were involved in mathematics and other things. It was very much like Moses who when he went to Egypt learned all the arts and sciences and wisdom of the Egyptians, according to Acts 7:22. So brainwash them essentially is what they wanted to do. Wash out...brainwash means you wash out all the past, you wash out their Judaism, you wash out all of their Hebrew idiosyncracies, and we'll give them an education. We'll try to do to them what modern education and modern media tries to do to our whole society so that they think and act and talk like Babylonians.
The plot thickens in verse 5. The first thing you need to do is suck then into our life style. They have to become enamored with this life style. Typically the Hebrews lived a pretty simple, straightforward life. They had food prescribed in the Word of God what they could eat and couldn't eat and people ask me why. In fact, I was talking to my little grandson Johnny a couple of days ago about this very issue, why did they have these special dietary laws for Israel? Is it because other foods are sinful to eat? No, God restricted them to a very unique diet and even very unique combinations of foods as well as cooking manner in order to make it almost impossible for them to have easy relationships with the pagan nations around them. They were so restricted in a dietary way that they just couldn't easily socialize because socializing in ancient times essentially meant sitting down and...what?...and eating, and the Jews couldn't do that. And that was God's...one of God's hedges around them to protect them. But it was the law of God for them, and so the king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food. Well that wouldn't be kosher...that wouldn't be what was prescribed by God. And also a daily ration from the wine which he drank and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they should enter the king's personal services. This is a long time, three years of education, choice food, choice wine. First suck them into the life style. I mean, this is the palace, folks. This is Babylon where one of the Seven Wonders of the Word was, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. You've seen the picture of that in some encyclopedia somewhere, or some ancient history book. This is the first attempt at air conditioning. They had terraces and over those terraces were hanging vines that were dripping with water and when the wind blew through it, air conditioned everything inside. This is quite a place, this is the great palace of the world. And this would have been some kind of food, some kind of delicacies and some levels of comfort, and they wanted to draw them into the life style. This is only fifteen-year-old boys and they could be easily enamored by this who had lived rather humbly, even though they were from nobility.
The next thing they want to do is change their names. Their names were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. All of those names include the name of God. All of those names include some form of the name of God, the Old Testament true and living God. They were named after their God as an honor to God. But they said we have to change their names. So verse 7, the commander assigned new names to them. Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach, and to Azariah Abednego. Changed their names immediately. And by the way, all of those names have the names of Babylonian gods. The name Bel, a form of Baal, and the name Aku(?) or Marduk, those are in all of the forms of those names in the original language. So get Yahweh, Jehovah out of their names and let's rename them after our gods. It's very much like...I remember when I was in college watching Lou Alcindor play basketball and then all of a sudden he was Karim Abdul Jabar(??), that was a religious change of names. That was a name disconnecting himself from a Christian background and associating himself with Allah and Islam. That isn't anything new, that is a very ancient way to program somebody into a new paradigm of religion. And that's exactly what they were doing. The Japanese when they conquered North Korea in the Second World War changed all the people they met to Japanese names to try to absorbed them into a new identity. That is a very common thing to do. Joseph when he went down into Egypt was given an Egyptian name. Esther's actual real name was Hadassah, you remember that, and it was changed in a pagan environment. So let's...let's change their life style and let's change their sense of identity, as well at the same time as we educate them in all of our arts and all of our sciences and our religion.
So all the inducements are there. Now remember, you're talking about 15-year-old boys. This would be...this would be a very hard thing to resist, they're barely men. They would have been sons of the law at the age of 13, so they're just barely into their manhood and now, talk about a test, this is a test. I mean, this is a real test. The king has the power of death over them, as they later found out as they were thrown into a fiery furnace and Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. They were away from home and who would know, so they didn't have any parental pressure or any peer pressure, any pressure from the social environment around them. And if they did disobey, they...they knew that they would be forfeiting an entree into the very best life style available in the world at that time and they might even have thought, "After all, if God hadn't let us down we wouldn't be here anyway. Why should we trust Him? If he was really the God of Israel, how could He let the Babylonians haul us over here and do this to us?" So they could have sort of turned on God a little bit.
Well you know the story, verse 8, this is it. Daniel made up his mind he wouldn't defile himself, that's it. How does a 15-year-old make up his mind he won't do that? I'll tell you how. He knows the truth. He has convictions about the truth. He has the courage of those convictions. And he has the strength to take it when it comes. And that's this young man . I'll tell you, he puts a lot of older men to shame, doesn't he? How many of you could say I have made up my mind I will not defile myself, and stand resolutely a lifelong faithful adherent to that 15-year-old commitment? Daniel did for 70 years. He made up his mind he wouldn't defile himself.
He saw it as a spiritual issue, Agaal(????), he saw it as a...aal means a polluting or a staining and he just wasn't going to submit to that. He becomes really an absolutely remarkable model of courage, fortitude. He has no price. I mean, this is the highest price, there is no higher price. You can be in the king's service, you can be in the king's court, eat the king's food, you can rise as high...higher than you could ever imagine and believe me, I know one thing about a teenager, he was hungry, that's for sure, he was motivated, he had ambition, and he liked nice things, but he wouldn't waver. Took his stand for the Lord. Boy, you think about that compared to teenagers today. I don't think he was into baggy pants and rap music, do you? We have a generation of teenagers today progressing faster than ever physically and slower than ever mentally. It's true. Daniel took his stand, he wouldn't defile himself. He had an unashamed boldness.
I'll give you a few little points like that and we'll finish. He had an unashamed boldness. So he says, does Daniel, he wrote this prophecy, Daniel made up his mind that he wouldn't defile himself with the king's choice food, with the wine which he drank. By the way, there was nothing in the Old Testament law that said he couldn't drink wine. Wine was a part of the normal routine of Jewish law. But he did something else. He set an uncommon standard. He raised the bar. He said not only will I not take the food because it might not be kosher, but beyond that I won't take the food and I won't take the wine because I don't want any part of this life style. Wow. He raised the bar. This is what Jeremiah called being valiant for the truth and what Ezekiel called setting the face like flint, what 1 Chronicles called setting the face like a lion. He just resolutely took his stand and said I'm not going to succumb to this life style. And he set an uncommon standard, he raised the bar. He could have consumed the wine, the Bible doesn't forbid that, but he just wanted to raise the bar higher. So down in verse 12 it indicates that all he did was eat vegetables and drink water and drinking water in that time and that place could be dangerous. Wine was generally diluted with water to disinfect the water, as well as to dilute the wine. But he was going to take his stand, and he did.
And then verse 9, he not only had an unashamed boldness to take his stand and an uncommon standard, he raised the standard, but he had an unearthly protection. It's really amazing, verse 9, God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. The commander...the commander, theAshpenaz, could have said, "Look, either you eat this stuff or off with your head." But not by any normal human emotion but by the work of God, the man's heart was turned and he showed compassion toward Daniel, and favor. Verse 10, "The commander of the official said to Daniel, I'm afraid of my lord, the king," and he's getting real honest with him, "who's appointed your food and your drink, why should he see your face looking more haggard than a youth of your age, then you would make me forfeit my head to the king?" You know what's going to happen, I'm in charge of you guys, he comes back and looks at you and all you've had is vegetables and water, you guys haven't been eating the choice food and drinking the choice wine, he's going to come back, he's going to see it and then I'm going to lose my head because it's my job to produce out of you in three years what he wants.
But even with that, even with the fact that he could lose his own head, he was compassionate toward Daniel. And he had favor with Daniel, that's the work of God. And I'll tell you something, folks, this is a pattern. If you have unashamed boldness and you live at an uncommon standard, believe me you can trust God to give you an unearthly protection. You might think, "Well, if I live that way, if I hold the standard high I'll never make it in my job, I'll never make it in this social group, I'll never make in this area of influence if I hold that standard." Just know this, if you don't then you're not going to have the assistance of the blessing of God. If you do, He promises that you will. Take your choice. And Daniel was persistent about this. When Daniel was in this discussion with the Ashpenaz, he decided to appeal to another court. So in verse 11 he said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, so here's somebody who is under Ashpenaz, this is somebody who actually daily probably watched these young men and tried to get them to conform, so he goes to him. And he says, "Can I just offer you a test? Just...verse 12...test your servants for 10 days. Let's try this. You give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. And then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths eating the king's choice food and deal with your servants according to what you see."
That's a fair test, isn't it? Let's see how well we do with the vegetables and the water. After all, it's the end product the king wants, right? He wants young men strong, young men who are going to serve well in the king's court, why don't you just give us 10 days to see what's going to happen now.
Listen, folks, please, ten days of vegetables and water isn't necessarily going to make you more healthy. This is a special test within the purview of a sovereign God who is achieving a certain purpose in the life of Daniel and his friends, okay? So don't use this to justify a vegetarian diet, drinking water. It's simply that this was a test which God could demonstrate His faithfulness. You observe us. Daniel was a man of unashamed boldness, uncommon standard, unearthly protection and he provided an unusual test...an unusual test.
Well, verse 14, this man listened and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days their appearance seemed better, they were fatter. Now please, folks, that isn't like we think of fatter. They were healthier, is the term. They were healthier than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice food. So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and wine they were to drink and kept giving them vegetables for three years...for three years. An unusual test.
They won the battle by being faithful. God sustained them. They passed the test. They won the favor of the man. That led to unmeasured blessing. As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature, wisdom. Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. Notice, God is doing all of this, God gave them all this. At the end of the days, the three years which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar hasn't known what's been going on down there and what's probably been happening is maybe the Ashpenaz didn't know everything that was going on down there, but the guy who was over them, the man mentioned there in verse 11 as the overseer, he's probably been taking the king's food regularly and taken it home and just feeding them vegetables and water. He's having a great time with this and it doesn't seem to have been an issue. All Nebuchadnezzar wants is the end product, and he knows he can deliver the end product because of the work of God in the lives of these yong men. So in they come, verse 18, they're presented before Nebuchadnezzar. Imagine, this is the man who is the king of the world, the Babylonian Empire, and the king talked with them and out of them all, not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, so they entered the king's personal service. And listen to this, they are 18-years-old by now, or so, and as for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.
Wow, they not only knew all of the wisdom and literature of the Chaldeans, they knew the wisdom of God, didn't they? They must have been remarkable young men. What an intense time. Through all of that Daniel never compromised. And when they told him don't pray, he prayed anyway. They threw them in a fiery furnace, they threw him in a den of lions, it never caused him to compromise. And so it ended the little outline, an unashamed boldness, an uncommon standard, an unusual test, and unmeasured blessing, and finally comes in unlimited influence. Verse 21, "Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king," that's 70 years. Three years of training and for 67 years he was in the service of the king, little Jewish teenage boy who had fortitude. He was a man, wasn't he? He was a man. He was a man like men are to be. May God give us such men. Let's pray.
Father, how thankful we are for the example of Daniel, the instruction of Paul, the words that You gave to Joshua, words that David spoke to Solomon, that Joab spoke to his people and Hezekiah to his soldiers and the reminder of Psalm 27 which we read earlier in the service, be strong and of good courage and wait on the Lord. Father, how we pray that You would raise up men, real men, men of truth and conviction and courage and strength who will raise sons of fortitude and secure daughters who are devoted to the truth, to carry the righteous Word to the next generation. Bless the men, bless the fathers in this congregation, make them men of fortitude, men of courage and men of strength. All this for Your glory we ask, with thanksgiving in Christ's name. Amen.
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Non-Degreed Certificate In Lay Ministry
The Non-Degreed Certificate Option includes basic theology courses, ministerial formation and advising support. The program is both academic and pastoral in approach and is designed for people who wish to deepen their knowledge of Church teaching, grow in faith, and become informed ministers for the Church.
The Non-Degreed Certificate is an excellent option for people who do not have a 4 year undergraduate degree, for those who prefer to study theology and pastoral ministry at the freshman college level or for people who live at a distance from the main campus.
This option offers 13 required courses, taught at the undergraduate equivalency level, Mentoring, supervised Field Education and a Project in Ministry. The ministerial formation components are described here. Ministerial Formation.
The Athenaeum does not grant undergraduate credit, but other area institutions may grant undergraduate credit for the completed Certificate program. If you are interested in this possibility, contact the LPMP Director for more information.
The outstanding faculty is drawn from the seminary faculty and from diocesan and parish leadership. Classes meet once each week for 2 hours and 40 minutes. Classes at the main campus are held on Tuesday evening and Saturday morning. Classes at satellite locations meet Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon. Satellite locations.
Non-Degreed Certificate Option Courses:
First Year
LPC 125 Pastoral Communications (1 Unit, 5 weeks)
LPC 121 Old Testament (2 Units, 10 weeks)
LPC 110 Catechism of the Catholic Church (1 Unit, 5 weeks)
LPC 115 Basic Doctrine (2 Units, 10 weeks)
LPC 122 New Testament (2 Units, 10 weeks)
LPC 119 Using Scripture in Parish Minstry (1 Unit, 5 weeks)
LPC 120 Discipleship (2 Units, 10 weeks)
Second Year
LPC 124 Church History (2 Units, 10 weeks)
LPC 131 Evangelization and Social Media (1 Unit, 5 weeks)
LPC 123 Jesus, The Christ of Faith (2 Units, 10 weeks)
LPC 130 Ecclesiology (1 Unit, 5 weeks)
LPC 132 Morality and Justice in Catholic Life (3 Units, 15 weeks)
LPC 126 Liturgy and Prayer (2 Units, 10 weeks)
Additional Components:
- 40 Hours of Mentoring
- 75 Hours of Field Education
- Theological Reflection I and II
- Project in Ministry
- Attendance at Yearly Retreat or Day of Reflection
Elective: Tribunal Practice (Required of men applying to the Permanent Diaconate and for men and women training to become a Procurator Advocate)
The completed Non-Degreed Certificate Option fulfills the prerequisites for application to the Permanent Diaconate formation for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Courses may be applied to certification or continuing education for catechists and Youth and Young Adult Ministers.
It is possible to complete the Certificate in 2 years. Participants wishing to serve the Church in a public capacity, or who are discerning a call to the permanent diaconate must be in full communion with the Catholic Church and able to minister fruitfully and faithfully within the structure of the hierarchical Church. Members of other faith traditions are welcome to apply to the program, understanding that the theology and pastoral ministry reflects the stance and teachings of the Catholic Church.
In addition to the main campus, the Certificate Option will be offered for 2013-2014 academic year at satellite campuses located at Our Lady of Sorrow, Monroe, and Sacred Heart of Jesus, McCartyville.
Read about the Application Process here.


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A bad game during an especially bad time in what will undoubtedly be a long season.
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What was it that Jim Bowden said when he lost Darrell Rasner to the Yankees through waivers last winter? Wasn't it something like, "C'mon, it wasn't like he was going to make an impact at the major league level?" Well Jimbo, it seems like some of your "minor" transactions are coming back to haunt you.
Rasner, a 6'3" righty from Carson City, Nevada, was waived February 11th by the Nationals, just a couple of weeks before the start of spring training. He was picked up and assigned to 'AAA' Columbus. He had some injuries this year, but it didn't effect his pitching. In 58 innings for the Clippers, Rasner went 4-0, 2.76. But wait. There's more.
Pitching on Sunday against the Twins, Rasner pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. In two starts, he's now 1-0, 1.17.
What do you always like to say, Jim, something about "You can never have enough pitching?" Let's see, you waived Rasner, and he's starting for the Yankees. You waived Claudio Vargas, and he's starting for the Diamondbacks. You waived Byung Young Kim, and he's starting for the Rockies. You traded Tomo Ohka for a guy no longer in the major leagues, and he's starting for the Brewers.
Jim, if I were you, I'd stay away from the waiver wire. Seems like you haven't figured it that it's supposed to help the team, not hurt it.
I am a 49 year old father of six. Born in Beirut Lebanon, I have lived in dozens of countries world-wide and ten states here in America. Although I was born in the Middle East, I consider Washington, D.C. my home town. I have lived in Pocatello Idaho since 1991. Although D.C. is a great place to enjoy life, Idaho is a great place to raise your children. My kids have benefited from the safe surroundings and quality education we have here.
Two of my six children were born with serious physical and mental handicaps, which has made my life anything but normal [don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have had it any other way]. Kendi died two years ago at the age of 20 due to a nurse's error during a routine medical procedure. I miss her so very much.
After 30 years in the business world, I have gone back to school to get my teaching degree. I am currently a junior at Idaho State University in Pocatello.
My wife Tracey and I have been happily married for 26 years. She is more than special; she is that which makes my life worth living. Without her, I'd be nothing.
I am a religious conservative, but I don't believe that my views are absolute or absolutely right. I come from a land where diverse opinions were silenced, so America's diversity of thought makes it a very special place for me.
I am a lucky man. My wife loves and respects me, and all of my children treat their father better than I treated mine.
I couldn't ask for any more.
Tracey & I have been married for 26 years. Her father was in the Air Force, and she spent much of her childhood years in foreign lands around the world. Tracey is a talented artist. She has won several blue ribbons for her porcelain dolls
Kira and Aaron were married in 2003. She recieved her second degree from Idaho State University and works with special needs children. Aaron attends ISU and works at UPS.
Kendi was born with severe physical and mental handicaps. Even at the age of 20, she wore a diaper, and had to be fed by her mother or I. She spent her life in a wheelchair, but that didn't stop her from enjoying every moment she was on the earth. She died in 2003 due to a nurse's mistake during a routine medical procedure. I miss her so much
Kristen & Mark were Married in August, 2005. Kristen will receive her 2nd degree from BYU-Idaho in December in construction management. Mark has recently returned from an LDS church mission and will begin attending college full-time next spring
Kourtney will graduate from high school next spring. She has already taken several college classes. She has wanted to be a mortician since she was 12
Katie was born with the same genetic disorder as her sister Kendi, though not as severe. Katie is able to walk, even run. She cannot talk but has learned a 100 word sign vocabulary. She loves to go for long walks [I push her in a special stroller] around the neighborhood
Korth loves all sports, but excels in baseball. He has been on post-season all star teams each year he has played. He spends a great deal of time playing with his handicapped sister so that she always has something "fun" to do
Big happenings? Nah. Just happenings. Zach Day was designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies and Capitol Punishment is reporting that the Nats have claimed him off the waiver wire. So we ended up getting Preston Wilson for nothing. That's nice. Billy Traber, he of the tight leash,
was sent down to New Orleans and replaced by Mike O'Connor.
That's all well and good, but don't look to any of these moves making a difference in the play of the team. But hey, it's something to talk about. Right?


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Palemane Rock
Palemane Rock is a cave in Mulgore[35, 64] inhabited by gnolls of the Palemane tribe. They are aggressive creatures, and will attack any who wander too close.
The gnolls live both inside the cave and in a camp outside, and the cave itself stretches fairly deep into the mountainside.