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Sidi Mohamed Ben Slimane al-Jazouli
Sidi Mohamed Ben Slimane
At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Shadhiliya brotherhood was closely associated with political and intellectual elites of North Africa. This was to be expected, since Sidi Abul Hassan Shadhili (d. 656/1241), Sidi Abul Abbas al-Mursi (d. 686/1271), Sidi Abd an-Nur al-Amrani (b. 685/1286), Sidi Madi ibn Sultan (d. 718/1318) and Sidi Ibn Abbad ar-Rundi (d. 792/1377), all made a point of recruiting followers from the upper classes of urban society. Almost without exception, the Shadhili Sufis who appear in the biographies of the later Marinid period are ulama, courtiers, or sharifs. In the rare cases where one finds an exception to this rule, the person in question is mostly likely to be a skilled craftsperson or a vendor of luxury goods. This absence of a lower-class following indicates that the leaders of Shadhiliya in Tunis, Tlemcen, and Fez were primarily concerned with presenting their order as an alternative to the other elite Sufi orders of North Africa, such as the Sahrawardiya. To become fully integrated into the social life of the region, the Shadhiliya needed a doctrinal orientation that would appeal to people from all levels of society and enable it to transcend its patrician origins. This would be provided by a sharif and scholar from the Moroccan Sus named Sidi Abu Abdellah Mohammed ibn Abderrahman b. Abi Bakr b. Slimane al-Jazouli.
Like Abu Abdellah ibn Yassin (d. 451/1059), Mohammed ibn Tumart (d. 524/1130) and other reformers who proceeded him Imam al-Jazouli is better remembered as a character of legend that as a real human being. Having spent the majority of his life in rural Morocco, and sojourning only briefly in the urban centres where his biographers were to live, Sidi Mohamed Ben Slimane al-Jazouli was known to the generations following his death for his charismatic reputation than for his Sufi teachings. Even more, because so many of the traditions that detailed his life were transcribed at a much later date from secondary sources or hearsay, none of his biographies can be considered definitive. The same can also be said of Moulay Abdessalam ibn Mashish (d. 622/1207), the teacher of Abul Hassan Shadhili, who despite the absence of any written legacy expect a short prayer called As-Salat al-Mashishiya, has risen to the status of patron saint for all Moroccan Sufism.
Imam al-Jazouli's present-day reputation is based primarily on a work that was written more than two hundred years after his death: Mumti'u' al-asma'a fi dhikr al-Jazouli wa at-Tabba'a wa ma lahuma mina al atba' (The Delight of the Hearing in the Recollection of al-Jazouli, at-Tabba'a, and Their Followers), by the Shadhili master Sidi Mohammed al-Mahdi al-Fasi (d. 1109/1694). Although the date of Imam al-Jazouli's birth is not known, enough information exists to provide a rough outline of his origins and background. His nisba (attributional name) tells us the he came from the Simlala tribe, one of the most important Sanhaja Berber groups in Jazula. The turbulent political environment of Simlala in the fifteenth century forced the Shaykh to leave his homeland because its culture of violence made serious scholarship impossible. As it turned out, the young sharif had to travel all the way to Fez to get an education, since the insufficient intellectual resources of Marrakech, the usual destination for students from central and southern-Saharan Morocco, made study in that city impossible as well.
While in Fez, Sidi Mohamed Ben Slimane al-Jazouli lived at Madrasat al-Halfawiyyin (the present Madrasat as-Saffarin), the oldest of the Marinid madaris, whose rooms were reserved for students from the Sus. While there, he studied the Mukhtasar of Ibn al-Hajib, the standard introductory work on usul al-fiqh. He also studied Al-Mudawwana al-kubra, Sahnoun's ("Abdessalam ibn Said Tanukhi Qayrawani," d. 240/854) ninth-century compendium of Maliki law. Although al-Jazouli must eventually have attended lessons at the Qarawiyin and Andalus mosques where many of the greatest 'ulama' of Morocco gave their lectures, he lodged and studied, like most students not native to the city, in a madrasa. In his case he attended the Saffarin madrasa which still stands across from the Qarawiyyine, separated from the great mosque by a narrow street named Bu Twil. Of all the madrasas of Fez, the Saffarin was the madrasa most closely associated with the Qarawiyin, so much so that a door to the latrines in the Saffarin is directly across from one of the doors of the Qarawiyin (Bab al-Saffarin), thus enabling students to perform their ablutions in the madrasa before crossing right over to pray in the mosque.
The Saffarin has 117 rooms with 23 on the ground floor and the remainder in the upper two stories. The largest of the Marinid madrasas in Fez, it tended, with some variation, to follow the standard pattern for Maghribi madrasas in its layout. Thus, it was built around a courtyard with a central pool and fountain. On one side there is an open hall or oratory with a high ceiling for prayer and instruction while the opposite side has an entrance vestibule. Some of the chambers for students are located on the other two sides of the ground floor, hidden from view by ornate lattice-work mashrabiya screens placed between the arcades of the courtyard. Some of the larger madrasas had a second floor for both additional student chambers and additional oratories. The Saffarin was unusual in that it had not only two, but three floors with an oratory and prayer hall on the first floor. That al-Jazouli should go to this particular madrasa is to be expected. Like all of the madrasas of Fez, it was expressly intended to house students from outside of the city, and in the 15th century, students from Jazoula and other areas of southern Morocco tended to go to the Saffarin.
After he was admitted to the Saffarin, he would have been given a room by the overseer (nazir) of the madrasa who made his assignments based upon the needs and seniority of the students. Older students received rooms closer to the center, copyists received more well lighted rooms, and so forth. All students in the madrasa were bachelors, since women were not allowed to enter, and as soon as a student married, he was obliged to find other lodging. Once Ali obtained a room, it would have been neither comfortable nor spacious since the madrasas of Fez were designed to accommodate as many students as possible in the cramped space at hand. Consequently, there were not even any beds that might take up valuable living space. Instead most students slept on mats on the floor covered by a blanket or on projecting shelves below the ceiling that could serve as bunk beds. During the day the blankets and mats could be stowed away and the space used for other purposes. Some of the cells – probably intended for only one student – measured a mere 1.5×2 meters. Most rooms had a small table.
Next to the door of each room there was a narrow slot into which the daily ration of fiat bread could be deposited once a day. The bread was provided by the original pious endowment (waqf) for the madrasa which stipulated, in the case of the Saffarin, that one hundred loaves be distributed every day, or about one loaf per person. In addition to this daily ration, the students probably cooked over charcoal braziers in their rooms, preparing a vegetable stew or whatever else they could manage to scrape together. None of the madrasas of Fez has a kitchen. Finally, a student could possibly have supplemented his meagre rations at times by receiving food from a local merchant or other resident of Fez who fed students as an act of charity.
Al-Jazouli's room in this madrasa is still known, and can be shown to the visitor by the madrasa's caretaker. A widely repeated account of al-Jazouli's student days conveys an image of extreme introspection. During his sojourn at Madrasat al-Halfawiyyin he would spend long periods alone in his room, leaving it only to attend class. While in his room, he would lock the door and allow no one to enter. Because of this antisocial behaviour word began to spread that al-Jazouli was concealing money. When news of these suspicions reached his father at Jazula , the latter hurried to Fez to see what was happening. Upon arriving at the madrasa, Sidi Abderrahman al-Jazouli demanded to enter his son's room. When he opened the door, he saw the word "death" (al-mawt) written over and over again on the walls. Understanding that his sons was in a deep state of spiritual contraction (qabd), he remarked to the madrasa's caretaker, "Do you see where this one is and where we are?"
Tracing Imam al-Jazouli's career after the completion of his studies is problematised by spares and conflicting information. Most sources claim that he composed Dalail al-Khayrat (popular with the name of 'ad-Dalil' in Moroccan Arabic), his books of prayers on behalf of the Prophet Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing upon him), in Fez, replying on manuscripts that were available in the library of the Al Qarawiyyine University. His biographers disagree, however, about the exact stage of his life in which this occurred. It is unlikely that al-Jazouli could have written his world-famous collection of devotions as a marginally educated faqih. Instead, this more probably occurred only after he gained a reputation for piety and erudition. Assuming this hypothesis to be correct, and given the dates of other, better known-periods of the Shaykh's life, it is most likely that al-Jazouli wrote Dalail al-Khayrat sometimes after his participation in the defence of Tangier in 841/1437. This latter conclusion is supported by a tradition recorded by the Jazulite Sufi Sidi Ahmed ibn Abil Qacem as-Suma'i (d. 1013-1604-5), who claims that al-Jazouli was told to return to Fez by a female saliha whom he encountered in Tangier.
Sidi Mohammed al-Jazouli spent the years between 843/1428 and 850/1435 between Fez and Ribat Tit al-Firt while been a disciple of the venerated master Sidi Abu Abdellah Mohammed as-Saghir (d. 850/1435), master of Tariqa Sanhajiya Amghariya. al-Jazouli may have met his Shaykh and spiritual guide while a student in Fez, for the latter—whose tomb is still found in Fez—was making unstopped journeys between the cities of Morocco. This peripatetic (sai'h) Sufi, who recruited also warriors for the anti-Portuguese jihad, initiated Sidi al-Jazouli into a rural variant of Shadhiliya order which he took from Sidi Abu Uthman Said al-Hintati al-Hartanani, who succeeded his master Sidi Abderrahman ibn Ilyas Ragragi, as head of Ribat Shakir after his death.
Although most sources agree with Mira't al-Mahasin (The Mirror of exemplary qualities), a hagiographical monograph written two generations after prior to Mumti'u al-asma'a by al-Fasi's great uncle Sidi Mohammed ibn Yusuf al-Fasi (d. 1052/1637) who was master of the Shadhiliya in Fez, that al-Jazouli was initiated into the Amghari-Shadhiliya only after he had completed Dalail al-Khayrat, the spiritual maturity of this latter work, as well as the well known doctrinal orientation of Ribat Tit al-Firt and Ribat Shakir, cast doubt upon this assertion. The Sufis from these ribats practiced spiritual methods that stressed, like al-Jazouli's, the veneration of Prophet Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him). Further evidence of a "Mohammedian" perspective at Ribat Tit and Shakir can be found in reports that in the later Marinid period the leading families of these institutions recognised the doctrinal supremacy of the Majiriya Sufi order at Ribat Asafi. The Shaykhs of the Majiriya, who maintained links with the Qadiriya Sufi tradition in the Mashriq, required aspiring disciples to pass extended periods of time at the Prophet's mosques in Medina. al-Jazouli himself held Ribat Asafi in such high esteem that he built his own zawiya on its ruins and appropriated Sidi Abu Mohammed Salih Majiri's (d. 631/1216) rules of Sufi practice for his Sufi order.
Al-Qutb al-Imam Sidi Mohammed ibn Sulayman al-Jazouli
Al-Qutb Sidi Abdellaziz Tabba'a (d. 914/1499)
Al-Qutb Sidi Abul Abbas Ahmed Sufyani Harithi (d. 918/1513)
Al-Qutb Sidi Abdellah Ghazwani
(d. 935/1528)
Al-Qutb Sidi Abdelkarim al-Fallah (d. 933/1518)
Sidi Mohammed Misbahi at-Taleb
(d. 964/1557)
Sidi Ali Salih al-Andalusi (d. 903/1488)
Sidi Abi Mohammed al-Qarwani (d.after 914/1499)
Al-Qutb Sidi Shaykh al-Kamil Mohammed al-Hadi Ben Aissa
(d. 933/1518)
Sidi Mohammed Misbahi at-Taleb (d. 964/1557)
Al-Qutb Sidi Abu Amr al-Qastali (d. 974/1559)
Sidi Ahmed
al-Hassani Fasi
(d. 950/1535)
Sidi Mohammed Zaytouni (d. after 900/1485)
Sidi Abdellah ben Sasi (d. 961/1554)
Sidi Abu Ruwayin Belmahjoub
(d. before 960/1553)
Sidi Ali ibn Ahmed Karfiti Sarsari (d. 1027/1618)
Sidi Abu Bakr Majjati Dilai (d. 1021/1612)
Sidi Mohammed al-Ghumari al-Maliqi al-Fasi (d. 998/1583)
Sidi Mohammed b. Abderrahim Ibn Yajbash Tazi (d. 920/1505)
Al-Qutb Sidi Mohammed Bou'abid Sharqi (d. 1010/1495)
Sidi Abderrahman al-Majdoub (d. 976/1561)
Al-Qutb Moulay Abdellah Sharif Wazzani (d. 1089/1697)
Sidi Mohammed al-Fasi (d. after 1021/1612)
Sidi Ahmed al-Habib
al-Andalusi al-Rundi al-Fasi (d. 1013/1598)
Sidi Abul Abbas Ahmed al-Shabih Juti (d. after 935/1520)
Al-Qutb Sidi Mohammed al-Muati Sharqi (d. 1092/ 1681)
Sidi Abul Mahasin Yusuf al-Fasi (d. 1013/1598)
Al-Qutb Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdellah Wazzani (d. 1120/1705)
Al-Qutb Sidi Mhammed ben Nasir Dar'i
(d. 1085/1694)
Sidi Ahmed al-Habib
al-Andalusi al-Rundi al-Fasi (d. 1013/1598)
Sidi Abderrahman al-Majdoub (d. 976/1561)
Al-Qutb Sidi Mohammed al-Salih Sharqi (d. 1193/ 1727)
Despite the conclusions of al-Fasi and others, it is doubtful that al-Jazouli would have found that it necessary to join the Amghariya after having written an influential book pf Prophetic devotions. A Sufi who is spiritually advanced enough to produce a work like the Dalil is more likely to attract his own disciples that to search for a master. It is thus more plausible to assume that al-Jazouli composed the Dalail al-Khayrat after becoming a disciple of Sidi Abdellah Amghar, and not the other way around. If this is correct, then one might date his association with the Amghariya to the period immediately prior to his participation at the relief of Tangier in 841/1426. it is even possible that al-Jazouli fought at Tangier in the company of Amghariya, for the Banu Amghar were strong supporters of jihad and their base in northern Dukkala abutted the territory of the Shawiya Arabs, who also participated in the Tangier campaign.
The death of Sidi Abu Abdellah Amghar in Fez in 850/1446 have freed al-Jazouli to travel to the Mashriq, where he performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina and visit the Prophet's Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him) mosque and tomb in Medina. He next travelled to travelled to Cairo and studied at the al-Azhar University under a mystic named Sidi Abdellaziz al-Ajami. According to Sidi Abdellah Ghazwani (d. 935/1520), the third paramount Shaykh (Shaykh al-jama'a) of the al-Jazouliya, al-Ajami had been initiated into the Shadhiliya Sufi order without intermediary (bila wasita) by Sidi Abul Hassan Shadhili himself. This practice can be explained by the saying of Abul Hassan, "Al-Khadir said to me, 'O Ali I will be there for your companions after you.' To which I replied, 'No, I will be there for my companions, both the living and the dead.' He also said, "I have companions born of men and women that have not yet been created, their spirits (arwahuhum) have already made the pact with me (baya'ni)."
According to an authoritative manuscript of Dalail al-Khayrat at the Bibliothéque Ben Youssef in Marrakech, al-Jazouli presented the final version of this work to his disciple Sidi Mohammed Sahli (d. 917/1511). This so-called Sahli copy (an-nuskha as-Sahliya) is the standard upon which all the copies of Dalail al-Khayrat are based. Since al-Jazouli presented the definitive version of his most famous work to Sidi Sahli a mere seven years before his death, it is hard to believe that he could have written it as early as the 840s (1425) and then carried it around the Arab World in rough-draft form for nearly two decades. A more plausible scenario is that al-Jazouli began the collection of Dalail al-Khayrat upon his return to Morocco and then revised it during the period in which he organised the al-Jazouliya Sufi order. Besides being more in agreement with the evidence at hand, this assumption also assumes, as one would normally expect, that Dalail al-Khayrat was a miracle of doctrinal talent than the product of a long-term Sufi training.
Upon his return to Morocco in 857/1442, al-Jazouli's innovative doctrines and charismatic personality caused a stir in Sufi circles. al-Jazouli's doctrine of mahabba (mystic love) found in the fragments of his treaties on Sufism, An-Nush at-tamm li-man qala rabbi Allah thumma istaqam (Complete advise for one who says, "My Lord is God" and follows the straight path), in particular was so powerful that it was believed that he occupied a unique station at the feet of Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him). What sets al-Jazouli's Risala fi'l mahabba apart from others of its type in the Maghrib is that its version of the story of Joseph (Yusuf) and Potiphar's wife Zulaykha is highly atypical. Rather than adhering closely to the Quranic text of Surat Yusuf, as is usually done in the Maghrib, al-Jazouli presents this romance in a way that recalls the Persian classic Yusuf u Zulaykha by the Naqshabandi Sidi Abderrahman al-Jami of Heart (d. 898/1483). In al-Jazouli's version Zulaykha embraces the religion of Islam out of love for the handsome prophet. After realizing, however, that she can attain the full consummations of her desires only by loving God alone, she abandons her desire for Yusuf and says: "O Yusuf, I used to love you before knowing God the Exalted. But once I had come to know the One-and-Only Conqueror (al-Wahid al-Qahhar), love for anything apart for Him could not remain with [my] love for Him. Now I desire nothing but Him!"
Imam al-Jazouli most likely spent the first year after his return to Morocco in Fez, where he composed the initial draft of Dalail al-Khayrat and reassessed the social and political situation of his country. Then he travelled via Ribat Tit al-Fitr to his natal village of Tankarat in Jazula. After recruiting his first disciples among the Awlad Amr and Banu Ma'aqil Arab tribes in the Sus, he moved to the city of Asafi (which had by then grown in importance to become the port of Marrakech) and established a zawiya on the sight of the ribat of Sidi Abu Mohammed al-Majiri. al-Jazouli clearly thought of this master as the inspiration for his own model of institutional Sufism. In another fragment from an-Nush at-tamm he encourages his readers to use al-Majiri's treaties Ma'adin al-jawahir (The Mine of Jewels) as a manual of Sufi practice.
Imam al-Jazouli borrowed heavily from the institutional repertoire of Majiriya Sufi Order and required his disciples to adopt the patched cloak (muraqqa'a), staff ('asa), pouch (rakwa) and soft felt cup (shashiya) of Majiri fuqara. An important difference between the al-Jazouliya and the Majiriya, however, was the nomadic mystics (salihun) of the al-Jazouliya were encouraged to visit other saints in Morocco instead of performing the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. This emphasis on visits to living Shaykhs and the shrines of local saints was in part due to the fact that the pilgrimage centres of the Mashriq were often inaccessible to fifteenth-century Moroccans. The Falls of Sabta to the Portuguese, the dissolution of governmental authority in the central and western Morocco, and increased corsair activity in the western Mediterranean all conspired to cut off most of the sea and land routes used by North African pilgrims on their journeys to the East. One can assume, however, al-Jazouli also had a more instrumental purpose in ordering his followers to stay at home. His emphasis on visiting local religious leaders prepared an already-established Sufi network for political mobilisation and promoted a distinct, regional identity for the al-Jazouliya that set it apart from other Sufi orders in the Maghrib.
Imam al-Jazouli also appropriated Abu Mohammed Salih's three doctrinal pillars of repentance (tawba), invocation (dikhr), and virtue (sala'h). the male aspirant who wished to join the al-Jazouliya first had to demonstrate his repentance by shaving off his "hair of unbelief" (sha'ar al-kufr)—in the manner of a Meccan pilgrim—as a symbol of his desire to break with the past. This custom, which was based on the Prophet's practice of cutting off the coiled locks of Arabs who converted to Islam from polytheism, was used by al-Jazouli as both a rite of passage and a symbol of initiation into Tariqa al-Jazouliya as an institution. Once tonsured, and after a forty-day regime of fasting and seclusion, the faqir became a full member of the order and swore an oath of allegiance (bay'a) to Shaykh al-Jazouli as his personal imam.
Simply becoming a member of the al-Jazouliya, however, was not enough for one to become a full-fledged Sufi. It was still necessary for the faqir to acquire personal discipline, eliminate discord (both within the individual and between the individual and others), and establish brotherhood (ukhuwwa). To help in the accomplishment of these goals, Imam al-Jazouli required the faqir to follow a fourteenth-step programme, which he called his "Rules of Repentance" (shurut as-tawba). After following these rules for a sufficient amount of time, the Jazulite initiate, who has now advanced to the stage of the "sincere discipline" (murid sadiq), must complete his training by acquiring ten attributes that summarise the essence of the Jazulite way. To eliminate any feeling of self-importance that might remain to the faqir, these attributes are specifically related to the example of a dog:
In the dog are ten praiseworthy attributes that are found in the sincere disciple: (1) he sleeps only a little at night; this is the signs of the lovers of God (muhibbin); (2) he complains of neither heat nor cold; this is a sign of the patient (sabirin); (3) when he dies, he leaves nothing behind which can be inherited from him; this is a sign of the ascetics (zahidin); (4) he is neither angry nor hateful; this is a sign of the faithful (muminin); (5) he is not sorrowful at the loss of a close relative, nor does he accept assistance; this is a sign of the secure (muqinin); (6) if he is given something, he consumes it and is content; this is a sign of the contented (qani'in); (7) he has no known place of refuge, this is a sign of the wanderers (sai'hin); (8) he sleeps in any place that he finds; this is a sign of the satisfied (radiyin); (9) once he knows his master, he never hates him, even if he beats him or starves him; this is a sign of the knowers ('arifin); (10) he is always hungry; this is a sign of the virtuous (salihin).
The cornerstone of Jazulite praxis was the daily recitation of prayers on behalf of the Prophet Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him) from Dalail al-Khayrat and the morning and noon recitation of al-Jazouli's Hizb al-Falah (Litany of good fortune). To these were added Sidi Abul Hassan Shadhili's Hizb al-Barr (Litany of the land) and Al-Musabba'at al-'Ashr (The Ten sevens), a collection of Quranic invocations complied by Sidi Abu Talib al-Makki (d. 386/996) but attributed to Sidna al-Khadir. Imam al-Jazouli also composed another litany, Hizb al-Jazouli (The Litany of al-Jazouli) or Hizb Subhana ad-Daim (The "Glory Be the to the Eternal), which was reserved for the use of his family. In the generation after his death, this litany was appropriated by his indirect disciple Sidi Mohammed al-Hadi Ben Aissa (Patron Saint of Meknes; d. 933/1518).
The authority of the spiritual master in the al-Jazouliya was absolute. al-Jazouli and his successors expected unquestioning obedience from their followers, and they were looked upon as inerrant sources of divine knowledge. "One must cleave to spiritual masters", said Imam al-Jazouli, Even if they are in Baghdad, for going to them brings illumination, mercy, and the Secrets to hearts." The fully actualised Jazulite Shaykh (Shaykh al-Wasil) "has arrived at the station of direct perception (maqam al-mushahada) and has disappeared into the lights of perfections, such that he is concerned with nothing but the King of Truth. When he returns among humankind, he returns with illumination (anwar), knowledge ('ulum), and laws (ahkam). He who follows him is educated and inspired, and understands what those who are cut off from him will never understand."
Bu this was not all. Shaykh al-Wasil was essential to the disciple because he drew his wisdom from the divine source of prophecy itself: "Write down what you hear from me, for I am an intermediary between yourselves and the Truth. The Truth illuminates and the slave understands. He who is inspired toward the right (as-sawab) has an obligation to speak, and [his guidance] is a benefit to others." The fact that Shaykh al-Wasil possessed such as quasi-prophetic knowledge made obeying him a near-canonical obligation: "He who follows the example of his Shaykh follows the example of his Lord. For the sacredness of ('hurma) of the Shaykh before his disciples is like the sacredness of the Prophet before the Companions."
Because of his charismatic personality and penchant for uttering ecstatic statements (shatahat), few of those who came into contact with Imam al-Jazouli were able to remain neutral. The Imam justified his ecstatic statements by asserting that he was the Mujaddid, the Renewer of his age, whose prerogatives included a sort of poetic licence in regard to divinely inspired utterances. The tradition of the Renewer in Islam is based on a hadith from the Sunan of Abu Dawud which states: "God will send to this community at the turn of every century someone who will restore religion." This person is most is most often described in Muslim sources as a scholar who will restore the original purity of Islam by returning Muslims to the Prophetic Sunna. It was not difficult for the juridically trained al-Jazouli to portray himself as a Mujaddid. By composing Dalail al-Khayrat and thus focusing attention on the specifically "Mohammadian" aspects of divine inspiration, he was in a favourable position to cast himself as a reviver of the Sunna.
Imam al-Jazouli demonstrated his closeness to Allah and the Prophet Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him) through divine inspirations (ilhamat), divine addresses (muhadathat), and divine conversations with God (mukalamat). These attestations of divine favour also served as proofs of his wilaya (sainthood) by confirming his exalted ranks as the Khalifa (successor) of the Prophet, Mahdi, and Qutb az-Zaman (Axis of the Age). Many of al-Jazouli's statements consist of bold declarations of unparalleled spiritual supremacy, both among his contemporaries and in comparison of old generations of Sufis. Unlike the mahdist leaders of past generations, however, al-Jazouli's doctrines were attractive to all classes of society; poor and rich, illiterate and educated. Eventually, the political potential of his followers was to provoke the Marinid Sultan Abdellhaqq II (d. 869/1454) into opposition against the Shaykh and his supporters.
Several of Imam al-Jazouli's muhadathat call for the revival of Islam under a divinely guided imam. These discourses are replete with double meaning and make use of ambiguous and highly provocative vocabulary:
Reputation is not gained through possessions or sons. Instead, reputation comes from one's repute before the Lord of Lords. One is not great because of the glory of wealth and children. Rather, one is great because of the glory of God and His attributes. One is not great because of the greatness of his tribe or his love of high rank. Instead, one is great because of the greatness of nobility (sharaf) and lineage (nasab). I am noble in lineage (ana sharifun fi-n nasab). My ancestor is the Messenger of God (peace and blessing be upon him) and I am nearer to him than all of God's creation. My reputation is eternal, dyed in gold and silver. Oh you who desire gold and silver, follow us, for he who follows us dwells in the heights of 'illiyyun in this world and the Hereafter!
Past nations (umam) have asked to be included in our polity (dawlatuna). Yet no one can be included in it unless he has already attained salvation (sa'ada). Our polity is the state (dawla) of those who strive (mujtahidin) and struggle (mujahidin) in the path of Allah—fighters against the enemy of Allah. The kings of the Earth are in my hands and under my feet!
Oh assembly of Muslims! Look at your Master, for He is with me! I have no perception (nadhar) except through Him. His perfection (kamal) has encompassed my chest and my life. Indeed, it has encompassed me for all of my life! His perfection has annihilated me from everything other than him. Oh you who would see me on earth! See me instead in Heaven, on the Throne, and even above it! Do you not know that the axial saints (aqtab) are needed by every created being? They are in the station of prophethood (maqam an-nubuwa), revealing the divine secret (yafshuna as-sirr)!
Oh assembly of Muslims! Do you know that the Chosen One (peace and blessing be upon him) is near to me (qaribun minni) and that his authority (hukmuhu) is in my hands? He who follows me is his follower, but he who does not follow me will never be his follower. I have heard [the Prophet] say (peace and blessing be upon him): "You are the Mahdi! He who desires to be saved (man arada an yus'ada) must come to you!"
Oh assembly of Muslims! Cleave to the community of the Chosen One (peace and blessing be upon him) and do not cleave to his enemies because of your rejection of the faith, disputes, cheating, or treason! Oh assembly of Muslims! God has created one to guide you at the end of time, so praise him! Oh assembly of Muslims! No one hates us for our covenant with God except the one who possesses neither this world nor the hereafter, and no one is jealous of our obedience to God (the Glorious the Mighty) except the one who has no fortune with God (the Glorious the Mighty)!
Oh my Murid! Do not resent what I have given you of my speech (haditi) and my words (kalami). For I have spoken to you in pre-eternity (azal) before your existence. I have renewed your understanding after your creation and illuminated your heart before your existence. I have illuminated your essence after your creation, I have made known to you the details of my knowledge, and I have honoured you among the best of my creation. I have inspired you to hearken into me, I have given you authority over the finest of my creatures, and I have bestowed on you the greatest secret. Oh my Murid!, all of the ulama are in your grasp!
It is not difficult to imagine the fear that such proclamations, coming from a man who attracted more than 12,000 followers in less than thirteen years, provoked in the ruler of a Marinid state that was disintegrating from within. The doctrines of Imam al-Jazouli scandalised the ulama of Fez and even some of his fellow Sufis. Since the Imam's openness were particularly concerned about his use of institutional symbology, such as shaving the head wearing the distinctive garments of the Majiriya brotherhood, and reaffirming the ethos of Moroccan Sufism through the practice of visiting spiritual masters, it is clear that what was most threatening to vested interests was the idea of Jazulite corporateness. al-Jazouli was little concerned with these fears, however, and even condemned the ulama of Morocco for their hypocrisy and irrelevance, especially with regard to their failure to arouse the Muslim masses in defence of their religion. "Say to the ulama," he told his disciples, "How happy you would be if only you were sincere!"
The Shaykh reserved his most bitter invectives for those scholars who, while criticising rural Sufis for their lack of religious knowledge, allowed the masses of Morocco to slip into ever deeper levels of ignorance and corruption. By living off the wealth of their sinecures and doing little to spread their knowledge to others, these ulama shared responsibility for the rise of Christian-inspired customs and social deviance in the Moroccan countryside. In his 'Aqida (creedal manifesto), Imam al-Jazouli lays such problems as hooliganism, the indiscriminate mixing of the sexes, and full body tattooing squarely at the feet of the scholarly establishment. Rather than wasting their time making pronouncements about the permissibility of minor variations in Islamic practice, the ulama should instead teach the fundamental values of Islam to everyone: "Teach… the women and children, the Sufis and the masses, whether free or slave, especially if they are closely tied [to you] by contract or personal relationship, such as family or others. The Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said: 'God has not charged anyone with a sin greater than the ignorance of his people.'"
By the end of 863/1459, Imam al-Jazouli and his followers had begun to wear out their welcome in the city of Asafi. The year had already been one of the worst in recent memory. It began with the Portuguese conquest of the Mediterranean stronghold of al-Qasr as-Saghir, which removed the last hope of reinforcing the kingdom of Granada in al-Andalus, and marked the resumption of the Christian Reconquista that had temporary been blocked at Tangier in 852/1437. If this disaster were not enough, the same year witnessed an orgy of political conspiracy and bloodshed in the Marinid capital of Fez. The regent Abu Zakariyya al-Wattasi, the commander of the relief expedition to Tangier and symbolic leader of the Moroccan jihad, was long absent from the scene, having being captured and executed by Banu Ma'aqil' Arabs.
News of the unrest in Fez must certainly have reached Asafi, where Imam al-Jazouli had been calling for jihad since his arrival. The merchants of the city, who at the time numbered as many as six hundred individuals, were loath to abandon the profits they were earning from the Portuguese, who used Asafi as a source of the trade items that they exchanged for gold on the West African coast. These dealing were severally criticised by al-Jazouli and his disciples, who resided in a great circle of tents around Sidi Abu Mohammed Salih's ribat. This restless mass of Sufis and Arab tribesmen, who at the time numbered half of the population of Asafi itself, posed an unacceptable threat to the city's elites. Cognizant of the fact that they could not assert their independence with impunity, the merchants forced the Marinid governor of Asafi to summon al-Jazouli to an audience. "fearing him because of the number of people around him (muhibbin) and fearing that the Shaykh's followers (muridin) might push them out of their world." The governor challenged Imam al-Jazouli with an ultimatum. "If you do not get away from me, I will red myself of you!" To which the Shaykh's replied: "I am the one who will get away from you, but you will follow me as well!" This prediction came true only two years later, when the merchants of Asafi, now in league of the Portuguese, proclaimed their city independence from Fez and forced the hapless governor to flee for his life.
After being expelled from the city, Imam al-Jazouli and his entourage moved south to Haha, a foothill region of the High Atlas mountains midway between the economically important Dukkala and the Sus and a strategic location to the defence of central Morocco. The Imam established his new ribat at Afughal, in the Aït Dawud tribal region east of the present town of Tamanar. In fact, he maintained two ribats in the region: one for use in the summer and one for use in the winter. The Imam's summer ribat have been near the pass of Sidi Ali Mashu in Jabal Igran, where the High Atlas mountains rise to an altitude of over 6,000 feet. His winter ribat, by contrast, have been located nearer the coast—below Jabal Amsitten near the present town of Smimou—where the Atlas foothills reached no more than 3,00 feet in elevation. The military force of the Imam based in these ribats have served as a buffer against Christian incursions by threatening the Portuguese at both Asafi to the north and Massa to the south.
For Sidi Mohammed ibn Slimane al-Jazouli, social consciousness was part of the very essence of Sufism. For this reason, he promoted social activism in his 'Aqida. A genre of religious literature that is usually devoted to doctrinal matters alone. In this short treaties, he calls on his followers to everything possible to improve the moral standards of their communities. Addressing the Arab pastoralists who resided near his ribat at Afughal, he condemns their drunkenness, immorality, and body tattooing, and he criticises those who engage in such behaviours as "madmen (majanin), enemies of God, the Messenger, and religion, and enemies of those God-fearing souls who call [people] to Him." As a remedy for their sins, he suggested that they give up their nomadic lifestyle and take up farming (hiratha). This perception indicates that the Imam wanted his pastoralist followers to abandon their predatory ways for a livelihood that fostered creation and nurturance rather than destruction and theft. It may also indicate that he sought to institute a policy of sedentarisation, since the stability of fixed adobe made Sufi training and socialisation easier to accomplish.
Imam al-Jazouli was to spend no more than six years at Afughal. According to the testimony of his closest disciples, on the fourth day of Dul-Qi'ada 869 (28 June 1465), he collapsed and died while making his Subh prayer. Because of the suddenness of his death and the fact that he gave no sign of illness beforehand, it was immediately assumed that the someone had poisoned him. Almost as soon as the Shaykh's body was wrapped in its burial shroud, a dispute arose between the Sufi adepts in the Shaykh's entourage and his pastoralist followers of Banu Ma'aqil, who revered him not as a teacher and mystic but as a divinely appointed leader and man of power. This confrontation was lost by the Sufi adepts, who were forced to leave Afughal and take up residence elsewhere in Morocco. The departure of al-Jazouli's most learned companions now meant that both his ribat and mortal remains were under the control of unlettered Banu Ma'aqil bedouins. On the advise of the marginally educated Amr ibn as-Sayyaf, al-Jazouli was placed in a movable ark (tabut) rather than being buried in the ground.
The sudden death of the Imam and the revolt of Ibn Sayyaf in the regions of Haha and Shyazma are the most significant plot reversals in the narrative of al-Jazouli's life. Rather than been buried, al-Jazouli's body was left in an ark so that it could be taken on campaigns as a talisman of victory. When not in the field, the ark that held the Shaykh's remains was placed in an open-air ribat on the summit of a hill near Qal'at al-Muridin, where it was guarded around the clock and illuminated at night by large torches. al-Jazouli Sufi biographers, who wished to avoid tainting his reputation while at the same time blackening that of Ibn as-Sayyaf, are anonymous in asserting that this rebel never lost a battle while the ark containing the Shaykh's body was with him. The employment of the al-Jazouli's career as a saint comes to an end in 890/1485, with murder of Ibn Sayyaf at the hands of his wife after finding him in bed with her daughter.
The biographers of Imam al-Jazouli state that the fear of another uprising, in which al-Jazouli's body would once again be dug up by restive tribespeople, was the main reason why the Saadian sharif Ahmed al-Araj moved the Shaykh's never-corrupted body to Marrakech in the year 940/1525, including him hence in his Sab'atu Rijal project to the city. Furthermore, it is an open secret that Imam al-Jazouli's shrine in the district of Riyad Laarous that the Shaykh's body is not buried under the catafalque where most visitors pay their respects. Instead it is located deep beneath the wall behind the catafalque. Jazulite Sufis thus pay their respects to the left of the catafalque, facing the wall behind the muqaddam's seat. In the following century of Imam al-Jazouli's death, under the influence of his disciples and allied mystics, the violent paradigm of political authority would be replaced by a sharifian doctrine that created a distinct identity for Morocco and laid the ideological foundations for the country's Alawite present monarchy.


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This is an online forum for the 2013 New Bedford city elections.
You can post any information, within the bounds of good taste, on this site and the online editors will put it up three times a day. In order to discourage personal attacks or libelous information, however, you must post under your own name.
You can campaign for your favorite candidate, discuss the issues or just put up interesting information about the campaign.

subset: commoncrawl


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Fellow patriots, please listen to this short, inspiring message from General Flynn. General Michael Flynn exemplifies patriotism, courage, and love of God and country - despite some of his own countrymen relentlessly attacking him. Donations for his defense are greatly appreciated. If you can only give $5.00, please do so - every little bit helps. Thank you so much, and God bless. Letter from General Flynn.
"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come." John 16:13 (NIV)
"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." John 14:16-17 (NKJV)
Satan likes to weave ornate webs of confusion. He is successful in knitting his traps of deceit because he cunningly interweaves truth within his lies. It takes a discerning spirit to cut away Satan's guile and recognize his trickery.
To counter the attacks of the enemy, we must put on our spiritual armor. The belt of truth is the first piece of protection mentioned in Ephesians 1:14. God's truth will always dismantle the lies of the evil one. However, we must know the promises of God written within the pages of the Bible. How else can we expect the Holy Spirit to bring his lies to our attention? Then, with the living Word at hand, we can use our double-edged sword to cut the craftily woven lies to pieces.
Jesus told His disciples in John 14:16-17 that God would give us another Helper who would abide within us forever. This Spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit. He will speak only what He hears from the Father and will tell us of what is to come. Therefore, we must fine-tune our hearing in order to heed His advice, instruction, encouragement, and warnings. The Holy Spirit Is also called the Comforter.
When we are confused, the Comforter will help to untangle the lies that serve to harass and hinder our walks. He will point out the fiery darts from the devil, and comfort you with the peace of God. He will remind you that there is no condemnation in Christ, only conviction. Encouragement will fill your heart as the Holy Spirit helps to guide you through the maze before you.
The NIV text of John 14:26 refers to the Holy Spirit as our Advocate. This implies that God has implanted in our spirit one who will work as our defender, champion, and protector. He vindicates and shields us by pointing out the truth, so we can then toss away the lies that were created to wear us down and cause confusion.
If you have a decision to make, and are confused by many options or possibilities, trust that God will use the Holy Spirit to advise and direct you. If it is condemnation and shame that weighs you down and confuses your mind, listen to the Comforter as He speaks words of truth, love and forgiveness. We do not serve a God who wants His children floundering around and unable to clearly think.
Always seek God in prayer and practice your spiritual listening skills. The Advocate and Comforter, the Holy Spirit… will help you to lift the clouds in your mind. With His help, you can break free of the enemy's web of lies. You no longer need to be ensnared, confused, or powerless.
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26 (NIV)
"Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:14-17 (NKJV)
"Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear." Acts 2:33 (NKJV)
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Sachin Bordavekar ( DGM – HR )
We have been hiring students from your institute as well as giving them Summer Internships in our organization. The quality of the students from Parul University is outstanding and the one's we have employed from campus recruitment are truly an asset to our organization. We also find the course curriculum is well equipped to qualify them for our industry. We found a heterogeneous mix of students with varied backgrounds. Their approach, outlook and enthusiasm was something we admire. The students have perspective and were high in their ability to articulate their views and present it with confidence. I believe they will have a great future.
Prasanth P. ( Head- HR )
Campus atmosphere is supportive for the academic development. The presence of international students prove that, management of the university is still aiming high. The dedicated faculty members can be helpful for the comprehensive development of the students.
The students are determined and dedicative in their attitude, willing to learn and highly ambitious to make use of the opportunity. They love the discovery part of learning. They can then take information that is being taught and apply it in ways that are meaningful to them. A love of learning is extremely valuable as a student and I believe willingness comes first. This quality is visible in the students of Parul University Campus.
Hardik Bhavsar ( Senior Executive – HR )
Linde Engineering India has been conducting regular campus recruitment drives at Parul University since many years specially from the Diploma Engineering branches. We have found the placement cell to be very efficient in arranging & managing the overall recruitment process. The students are also found very sincere, intelligent and hardworking. We look forward to a continued enriching long-term relation with Parul University. We wish that it will continue to propel further success as a world class academic institution and welfare of society & mankind.
Jiten Jesing ( Director )
It satisfies us the most when it comes to interact with Parul University. Training and placement department is very proactive and supportive to Industry's objectives and requirements. We have always found good talents from Parul University and it took no time to groom them further with requisite skill sets and perform better in real world. We sincerely appreciate Parul University to create an environment of good educational learning and discipline. We look forward to have a long term association with you.
Rohan Joshi ( HR )
One of the excellent institute to recruit the exceptional engineer.


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"I enjoyed Iris Frank's article on the wall quilts featuring doors in the March 2012 issue of American Quilter. Of course I always wonder what is beyond the door…
Here is a photo of my second open-door quilt. This one was created for the Gilda's Club clubhouse located in Shorewood, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Gilda's Club had been a godsend for me during my recovery from breast cancer in 2004 – 2005 (the same time my U.S. Marine son was deployed to Falluja, Iraq). I wanted to create a wallhanging that would reflect the love and support we all received from one another and the staff. At that time, the clubhouse was located in a brick building sporting a red door with windows on either side of the door, and pots of ivy and red flowers. I put photos of cancer survivors and clubhouse activities into the vinyl "windows" to give people a glimpse of life inside. Upon opening the door, there are more vinyl pockets and more photos. The intent was that the photos could be kept current with additional members and activities.
I said that this was my second open-door quilt. The first one was created for a good friend and fellow cancer survivor who moved to Maryland. The two quilts are essentially the same, except that the door on her quilt opened to reveal signatures and good wishes from her Gilda's Club friends. I was tickled to see it hanging in her home, a reminder of the love and friendship shared on the cancer journey.
Thank you for a delightful magazine and interesting article."
Posted by Christine N. Brown, American Quilter magazine editor-in-chief


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The WiseBanc broker is one of the brokerage companies that participate in the fierce competition for the best online trading platform. It was established recently and quickly gained a significant popularity. There are multiple reasons for that. Of course, the first question everyone asks is whether Wise Banc is a scam or not. The following review covers all important aspects of the brokerage.
There is a significant amount of evidence that even though the broker is new, it is reliable and you can safely use it for trading. It has created a sustainable competitive advantage for itself by providing top-notch security. But this is not the only worthy thing about it.
Read further to learn more about the merits of the WiseBanc broker. It is one of the few brokers released in the past six months that actually deserves attention and has quality to offer. By reading my detailed review, you will understand why I recommend it as a good choice.
Broker Name: Wise Banc
Price: FREE
Minimum Deposit: $250*
*This is not a payment. The broker does not apply fees for maintaining a trading account on their platform. Using the service is entirely free of charge and does not involve additional payments. As a client of the brokerage, you gain free access to trading resources, a training toolkit, and features.
Basics about Wise Banc
The broker has been established during a period when the demand for CFD trading brokers is huge. More and more people turn to the Contract For Differences financial derivative because of the ease with which it is traded. This is a financial instrument that can be understood and exploited by people even with limited previous experience in online trading or finance as a whole.
Review Verdict: WiseBanc Is Not a Scam
Visit Official WiseBanc Website
WiseBanc offers a welcoming and user-friendly environment for people to apply and expand their skills and abilities. It is a broker established by professionals in the field. They are partnering with trading experts and software developers of top quality so that the platform can be perfectly optimized and running smoothly.
Basic Important Traits
The broker is browser-based and you do not have to download additional installation packages. The support is 24/7 and you can communicate with the assistance team and the trading advisors via e-mail, live chat, and phone.
Features & Resources of WiseBanc
What gives a clear sign that the broker has made the effort to provide a quality experience, is the extensive resource center. In it, you can find everything that is necessary to enhance and optimize your investment experience. These include a Forex trading guide, Investors' Psychology insights, detailed market analyses, investment strategies, and many, many more. If you lack previous experience, on the platform you can learn in detail about stocks, Forex, and CFD trading. There are numerous free video lessons and free eBooks.
>> Visit Official WiseBanc Website <<
There are additional features like the Social Trading opportunity. You can choose a signals provider to follow and monitor their performance in real time. You can also make use of the Copy Trading feature and copy successful traders' portfolios onto your account.
You can do all that with dozens of assets in the four major categories – Commodities, Indices, Stocks, and Forex, and with additional 10 Crypto assets. This is a clear sign that the broker has optimized its operations in such a way that it follows latest trends in the industry.
Is Wise Banc a Scam Broker or Not?
One of the main advantages of the brokerage is the high level of security it offers. The platform is encrypted with all necessary protocols. In addition to that, it is under the regulation of the biggest institutions in the industry. This adds further to the reliability of the provided services.
>> Visit Official WiseBanc Website <<
Despite being new, there are already a significant number of people who trade using the platform. The predominant opinion is that the broker is very promising and it can provide quality services and reliability. This, along with all the features and the very well developed platform, has convinced me that the broker truly does provide authenticity for its clients. WiseBanc is not a scam and I strongly recommend it.
Starting Out with WiseBanc
In order to join the broker, you have to complete a registration process which includes you supplying your personal information and making an initial deposit. There are 5 main account tiers and they have different initial deposits. But the basic minimum with which you can start is just $250. People with limited financial abilities are advised not to invest funds they don't have. Especially if their knowledge of the industry is insignificant.
>> Visit Official WiseBanc Website <<
You can learn more about the account tiers on the official website of the WiseBanc broker. The higher the account tier, the more the additional features included. Choose the one that is going to answer both your investment needs and capital abilities.
Deposits can be made via various payment methods as WiseBanc works in cooperation with the biggest payment institutions. You can freely choose the method you prefer. The same is going to be used when withdrawals are being made.
Overall Conclusion
The WiseBanc broker is not a scam and if you are wondering if it is a good way to start trading CFDs and Forex, the answer is yes. It has clear terms and conditions for trading, the platform is encrypted and regulated, and all of your funds and personal information are going to be kept safe. You can start with a small minimum deposit of $250. Keep in mind that this is not a payment – using the services of the broker is completely free-of-charge. It truly is a promising platform and I recommend it.
Review Verdict: WiseBanc Is Not a Scam
Visit Official WiseBanc Website
Hello, I am Collin Tyusm. I am a Forex blogger. I have created my blog, because I want to help people learn more about Forex & CFD Trading Software and Bots.


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The international break didn't come at a good time for the Gunners as they were just building some momentum with a couple of impressive wins. On the other hand, for Reading it was a blessing as they searched for a new man to take charge.
That can't be changed and, at least theoretically, it shouldn't be too big a factor if Arsenal want to put up a serious fight for the Champions League spots. However, I have a feeling it will be a factor and this will be a closely contested game.
It's difficult to predict how Reading will play in this game. Nigel Adkins' Southampton side wasn't the best passing unit in the League but they did try to build attacks from the back and usually had respectable possession figures. McDermott's Reading was a more vertical team that defended deep and then relied on longer balls to move forward. Will Adkins stick to the style the players are used to or will he succeed in changing their approach soon after taking over? Only time will tell.
Crossing and wing play formed a big part of Reading's attacking repertoire and those skills could be used by Adkins whose sides utilized back post crosses to great effect. We might see Pogrebnyak pulling away to the back post and dropping into space between the central defenders and full-backs. From there he could either get some shots on target or provide lay-offs for supporting attackers.
Set-pieces will obviously be one of the visitors' main hopes of scoring a goal.
For a team fighting relegation and with a new manager in charge, it wouldn't be surprising if the focus is on keeping things tight at the back. Packing the centre of the pitch and forcing the Gunners wide is a tactic that has worked for many teams. Whether Reading can pull it off for the whole of 90 minutes remains to be seen. Their defensive record and the previous two defeats to Arsenal this season suggest the Royals will struggle, but at this stage of the season you never know what an extra ounce of motivation can produce.
Needless to say, this is a must-win fixture for the Gunners. On paper it's an easy game. Reading have 5 points from 15 away games with just 1 win and 2 draws. But I have a feeling the hosts will feel some pressure and that could bring the dreaded handbrake into play. Reading could grow in confidence and the home crowd might become restless if the players lack a bit of confidence or we see the effects of internationals (which to me is not a completely convincing excuse) and they just can't find the right tempo.
That said, Arsenal will have a good chance of getting all three points if they don't gift a goal or two to the opponents. Cohesive defensive work seen in the previous games has to continue but at the same time the players will have to find a way to take more risks against a team that is likely to prioritize defending. Throughout the season there has been a struggle to find the right balance between attack and defence. In the previous two wins it was more about keeping things tight at the back and taking the chances when they came. This time around Arsenal will have to take more initiative and force the play.
The news of Diaby's long term injury was disheartening, and Wenger will be without some other regulars like Wilshere and Walcott while Gibbs' availability is doubtful, but the Frenchman has enough players available to put out a very strong team while retaining a couple of offensive options on the bench.
I have a feeling Fabianksi will retain his place as will Koscielny (unless he's picked up some niggle with the national team). Jenkinson could make way for Sagna.
Will Cazorla play centrally or will Arsene bring Rosicky back into the starting eleven and move the Spaniard wide? I'd prefer the latter option.
Walcott's absence also brings another decision into the picture. One of Podolski, Gervinho, and Oxlade-Chamberlain might start if Rosicky plays. Two of them might get a chance if Cazorla is the attacking midfielder.
I'd like to see,
Fabianksi – Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal – Arteta, Rosicky, Ramsey – Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski.
That team might be a tad short on pace but it has more players who can combine in tight spaces. Against an opponent that is likely to focus on defending this ability can be crucial. Intelligence and understanding might be better attributes than speed in such a game.
It would be foolhardy to make any predictions given the topsy-turvy nature of the season thus far but, with Spurs visiting Swansea and Chelsea playing away to Southampton, Arsenal really can give themselves a chance to make up some lost ground with a home win.
P.S. – Those with an interest in numbers might find this analysis of home and away form of Premier League teams over the last five seasons quite enjoyable.Follow @goonerdesi


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Noisy neighbors? No need to suffer anymore. Just put in the Mimi Pet Earplugs! These "ear pets" are mini dogs that come in two halves: one for each ear! Brilliantly designed by Mao Yamamoto, the Mimi Pet Earplugs are the latest funky item from the Japanese home accessories brand +d.
Easy to wash clean and soft to touch, the super long-bodied dachshunds come in five fun colors (white, gray, yellow, orange, and blue). They also come in a pouch for hygienic storage.
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The total replacement of animal procedures should be our common goal, not least because animal models cannot tell us what we need to know about human conditions and responses
Michael Balls
In The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique,1 Russell and Burch defined a Replacement technique as "any scientific method employing nonsentient material which may in the history of experimentation replace methods which use conscious living vertebrates". They recognised that, while this definition can be applied readily to plants and microorganisms, "a more difficult question arises when we consider free-living metazoan invertebrates".
They decided to exclude invertebrates "from consideration as objects of humanitarian concern", describing their uses as comparative substitution and arguing that "to shed obsessional tears over the fate of these organisms would bring the whole concept of humanity into contempt".
This may seem rather harsh in today's animal welfare circles, but it is in line with many current practices involving vertebrates as well as invertebrates, including the use of pesticides, the trawling of fish from the sea, and many agricultural procedures.
Russell and Burch distinguished between absolute replacement, in which vertebrate animals are not required at all, and relative replacement, where animal are still required, but "are exposed, probably or certainly, to no distress at all".
In the absolute replacement group, they included the use of metazoan endoparasites, higher plants, micro-organisms, and non-living physical and chemical systems. In view of the stance they had taken, they did not mention invertebrates, but nematodes (e.g. Caenorhabditis elegans) and insects (e.g. Drosophila melanogaster) would be regarded as absolute replacements today.
In the relative replacement group, they included "non-recovery experiments on living and intact, but completely anaesthetised animals", and "experiments where animals are still required, but only to furnish preparations after being painlessly killed". The last-named category included "work on the isolated cells, tissues, or organs of vertebrates".
They saw tissue culture as a bridge between relative and absolute replacement, and considered mammalian tissue cultures to be "one of the most important replacement techniques, and indeed one of the most important developments in biology". Most of us would have no hesitation in agreeing with that.
However, replacement can also be categorised in other ways. For example, a distinction can be made between partial replacement, where animals are subjected to regulated procedures as part of the programme of work, and total replacement, where animals are not subjected to regulated procedures at all. Partial replacement might involve the exposure of an animal to a toxic chemical, after which it is killed and its cells or tissues are subjected to further tests in vitro (i.e. ex vivo). By contrast, where all the experimental procedures are applied to cells or tissues in vitro, this would be classed as total replacement.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, one of the most important distinctions is between direct replacement and indirect replacement. In the former case, a replacement technique is used to give results which are directly comparable with those which would be obtained by the animal procedure that is being replaced.
A classical example of direct replacement is a test for irritancy, based on the application of chemicals to isolated rabbit eyes, instead of to the eyes of intact rabbits. The problem with this approach, where the aim is to identify chemicals likely to cause irritancy in human eyes, is that the uncertainty of the ex vivo/in vivo (i.e. isolated rabbit eye to in situ rabbit eye) equivalence must now be added to the uncertainty of the in vivo/in vivo (rabbit eye to human eye) equivalence. In addition, the isolated rabbit eye may be even more unlike the human eye than the in situ rabbit eye, so the data it provides will be even more difficult to interpret and apply.
Seeking genuine indirect replacement procedures is much more intelligent, if it involves defining the information it was hoped to get from the animal procedure, then obtaining it from much more advanced experimental techniques. For example, the metabolism of drugs can be studied by using human hepatocytes in vitro, instead of administering the drugs to rats or dogs, which have different complements of drug metabolising enzymes. Direct replacement offers the possibility of direct relevance, where the object of interest can be studied, rather than an inadequate and imperfect model.
To return to the wisdom of Russell and Burch, it is interesting to note that it is in their chapter on Replacement that they discuss the difference between fidelity and discrimination, and the importance of the high-fidelity fallacy.2 The danger is in assuming that, since vertebrates — and especially the higher vertebrates, such as Old World monkeys — are generally similar to humans, data from experiments applied to them will be specifically relevant to humans. Russell and Burch believed that "progress in replacement has been restricted by [this] plausible, but untenable, assumption". Common sense says that they were right, but the presumption of high-fidelity remains the justification for much research and testing with animal models today.2
Russell and I followed the same zoology degree course at Oxford, in what was then called the Department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. We studied every order of animals from the Protozoa (e.g. Amoeba) to the Hominoidea (great apes and humans), and the emphasis was on how animals had evolved from common ancestors via adaptive radiation, in ways appropriate to their particular environments and lifestyles, how originally-common features could evolve to be the solutions to different problems, and how the same kinds of problems could be solved in different ways. It would never have occurred to us that one type of animal could precisely and satisfactorily model another one.
While it may be true that our current thinking about replacement is somewhat different from that of Russell and Burch in 1959, to me, at least, their discussion on fidelity and discrimination is of timeless value, especially when coupled with the encouraging words of their view that "Replacement is always a satisfactory answer; but reduction and refinement should, wherever possible, be used in combination".
Professor Michael Balls
c/o FRAME
Russell & Burch House
96–98 North Sherwood Street
Nottingham NG1 4EE
E-mail: email@example.com
1 Russell, W.M.S. & Burch, R.L. (1959). The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, xiv + 238pp. London,
UK: Methuen.
2 Balls, M. (2013). The Wisdom of Russell and Burch 3. Fidelity and discrimination. ATLA 41, P12–P13.
The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique is now out of print, but the full text can be found at http://
altweb.jhsph.edu/pubs/books/humane_exp/het-toc. An abridged version, The Three Rs and the Humanity Criterion,
by Michael Balls (2009), can be obtained from FRAME.


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The Best LGBTQ Literature of 2012: "Songs for the New Depression"
I'm so grateful that my novel Songs for the New Depression has been mentioned on another Best Books of 2012 list! Indie Reviews names their favorite reads of the year, and my book is mentioned, along with others by my pals Drake Braxton (Missing) and Arthur Wooten (Arthur Wooten's Shorts), and many deserving others.
Add this nod to the other Best Books of 2012 mentions at Out in Print, Alfred Lives Here, and Butterfly-O-Meter Books, as well as the Next Generation Indie Book Award for LGBTQ fiction, and I'm slowly realizing that 2012 was a really incredible year.
Things like this only happen when we follow our dreams!
Here's wishing everyone a 2013 filled with love, happiness, and joy.
My best,
Out in Print names "Songs for the New Depression" one of their "Best Books of 2012"
I'm so grateful for Out in Print Reviews including Songs for the New Depression in their wrap up of the top books of the year; it is a career highlight for me. Not only does it affirm my instinct to write, but it also means that others may eventually discover my tale, and hopefully it will inspire and resonate.
Out in Print wrote, in part: "Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written… You'll read this once for its emotional impact and again to see how the author achieves it. But no matter how many times you dive in, you'll be impressed."
My Christmas gift came early this year!


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Austin Lewis, of Grand Junction, verbally commits to Drake
Grand Junction senior running back Austin Lewis announced that he is verbally committing to Drake University.
"He's a great student," coach Robbie Owens said. "Driven by academics more than anything."
Lewis rushed for 986 yards and 11 touchdowns through the first seven games of the season. He also has eight catches for 106 yards and another TD to help lead the Tigers to a 5-2 record.
"He bought his time as a sophomore, but by his junior year, he picked off where (2011 All-Colorado selection) Jerreon Dennis left off," Owens said.


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Last night at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon made an announcement so huge and unbelievable that it made everyone completely forget that the People's Choice Awards were going on. Just kidding, nobody was watching the People's Choice Awards anyway. But McMahon boasted to the crowded room that on February 24, the WWE Network will launch, and it will change the way that sports and entertainment approach Pay-Per-Views and online viewing forever.
For just $9.99 a month, WWE fans can not only have access to at least 1,500 hours of original WWE programming, including past PPV events, documentaries and classic matches, but they will be able to watch all 12 of the WWE's PPV events this year. For perspective, if this network wasn't created, most fans would pay about $600 for this year's big shows. Now? About $120, with all of that other awesome stuff included.
"Today is a historic day for WWE as we transform and reimagine how we deliver our premium live content and 24/7 programming directly to our fans around the world," said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. "WWE Network will provide transformative growth for our company and unprecedented value for our fans." (Via the WWE)
Of course, this announcement absolutely dwarfs the launch of the UFC Fight Pass, which debuted last weekend to a lot of raised eyebrows and criticism from fans. Naturally, a lot of people on the Twitters called the WWE's CES announcement a shrewd and tactical business move by McMahon and Co., as they were dropping a bomb right in the UFC's own backyard. I don't necessarily see it that way, but it definitely makes sense.
Instead, I think this is just the case of two kids that showed up to the science fair, with one of them having received a ton of help from his father and having far more resources available to make sure his volcano erupted and the spaghetti sauce looked legitimately like lava, while the other waited til the last second and had to shake the table to get his red Kool-Aid to spill out of his barely-dried newspaper volcano. The WWE has money and power, and therefore knew it could make this bold move with PPVs, while the UFC probably thought the Fight Pass deal was pretty dang sweet for the time being.
While it might not be competitive in nature, us UFC fans can't help but look at the WWE Network and think, "What the hell, Dana White?" because we're paying $9.99 a month for the UFC's Fight Pass, which features the following:
- Exclusive UFC Fight Night live events
- Event replays and a UFC fight library
- Exclusive TV shows, including The Ultimate Fighter and Best of PRIDE
- Other original content (interviews, news, original programs)
Count me among the people who thinks that those features for $9.99 a month make for a good deal, so long as the UFC understands that Fight Nights starting at 6:30 AM ET on Saturdays are F*CKING RIDICULOUS. "But you can watch it on a replay later in the day at your own convenience!" Big deal, I like watching my fights live. (Also, here's something that Ben Fowlkes and Danny Boy Downes wrote about the debut of the Fight Pass, and I very much agree with Danny's points.)
Unfortunately, the WWE just peed in the UFC's NOS, because how the hell am I not supposed to be jealous looking at all of these features that the WWE is offering?
- All 12 current WWE pay-per-view events – including WrestleMania – will be available to subscribers live, as well as on demand.
- Live pay-per-view 30 minute pre- and post-shows.
- Original programs including: The Monday Night War, which chronicles the days of Raw vs. Nitro and I will watch the hell out of this; WrestleMania Rewind; WWE Countdown; WWE Superstars; WWE NXT; and WWE Legends House, which will star WWE icons, including Roddy Piper, Tony Atlas and Hacksaw Jim Duggan living together like on the Real World. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!?!?!
- All Raw and Smackdown shows will be available immediately after they air.
- All WWE, WCW and ECW PPV events and classic matches will be available, uncut and uncensored. (I don't even watch the WWE regularly anymore and I want to get this so I can re-watch everything that I vaguely remember from my childhood and my college years when we'd get drunk, watch Nitro and then break all of the folding tables in the closet and blame the pledges.)
I don't expect the UFC to respond to this as if it's a direct assault, because I think in most cases the WWE already has a nice share of the UFC's fans and it's the UFC that would want to tap into the WWE fans. But the UFC is going to have to at least spin this in a way to explain to me, the avid UFC fan who spends $600 a year on PPVs (and now $720 with Fight Pass), why the other guys with the better entertainers are doing it for $10 a month.
(Banner via Getty)


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Online Dating Resources
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text: Just wanted to let you all see what I'm working on. At the request of MANY MANY people, I'm making a pink theme. This is VERY ALPHA so please go easy. I'm still playing around with colors and definitely need to work on the menu color...there's too much red IMO. Any suggestions as far as theming and possibly a name would be great.... Thanks for check it out!


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Hoo boy it's been a while since I posted – lucky my new year's resolution wasn't to post more regularly! I think a Broke and Bookish Top Ten Tuesday is the perfect way to ease into the year, so here we go.
This week's topic is the top ten 2015 releases that we meant to get to, but because I can only dream of a world where I can read books in the year they were released, I've modified it slightly. I'm going with five books I wish I'd read (irrespective of their release date) and five books I wish I hadn't bothered with.
I wish:
- Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
- All That Is by James Salter
- The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee
- Winter by Marissa Meyer
- Amnesia by Peter Carey
I wish I hadn't:
- The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
- The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
- To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- Children of Liberty by Paullina Simons
- The Four-Dimensional Human by Laurence Scott
Which books do you wish you'd read last year?
Categories: Book life


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Elegant And Efficient Vanity Bathroom
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Gray cermaic flooring white wall. Blue wall paint real wood natural color rustic vanityf with storage drawers mirror without frame washbasin towelshelf wooden floor. Gray wall paint mirror without frame real wood brown small vanity mounted washbasin gray cermaic flooring tile smooth rug curtain. Natural color rustic real wood vanity.
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ecoACTIVE (Charitable Incorporated Organisation number 1180582) is an innovative environmental education charity with a reputation for using hands-on, practical approaches to explore complex issues of sustainability. ecoACTIVE envisions a world where young people and communities are agents of change for creating a better planet. We design and deliver interactive workshops to empower people to take meaningful action on sustainability.
We create eye-opening experiences for children and adults alike, running workshops in schools, projects in parks, community gardens, and projects with community groups and housing associations.
ecoActive is a unique locally-driven initiative aimed at getting Londoners more engaged in sustainability through interactive workshops and learning activities. We embrace the concept of "Think Global; Act Local", by helping school and community groups to understand critical global issues and the small actions they can take to make a difference.
Why EcoACTIVE?
Our immersive activities, which we bring directly to your classroom, community centre or outdoor space, can be life-changing for those who participate. The ecoACTIVE team is made up of people who are passionate about both the environment and the power of education. They make environmental issues come to life, with easy-to-understand explanations and exciting exercises. Many of our session workers are previous teachers and our workshops are created to align with the National Curriculum, so you can be sure that working with ecoACTIVE is well worth it.
In addition to sessions and workshops, we also support long-term sustainability projects over the course of weeks and months, such as setting up community gardens, regenerating disused green spaces and helping schools to transform how they operate to be more sustainable.
We can provide a single or series of sessions tailored to your needs, focusing on anything from waste and recycling or setting up a garden to climate change or water conservation. We will work with you to figure out what kind of workshop will work best and then find a time for ecoACTIVE to come to your school or centre. It is best to get in touch with us as early as possible to ensure that we are available.
So if you want to save on energy bills, create a community garden, develop a waste art project, sort out your recycling or simply raise people's awareness of sustainable development and what it might mean for them, get in touch and we'll develop an outreach activity designed just for you.
And if you're a Hackney school, take a look at our programme of free activities available to primaries and secondaries across the borough – funded by the London Borough of Hackney to help schools manage their energy and waste more effectively.
History of EcoACTIVE
We started our work as ecoACTIVE in 1999, with the goal of helping children, adults and youth groups to think creatively about the planet as well as their own behaviour and its impact on the world around them. We hope that, through our connections with the communities of Hackney and north-east London, we can help develop positive responses to issues such as waste management, fuel poverty, biodiversity and food production.


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Back to: Shop All Lotus
2020 Pink Beauty - Green Petals
Nelumbo nucifera
Classic simplicity radiates peace and graceful simplicity!
Pink Beauty has the same name as a smaller flower that we have grown for many years (now called Little Pink Beauty) but these two lotus are nothing alike. 2020 Pink Beauty is a large plant with a single flower that opens with broad petals that are greenish white tipped in dark pink. The brilliant green receptacle in the center looks perfect in comparison. We find this lotus to be a steady bloomer throughout the summer.
Flower Color: Versicolor
Plant Height: Tall
Flower Type: Single


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Del Mar House Cleaning Professionals
No One Cares More Than The Cleaning Authority - Del Mar
More than 600 families rely on The Cleaning Authority - Del Mar for professional, punctual, and friendly house cleaning services. We are known for delivering 5-star service each and every time, and always at competitive pricing. Whether you want your house to look and stay tidy without adding chores to your busy schedule or if you need to prepare your home for presentation on the real estate market, we are the team of home cleaners you can count on in Del Mar, Poway, Encinitas, Solana Beach and beyond.
Why You Should Choose The Cleaning Authority - Del Mar
For the average American, there is just no time in the day to clean their own home. Save your spare time for more fun activities, not for dusting, sweeping, and scrubbing, by letting our Del Mar home cleaning specialists do it for you. Your to-do list and your family will thank you.
People choose our cleaning professionals for the following reasons & more:
- We are fully insured and bonded
- We provide free, no-obligation in-home estimates
- Our cleaning products are environmentally responsible
- Industry-favorite "Detail-Clean Rotation System"


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I got the Cocoa Butter Body Butter for my mother as part of her Mother's Day present as she requested it and The Dreams Unlimited one, I got just to try out. When in store, I tried the Olive Oil, Papaya, and Passion Fruit ones, and loved them so added them to my wishlist. I also tried out the Vanilla, Almond, Brazil Nut and Mango but I'm not really a fan of those ones. I'm starting to build quite a collection of these, and next on my list is obviously the Strawberry one however it was out of stock, when I got these beauties, so hopefully I'll have better luck next time.
Clockwise: Cocoa Body Butter, Peppermint Intensive Foot Rescue, Dreams Unlimited Body Butter, Olive Oil Body Butter, Papaya Body Butter, Passion Fruit Body Butter.
FYI: The Body Shop UK is currently having another 40% sale online and in-store on everything including sales items. The voucher code is 19804 :)
Have any of you tried TBS's Body Butters, if so what one/(s) is/are your favourite/(s)? P.S. If you have any recommendations for me to try out, do let me know in the comments section below :)
As always until next time, stay blessed and beautiful dolls xoxo


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Why We Invested
The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCR) is to secure equal justice for all through the rule of law, targeting, in particular, the inequities confronting African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. We believe that this work continues to be vital today. Our support of LCCR's Pro Bono program will help provide the capacity and support needed to engage mid-sized law firms that want to be involved in litigation efforts to protect vulnerable communities. These firms sometimes lack the organizational direction needed to identify and take on impactful cases. We believe that greater participation from firms as litigation partners will allow a greater expansion of impact litigation successes.
How To Get Involved
Follow LCCR's blog and check out the latest news on Twitter!


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Note: This tax credit expired at the end of 2014. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed in December 2015, retroactively renewed this tax credit effective January 1, 2015, expiring again on December 31, 2016. Any qualified equipment installed in 2015 or 2016 is eligible for this credit. As in previous years, the cumulative maximum amount of tax credit that can be claimed by a taxpayer in all years combined is $500. If a taxpayer has already claimed a tax credit of $500 for purchases made in any previous year, they are ineligible for additional tax credits for any new equipment purchases.
This credit applies to energy efficiency improvements in the building envelope of existing homes and for the purchase of high-efficiency heating, cooling and water-heating equipment. Efficiency improvements or equipment must serve a dwelling in the United States that is owned and used by the taxpayer as a primary residence. The maximum tax credit for all improvements made in 2011 - 2016 is $500. The cap includes tax credits for any improvements made in any previous year. If a taxpayer claimed $500 or more of these tax credits in any previous year, any purchases made in 2011 - 2016 will be ineligible for a tax credit.
Geothermal tax credits are also available for home owners who install geothermal heating and cooling systems through the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 (H.R. 1424). H.R. 1424 offers a onetime tax credit of 30% of the total investment for homeowners who install residential ground loop or ground water geothermal heat pumps that meet or exceed Energy Star requirements and are installed after December 31, 2007. The tax credit is available through December 31, 2016. Consult your local tax professional for advice on taking advantage of this tax credit.
For qualified HVAC improvements, homeowners may be able to claim 25C tax credits equal to 10 percent of the installed costs (up to $500 maximum*). The extended tax credit is in effect for all qualifying systems and products installed during the 2012 and 2013 calendar years and expires on December 31, 2013. For qualified geothermal improvements, homeowners may be able to claim HR 1424 tax credits equal to 30% of the total installed costs. Subject to IRS regulations, tax credits apply as a direct reduction of taxes owed. The IRS has directed taxpayers to use Form 5695 to calculate and file for their residential energy credits. Customers should consult with a tax professional to fully understand how the tax credits may apply to you, what you can do to obtain one, and for advice on and/or assistance with tax preparation.


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Idaho legislators almost torpedoed an international treaty on child support out of an irrational fear of Islamic law. In April, the House defeated a bill that would approve new federal rules on child support enforcement. All of the states must approve the rules in order for families to collect child support from a parent living abroad.
The consequence for their 'no' vote would be that the state opted out of the federal monitoring and enforcement system altogether. The effect would be enormous. A quarter of Idaho's children — 155,000 kids — would potentially lose $205 million a year in payments that are collected, to say nothing of $16 million that the federal government grants Idaho for enforcement.
Representatives' reasoning (using the word loosely) was that the trigger for rewriting the rules — an international treaty on child support — could force state courts to enforce Sharia law. Never mind that the bill allows states to reject judgements that are "manifestly incompatible" with public policy.
The uproar over their decision forced the legislature into a special session — ordered by Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter — that convened, and dismissed, on Monday. Their sole purpose was to approve the child support legislation after all. The House approved it, 49-21, and the Senate quickly passed it as well, 33-2, sending it to the governor for his signature. The two dissenting senators were, of course, Republicans.
In an interesting twist, the opponents of the bill stopped using the fear that Sharia law would overtake the courts as an argument and instead railed about government overreach. Fanning anti-Islamic fears is apparently a convenient tool to getting one's way and to cover up the real agenda.
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, said:
We are throwing away our state sovereignty and due process for efficiency – that's absurd.
When the public was given the opportunity to testify, single mothers gave tearful accounts of the negative impact on their children's quality of life when they don't get child support payments. Opponents included Bob Neugebauer, who said:
This bill is not about child support, it's about extortion.
Katherine Frazier accused lawmakers of accepting bribery from the federal government and quoted the Bible:
…fire shall devour the houses of bribes.
The 'sovereignty' opponents don't seem to realize that true sovereignty would rightfully mean forgoing the benefits of a larger association with the federal government. They seem to want their cake — federal dollars and enforcement procedures — and eat it, too — by refusing cooperation with the greater whole.
Cooler heads eventually won the day. House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, put the issue into perspective:
This vote is truly a statement of values. Do you support kids and families? Or do you support decisions based on fear and disinformation? Please think who you're supporting.
Even more to the point, Senator Grant Burgoyne said:
It's extremely important that regular Idahoans stay connected with their government. When they don't, people who fill the vacuum can be extreme.
Idaho lawmakers just overruled their extremists. America, you're up next!
Feature photo from Wikimedia Commons


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This morning I was so encouraged! I woke up to find comments on some of my blog posts, a couple of comments on Facebook, and a couple messages. When someone takes the time to comment it really means a lot to me. Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you so much for encouraging me.
Feeling inspired, I enjoyed doing my February Quests today.
I know, I said I wasn't going to blog about flossing every day...and I'm not...but...I do have big news about this flossing Quest! My awesome friend, Gourmet Hostess has decided to join me in this Quest! This just tickles me. So fun!
Another great friend, the Fitness Expert, was so kind to message me with helpful advice and exercises to do to strengthen my knee. It was so thoughtful and because she is a certified instructor, I listened to her advice and did those exercises today. My knee is feeling better, so I am hopeful I will be able to walk on the treadmill tomorrow. Thank you Fitness Expert!
Share Love
This evening I was thinking about the upcoming holiday. I know there are some people out there who dread Valentine's Day. Let's face it, it's just not as fun when you are a You and not an Us on that day. I get that.
However, I would really like to encourage those who struggle with Valentine's Day, to think about it another way. It really doesn't have to be a big romantic day. It can truly be a day to celebrate anyone in your life that you love.
I have several single people in my life that I love and care about, I'm sure you do too. My plan is to try to reach out to those who might be feeling a little left out on this day and share some love with them. I plan to let them know they are special to me.
Hubby and I don't usually make Valentine's Day a big deal. We don't buy elaborate gifts or do a big fancy anything. We decided years ago that for us, it was just going to be a day to make each other feel loved. We took big expectations off the table. We might get each other a little something and go out to eat, but it's not a big planned event with dozens of roses dripping with diamonds.
That's not to say we don't do romantic. We do special things to celebrate Us throughout the year. We often do romantic for our anniversary, but sometimes we plan something special just out of the blue when we decide we need some Us time.
Of course, Hubby loves to say "Everyday is Valentine's Day around here." While that may not be totally accurate, the idea is. We try to show each other
we love and value each other every day.
Whether Valentine's Day is a big day in your world or one of the most dreaded, I encourage you to look at it a little differently this year. Maybe while making your plans (or wishing you had some)...maybe you could think of a way to make that day special for someone else.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Celebrating Valentine's Day in a Different Way
Outlook By: Rosie at 8:35 PM
|Rosie made me:
1 comment:
- AnonymousFebruary 12, 2013 at 10:58 PM
Something that I've been able to do for the past several years is to bless recent widows and widowers with a single rose and card that reads I know ( the husband or wife's name) would of wanted you to have a flower and feel loved today on Valentines day. I do not sign it....but was caught once and was given the biggest hug ever!ReplyDelete
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Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Spacius – Nintendo meets JavaScript – again!
Fellow Yahoo Matt Hackett took a leaf out of Jacob Seidelin's book and started converting old school arcade games to JavaScript. Instead of using Canvas his only "non JavaScript" solution is playing the music with Scott Schiller's Sound Manager (which, as we know, uses Flash under the hood).
You can come down with 8 bit shoot-em-up fever by clicking the screenshot.
Matt also shows you what the score is and give some more game info on his blog.
Posted by Chris Heilmann at 4:41 pm
10 Comments


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Register here
A New Take on Tradition: Dulux Heritage
Building on our 85 years of experience, Dulux Heritage offers a sophisticated range of shades your clients will love in the professional products you want to use.
Handpicked by Dulux's Colour and Design experts, the relaunched Heritage palette features 112 shades, including brand new additions that give homeowners the contemporary take on classical colours they're searching for.
While still including shades with historical significance, the Heritage palette offers colours to suit a broad spectrum of tastes and property styles.
Louise Tod, Dulux's Senior Global Colour Designer, explains; 'Expanding the selection of neutral shades such as Country Sky and Turtledove Grey nods to the enduring popularity of subtle shades within interiors. Yet the palette also reflects contemporary taste for deep, moody tones such as Midnight Teal and Wild Blackberry that add drama and intensity to the home.'
Designed to be easy to use, the Heritage range is displayed in 17 columns of colour across pale, mid and deep tones alongside whites specifically selected to coordinate with each column. Customers can confidently select colours within the palette in the knowledge that they will pair beautifully to create a stylish look to suit their home.
With something to suit every taste, from dark and dramatic shades to soft neutrals tints, Dulux Heritage will put our colour expertise at your customer's fingertips.
Explore the whole palette of shades on our Heritage page or pick up a colour card at your local Dulux Decorator Centre or Dulux Trade merchant.