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"As you become authentically powerful, you become the authority in your life."
Our guest in this episode is the spiritual teacher who has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show more than 30 times to discuss transformation in human consciousness concepts presented in his book The Seat of the Soul. His gentle presence, humor, and insightful wisdom have inspired millions to realize their soul's greatest potential. On this live call, Vishen Lakhiani and Gary Zukav reveal how to participate fully in this evolution, enlivening our everyday activities and all of our relationships with meaning and purpose.
Listen out for:
- How Gary got started in personal growth and spirituality.
- The definition of reverence.
- What authentic power is and how it is connected to reverence.
- Authentic power in partnerships.
- Live bonus Q&A session.
- Find out more about Gary Zukav here 👉 https://seatofthesoul.com/
- Subscribe to Mindvalley All Access to discover 30+ Mindvalley Quests – at a surprisingly low annual fee. You can also watch our podcast sessions live, interact with the guests, connect with the world's best teachers and find your community here 👉 https://go.mindvalley.com/NOW
Like this episode?
Subscribe to our Podcast on iTunes and Spotify. Tag us @Mindvalley on Instagram or Twitter too.
Still want to learn more? We recommend:
- You Might Be Suffering From Low Vibration — 6 Steps to Fix It
- Understanding Positive and Negative Energy in People
- Sending Love From Afar: The Power of Distance Healing
About Gary Zukav
Gary Zukav is an American spiritual teacher and the author of four consecutive New York Times Best Sellers. Since 1998, he appeared more than 30 times on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss transformation in human consciousness concepts presented in his book The Seat of the Soul. He is a co-founder of the Seat of the Soul Institute with Linda Francis and a Harvard graduate with a degree in International Relations.


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How Much Five Guys Franchise Owners Really Make Per Year
We cover Five Guys pretty thoroughly over here at Mashed, and for good reason. The popular burger and fries chain is growing at a rapid rate, not just in its home country of the U.S., but also in the U.K., too (via Voxburner). Considering just how popular its burgers are and their commitment to using never-frozen beef and slicing their own potatoes, owning one has to be a solid investment, right?
The short answer would be — yes. If you happen to be a Five Guys franchise owner, then you can expect to make a very healthy income. The tricky part, though, is getting the franchise.
Franchise owners make six figures
Five Guys makes it pretty clear to franchise owners that the company won't pinpoint an exact number on what owners can expect to make based on previous sales history, but that doesn't mean some of the data isn't out there (via Franchise Business Review). A franchisee who is on top of things can expect their store to make a nice amount of sales — up to $1.18 million annually.
Of course, sales don't equal income, and operators have to account for all those overhead costs like keeping the lights on and paying staff to sweep up peanut shells a hundred times a day. Five Guys also takes a gross sales royalty of 6 percent. The median income for a food franchise owner is around $126,866 a year, so we can reasonably expect a Five Guys franchisee to be somewhere around that.
Before owners can make that kind of money with Five Guys, though, they first have to convince them that they're worthy of sitting at the table.
You'll need big cash if you want to open a Five Guys
Buying a Five Guys franchise — or really any fast food franchise — isn't cheap. Opening one doesn't cost as much as a Wendy's or McDonald's, but it's still a pretty penny.
The franchise fee is $25,000, and franchisees can expect to make an initial investment between $306,000 to $641,000. This cost has only gotten more expensive as the chain's popularity has skyrocketed. In 2012, the franchise fee was $5,000 less, however, those who were interested were expected to already have a hefty net worth (at least $1.5 million) and liquidity of around $500,000 (via Forbes). Oh, and Five Guys doesn't help with financing.
Franchisees operate more than 900 of Five Guys' restaurants, and that number is expected to keep growing as more applications are flowing in every day. While it does cost a lot to open one, the pay off is pretty good.
Franchisees don't just run a single Five Guys restaurant
Five Guys sold out of all its North American franchise rights shortly after opening the franchise doors and people have been clamoring to get one ever since. If you have the funds and a serious love of burgers, a Five Guys might be right for you. Just know that you won't be running a single store, but five at the very minimum.
The company also has some pretty hefty terms in its franchise contracts. "I don't know if I would ever sign it," company founder Jerry Murrell told Inc. "We can get out of the deal a million ways, but they are stuck." Aside from taking a sales cut, the company also regularly puts its franchised stores through weekly secret shopper and safety checks.
Five Guys was initially against franchising
Considering just how wildly popular Five Guys has become, it's almost hard to believe that its U.S. takeover might not have ever happened. For a fast food restaurant to really grow, franchising is almost a necessity, but Five Guys was initially against it. Murrell had worked incredibly hard to get his burger restaurants running and profitable in northern Virginia, and the idea of turning it over to outsiders was a risky move he wasn't sure he was ready for.
"I just wasn't sure I could get strangers to buy into our concept," he told Forbes in 2012. "Everyone came in with their own opinions about what should be on the menu." Murrell was reluctant, but his son Matt, who was helping him run the business, was wise enough to see the potential and bought his father a copy of Franchising for Dummies. The book was co-written by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, and gave Murrell the push he needed to welcome franchise investors into the fold.
It only took three days to sell out of franchise rights in Virginia — and the rest is pretty much burger history.

subset: commoncrawl


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Jason Allen Webb, M.D., DFAPA, FAAHPM, FACP (he/him)
Accepting new patients
- Section Chief, Palliative Care
- Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology, School of Medicine
- Associate Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine
- Hospice and Palliative Care
- Internal Medicine
- Psychiatry
Special focus
- Psychiatry (Psychosomatic Medicine)
- Palliative Care
- Cancer Pain
About me
Dr. Webb specializes in caring for patients with serious illnesses such as cancer, dementia, and advanced heart and lung disease. He has advanced training in palliative medicine and psychiatry. His combined expertise provides for patient-centered care of the symptoms that can accompany serious illness, such as pain, nausea, fatigue, depression, and anxiety.
Dr. Webb is passionate about integrating palliative care for patients with blood cancers and those patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation. He focuses on the physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs of patients, and their families, during the course of treatment. He enjoys developing relationships with his patients and collaborating with other specialists across the health system to improve goal-concordant care.
Dr. Webb and his partner, an architect, enjoy spending time with their children in many of the local Portland parks and farmer's markets. Dr. Webb enjoys writing poetry, hiking with his kids, building LEGO's, and watching college sports.
Education and training
- B.S., 2002, University of Portland
- M.D., 2007, University of Nevada, School of Medicine
- Internal Medicine & Psychiatry, Duke University, 2008
- Internal Medicine & Psychiatry, Duke University, 2012
- Chief Resident, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Duke University, 2011
- Chief Resident, Internal Medicine & Psychiatry, Duke University, 2012
- Chief Resident, Internal Medicine, Duke University/Durham VA Medical Center, 2013
- Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Duke University, 2014
- American Board of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine, 2012
- American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Psychiatry, 2013
- American Board of Internal Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 2014
Memberships and associations:
- American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
- American Psychiatric Association
- American College of Physicians
Before scheduling your appointment, we recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the OHSU Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any copayments, co–insurance, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with OHSU providers, your out of pocket liability may be higher. Visit the billing and insurance section of our site for more information.
Ratings and reviews
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 ( , )
The patient ratings score is an average of all responses to the question "How likely would you be to recommend this provider to your family and friends (on a scale of 0 to 10)" on our nationally-recognized NRC patient surveys.
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In honor of Mother's Day, we wanted to flash back to the Cherry Bombe Jubilee 2.0 (how was that only a month ago?) and revisit a warm conversation hosted by Priya Krishna—cookbook author, food writer and a host of Bon Appétit's YouTube channel.—and her mom Ritua Krishna.
The pair share how they stay connected through food, family video calls and gratitude help them stay grounded during lockdown.
- Happy Hours. They say they don't necessarily have to be a cocktail hour, but a daily scheduled time at the end of the day to separate work life from personal life.
Ritua: Priya comes down, we have a cocktail, a glass of wine, sometimes a glass of sparkling water. It's worked really well for us.
Priya: My mom will put the music on and hear the cocktail shaker going, it's nice to have an end point to your day.
- Get highly invested in one television show. The mother-daughter duo says they choose shows no one in the house has seen that has tons of seasons to binge. The agree becoming deeply invested in the plots is a fun way to "fall into a reality that is not your own." Their picks: Succession and The Americans.
- The weekly family meeting. Not a casual gathering, but an official scheduled meeting. The entire family makes a point to share what's been going on in each other's lives. They talk highlights, challenges, whatever they need to cope with this new way of life.
- Making big batches of food to share with others. Inspired by people delivering meals to healthcare workers, they make big batches of food to drop off at loved ones' homes. They said it's a nice way to feel like you're bringing a little bit of joy into someone else's life. Plus, the chance to actually drive somewhere made it feel like an actual outing.
- Taking walks by yourself. Priya says one of the hardest things about quarantine is loneliness. She finds staring at nature, taking a moment to breathe in and out, and appreciating alone time are some of the best things lockdown has brought back into her life. She says it's important to remember, loneliness is sad, but it's also nice to appreciate the solitary moments.
- Inviting other family members to meal times. Just like the rest of us, Ritua and Priya are no strangers to the family video call. They say it's "just a nice way of socializing that makes you feel that you're not alone."
- A gratitude journal. Every day, Pryia writes down three things for which she is she thankful. She says it's an important reminder to have gratitude for the good things in life.
- Reconnecting with people. And one of the things they're thankful for: the opportunity to have regular meet ups thanks to everyone's new-found extra free time.
- Remember: this is temporary. They want everyone to remember that this is not permanent; it will end and it's really important to take this day by day. They look for joy and happiness in each day, and try not to feel anxiety about the future. They admit the uncertainty is the hardest part. Just like the rest of us, they want to know when they'll see loved ones, leave the house, or go to a restaurant again. They say it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the future, but it's important to take it one day at a time.
- Check in on your people. Shoot a text, a slack, a quick call. Especially to those in the medical field and essential workers. They believe checking in our people regularly will send good vibes out into the community.


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Leah - Fairy Design
I wanted to create my own dark fantasy interpretation of the popular mythical creatures, fairies. Rather than implementing a bug-like design, I tried something different by merging a human with a bird.
Design - Molly Brown
3D model - Molly Brown
Softwares - Zbrush, Maya, Arnold, Photoshop
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This premium gin produced in one of the oldest distilleries of Andalusia, located in the town of Carmona in the province of Seville, Spain. The flavor of Puerto de Indias Pure Black Edition Premium Gin is obtained from ingredients from the Andalusian springtime during its production process.
With a crystal clear appearance, the gin has a strong flavor of juniper and citrus, with notes of select ingredients such as jasmine and vanilla, as well as light touches of orange blossom. Its flavor is intense and bitter, with a well-rounded character provided by the juniper.
Fast Delivery @ Wholesale Prices


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Debugging shell scripts comes handy, especially when unexpected things happen. Trust me, they do. I use two different approaches, based on what's needed: debug while running it or when ran in the background, maybe by […]
Category: Programming
Capture IP From PING
This is just a simple sed to capture IP address from ping. Note host must allow ICMP. This was tested on sh, bash and zsh. An example:
DNS Blacklist on WRT
Recently I found a forum entry with a script for blocking ad's via DNS for WRT (or any other OS using sh and dnsmasq). However it was missing two features: a white list and a […]
Easy bond Interface
If you ever set up a bond interface on Linux you know it takes a few file editing. I got tired of doing this, please find my script below creating a bond interface. This is […]
Classic Programmer Paintings
Great webpage, inspired by painting and technology http://classicprogrammerpaintings.com/
while loop in csh
This made my day, while loop in one line -one liner- under csh printf "while ( 1 ) \n df -m \n echo 'remaining space' \n sleep 60 \n end" | csh -f Of course, you could […]
If you have dealt with regular expression then you know that it takes a while to get a good grasp on it. If you are just learning it here is an amazing tutorial: http://regexone.com. Enjoy 😉
Sharing recipe is like open source software, or open source software is like sharing recipe?
compare "n" number of variables
An easy way to compare "n" number of variables in bash, precisely to find if all of them are equal or not, can be easily done in the following way: while [ $i -lt 10 […]
Interest Calculator
Recently I found myself calculating interest and interest duration, I heaven't found any decent tool for this so I did one by myself in C++. It does nothing else but prints the numbers you were […]


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Bing Maps Articles
The following articles provide background information and cross-API information for Bing Maps APIs.
Article | Description |
Accessing the Bing Maps REST Services using PHP | A step-by-step tutorial that shows how to write a PHP application that uses the Bing Maps REST Services. |
Accessing the Bing Spatial Data Services using PHP | A step-by-step tutorial that shows how to write a PHP application that uses the Bing Spatial Data Services. |
Bing Maps Tile System | Describes the projection, coordinate systems, and addressing scheme used by the Bing Maps Tile System. |
Create a Custom Map URL | Explains how to create a custom URL that displays a map with additional items such as routes, search results, and my places collections. |
Custom Map Styles in Bing Maps | Information on the custom map style schema used throughout the Bing Maps platform. |
Geocoding Japanese Addresses | Explains Japanese address geocoding and supported features. |
Geospatial Endpoint Service | The Geospatial Endpoint Service is a REST service that provides information about Geospatial Platform services for the language and geographical region you specify. |
SSL Certificate Validation for Java Applications | Explains how to download and install SSL certificates for Java applications. |
Understanding Scale and Resolution | Explains how to determine the scale and resolution of an image. |
Open Maps: understanding ODbL | Explains Bing Maps use of Open Data under ODbL license. |


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The law will affect construction sites that have been stalled for over two years. On June 28, 2021, Local Law 74 was enacted by the NYC Council. The law which originated as Intro 1128 was introduced on September 26, 2018 by Council Member Robert Holden. The new law will amend the New York City Building Code by requiring the green fences that are in place at construction sites that have discontinued or stalled work for over two years be replaced with chain link fences and should work resume the chain link fences would again have to be replaced by the green wooden fences.Local Law History
Local Law 74 was originally conceived because wooden fences at stalled construction sites are often found in various conditions of disrepair and have been subject to various kinds of vandalism. A 2011 report by then Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer found that of 129 stalled construction sites in Manhattan, 37 percent had litter issues and 60 percent had various vandalism issues or had fallen into disrepair. Council Member Holden believes the new law will provide a safer guarding that is less prone to weather conditions and deterioration. As the new fencing is made from chain it will also be less prone to vandalism whereas many of the green wooden fences can be found heavily vandalized. Council Member Holden also believes the law will help to address illicit drug activity, potential squatting, and vermin and pest issues that are common in these stalled buildings.
Law Enforcement
Failure to replace wooden fences with chain link fences after two continuous years of stalled construction could lead to being fined $25,000 by the Department of Buildings, the revocation of certain licensing or certificates, and/or an order to repair damage caused. These punishments will not occur without a hearing, the charged individual will be given five calendar days prior written notice of a hearing.
Council Committee Hearing
Prior to Local Law 74 being enacted, a hearing was held on January 29, 2019, by the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings. Department of Buildings Assistant Commissioner Patrick Wehle voiced support for the bill but only under the understanding that the responsibility should be on the property owner to install the chain link fences. Council Member Chin had questions for the Department of Buildings regarding the scale of construction sites and the community breakdown affected by this bill. Assistant Commissioner Wehle responded by stating there was a certain amount of tracking through the 2009 Stalled Sites Program, but there was no tracking on stalled sites post 2013 when the Stalled Sites Program ended.
Pilar de Jesus, President of the East Harlem Preservation, testified and brought up issues of how these vacant properties could be used as low-income housing to better fight the ongoing housing crisis. Other concerned citizens testified that the chain link fences are easier to climb and thus people could get in easier. Council Member Holden addressed this by stating that chain link fences with smaller holes can be acquired to give less of a foot hold and making it more difficult to climb. Council Member Holden also brought up that the bill would help to address squatting, illicit drug activity, rodents and vermin, graffiti, safety, and what are referred to as derelict zombie homes.
On May 27, 2021, the bill was passed by the Committee Hearing on Housing and Buildings and then later that same day it was passed by the full City Council. Both votes were unanimous.
The law will take effect 180 days from its enactment date. It is also estimated to have no impact on revenues or expenditures in the fiscal year 2023 where impact would be anticipated, this is due to the implementations using existing resources. It should be noted that this law will only affect construction sites where work has been discontinued or stalled for two continuous years after the effective date of this bill.
By: Patrick McNeill (Patrick is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2022.)


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Are you thinking of scheduling an appointment with CenturyLink? The process of scheduling a technician's visit is pretty straightforward, but it does come with other useful options you would definitely want to know about before scheduling a visit. We'll explain all of that today. So, here is everything you need to know about CenturyLink's "Where's My Technician" feature!
What is the "Where's My Technician" Option on the CenturyLink Website?
The cleverly named Where's My Technician section allows you to track your technician after you schedule an appointment with CenturyLink. Your options depend on whether you're visiting this section of the official CenturyLink website before the date of the appointment or on that day.
We'll get through all of the steps and present you with your options upon requesting a visit from the CenturyLink technician. But, before that, you might want to explore various alternatives the company offers its customers, as sending technicians is usually used as a last resort, especially during the pandemic.
Useful Things to Know While Waiting for Your CenturyLink Technician
Options to Explore Before Scheduling an Appointment with the Technician
The company has various options to help you troubleshoot any issue you have with the CenturyLink services. Once you visit the official website, you can click on Support to see all of the ways you can improve or troubleshoot your services without having the technician come to your house.
Performing an Internet Speed Test
First of all, you can perform an internet speed test if you're experiencing some connection problems. You'll find this section by going to Support and clicking on Internet Speed Test. You will then be redirected to the part of the website where you can test your connection. Users don't have to log into their accounts. They can simply click on Go, and CenturyLink will provide them with all the info on their speed specs within a couple of seconds.
Below the speed test portion, you'll find a thorough explanation of the received results. CenturyLink created a table of recommended speeds for common activities. Moreover, you'll find info on how the speed test works and what the specs in the test mean.
Recommended Internet Speeds (Source – CenturyLink)
After you receive your upload and download speed test results, as well as your ping, you can compare them to the promised specs from your plan. If the numbers are much lower, you can find some of the ways to solve your issue under the speed test section.
You can either click on Troubleshoot your modem connection or Optimize your Wi-Fi connection. You should then the company's quick guide on speeding up your connection. Alternatively, you can upgrade your plan or check for new service speeds. Both of these options are below the speed test as well.
Getting Help Online
Once you click on Support, you'll see the CenturyLink Services Support portion of the page. You will then be able to click on Internet, Videos, Home Phone, TV, and Account, depending on which services you have the problem with. Simply click on the service you want to repair. The website will take you to the most frequently reported issues and the best ways to solve them. Most users reported finding a solution to their problem there.
Troubleshoot and Outage Test
Another way to troubleshoot your CenturyLink services is via the troubleshoot and outage testing feature. Once you click on this option in the Support section, the website will take you to another page. There, you'll need to log in using either the My CenturyLink Profile or using your credentials such as your account, phone number, and email. If you go with the second option, you'll have to enter your billing ZIP code as well.
You will then be able to find all the info on outages in your area or outstanding bills. Both of these could be the cause of your services not working. You can also get in touch with customer support. The customer representatives will help you troubleshoot your issue remotely. In case the problem can't be fixed that way, the representative will recommend sending a repair guy. Only then you should schedule an appointment with the CenturyLink technician.
Managing the CenturyLink Appointment
In the Support section, you can either click on Where's My Technician? or Service Appointment Manager. Both of these will take you to the same section for tracking your repair guy and exploring additional options regarding your appointment. To do that, you'll have to enter your account number. Alternatively, you can type the order or repair number you received from CenturyLink when you scheduled it. We should also mention that you can track your order no matter if you are repairing your service or installing a new one.
Once you enter your information, you'll have different options based on whether you're visiting the page before the date of the appointment or on the day of the appointment. If it's a few days before the visit, you'll have the option to view all of your service requests and scheduled visits.
What's more, you'll be able to view their times and reschedule or cancel them. The canceling of the appointment will be available to you only if you've scheduled a repair. In case you're installing a new service, you'll need to call customer support to cancel the visit.
On the day of the appointment, you will have the same options. In addition, you'll have the possibility to find the approximate location of the technician that's supposed to come to your house. You will see a Find My Technician button below the information about your appointment.
You should click on it to receive a pop-up window with the info on the location of your repair guy. In most cases, you'll be able to see their name and photo as well as find them on a map.
Receive Notifications About the Appointment
If you provide your number or an email address, CenturyLink will send you a notification informing you about the details of your appointment. After you schedule it, you will first receive confirmation about the visit.
The company will remind you of the appointment the night before. Once your technician is on the way, you will receive an alert. Finally, you will get a notice that they have arrived at your home as soon as that happens.
This service provider ensures that its customers are completely supported whenever they experience an issue. The Where is My Technician feature will help you track your repair guy and scheduled appointments, as well as change or cancel them in a few simple clicks.
Still, you should keep in mind that scheduling an appointment is typically used as a last resort. Before that, you might want to make use of the online help tools from the official CenturyLink website.
Hey, I'm Jeremy Clifford. I hold a bachelor's degree in information systems, and I'm a certified network specialist. I worked for several internet providers in LA, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Seattle over the past 21 years.
I worked as a customer service operator, field technician, network engineer, and network specialist. During my career in networking, I've come across numerous modems, gateways, routers, and other networking hardware. I've installed network equipment, fixed it, designed and administrated networks, etc.
Networking is my passion, and I'm eager to share everything I know with you. On this website, you can read my modem and router reviews, as well as various how-to guides designed to help you solve your network problems. I want to liberate you from the fear that most users feel when they have to deal with modem and router settings.
My favorite free-time activities are gaming, movie-watching, and cooking. I also enjoy fishing, although I'm not good at it. What I'm good at is annoying David when we are fishing together. Apparently, you're not supposed to talk or laugh while fishing – it scares the fishes.


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The urgency for advanced healthcare triggered by the pandemic, was quickly sensed by authorities in the UAE, who swung into action to boost the sector with online apps and medtech gadgets. The Middle East became home to top notch telemedicine services, smart tools to detect ailments and even robots that could take care of everything from sanitisation to tests along with pharmacies.
The contactless services that droids provide, has also been used for procedures like removal of tumours, and intelligent machines have double up as assistants for diagnosis of cancer. Moving forward in line with this trend, doctors in Dubai have integrated robotics into procedures that help people struggling to lose weight.
In the city known for being the region's go to medical tourism destination, surgeons used sophisticated machines to perform a laproscopic process, to save a morbidly obese woman. The operation was more accurate compared to run of the mill weight loss surgeries, as it used 3D imaging, tremor filters.
The team used a Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system, which automates the set up and comes with minimally invasive instruments that increase efficiency. Doctors face less pressure and can compete the operation in 30% less time then conventional laproscopic procedures.
Robotic assistance also makes things less painful and a lot more safer for patients, since the tool uses smaller incisions, and brings in higher precision. Through this feature, the machine helps speed up the recovery, and even cuts down the costs.
Thanks to the innovative addition, the Emirati woman was able to shed almost 10 kg weight in a month, and was hence saved from risks of diabetes as well as hypertension at a young age.
As Dubai rises to become a prefered space for people to get affordable and advanced medical treatment, other non-invasive weight loss solutions have also been recognised by authorities. The city has recently given approval to capsules that inflate like balloons once they enter the stomach, so that people with obesity can lose weight without undergoing surgery at all.
Image: Shutterstock


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I had the pleasure of having Dr. Jeff Phillips and his wife Kelli in the boat with me today and man what a fun couple to be around! We ended up with a dang good mess of crappie and when it got hot we went cruising Millwood on the hunt for alligators'. The fishing was a grind because we had to drop on a ton of fish to get 32 to bite, luckily they are still stacked up in an area I like to fish. I have a feeling the summertime bite is here and I gotta start having minnows on standby. I'm already looking forward to getting to take these two back out there in the fall! I am booking July trips now so if you're interested in getting your date set give me a shout @ 903-276-2870.
Amy Jones


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Blockchain technology is bridging the supply chain traceability gap and providing real-time visibility into operations ranging from manufacturing to point-of-sale.
VDC Research revealed only 25% of surveyed manufacturing organisations were able to trace more than two steps back in the supply chain; only 32% were able to trace back one step from an immediate supplier.
The inability to quickly and accurately trace products across the supply chain can result in serious consequences in terms of brand reputation, operational efficiency, and profitability. Blockchain can help mitigate these issues for enterprise supply chains while also increasing data security and asset management capabilities.
Blockchain is "enabling cross-collaboration between an entire business ecosystem from manufacturers, distributors, and retailers at every point across the supply chain to create a fully visible operation," said Michael Clarke, a research associate at VDC. In particular, food safety, pharmaceuticals, and luxury goods are key vertical markets in which blockchain can address critical pain points and add value to supply chain operations.
According to VDC's research, automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technologies will be critical to enabling physical asset tracking within blockchain solutions. "Barcode labelling, RFID, and machine vision are key infrastructure elements that provide information on the real-time location of distributed goods across supply chains," added Clarke.
The integration of blockchain and AIDC represents a harmonious solution for end-users to strengthen the traceability of goods through a product's lifecycle.
While blockchain is still in its development stages, Tier I organisations such as Walmart and Kroger have become early adopters of the ledger technology for food safety applications. VDC states that this, in turn, will cause partner organisations to follow in order to remain competitive. Still, from a cost standpoint, implementing a blockchain solution requires a significant investment and is not a one size fits all solution.
"End users should start in pieces, building and piloting blockchain projects before making the full leap to a digital ledger system," Clarke concluded.


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Access Denied
'We're doing the best we can':Talking with Mississippi Doctors
As the state's 15-week abortion ban heads to the Supreme Court, Mississippi doctors talk reproductive health care access, fetal viablity, and maternal health.
This article was made possible because of the generous support of DAME members. We urgently need your help to keep publishing. Will you contribute just $5 a month to support our journalism?
In the nearly 50 years since Roe v. Wade was decided, the landscape of the United States has changed. The first woman was inaugurated to the Supreme Court; three more have followed since. The first Black man was elected president. We have our first woman Vice President. Same-sex marriage is now the law of the land. In many social and political aspects, the country is vastly different. Yet the abortion debate wages on.
With the 1973 decision, the Court ruled that a woman's right to privacy superseded that of the state's right to protect a fetus. That ruling was upheld with Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, namely stating that a woman's right to choose was constitutional pre-viability, or at 24 weeks gestation. Now a case out of Mississippi, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, regarding the state's 15-week abortion ban, has put the debate front and center yet again.
The Mississippi legislature passed the state's 15-week abortion ban in 2018. The ban was signed into law by then Gov. Phil Bryant but overturned by the U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held Reeve's ruling in 2019. Then, Mississippi passed a six-week abortion ban, known as a "heartbeat ban." That ruling was also overturned. After years of waiting by advocates on both sides, in May of this year, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case on the grounds of whether banning abortion pre-viability is constitutional.
In celebrating the Court's decision to take up the ban, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R), no relation to Judge Reeves, took to social media to declare partial victory, tweeting he and others had been "praying" for the day the Court would decide to hear the case. He noted there are three new judges on the now solidly conservative Court, all appointees of former President Donald Trump, but Reeves claimed the Court was hearing the case not because the makeup of the judges had changed but "the science has changed."
Yet doctors on the ground in Mississippi say politicians often use narrow talking points or sound bites regarding science but don't dig deeper into what pregnancy looks like, especially for those who have limited access to care. Twenty percent of Mississippians currently live under the poverty line. And in a state that has repeatedly declined to expand Medicaid, many people don't see a doctor until they're already pregnant. Mississippi continuously ranks toward the bottom when it comes to health care: It has the highest rate of obesity in the nation and only falls behind West Virginia in those living with diabetes. The state also ranks 50th for infant mortality, according to the Mississippi Department of Health (MSDH). Mississippi's maternal mortality also ranks 50th, with 33.2 deaths per 100,000 live births, markedly higher than the national average of 17.3 per 100,000 live births. The disparity is often widened by race. For example, the pregnancy-related mortality ratio for Black women was 51.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, nearly three times the white ratio of 18.9, according to a report issued by MSDH.
And on top of it all: There is just one abortion clinic in the state. It's located in the capital city of Jackson, and activists say it is mainly frequented by Black women from inside the city and the nearby Mississippi Delta.
DAME spoke to two health providers (neither of whom are abortion providers) in an effort to better understand the realities of providing health care in the state.
Dr. Natasha Phillips, D.O., 38, graduated medical school in 2013 and completed her obstetrics and gynecology residency in 2017. She recently left her job as an OBGYN at a group practice in Flowood, Mississippi to move to California. The earliest preemie she has delivered was at 18 weeks gestation, and the baby did not survive.
Dr. Romero Midgett, M.D., 54, is an OBGYN who says he "loves delivering babies." He graduated medical school from Wayne State University in 2003 and completed his residency at the University of Tennessee in Memphis in 2009. He works as an OBGYN at a community health center in Canton, Mississippi.
The following are their thoughts on the 15-week ban, viability, maternal health in the state, and access to care.
What was your reaction to hearing the Supreme Court's decision to take up Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban?
Natasha Phillips: I think it's concerning, for sure. Because it's coming out of Mississippi, to me it's just something else to be embarrassed about. We're always behind, and we just keep making decisions that keep us behind that prevent us from moving forward. When that continues to happen and continues to happen, that's when you get people like myself who are a statistic when they return and are a statistic when they leave. (Mississippi ranks near the top when it comes to population decline, particularly with millennials.)
Romero Midgett: I was surprised a little bit. When I saw 'a fetus is viable' at 16 weeks, I think I saw it on TV or read about it, I was like, 'That's not correct.'
Yet politicians across the state have said "science has changed" in regards to how a fetus develops and what viability looks like. Has it?
Phillips: Science can evolve and we can learn more, but it doesn't really change. If technology improves then maybe we can expand on the viability but that's not true today by any means.
RM: I think they're [the politicians] having feelings from a moral standpoint; they're laymen, not a doctor. If I wasn't who I was, I would think the same thing. But knowing that the babies lungs don't have a chance to mature until at least 23–24 weeks, that young gestational age, if a baby comes out at 16 weeks, it's a spontaneous abortion, ruptured membrane, or incompetent cervix. The baby would not survive on its own. It just can't.
A fetus is considered "viable," or when a baby has a chance to survive outside of the womb, at 24 weeks. What does that look like, and does a fetus have any chance of survival before then?
Midgett: Nothing has changed since I was a resident, a medical student. Nothing has changed, no advancement. We can keep you pregnant, keep you in the hospital, give you steroids, get you the necessary medicine to try to keep you pregnant, but if you deliver before that 23 [mark] and five, six, seven weeks without help, the baby is going to die. The baby is not viable at 15 weeks, it's just not.
With assistance in medical technology, at 23 weeks and five days, with steroids, magnesium, and time, if I can buy them [that]or even two weeks, they usually can live. [But] can they survive but before that? No. No.
I had one patient who was 22 weeks and five days and there was nothing I could do. She spontaneously ruptured a membrane and the baby died. We can't intervene, we don't want to give them [parents] false hope the baby will survive. It never does at that age.
Phillips: Even looking at ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) recommendations, it's 24 weeks. There has been some flexibility in that 23rd week in the last couple of years, but the chance of survivability is low and, even with survival, the chance of what we call "intact survival" is really low as well. So, that means being neurodevelopmentally intact and having basically a normal life. The other marker is a 500-gram baby. Babies born less than that weight, they can't be intubated. That's the big deal. Especially at less than 23 weeks, the eyes can still be fused. These babies aren't ready to be outside of mom yet.
So developmentally, where is a fetus at 15 weeks?
Phillips: The way lungs develop is underwater. Babies live in water. Until we figure out how to put them in an aquarium, essentially, then they are not going to survive outside of the mother prior to lung development.
The structure of the lungs, the trunk of the tree if you will, is completed during the 16th week. "Adult" lung functioning isn't even completed until five weeks after delivery.
Think about cows and horses and other animals, those babies are born walking. Humans, we don't even walk for a year. So, if you think about it, we are already born prematurely at term….We're not ready at 15 weeks."
What are your thoughts on abortion?
Phillips: In my practice, I came across a few women who decided to have an abortion instead of having their babies. I think it's really important that it doesn't matter why they make that choice. Some of them, it was their third child and they just couldn't emotionally do it, they just couldn't, and, in order to keep their other babies healthy and themselves, that was the choice they needed to make. Another lady was older and obese and [had] blood pressure and diabetes and just wasn't the time for her.
It's so stereotyped, it's not always the woman you think it is. One out of four women will have an abortion in their lifetime. Think about that if you're in a group. It's not simple. No one makes that choice overnight, no one makes that choice lightly. And to impart on them these insane rules that aren't scientific, that aren't real, that are lies and disinformation, is really unfair to the medical community and the female population.
Midgett: Women have the right to choose. That's it. I love what I do, I love delivering babies. I delivered three yesterday, I have some more this weekend. I just love delivering babies, but a woman has the right to choose.
According to a report issued by the Mississippi Department of Health, Mississippi has a rate of 33.2 deaths per 100,000 live births, 1.9 times higher than the U.S. average. What does maternal health look like in the state?
Midgett: I'm from Detroit, Michigan, I went to medical school at a place called Wayne State University, and I did my residency at the University of Tennessee. So I am an outsider, but I've been here since 2009. From what I've seen, in Mississippi, we have poor access to medical care. Most women who I take care of don't see a doctor until they get pregnant until they have Medicaid. A lot of them come with poor mobility, they are already diabetic, hypertensive, they've lost babies before. Until Medicaid turns on, that's the only time they see a doctor. I think that's poor health care—only seeing a doctor only when you're pregnant, when you have the means, have the money.
In other states, Michigan [for example], I'm sure it's a more liberal state, but we have [more] access to things. Mississippi is rural, that's just the way it is, it's a rural place. My wife is an attorney and I'm a physician, we're fortunate to make a living. But if it wasn't for that… It's hard. It's hard."
Phillips: In general, the pregnant or nonpregnant population in Mississippi is more unhealthy than other places in the country, In all of America, obesity rates are rising, higher in Mississippi in other states, there are higher rates of chronic hypertension and diabetes, all of those things dramatically increase the risk of bad outcomes for mother and baby.
I think access to care, especially when you get out into rural areas and low-income areas become a really important factor as well. Making sure that physicians are up to date on their medicine that they're practicing is important too. Sometimes after you get out of academics you can kind of drift and continue to practice what you were taught at that time versus keeping up with some of the more up-to-date recommendations. That's important from the health care side and what we can control as a health care provider versus making sure moms take their medicine. We're ultimately educators and advisors; I can't hold her down and make sure she's doing all the things, I can only make sure she's well-informed.
What does postpartum health care look like?
Phillips: There's been a big push for fourth-trimester care. That goes back to making sure you're practicing up-to-date medicine. ACOG now recommends seeing patients two to three weeks out versus the standard six. Whether it's your first baby or your eleventh baby, every pregnancy, every child is different so it can add different stressors and can have more concerns with mental health, breastfeeding issues. Through all that, Mom is maybe focusing on Baby so her health deteriorates whether she realizes it or not. That is a very, very important portion of becoming a mother that does get overlooked. Probably especially in Mississippi because we already have limited funding, we have so many in the poverty zone that they already have trouble with having any insurance at all to even get adequate care on the front end.
For people outside the state, describe what many in Mississippi face when it comes to health care access.
Phillips: There is limited access to healthcare, aka contraception, which leads to increased desire for abortion. "Across the nation, 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas, but in Mississippi, it's just over 50 percent. We don't have access to things. We're doing the best we can down here with what we have, but there are so many divisions between economics and race and education and all the list of things that is Mississippi. All of these things add up to affect access. Whether it's access to the grocery store, access to health care, those divisions make it difficult for us to overcome hurdles. But we are trying… I feel like the rest of the country thinks we're just not trying."
Speaking of access to care, Mississippi has repeatedly declined to expand Medicaid. How does that impact Mississippi mothers?
Midgett: If you want a baby to mature from 15, 16, 24 weeks and beyond and that mother doesn't have a way to take care of Baby because of her situation at home or she's single,, if you don't give her assistance, it's hard to maintain a family. It's hard to maintain life, really.
Medicaid comes off (for the mother) six weeks after childbirth. You might get family planning to help with birth control, but that's about it. It's hard to raise a child. Our state should expand Medicaid on that basis. If they believe there should be no abortion, there should be other means to take care of a baby after it's born.
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The first question every American should have asked themselves about the media narrative that President Trump had his minions tear-gas a crowd of peaceful protesters for a photo op at St. John's Church is, if this were indeed true, how and why on Earth could cops without gas masks launch it into an area that the President of the United States and others (also unmasked) would casually traipse through just minutes later?
Ask yourself that now, if you haven't.
In the meantime, let's preface this story by showing in great detail one example of the unabridged vitriol so many on the Left—politicians, celebrities, and "common" folk alike—feel toward this man.
Per Vogue.com:
Quoting unnamed sources within the administration, [CNN correspondent Kaitlan] Collins said: "It was driven in part by the fact that he was upset over coverage that he had been rushed to the underground bunker" while protestors gathered outside the White House. "Oh, my God," Anderson interjected, as Collins continued her report. "Wow."
"We are in trouble," Cooper told her, looking incredulous. "He was hiding in a bunker and embarrassed that people know that. So what does he have to do? He has to stick police on peaceful protesters so he can make a big show of being the little big man walking to a closed down church."
He went on to say that Trump "seems to think that dominating black people, dominating peaceful protesters is law and order. It's not. He calls them thugs. Who is the thug here? Hiding in a bunker. Hiding behind a suit. Who is the thug? People have waited for days for this wannabe wartime president to say something. And this is what he says. And that is what he does."
Later, Cooper mocked Trump for that photo op at St. John's Church, where the president briefly (and awkwardly) held up a Bible.
"He has to sic police on peaceful protesters so he can make a big show of being the little big man walking to a closed down church," said Cooper. "This event, as I said, if it wasn't so dangerous and disgusting, it would be funny, because it is so low rent and just sad."
It turns out this is not how the event materialized. At all. It turns out that in the MSM's "report it first" craze, all the facts were not substantiated. Every major mainstream media platform, including Fox News, reported the lie that Park Police used "tear gas" to clear an area of protesters who were just standing there like angels not provoking anything.
The truth is something vastly different and is being revealed now, but not before thousands of false posts on social media, print stories, and television stories have once again painted a damning picture of Trump and his administration.
This is why truth and reality are nothing but man-created constructs. It is what Denzel Washington meant when he scolded the mainstream media for not handling the responsibilities that come with the territory. It is a must-see:
Denzel's time-transcendent wisdom is lost on the media today. It's also lost on far too many well-meaning Americans. And the tear gas/Trump walk to St John's Episcopal Church story is just one of the latest examples.
Following days of violent riots and looting in cities all over the country, Washington, DC announced a 7 pm curfew on Monday night. Well before that time arrived, President Trump was addressing the nation from the Rose Garden. Immediately afterward, he walked through Lafayette Park to the church at which every President has worshipped since James Madison, a church that rioters had set on fire the night before. Once there, in a show and symbol of strength and unity for Americans and the human race in general, he stood before a church sign reading "All are welcome," with a Bible held up in his hand.
All of this was, yes, a photo-op, as the enemy loves to call it. Absolutely, it was symbolic. It was an anchoring assurance for many Americans that we will be okay, if we keep our faith in God.
What on Earth is so terribly wrong with that?
Yet because of the hate for this man (not to mention for God), this President fighting so hard for the liberty of all Americans, the media has vilified him for it. And worse, has continued to control the minds of too many Americans content to blindly believe anything they see or hear.
Here is a list of newly reported findings that clearly transform this story into something entirely different, as if anyone should have guessed it would be otherwise at this point in the culture war:
- Attorney General William Barr and his office had decided to extend the perimeter around the White House, but as the curfew time approached, it had not yet been done. Authorities began making attempts to peacefully move the crowd back, with their presence only and not with any weapons or irritants. Of course, retaliation from the protesters intensified.
- US intelligence had revealed demands for violence against the police force. Officers would discover caches of glass bottles, baseball bats, and metal poles hidden along the street—clearly planted weapons for violent protesters to become even more aggressive.
- Park Police characterized protesters as being violent, as hurling projectiles such as frozen water bottles and "caustic liquids." This is what initiated three warnings on a megaphone for the crowd to move back. Protesters spent the next ten minutes not adhering to the request. All of this started approximately 27 minutes before the President's walk through the area.
- According to Sgt Eduardo Delgado, the public information officer for the Park Police, tear gas was not used, even when the crowd did not stand down. It was only used later that night when protests became "very aggressive," long after the President's "photo-op."
- According to Acting United States Park Police Chief Gregory T Monhan, "As many of the protesters became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers' weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls."
- DC Police Chief Peter Newsham said in his news conference Tuesday that this entire development had nothing to do with the President's walk to the church, not directly. They were made aware of Trump's plan just moments before it happened. Even then, the details were not clear, as it was merely called a "presidential movement in the area" of Lafayette Square.
Here is the full statement from USPP Chief Monhan.
And here are astoundingly numerous examples of lies spread by influential people on social and mainstream media. Great job, Mrs Hemingway.
None of this should be a surprise by now, yet it still continues to amaze, if for no other reason but the mere fact that so many Americans continue to fall for it. I'm not talking about the enemies in media who know what lies they are spreading; I'm talking about everyday Americans who behave more like zombies than clear-thinking, astute human beings.
The entire picture was that Trump was an Incredible Hulk-looking monster trudging through the cherubs of God's peaceful green Earth to go have someone take a Polaroid of him for the family photo album.
And people everywhere just blindly went with it.
Denzel Washington is right. The media has long abused its responsibilities. The lie is now out there and entrenched, long before any official statements from law officials could be made. There is nothing the media won't do to destroy this man, nothing they won't do to promote and increase anarchy, nothing they won't do to watch–popcorn in hand–this great nation burn down.
In my articles, I am dancing on the line between a spirit of optimism and a spirit of warning. I do that because I believe we need both. Yes, there are mounting victories in this culture war, but we must stay vigilant. We cannot grow weary of the battle. We must continue to spread the truth.
For certainly, the enemy will never tire of spreading the opposite.


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This interesting surname is of English locational origin from either Farlow in Shropshire or Fairley in Shropshire. Farlow, recorded as "Fernelau" in the Domesday Book of 1086 derives its name from the old English pre 7th Century "fearn" meaning fern plus "hlaw" a low hill or mound; hence "a fern-clad hill". Fairley, recorded as "Fernelege" in the Domesday Book, is composed of the old English elements "fearn" fern plus "leah" a clearing; hence "clearing overgrown with ferns". Locational surnames, such as this, were usually acquired by a local landowner, or by the lord of the manor, and especially by those former inhabitants of a place who had moved to another area, usually in search of work, and were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name.
The surname was first recorded in the mid 13th Century (see below). In the modern idiom, the surname has many variant spellings, including Varlow, Fairlaw, Furlow, Farloe, Farlowe and Farlew. Recordings from London Church Registers include: the marriage of William Varlow and Margret Roberts on April 26th 1647. at St. Katherine by the Tower, and the marriage of Thomas Varlow and Mary Ann Taylor on June 24th 1776, at St. Mary's, St. Marylebone Road. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Philip de Farlawe, which was dated 1255, in the "Hundred Rolls of Shropshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024
Enjoy this name printed onto our colourful scroll, printed in Olde English script. An ideal gift.


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Grand Canyon National Park - Best Things You can Do
And the sights are simply beautiful to behold. Plus, you will find many activities to explore while at the Grand Canyon.
Taking a guided tour of the Grand Canyon is a good place to start. By taking a tour, you won't miss any of the high points, and you will get plenty of excitement too.
You'll have your choice of bus, helicopter or plane tours if you're starting out from a Central AZ city such as Scottsdale, Sedona, Flagstaff or Phoenix. The same is true when booking a Grand Canyon tour from Las Vegas. These guided tours are perfect while you're in the area, but you should be aware of your options before booking anything.
Grand Canyon guided tours (whether they're by air, bus or a combination of both) visit either the South Rim or the West Rim of the canyon. If both rims interest you, you'll need to buy tickets on two different tours because there aren't any tours that do both on the same trip. Both rims have plenty of breathtaking sights along with multiple things to experience.
Your departure city will probably determine which rim you will visit. Tours out of Central Arizona go to the South Rim, while both rims are within reach of tours starting in Vegas. The West Rim tours are most popular with Vegas travelers because it is the closest to the city and quickest to get to.
Primarily known for breathtaking vistas and scenic beauty, the South Rim also features Grand Canyon Village and all the things to see that are located there. That is where you will also find the Visitor Center, Yavapai Museum of Geology, and the old Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Station.
The West Rim offers excitement and adventure. It's where you can walk out onto the Grand Canyon Skywalk, suspended over the canyon's edge. You can check out the Indian Cultural Center and Hualapai Ranch. Something that is not allowed at the South Rim that you can do at the West Rim is hop on a chopper and descend to the canyon floor. While there, you can take a float trip down the Colorado River.
There are several types of guided tours if you're looking for Grand Canyon activities. Helicopter rides, airplane flights and motor coach tours are all extremely popular.
The tours to the South Rim by chopper are usually air-only trips, but if you are leaving from Vegas and going to the West Rim you can choose between an air-only and a landing tour.
Taking an air tour to the South Rim is the quickest way to see a large part of the canyon since the flight will cover around seventy-five percent of the area. Vegas airplane tours also fly to the West Rim. Some of the West Rim flights are air-only trips, but others land and let you take part in other activities while there.
By taking a bus tour to the West Rim, you can add on a boat ride down the Colorado River, chopper ride down the canyon, and a walk on the glass Skywalk, and if you take a bus tour to the South Rim you can add on an exciting rim-to-rim chopper ride.
Of course, the Grand Canyon has many spectacular sights to behold, but in addition to thatFree Reprint Articles, there are many exciting activities to enjoy that make your visit a fun one.


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Date: July 13, 2021 to July 13, 2021
Where: Taft's Ale House, 1429 Race Street,, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, 45202
Phone: N/A
Event Type: Other
Ticket Price: N/A
Make a unique candle at the Candle Lab, then walk over to Taft's for a flight and appetizer while it dries!
Starting as early as 4:30 PM (but as late as 7:30 PM), you'll pour your own custom-scented 8oz candle at the Candle Lab in OTR. With over 120 fragrances, you'll find more than a handful you'll love. Design your label and mix your oils to create your unique custom scent, which you'll then pour and stir.
While the candle cools, walk just a short way down the block to Taft's Ale House to enjoy a flight of beer and appetizer!
Your 30-minute time frame will be your appointment at The Candle Lab, which gives you lots of time to compare scents and create a candle completely unique to you. But, you can spend as much time as you want enjoying your flight and appetizer!
Your ticket includes your custom 8oz candle, a beer flight of choice and appetizer of choice. Candles take 90 minutes to cool, so all candles poured by 6:30pm will be available before The Candle Lab closes at 8pm. Otherwise, they will be available for pick up the next day or any time at your convenience!


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(Note: Passionists take a 4th vow to 'to keep alive the memory of the Passion'. This is referred to as 'memoria passionis').
Recent writings about Religious Life have reminded me (not that I should need to be), that the first 'rule of life' always and everywhere, for everyone, is the Gospel. Every practice, rule, principle, theory, idea, question, has to be measured against the Gospel.
And we read in the Gospels that when John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask" Are you the Messiah?" Jesus answered "Tell him what you see and hear – the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor". I am assuming, by the way, that the truth of the Gospel being Good News for the poor and those on the margins, implies a priority for the poor – a preference or preferential option for the poor.
So, the Gospel is Good News for the poor. So it's not a question of saying anything new to persuade anyone here that the Gospel is good news for the poor, those on the margins, those on what Pope Francis has called
'the existential peripheries'. That is assumed. Or at least, that it is supposed to be so and therefore is if we live it and witness to the true Gospel. I will say incidentally that although the phrases 'the poor' and 'those on the margins' are not identical, they overlap and connect to such a degree that I am going to use them almost as synonyms, but not quite.
In case we need reassurance of the truth that the Gospel is good news for those on the margins and poor, I would simply remind us all that God in Jesus chose to be born and grow up in a tiny village (Nazareth at any rate gets no mention in any other historical records) on the northern margins of a small country on the margins of the Roman Empire. I can list a number of episodes from the Gospels: Jesus calling the rich young man (and by implication so many others) to sell their possessions and give everything to the poor: the parable of the rich man who went to hades, and the poor man Lazarus to 'the bosom of Abraham': the beatitudes of 'blessed are the poor' or 'poor in spirit' – at any rate the anawim: blessed are those who mourn: blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice: blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of justice. Not forgetting such words from elsewhere in the New Testament such as in the book of James: "the labourers wages that were kept back are crying out – the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts". And when St Paul says to "treat such people as you would tax collectors and sinners", we can only remember how Jesus chose to go among just those people to offer them God's mercy and love, as he spent most of his ministry wandering those marginal Galilean villages. All of which makes clear that Jesus was following in the prophetic tradition that called for justice for the poor. So I think there is plenty of reassurance for us there if we need it.
So, if the Gospel is 'good news' for those on the margins, then the cross and passion must be too, and by definition a true 'memoria passionis' also. But that does raise the question, what is a 'true memoria passionis'? In two senses – that is both is accurate in expressing the meaning of the cross and passion, and also effective in bringing it to life for people today, especially those in the margins. 'Bringing to life' because of the meaning of' memoria' – not just memory, but memoria in the Eucharistic sense of making it present in our lives, or making us present to the event itself, a living truth, not just a remembered but dead fact.
So, how is the passion to be brought to life, both accurately and in a way which transforms people such that it is 'good news for those on the margins'.
I lived here at Minsteracres during my Novitiate. And some of us went to hear John Pridmore speak. He had written a book called 'From Gangland to Promised Land', and he spoke about his life as a bouncer and gang member in east London, and the conversion experience that led him to return to the Church and to want to travel the country speaking to young people especially, to show them a different way, and to show the power of God still alive in our world today, in his life, and the difference that can make. It was a powerful to hear him speak. In the course of his talk, he spoke about the place of the cross in life, how certain things can be real crucifixions, and also resurrections. And I thought to myself, he is doing the kind of thing that Passionists used to do, travelling the country preaching the power of Passion, Cross and Resurrection in our lives.
Which prompted the question: Why are we not doing that? I have two inter-related answers to that question: One is, because on the whole we are not being invited to speak, certainly in the way we used to be. And if we were being invited, on the whole those inviting us would not get much interest, not many would listen, and it would have little impact on their lives. Or to put that another way, what we have to say would not have the impact John Pridmore did.
And the second part of the answer, is that the key difference between what he had to say and what Passsionists often used to do, is that what he was saying came from a very powerful personal experience. He did not need to sit in the dark and meditate for hours to think up something to say. It was just his life. It was real, it was authentic. And it is that authenticity that is very much valued by our times, and especially by younger people.
It reminds me of the words of Pope Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi, quoted by John Paul II and the Popes since, especially when speaking about the New Evangelisation: "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."
John Pridmore is primarily a witness, more than a teacher. He does not have an in depth theological education. But he has his life, and his faith reflection on it, and that speak volumes. So we need to speak about our experience, and to reflect on that. And that is what matters. But it seems to me that, to be able to do that, we need to have what has been called a 'story rich life'. We need a life which is itself is a parable of God's kingdom, or at least one that is full of such parables of the kingdom, and which speaks of God's grace at work in the world of today, in a language and idiom the people of today can understand.
I do want to say something briefly about what I believe is an important insight into the meaning and power of the cross that entered the world in the 20th Century. That is the work of Rene Girard on scapegoats.
Who do we scapegoat in our society? Some phrases may help to remind us of some examples. "Illegal Immigrants". "Bogus Asylum seekers". "Benefit scroungers". "Islamic extremists". "feckless youth" . "Idle poor". "the great unwashed". All of these indicate groups of people who are stigmatised because of their vulnerability, poverty, or being on the margins of society. It is what is called 'blaming the victim', which justifies our attitude towards them and their situation so we do not feel that we should try to do something about their position, because it is their own fault. My way of summarising this aspect of Rene Girard 's insights is to say that in the cross and passion of Jesus as recorded for us in the Gospels, we see that in fact the victim is innocent. And this is so at least in part because it is seen, certainly from the perspective of faith, that God is on the side of the victim, not on the side of the powerful. In the passion and cross, God is not on the side those who appear to be successful and respected in society, those who run the show, who are at the heart and centre of things political, social, religious, military, financial (for in a Temple State that was a vassal of the Empire of the time, all these powers were held by a very small group of people). In the passion, God is seen to be on the side of what John Meier has called 'The Marginal Jew'.
Jesus was found guilty by the institutions and social groups of his day, but history recognises his innocence, and the guilt in fact of those who convicted him. This plants a seed of doubt: never again can we so easily blame the victim for their own plight. Jesus in his cross and passion has exposed and shone a light on the processes, social, psychological ,spiritual etc – that lead us to victimise, exclude, marginalise, oppress – and blame the victim. This 'innocence of the victim' -moves us to pay attention to the victims story and the victims truth or truths (that is, the victims perspective), even in fact to give it a priority – in forming our understanding of what is happening and what we should do. As Cardinal Vincent Nichols said recently for example, in dealing with the abuse crisis, we have to give the experience of abuse survivors first place. This priority for the victim, for those who are powerless, is part of what is meant by a 'preferential option for the poor'. This impetus is in itself as aspect of the way in which the passion and cross – and therefore an accurate memoria passionis – is good news for those on the margins, whose voice is so often ignored. In reminding us of the call to listen to the voice of, and be in solidarity with, the' crucified of today', the victims of today, it tells us something of what a true memoria passionis looks like.
So, to pull together my strands so far: if it is the case that what is needed is an authentic lived witness that brings the Gospel and the memoria passionis to life: and if a key part of the meaning of that cross and passion which memoria passionis is intended to bring to life, is that exposure of' the innocence of the victim': And conversely, if that innocence of the victim also reveals the guilt not only of those who put themselves in the position of judge and persecutor, but also of those who by betrayal or cowardice or collusion contribute to the crucifixion of the innocent – then what? Where does this leave us?
THEN – If we intend to put ourselves in the position of those who would attempt to 'bring to life the memory of the passion' in a vital way, by life and deed first, and then by words: THEN – we need to find ways that follow Jesus's example, which he asked his disciples to do anyway, when he said "take up your cross and follow me".
SO – how do we do that – find ways to 'take up the cross and follow our Teacher? No doubt there are many such ways. I believe is that there is one way of acting in particular which has been increasingly popularised in the 20th and 21st Centuries, just not so much among Church going Christians in western Europe. I believe this way is among the signs of our times and the movement of the Spirit. And this way is what I now want to speak about.
Gandhi and Jesus
Gandhi was of course the main innovator and inspiration for others in the field of a form of what may be called' non-violent resistance' to oppression in the 20th Century. It has a variety of names, 'civil disobedience',' non-violence', 'non-violent direct action' (or NVDA), or 'non-violent resistance'. Again, they are overlapping but not identical terms. I will be referring mainly to 'non-violent resistance'. His main inspiration for his practice came from three sources. Tolstoy, the Gospels as understood by Tolstoy, and Thoreau. Tolstoy had a profound religious conversion experience, after which he became a convinced Christian pacifist and anarchist. He wrote "The Kingdom of God is Within You", among other books, to expound his belief, based on a literal reading of the Gospels, particularly of the' sermon on the mount'. Gandhi was also influenced by the 19th Century American, Henry David Thoreau, who wrote "On Civil Disobedience". But his main source of inspiration, as can be seen in the film clip, is his understanding of the ethic of Jesus as revealed in the Gospels. He was impressed by Jesus, but not with Christians. He famously said," the whole world would be Christian, but Christians are so little like your Christ".
I hope you can see what I believe are the very strong parallels between the actions of Gandhi as depicted in the film, practising non-violent resistance, and the words oflsaiah in the songs of the suffering servant. It seems to me that Gandhi is, in his nonviolent resistance, enfleshing or incarnating those words, very much in the same kind of way that Jesus did in His passion and death. [I am not saying that Gandhi has the same status for our faith as Jesus! I am not saying that Gandhi is God incarnate, as we believe Jesus is.] This naturally implies a very close correlation between Gandhi's non-violence and the cross and passion, and therefore between non-violent resistance and the memoria passion is, such that my assertion is that non-violent resistance is in fact a powerful way in which to bring to life the redemptive truths of the passion, and also to reveal and expose the innocence of the victim, so that in practising non-violent resistance, we are entering ourselves into the very dynamic of the redemptive power of the cross, all the more so when we act in the name of God: and in doing so we are very much answering Jesus's call to "take up your cross and follow me". Not in an exclusive way, as if this is the only way to take up the cross, but certainly in a very significant way. Jose Orbegozo wrote when he was Passionist General, something like "what matters is significance not efficiency". II believe Pope Francis said something similar in Evangelii Gaudium.] It is certainly something I believe strongly, and that it is an idea worth reflecting on. Significance of course speaks of meaning, which is so essential a need for a fulfilled life, and interpreting the meaning of our lives is a key dimension of religious faith.
A word about Civil Disobedience
The Church in this country is deeply law abiding and pretty conformist and generally seen and acts largely as part of the Establishment, and many of our leading Catholic churchmen have strived to make it more so. Common Law is deep in our national psyche. And for someone like me at least, who came from a materially comfortable, upwardly mobile, newly educated, suburban aspiring middle class background, (or at least what I call 'Essex class' – which is to say the well off working class) – I grew up bought into all that. All this is a way of saying that publicly breaking the law does not come naturally to many of us.
But it is not something we, especially as Passionists, should avoid in itself. After all, Jesus was arrested, imprisoned, taken to trial, convicted and sentenced. In fact, how it came about and how he dealt with it and how he responded to it, is the whole of the Passion story. Not to mention the arrests, imprisonment and trials that seem to be bread and butter to the first Christians, and St Augustine's words, used also by Thomas Aquinas, that 'an unjust law is no law at all'. We have grown so long used to institutionalised Christianity being the Establishment, running the show in Christendom for centuries. But Christendom is over and we are heading back to the type of context the earliest Christians would have been familiar with. Only we live in 'Rome' – I may come back to that.
Non-violence and non-violent resistance
There can sometimes be a confusion between the terms' non-violence' and 'nonviolent resistance'. 'Nonviolence' sounds like a mere negative: the avoidance of violence. 'Non-violent resistance' on the other hand, is primarily a form of resistance, a way of resisting perceived evils, injustices, violence, oppression. The other context in which British people of my age and older would have heard the word' resistance' with a similar meaning would have been regarding the French resistance to the Nazi occupation during WWII. That of course was a violent resistance movement.
Non-violent resistance movements use other means to defend themselves, others and the truth: ultimately, non-violent resistance is about putting faith in the redemptive power of suffering and love, or suffering love, rather than violence. Practising it involves seeing clearly through what Walter Wink, in his book "Engaging the Powers" called "the myth of redemptive violence" which we are sold all the time, from children's comics and cartoons, through DVD box sets, to Hollywood films and governmental rhetoric about things like 'making the world safe for democracy'.
There is of course an overlap between non-violent resistance and non-violence. To simply be non-violent could be passive. But to resist non-violently is to take responsibility, and to try to break what Dom Helder Camara called 'The Spiral of Violence'. This is why I believe active non-violence to be not just a form of 'memoria passionis', but also in fact an evangelical virtue: In contrast, while violence may not be as such
'unjust' – in the sense that, if you hit me, its not unjust or unfair necessarily for me to hit you – it simply participates in the cycle of sin, in the spiral of violence.
War of course is the major form of institutionalised violence in our world, which goes far beyond a question of'you hit me so I will hit you'. There is a sense in which however, the 'Just War Theory' has regarded war in a very over-simplified sense – a 'reified' sense where states are effectively justified in hitting back against other states, with no sense that the state is no more a person than a corporation is, and it must use often poor, powerless and marginal people as its proxies and victims.
Anyhow, that is a slight diversion. But the main point is that violence simply continues the spiral of violence, whereas to respond or challenge it with non-violence assertiveness or dignity, is to open the door to a completely different dynamic.
Jesus, non-violence and pacifism
To advocate non-violence can be seen as simply to advocate pacifism, again simply understood as refusing to use violence and specifically military means to solve conflicts. It is as I have been saying, in fact much more than that. However, this does also point us towards the question ofJesus and pacifism. It is my belief that Jesus was a pacifist, and that this is shown to us above all in the passion.
We are all I hope well aware of the sayings of Jesus, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you", "turn the other cheek", "walk the extra mile", and probably less familiar with "if they take your cloak, give them your tunic also". There is plenty I can explore about these teachings, but what I want to say is that we can tell Jesus was serious because it was exactly these principles that he practised in the passion and on the cross. He loved His enemies, he prayed for his persecutors, he turned the other cheek. In addition, as Walter Wink and others have said, Jesus was not setting down precise practices to be observed. He was teaching principles, giving examples of ways for powerless people to assert their dignity and disconcert their opponent, putting the oppressor off balance. Again, I would assert, this is exactly what Jesus did when he was on trial. When he was asked questions he didn't answer them, instead he either remained silent or returned question for question, in a way that still disconcerts us today.
It did not save His life of course: At least, not from crucifixion. So you could say that non-violence, pacifism, doesn't work. Jesus should have called in his legions, his armies of angels, after all. And after all, was not Jesus's life the most important single human life in recorded history? Wasn't he the Messiah, the Incarnate Son of the Most High God? Wouldn't this life above all be the most important to save with a last ditch fight of an inspired army, or even a 'legion' of angels?
But he didn't stay dead. Which is what you are supposed to do when the state executes you. In rising again the stone was rolled away and the seal broken: seals were not supposed to be broken, that was the whole point of them. This was yet another act of civil disobedience in the life and ministry ofJesus. And we know that the redemptive power of what did happen rolls down the centuries. So the story of the Gospels is not one of the uselessness of non-violent resistance, but of the power of redemptive suffering, freely undertaken.
Non-violence and pacifism as Good News for those on the margins
You may ask, how are non-violence and pacifism, and specifically the non-violent love of the Cross and therefore of the memoria passionis, good news for those on the margins of society? We are used to a society where violence is not very visible to us. There is structural violence, our governments get involved in wars and invasions in far away countries, but it rarely impinges on us directly. Especially since, in the case of the UK, the peace process in the north of lreland took hold. But there are a number of ways that this is true: that nonviolence, which is for us the non-violent love of the cross, is good news for those on the margins.
Firstly, in the case of wars, it is always the poorest, the weakest, the most vulnerable, who are the most damaged by war: both by direct violence, and by the destruction of productive resources, infrastructure, housing, etc. Also, the arms race, and war and preparations for war 'rob the poor to an intolerable degree' (Gaudium et Spes 81), as resources are diverted from social needs to military expenditure, even when the weapons and military systems are never used in anger, such as in the case of the British 'Trident' nuclear weapons system (So far – and hopefully always!)
Secondly, also in the case of wars, and the use of violence generally, it is by definition the most powerful who win wars, and usually who start them. War and violence is the means by which international robbery is enforced, and the poor nations, those on the margins of the global community, remain trapped in exploitative international relations. When a country steps out ofline and tries to assert its freedom from foreign exploitation, it is 'punished' vigorously: witness Iraq in the 9o's and in these last years, Nicaragua in the So's, Czechoslovakia in the 6o's, Hungary in the so's, the Jewish people when they rebelled against Roman domination in the first century of the Christian era: the list could surely go on.
Thirdly, it gives a means to the most powerless to defend themselves, or at least to assert their dignity and freedom. Violence is not a good option: it will likely lead to their destruction, or the destruction of their property (as in riots in areas like Liverpool 8 in the 198o's or Los Angeles, or more recently Ferguson, Missouri, USA.). Violence tends to escalate out of control, and tends to provoke a more violent response. It gives the oppressor the excuse for moving up to that next level of violence, to escalate to a level that the oppressed and powerless can never hope to match. It is called' escalation dominance'.' Escalation dominance' is in fact an explicit part of USA military doctrine – always maintain a dominant position by being willing to move up to the next level of violence, ultimately up to the level of nuclear weapons. Non-violence cannot guarantee that will not happen, but it tends to provoke a less aggressive response, to de-escalate, or at least to reveal the presence of structural violence and structural injustice that may otherwise be hidden to a wider public, and also to reveal who are the true perpetrators. And in the process, it does not cause any destruction in itself, either of people, housing, infrastructure, or property as such.
Fourthly, it reveals the truth of who is the victim, and that the victim is innocent. It changes the direction of travel. It works in as much as it delegitimizes oppression, in specific and in general.
Fifthly, if we are not to destroy ourselves, all of us, we urgently need to grow in the practice of non-violence, and not just those on the margins but everyone, will suffer the effects, whether due to climate change and environmental destruction, or due to the ultimate form of violence, nuclear war, which is still threatened by the world's nuclear powers. As Martin Luther King said so presciently, the choice before us now is not violence or non-violence, but non-violence or non-existence.
Sixthly, in opposition to what many believe, is the growing realisation of the truth that non-violent resistance is actually very powerful. It does not guarantee success, but nor does violence. And non-violence has been used in small and large scale ways to bring greater freedom to oppressed peoples. These include Gandhi's India, the suffragette movement for votes for women, the 195o's and 6o's civil rights movement in the USA, apartheid South Africa (the struggle there was mostly although not exclusively non-violent), the Philippines in regard to the Marcos government, most of the movements that brought about the end of the Soviet Empire, including Solidarity in Poland, to only cite some of the most well known movements.
There are probably more ways non-violence, which I could call the non-violence of the Cross, is good news for those on the margins, but I think the picture is clear. Active non-violence, like both sin and virtue, is a virus. It is a relatively new phenomenon historically, and thank God it is growing fast. The question is, are we as Christians going to realise how much of this movement is rooted in the Gospel, and start to practice it? And are we, as disciples ofJesus particularly formed to witness to the love of God as revealed in the Passion, going to join ourselves to this movement of the Holy Spirit, and bring to life the memory of the non-violent love of God as revealed in the passion and cross, or at least act in solidarity and support with those who do? Are we here, our communities and our friends, mostly from the wealthiest countries in the world, going to step out of our privileged positions of comfort and security, to put our bodies in the way, take risks, confront the powers and principalities, and enter into solidarity with the least of our world: those on the margins, who are waiting for Christians to be more like Jesus?
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Everyone wants to have a beautiful smile. It is a small detail that makes a huge difference, especially in today's society, in which making good first impression counts. Don't worry if mother nature didn't give you perfect teeth. A great cosmetic dentist can do that for you. Keep reading to find out who made it to our top 4 best cosmetic dentists list.
What Does a Cosmetic Dentist Do?
A cosmetic dentist's work improves your appearance. He/she takes care of things such as the teeth's color, size, shape, and alignment. Dental esthetics cover two main specialties: orthodontics and prosthodontics. Besides these two big areas, there are also other secondary ones like endodontics and periodontics. Procedures such as teeth whitening, reshaping, dental bridges, implants, gum lifts, are all part of a cosmetic dentist's work.
The Best Cosmetic Dentists in The US
Dr. William Dorfman, Los Angeles
He is recognized worldwide as a leading cosmetic dentist. Dr. Dorfman creates exquisite smiles for Hollywood's celebrities. He had become a star himself when he featured the leading role of the dentist in the show called "Extreme Makeover," aired on ABC. Besides being a great cosmetic dentist, Dr. Dorfman is also a successful lecturer as well as an author. Among his best-seller works, there are the following books: "The Smile Guide" and "Billion Dollar Smile". He is a UCLA graduate, and the founder of Discus Dental, Inc.
Dr. Pia Lieb, New York City
She is one of the most popular and appreciated cosmetic dentists in the world. Her work is precise and innovative, as well as artistic. Dr. Lieb created the new revolutionary cosmetic dentistry approach, which is known by the name of ISD (Infallible Smile Design). To offer her clients perfect smile, she uses the latest 3D technology. Dr. Lieb was born in Romania and moved to the United States when she was only 16 years old. Pia Lieb graduated from the College of Dentistry, which is a prestigious faculty of New York's University.
Dr. Anthony Mobasser, Los Angeles
He is a cosmetic dentist who has both the necessary experience and credentials. Dr. Mobasser has been active in the dentistry field for more than 26 years. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, receiving the highest awards. Dr. Mobasser is a world renown professional. His priority is to provide high-quality services to his patients. Even though he also has clients who are celebrities, he treats all his patients with the same attention and respect.
Dr. Kourosh Maddahi, Beverly Hills
Dr. Maddahi is also known as "the smile transformation expert." He is committed to excellence, and his work is very accurate. Moreover, he is a highly appreciated cosmetic dentist who has a keen eye for details. Dr. Maddahi received a degree from UCLA, and he completed his studies at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry. He is an award-winning specialist with more than 6,000 clients in his portfolio.
Final Thoughts
You might think a good cosmetic dentist is hard to find these days. Well, if you contact one of the above dentistry specialists, you will see great results. All these professionals work with state-of-the-art medical technologies, which means your procedures will not be as painful as you might think.
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Father's Day is on its way (September 1st for anyone unsure). Although Father's Day isn't quite the event that Mother's Day is in Australia by no means should dad be getting the cold shoulder on his special day. At Satisfine Foods, we've got some sweet treats in bite-sized portions, perfect for dad.
Chocolatier Australia's Mini Treat Box
Put down the sock and ties for dad's day. Everyone deserves a quick, guilt-free mini treat (in moderation).
Chocolatier Australia's 'Share Box Milk Chocolates'
Alternatively, make Father's Day a party and share around the treats with Chocolatier's Australia's Share Box.
Byron Bay Cookie Gift Tins
For a quality sweet that's not chocolate consider these beautifully delicious and soft Byron Bay Cookie Tin Gifts. Fabulously packaged in flavours for everyone including Sticky Date Ginger, Rocky Road, White Chocolate and Macadamia and Tripple Chocolate.
What gifts do you think dad will love for his special day? Let us know in the comments below if you'd like to see more of our Father's Day gift ideas check out our 2019 Father's Day catalogue.


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Intex will be selling 'India's Cheapest' smartphone at $33. The company hopes to sell over 500,000 devices in the next three months in what it calls a "new era" for the market.
Already, Intex has partnered with Mozilla, the non-profit organization behind the Firefox open-source web browser, to create a cheaper alternative to Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy series.
Intex spokesman Joyeeta Mitra said that the smartphone sale is looking for first-time smartphone buyers. The smartphones that began sale this week are the cheapest in the market.
Mitra said: "We have big expectations that this phone will find a large market and we are expect 500,000 sales in the first three months," she said adding that while the company is initially targeting the Indian market it expects to expand sales to other countries in Asia.
India's smartphone market is growing rapidly. US market research firm IDC reported shipments leapt by 186 percent to 17.59 million smartphones in the first financial quarter to June this year, compared with the same period last year.
The IDC forecasted that smartphone sales would continue to rocket in coming years, growing at an annual rate of 40 percent for the next five years.