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Why the Nativity?
- David Jeremiah Author
- 2009 3 Dec
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Why the Nativity? 25 Compelling Reasons We Celebrate the Birth of Jesus by David Jeremiah (Tyndale House).
Question 1: Why the Prophecies?
Time is a mystery. We live each day immersed in it, so we cannot imagine a life outside of it, looking in. Time marches by us, moment by moment and year by year. It leaves its mark upon us more than we leave our mark upon it.
Imagine standing several miles from a great mountain range. You admire the majestic chain from its foothills in the west to the last outcroppings in the east. But if you didn't have that separation—if you were standing on one of the mountains—you would see only the scenery that was right around you.
God watches over us from outside the straight mountain range that is time. He sees past, present, and future in one unbroken line. And as long as we are travelers through this life, climbing from one slope to the next, we lack his perspective—with one exception, that is: the men and women known as the prophets.
God gives many amazing gifts. To some he gives a surplus of wisdom, to others a specially loving heart. And some have received from him the sight to perceive certain shapes in the mist of the future. Those with this gift have always been people obedient to God and to his purposes. Why would he let them see what was to come? Because he loves us, and he wants us to know what lies ahead, whether for our encouragement or as a sober warning. A prophet's central mission, as a matter of fact, is not to predict but to preach. He speaks more of the present than the future.
Even so, the Old Testament prophets spoke frequently about a coming champion. Every page, from Genesis to Malachi, seems to tremble with the wondrous anticipation of his coming. The books were written by many different writers, at various times over many centuries. What bound the readers and writers together was their identity as a special people that God truly cherished. Through that particular nation, a small one called Israel, God's plan was to let the whole world know of his love.
But that nation encountered times of grief and despair. Because the Israelites occupied one of the most contested areas in all the world, they were frequently under attack by tribes and empires—by the Philistines, then the Babylonians, and finally the Romans. Their walls and homes and Temple were built, destroyed by enemies, and rebuilt.
Finally, Israel became a dying nation, filled with confusion and doubt. It was against that scene that the great age of the prophets came. Many of the Jewish people had been carried away into slavery. Some had lost their sense of national identity in exile. Many were cynical, faithless, embittered. Everyone yearned for the great days of the kings—David and Solomon and all their glory. And it was here that the prophets—men such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah—urged the people to keep the faith. Their message was, Wait for one more king. This one will be the greatest of all, and he will end our struggle forever.
Just when people most needed hope, God sent spokesmen to offer a foretaste of a better future. Throughout the words and work of the prophets, there were glimmers of a savior—a king who would rescue his people and restore them to God. In fact, there were more than three hundred specific prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures about the promised "Messiah," as they called him.
The hints were tantalizing. Isaiah said that this special deliverer would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). What kind of man could he be?
Micah, too, offered a prediction that was specific and startling. He said that the king would be born in the town of Bethlehem. That prophecy reads, "You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past" (Micah 5:2). Again, it was clear that the Messiah would be one who was not confined by the bounds of time. He would come "from the distant past."
There are references to a ministry of teaching, healing, and miracles. This would be a man who would enjoy public favor, then finally be "despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief" (Isaiah 53:3). There are surprising references to crucifixion by a writer who had never witnessed such a thing (Psalm 22).
Isaiah would conclude, "He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed" (Isaiah 53:5). The people of Israel could hope for a better time, including forgiveness by the God they had abandoned. The coming king would prove that God had never abandoned them.
Most amazing of all was the coming Messiah's mission. God said, "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6).
Can you see the picture that emerges? It was as if many different artists had drawn strange squiggles on paper separately—only to find that when their fragments of art were combined on a single canvas, there was a beautiful portrait of a king we would come to know as Jesus Christ.
Nearly all of the more than three hundred prophecies have already come true (a few remain for our future). Jesus was all that had been foretold, and so much more. One mathematician determined that the odds of one person's fulfilling even sixty specific prophecies are 1 in 1 plus 157 zeroes.
Why the prophecies? They show us that even as Jesus was fully a human being like us, he was also "one whose origins are from the distant past." By reading the prophecies we see the entire mountain range in a breathtaking glance; we behold a magnificent God who works his purposes out through the march of time, patiently but faithfully, down to the smallest detail. We know that this is a God who can be trusted, and this is a Messiah who fulfills every hope in our hearts.
Discussion Questions
Does knowing that Jesus' birth fulfilled prophecies made hundreds of years beforehand affect your life? In what ways?
Which of the six specific prophecies mentioned in this chapter seems the most amazing to you? Why?
For further study: Read the following pairs of Scriptures to discover more prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus' first advent: Isaiah 9:7 and Luke 1:32-33; Isaiah 53:12 and Matthew 27:38; Zechariah 6:13 and Hebrews 7:24-25.
Question 2: Why Did God Become a Man?
In the beginning there was God. And, being God, he created.
The creations of God were magnificent. He made a universe of unbounded dimensions, measured out in stars and galaxies. Its size was matched by its vast complexity, in the intricate dance of atom and molecule. The range of his artistry—his color, his sound, his silence—reflected the wealth of his power and love.
But God wanted more than worlds, so he created life. He turned to his special world, the earth, and filled it with plants and animals, monstrous and microscopic—a kingdom of moving and breathing and even thinking creatures, all fashioned in wild variety. There were towering, brooding redwood trees that held court for twenty centuries, decorated by mayflies whose life began and ended within a single day.
But God wanted more than life; he wanted friendship, so he created mankind. This would be his crowning work: a manifestation of life that would reflect his own being. Rocks and trees, stars and whales—these were wonderful, but they were not his children. Men and women, as he made them, would be the close-knit family of an infinite God, clothed though they were in flesh and blood. An outrageous idea for communion it was: the perfect, infinite Spirit who is Lord of all, and the tiny, limited creature that calls itself human.
Yet there was love between them until the children of earth stumbled. That's a story for another day, but the truth is that God's children chose disobedience and fled in shame from his presence. Another name for the disobedience was sin, and it became an insurmountable barrier between the Creator and his creatures. Men and women knew God as one would regard a distant uncle who was never seen face-to-face.
In certain moments, the children of earth realized how different life could be. One poet looked around him at the beautiful world and reflected:
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:3-5)
The gulf between that eternal Creator and his tiny, incapable children was just too great. As a result, many ignored him completely. The best and most obedient strove gallantly to please him, but the stubborn human strain of disobedience doomed every effort.
The children had no illusions about their weakness. They knew they were lost, and they longed for the Father to whom every instinct drew them. In their wisest moments, they realized that even now, even with all they had done wrong, their distant Father loved them with an everlasting love. It was a hopeless longing all the same, for the separation remained. He was pure and they were stained. How could they ever aspire to the perfection that would make them worthy of him once again? They might as well set to work on a ladder to the moon.
If the children felt their loss so bitterly, how much more severe was the pain in the Father's heart? It was as great as his love was vast. As is true for any parent, his children were his greatest joy. They had failed him time and again, each of them, every day—yet his affection for them was undiminished. He loved each child perfectly, boundlessly, as if that little one were his only child.
So the Father yearned through the centuries and the rise and fall of civilizations, never ceasing to reach out to his prodigal family. He did this in every possible way: through the glories of his creation, through the immeasurable gifts he gave them, through the words of prophets and teachers. He dispatched his servants with countless messages that said the same thing in ten thousand ways: "Come home, come home! You are loved now and forever."
The great problem must have a solution. The first order of business was to reintroduce the children to their Father. How could impure flesh know pure Spirit? There must be a way that men and women could know what God is like and, therefore, realize what life can be. The full extent of that, of course, was greater than the capacity of their understanding. For example, they could never comprehend the nature of heaven. To do so, they would need to enter those gates—and in their tainted humanity, they could not do so.
Yet heaven could come to them.
Heaven could not be poured into the stained vessel that was the earth. But there was another way: God himself could make the journey. He could pour his Godhood into flesh and blood and visit the earth as a man himself! He could walk among people as a full-fledged human being in every respect, yet be fully God at the same time. He had sent prophets many times, but now he would do something far more shocking. He would leave the throne of heaven to walk among them—a King in disguise, the Lord of the universe in human scale, the Creator among his creatures.
Then the nature of God would be clear to all. People on earth could see what God was like. They would behold his perfect love and faithfulness, his unbounded devotion even to those who were sick or small or dark-hearted. They would know the things that mattered to him. And in that Incarnation, they would see a perfect model of what life could really and truly be.
All of this must happen if God and humanity were ever to be reconciled. So the Lord of the universe invaded this world.
He entered our world through a doorway called Bethlehem, and the world was changed forever.
The Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. (John 1:14)
Discussion Questions
If you were God, would you have chosen the same method to reach humanity? Why or why not?
What ways did God use to reveal himself to man before he sent his Son?
For further study: How can people have a relationship with the God of the universe? Read these verses to see God's plan for you: John 3:16; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; and Romans 10:9, 13.


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Home advantage is one of the fascinations of world cricket but was absent for England at Trent Bridge against India - as it was largely at Lord's and Headingley last month when they lost the first Investec series of the summer to Sri Lanka.
Cook's team encountered a surface devoid of pace, one which left groundsman Steve Birks admitting his error and duly hosted an entirely predictable stalemate as India batted out the final day on 391 for nine declared.
The skills of England's pace bowlers, and the tourists', were blunted as it quickly became clear there was little prospect of an edge carrying to slip or wicketkeeper even if they managed to find it.
Cook was left racking his brains for the last time he had faced such conditions, and eventually recalled a draw in December 2012 with which England closed out a famous series victory in India.
"This pitch was so unique," he said.
"The only one I can remember (like it) was that Nagpur pitch when we batted out for the draw in 2012."
The unexpected extremes of the east midlands made the prospect of a win for either team highly unlikely from the outset.
So it proved, but not before Cook had to ask his frontline pace bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad to get through 113 overs between them - a heavy workload already, with four more Tests to come in 37 days, starting at Lord's on Thursday.
"Both sides will say you can't read too much into it until we get back to some 'English' conditions, where it bounces above knee height," the home captain added.
"The lads were brilliant on that - never once did they get angry or frustrated about playing India in these conditions.
"You don't go to other places round the world and expect anything different to their tradition, I suppose."
It is highly unusual for groundstaff to apologise for the pitch prepared, as Birks did at stumps on day one after India closed on 259 for four.
"He has put his hand up and said he got it wrong," said Cook.
"We asked him a week-and-a-half ago (for anything), as long as it has some pace in it.
"You're not asking for excessive movement; you just want some pace in it - like a good Trent Bridge wicket."
Ultimately, to save his hard-worked pace attack further needless labour, Cook brought himself on to bowl - for only the second time in Test cricket - at the insistence of team-mate Joe Root, once it was clear a draw was inescapable.
Cook's search for runs at the top of the order becomes ever more urgent, after he added only five to his output.
But he was able to smile as he reflected on his light-hearted two-over spell which brought him a maiden wicket when India number 10 Ishant Sharma was caught-behind.
"It was a late, late call to do it," Cook said.
"I've never ever done it before, but Rooty was egging me on.
"It came out all right. I've got the match ball."
England have called up left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan in a 14-man squad for the second Test at Lord's.

subset: commoncrawl


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Content tagged with "renewable energy"
Desperate for routes to get their crude oil from land-locked Alberta, Canada to refineries and export markets, the tar sands industry has its sights set on British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California as possible solutions.
This outlines the LEED points to attain LEED Gold for Holmes Hall.
Lewis and Clark's greenhouse gas summary from 2004 through 2008
February 26President Wim Wiewel attended the 2019 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit, where he and fellow college and university leaders made a public pledge to work harder, faster, and smarter to drive climate action forward. In an op-ed in the Portland Business Journal, President Wim Wiewel discusses the work we've done and the work ahead.
September 26
In the summer of 2017, Ary Hashim BA '20 put Lewis & Clark's Renewable Energy Fee Fund to work in a rural village in Malaysia. He returned to Malaysia this past summer to double the number of lights and solar panels, and expand to an additional village in the area. For him, environmental activism complements the degree he's pursuing in economics.
November 4A coalition of conservation and environmental justice groups today challenged the federal air pollution permit for the Avenal Power Plant proposed in the San Joaquin Valley. In a controversial decision, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exempted the project from several key air pollution standards. The facility, proposed to be built by Texas-based Macquarie Energy, is targeted near the rural communities of Avenal and Kettleman City in California's San Joaquin Valley, which already has some of the most polluted air in the country. The coalition filed legal papers with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the permit issued by the EPA.
October 27Topics include the Boardman settlement, PEAC's new class, California condors, and the CRC.
January 24Energy experts gather at "Tomorrow's Energy System," a one-day forum to address the hurdles preventing a quick transition to a zero-carbon energy future.
November 2Keith Morency ('16) highlights the various jobs that led him to work for a community solar team in Boston, MA, after graduating from the Environmental Studies program at Lewis & Clark College.
Goal of 100% Renewable Energy Focus of Conference at Lewis & Clark Law School Green Energy InstituteOctober 9Re-Energizing the West Conference sparked a robust dialogue for a zero carbon energy future.
May 25Environmental studies majors and varsity track and cross country runners, Frances Swanson '17 and teammate Kori Groenveld '18 linked their passions for environmental sustainability and social justice. Their partnership yielded a project to help combat gentrification and the unequal distribution of renewable energy infrastructure in downtown Portland.
September 22The energy system in the United States is undergoing a major transformation.
What does that mean for energy law and those practicing it?
October 1Lewis & Clark's 18th annual Environmental Affairs Symposium this year runs from October 20-22, and is free and open to the public. The student-organized symposium will explore how environmentalism and sustainability can be promoted in all fields of study with this year's theme Environment Across Boundaries.
January 16Sustainability
November 7Sustainability
August 27Outfitted with the latest sustainable technology and tailored to student feedback, a renovated Juniper Hall will open to students this fall.
September 23Learn what makes a Lewis & Clark education exceptional.
August 15Sierra magazine has named Lewis & Clark one of its top 20 "Cool Schools," a list that honors America's greenest colleges and universities.
August 14The Princeton Review and other organizations are recognizing us for our environmental efforts in the classroom and beyond.
August 5Lewis & Clark is one of the greenest schools in the nation, according to the Princeton Review. It is among only 22 schools to make the publication's 2014 Green Rating Honor Roll, which highlights sustainability-related practices, policies, and academic offerings.
April 22Lewis & Clark is the number one school in the Northwest Conference in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's College and University Green Power Challenge. It is one of only nine northwest colleges to rank among the nation's highest in green power use.
November 11Renewable energy expert Matthias Fripp BA '99 is drawing on his extensive research and scholarship to participate in a 10-day, Oxford-style debate.
April 28Multimedia: Environmental law clinics offer students local and global litigation experience
February 3Lewis & Clark has earned a BetterBricks Award for the college's efforts to reduce energy consumption through effective facilities management.
June 26This spring, in an effort to develop a model for sustainable community engagement and collaboration with traditionally marginalized communities, the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling formed the Center for Community Engagement (CCE).
June 19Greg Smith, professor of teacher education, is featured in a local newspaper for his work with K-12 teachers on integrating sustainability issues in their classrooms. Read the article.
May 6On April 23-24, Lewis & Clark Law School and the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program hosted legal and energy leaders from across the country at a conference, Greening the Grid: Building a Legal Framework for Carbon Neutrality.
March 30Professor of Economics Eban Goodstein is quoted in a recent in U.S. News & World Reports about a trend in educating youth about conservation.
February 3Alum Marjorie Lifsey has been named the Sustainability Program Manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation.
November 13Professor of Economics Eban Goodstein is working to create another global warming teach-in, called the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, on February 5.
May 7(Portland, Ore.)—Lewis & Clark was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the 2007-2008 Individual Conference Champion for purchasing more green power than any other school in the Northwest Conference.
February 15(Portland, Ore.)—In an effort to expand its use of renewable energies, Lewis & Clark is partnering with Honeywell International, a technology and manufacturing company, to supply the campus sports facility with solar power.
January 17The unique teach-in model of Economics Professor Eban Goodstein's Focus the Nation sets it apart from other environmental initiatives.


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Diversity Toolkit: Gender
Gender, often used interchangeably with sex, refers to differences between boys and girls or between men and women. Gender, however, is broader than sex in that it encompasses not only biological sex but personal and societal identity, feelings, appearance, expressions, and behavior that collectively define what is male or female.
Main Issues
Gender is an important issue in schools. Since 1972, Title IX (20 U.S.C. §1681) has mandated equal treatment on the basis of sex in schools receiving federal assistance. Title IX has been invoked to create parity in sports programs for girls and women and to address sex discrimination.
Disparities exist between boys and girls in achievement and graduation. Girls and boys often perform differently depending on the subject, and scholars have noted that stereotypes and bias may inform how boys and girls are taught. Opinions differ on whether boys or girls may benefit from single sex as opposed to coed education. In recent years, girls have outpaced boys in matriculation at postsecondary schools. Bullying and sexual harassment affect both girls and boys in school. Both girls and boys may also be harassed because their gender expression does not conform to societal norms of what is feminine or masculine. Sex bias and discrimination may also play a role in the composition and salaries of male and female teachers in K-12 classrooms, administrative and higher education positions.
- Reduce sexual harassment and bullying in schools through curriculum and intervention
- Protect gender-nonconforming youth from harm
- Monitor disparities between boys and girls in academic achievement
- Encourage equal treatment of boys and girls in the classroom
- Organize to achieve equal hiring, salaries, and promotion based on sex.
Related Links
- National Coalition of Women and Girls in Education
- American Association of University Women
- Feminist Majority Foundation
- Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium
Send an e-mail for information about the NEA Sexual Harassment and Bullying Program or the NEA Women and Girls Program.


text: 6 1of6MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT Left to right: Emma Stone as Sophie and Colin Firth as StanleyJack English/Sony Pictures ClassicsShow MoreShow Less 2of6MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT Left to right: Hamish Linklater as Brice, Emma Stone as Sophie, Colin Firth as Stanley and Jacki Weaver as GraceJack English/Sony Pictures ClassicsShow MoreShow Less 3of6MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT Left to right: Emma Stone as Sophie and Colin Firth as StanleyJack English/Sony Pictures ClassicsShow MoreShow Less 4of6MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT Left to right: Emma Stone as Sophie and Colin Firth as StanleyJack English/Sony Pictures ClassicsShow MoreShow Less 5of6MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT Left to right: Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Baker and Emma Stone as SophieJack English/Sony Pictures ClassicsShow MoreShow Less 6of6MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT Left to right: Simon McBurney as Howard Burkan, Eileen Atkins as Aunt Vanessa and Colin Firth as StanleyJack English/Sony Pictures ClassicsShow MoreShow Less Magic in the Moonlight Comedy. Starring Colin Firth and Emma Stone. Directed by Woody Allen. (PG-13. 97 minutes.) With "Magic in the Moonlight," Woody Allen has made a good Woody Allen movie, in all that the phrase implies. That is, it's good on its own, but it's also good when compared to Allen's body of work. It's very much in the pattern of this filmmaker: From the white-on-black opening credits, to the 1920s music on the soundtrack, to the nostalgic-sounding title, Allen is keeping the 20th century safe in the 21st. For those keeping score, this is the 10th film released during Allen's 70s - he turns 79 in December - with one more film to go. And already we can say that Allen's 70s have turned out to be one of his most productive decades. Out of 10, he has made only three bombs ("You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," "Whatever Works," and "To Rome With Love"), and none of those were nearly as repellent as the worst films of the previous decade ("Anything Else," "Celebrity"). If you want to be mean, you can toss the OK but unremarkable "Cassandra's Dream" in with the bad entries, but that still leaves a 60 percent success rate, ranging from the great or near-great "Match Point," "Midnight in Paris" and "Blue Jasmine" to the delightful "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," to the unambitious but perfectly pleasing "Scoop." "Magic in the Moonlight" is about at "Scoop" level. It deals with magic, faith and love as a fleeting respite from the yawning abyss of death and nonexistence. Set in the late 1920s, the movie stars Colin Firth as a world-renowned magician, performing in Berlin, who is offered a tantalizing proposition - to go to the south of France and debunk a young American clairvoyant. In recent years, Woody Allen seems to be setting his movies in whatever place he wants to go on vacation. In "Magic," we get a different sort of Colin Firth - starched and stern, as usual, but loquacious and clueless, and a self-proclaimed genius. In a way, he's a lot like Henry Higgins, and the movie is not unlike "Pygmalion" (or "My Fair Lady"), except that there is no teacher-student element to the plot. But the characters and the structure pretty much line up with the Shaw play, just as "Blue Jasmine" had parallels with "A Streetcar Named Desire." Most of the movie takes place on the summer estate of a wealthy family, where Sophie (Emma Stone) is conducting seances and dazzling everyone with her uncanny ability to read people's vibrations. Stone plays it right down the middle, so that, unless you're paying strict attention, it will be hard for the viewer to tell whether Sophie is real or a fraud. But she's certainly funny. The comic pairing of Stone and Firth might be difficult to imagine, but their differences in size and age, combined with their similarly sly attentiveness, make them an excellent match. For an agnostic, Woody Allen has always been big on the spiritual comforts of faith, a recurring theme for him that goes back at least as far as "Love and Death" (1975). The possibility that Sophie just might have a true gift opens up the possibility that a great beyond actually exists, a possibility that affects the various characters in different ways. Allen's decision to set the film in the 1920s is something like his decision to film in the South of France: No reason, he just likes it there. He's not the only one. Lovers of F. Scott Fitzgerald will immediately light on the sight of a nighttime party, featuring hundreds of revelers dancing to jazz with a mansion in the foreground, with a sense of emotional homecoming. The becoming styles and the totems of prewar luxury, not to mention the gorgeous natural surroundings, make "Magic in the Moonlight" easy on the eyes, though the movie seems militant in its lack of close-ups. It's long takes and medium shots for most of the way. Perhaps the movie's use of the past is more than cosmetic in this one regard: Watching Woody Allen revisit his old themes and obsessions already feels like a nostalgic experience. Actually setting the movie back in time deflects this and makes a virtue of a shortcoming. Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicle's movie critic. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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If you're like many of us, every year you make a vow to stay on top of birthdays and special occasions, and every year they seem to creep up faster than ever, catching you off guard and unprepared. Well, never again, friends! All bluemountain.com members have access to a wonderful, free reminder service that will take all the frazzled worry of forgetting off your hands and leave you looking like the "on-top-of-it" expert that we all know exists deep down inside.
Missed birthdays and special occasions will be a thing of the past. Just simply let us know the dates that are important to you, and like magic you'll have your very own reminders popping up to make sure you don't miss a thing. You can even get your reminders delivered to the desktop of your computer! It's so easy to do, so just follow along with us below and you'll have everything at your fingertips in no time.
How to Set Up Reminders
To get to your "Reminders" page, log onto bluemountain.com and click on the "My Account" link in the top right hand corner of the page. Then scroll down to the "Reminders" section and select "Add/Edit Event" from the list, and your calendar to appear.
Click on any day on the calendar and an "Add Event" box will appear. Simply fill in the fields about that event and click "Save" and that event will be added to your calendar. If you want to keep adding more events, select "Save & Add Another."
If you'd like to have the calendar automatically fill in all the holidays in the year for you, just click "Add Holidays" and a box will open with all the holidays available to add to your calendar. Select any or all of the holidays you'd like to remember and click "Save Changes" so they'll automatically show up on your calendar!
If you're not sure of some dates for friends or family, the "Request Events" tab is what you'll want to click next. Here you can add the email addresses for up to 25 people from whom you need to gather more information about birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, or retirements.
If you'd like to share some of your own important dates and events with friends and family, you'll want to select the "Share Events" tab and add their email addresses in the box. Then simply choose the events you want to share with them. So easy!
How often do you want to be reminded? The "My Preferences" tab will let you select the frequency of when you'd like to be notified of your reminders. You can choose to be notified about some or all of the events on your calendar.
Helpful Hint!
You can print your calendar to take with you or hang on a wall or your refrigerator for handy access. Simply click the "Print Calendar" button underneath your calendar. Want your calendar to appear on your desktop? Then you'll want to click the button to "Download Social Butterfly."
And now YOU will definitely be the most 'social butterfly' of all and never miss a single occasion! We want you to enjoy and celebrate every magical bit of life's special moments.


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The Laughter Club is a group of people gathering to practice laughter as a form of exercise.
The Good News is: everyone can laugh! You don't need to feel good first. You don't need to be happy. There is no need for jokes or comedy. You don't even need a sense of humor. The practice of laughing itself improves your mood, and then you do feel good. Laughter as exercise develops your sense of humor, and – by creating the Chemistry of Happiness – delivers many health benefits.
|Laguna Laughter Club:
Laughing Daily on the Beach
|Experience the Joy of
The Laughter Club Song
|^ CLICK TO VIEW Laguna Club Video
|^ CLICK TO VIEW The Laughter Club Song
Laguna Laughter Club
(Click here to find laughter clubs worldwide)
The Laguna Laughter Club is the first club in the Western World to meet seven days a week.
An online session is held daily: 8:20am Sunday through Friday, 10:20am Saturday. Click here: https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.briar
USUAL LOCATION – The laughers gather daily on the sand at the northernmost end of "Main Beach" in Laguna Beach (Pacific Coast Highway at Broadway/Route 133). This area is also known as "Bird Rock Beach". If the tide is low enough, we go as far north as the sand opposite Bird Rock, below the Gazebo of Heisler Park (375 W. Cliff Dr., off PCH near the Laguna Art Museum and Las Brisas Restaurant). If it is raining, we meet under the Gazebo. We laugh every day including all holidays. Parking is without charge in the area indicated on the map below as "Neighborhood Parking."
After a few minutes of socializing and enjoying the scenery, the group performs easy stretching, breathing exercises, and laughter practices, ending with a guided relaxation. Each session runs approximately 45 minutes.
All meetings are FREE, and everyone is welcome. Animals must obey leash laws; children must be supervised (kids usually need to play nearby, yet apart, when the grownups are relaxing). Smoking is not allowed on the beach, nor in any public areas in the city.
Receive our free newsletter for
local events and activities.
The Laguna Laughter Club typically meets every single day (including all holidays), rain or shine, in Laguna Beach:
Sunday through Friday mornings, 8:00 a.m. (actual start time is closer to 8:15 a.m.)
Saturday morning, 10:00 a.m. (actual start time is closer to 10:15 a.m.)
Public sessions are not being held at the present time due to the global health emergency.
Led by Certified Laughter Yoga Master Trainer and club founder Jeffrey Briar, Certified Laughter Yoga Leaders and Teachers David Sullenger, Kathryn Burns, Ruthe Gluckson, David Fleischmann, Linda Morphew, Sue Snyder, Rosa Banderas, Barbara Holty and others. (949) 376-1939 email@example.com
Enjoy a sample of our club warm up.
Find A Laughter Club
Laugh any day of the week!
Most laughter clubs are FREE. Love Donations are often welcome (but club leaders are having such a great time laughing, they usually forget to even ask).
Prepare for Laughter: Learn to Speak Gibberish
Find an International or U.S. Laughter Club
Search these sites for Laughter Clubs and Teachers
Worldwide Laughter Yoga (Dr. Kataria tradition)
World Laughter Tour-style Clubs (Steve Wilson style)


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Surveillance video shows chase, gunfire, crashes
No one seriously injured
A chase involving three cars and gunfire ended in two separate crashes on Milwaukee's north side Wednesday afternoon.
A white Dodge Charger landed on its roof after slamming into a convenience store and a Milwaukee police squad car, but a witness told WISN 12 News everyone was able to walk away.
"I heard one bang when the car hit the police car. It then hit my bike and hit the side of the store, and flipped over. The people that were in there crawled out of there and ran in the store," witness Jerry Hall said.
WISN 12 News learned the car was being chased. Surveillance video from 23rd Street and Keefe Avenue shows a black car seemingly waiting at the corner for the approaching white Charger.
Witnesses verify the black car first appeared to try to block the white one, and then a passenger in the black car opened a door and fired on the white car as it passed with another black car in pursuit.
The next camera angle showed the white car lost control, spun into a lawn and then took off again with both black cars still in pursuit.
The Charger took out a small tree and part of a fence when it spun out and then kept going.
That apparent chase ended at 22nd and Hopkins streets when the car ran into a parked squad car.
Throughout the evening detectives and officers looked over the car and will be studying the surveillance video as they investigate who was chasing the car and why.
Milwaukee police said a 19-year-old Milwaukee woman was driving that white Charger. She wasn't hurt, and two teenager and a baby in the car had non-life-threatening injuries. A fourth passenger, a 19-year-old man, wasn't hurt.
Police have no one in custody.


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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Veteran offensive lineman Ryan Lilja, who helped block for Peyton Manning during the Colts' Super Bowl-winning 2006 season, announced his retirement Monday.
Lilja said he was going to ``hang it up'' after the Kansas City Chiefs finished a 2-14 season with a 38-3 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Lilja had played guard his entire career until injuries along the Chiefs' line forced him to play center the majority of this season.
``I'm ready to shut it down and move on with my life,'' said Lilja, who grew up in Kansas City and starred for Kansas State before signing with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2004.
Undersized by NFL standards, the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Lilja was waived by the Chiefs and quickly claimed by Indianapolis, where he became one of Manning's most trusted blockers. He played in 11 games the year the Colts beat the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl.
He returned to Kansas City three years ago, and would have become a free agent.
``I think I'm done,'' Lilja said while cleaning out his locker Monday. ``I've made a ton of dynamite relationships, but I think it's time I shut it down.''
The 31-year-old Lilja said he had a feeling before the season that this would be his last, and a series of injuries - including a nagging back injury that forced him to miss a game - served to reassure him that walking away was in his best interest.
He wound up starting 104 of 111 career games over eight seasons.
``Physically, you kind of hit a wall,'' said Lilja, who started 104 of 111 games over eight seasons. ``Your body tells you to start thinking about it.''
Lilja had never played center until this year, when a season-ending injury to Rodney Hudson moved him to the middle of the Chiefs' patchwork offensive line. Lilja had his struggles, too, with several botched handoffs and a few cases of costly miscommunication.
Still, his willingness to take on a new role impressed his teammates.
``I can't say enough about how professional he is,'' right tackle Eric Winston said. ``This organization is going to miss him and the guys in the locker room are going to miss him.''
Online:http://pro32.ap.org/poll andhttp://twitter.com/AP-NFL


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Kissena Park
Underhill, Oak, Rose, Booth Memorial Aves, Kissena Blvd, Fresh Meadow Ln
Directions via Google Maps
Kissena Park is an ideal location to both relax and participate in fun outdoor activities. The beautiful Kissena Lake, flanked by weeping willows and shady trees, creates an idyllic setting to enjoy a sunny day. Stroll through the park to take in all of the lush flora and fauna and be sure not to miss the historic tree grove. The dozens of species of trees in the grove are some of the most exotic in the world. In fact, the grove got its start as part of a 19th century horticultural nursery for the New York region.
After taking in the beauty of Kissena Park, get active at one of the park's many recreational facilities. Try and beat your best time on the bike at the Kissena Park Velodrome. Or play a round of golf at the Kissena public course. And of course there are lots of playgrounds, baseball diamonds, and tennis and handball courts for all to use. So whether or not you are looking for some action or you'd prefer some rest and relaxation, Kissena Park is the perfect venue.
Featured Facility
Kissena Velodrome
Plan a trip to the Parks Department's only cycling track, site of Star Track and other noteworthy programs.
Directions to Kissena Park
- "New York City Of Trees Photographs By Benjamin Swett" On View In The Arsenal Gallery
- Bank Of America Partnership Funds Three Urban Forest Protection Projects
- A Queens Park Remembers The Forgotten War
Capital Projects
District Maintenance & Operations Office: (718) 359-1297


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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Yes, "the Boss" Bruce Springsteen's new hit "High Hopes" is the perfect battle hymn for Pope Francis's "War on Inequality," a war to inspire the world's poor in their struggles against repressive capitalism.
Springsteen's refrain grabs you, the pounding drumbeat of "High Hopes" for a world where billions now live in poverty, go to bed hungry every night. You feel the pope's battle hymn in Springsteen's call for change, revolution, a new world, a new life:
"I wanna buy some time ... maybe live my life ... have a wife ... some kids ... look in their eyes and know they'll stand a chance ... Give me help, give me strength ... Give a soul a night of fearless sleep ... Give me love, give me peace ... Don't you know these days you pay for everything ... Got high hopes. Got high hopes. I got high hopes. ... Got high hopes. Got high hopes. I got high hopes ... high hopes!"
Pope Francis also has "High Hopes" for his new economic war against capitalism. He's clear about his mission, yet quietly aggressive like General Eisenhower planning for D-Day, installing his inner circle in command positions of power, reforming the Vatican Bank.
Inequality is the root cause of all of the world's social ills
The pope's challenge is unequivocal, unwavering and crystal clear. And he's drawing a hard line-in-the-sand, against repressive capitalism, establishing the strongest economic, political and moral battle lines in human history. Listen to the pope's mandate in own words:
"Inequality is the root of social ills ... as long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world's problems or, for that matter, to any problems."
Yes, Pope Francis's primary target is clear: Inequality is the world's No. 1 problem, at the center of all social problems, inequality and capitalism. And he speaks with authority, a leader with a divine mandate, to raise the world's billions out of poverty, destroy inequality.
And the pope has the resources: As commander-in-chief of the world's largest army: 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide are being inspired to defeat capitalism's grip on inequality. His army includes 78 million Americans in 17,645 parishes, plus a huge "officer corps" of 200 cardinals, over 5,000 bishops and 450,000 priests and deacons worldwide, sworn to carry out his mission.
Fast actions: Vatican Bank reformed, liberals replace conservatives
The pope recently initiated a major round of reforms, preparing for the battles ahead: The Vatican's conservative bureaucracy has been replaced by his close circle of allies. Last week he restructured the team that'll bankroll his strategies. In a move as dramatic as if Paul Volcker had been reinstated as Fed chairman, Pope Francis reshuffled the Vatican Bank and its managing directors, which has been tainted in recent years by charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
All the old Vatican Bank conservatives appointed by his predecessor Benedict XXIII were replaced with new blood, cardinals, archbishops and lay financial experts from his circle of like-minded warriors committed to ending capitalism's increasing global inequality. His team has already eliminated suspicious accounts, reinforced its original "charitable works" charter, restored ethical standards, increased transparency and accountability, and is reforming the bank to meet international standards.
And perhaps most notable, as with everything else for this commander of a global army of 1.2 billion faithful, he can act swiftly. No legislative approvals are necessary. A pope has absolute authority to act unilaterally and with speed, a virtual dictator whose word is law, with the power to command allegiance, obedience and action.
'High Hopes': 10 new economic commandments in War on Inequality
Pope Francis is also acting on a mandate to reform not just the Vatican Bank but the entire global economic system. Capitalism is the enemy. Whether you agree or not, read his manifesto closely, here edited from our earlier coverage of the pope's 10 new economic commandments. The are guiding his economic war on inequality and capitalism. Read and share, comment, pass it on, tweet, retweet, add your reactions to his call for action.
Here are the pope's 10 radical goals, further condensed, in Pope Francis's own words from his "Apostolic Exhortation," a 67-page manifesto published by the Vatican around Thanksgiving. Read how committed the pope is to changing the world. He is a radical anti-capitalist, socialist and revolutionary leader that conservatives and capitalists will fear for many years:
1. Economic inequality is the root cause of all problems in the world
Pope: "Inequality is the root of social ills ... as long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world's problems or, for that matter, to any problems."
2. Trickle-down economics of the rich is a failed ideology
Pope: Some "continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. ... a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power ... the culture of prosperity deadens us."
3. 'Invisible Hand' of free market capitalism cannot be trusted
Pope: "We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the 'invisible hand' of the market. Growth in justice requires more than economic growth ... a better distribution of income ... The economy can no longer turn to remedies ... such as attempting to increase profits by reducing the work force and thereby adding to the ranks of the excluded."
4. New tyranny of capitalism rejects the public good, imposes own laws
Pope: "While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. ... reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good. ... A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules."
5. Capitalism's worship of money is a new golden-calf idolatry
Pope: "Money must serve, not rule ... we calmly accept its dominion over ourselves and our societies. The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person! ... The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money ... lacking a truly human purpose."
6. Capitalism promotes excessive consumption, undermines society
Pope: "Today's economic mechanisms promote inordinate consumption, yet it is evident that unbridled consumerism combined with inequality proves doubly damaging to the social fabric. ... Inequality eventually engenders a violence ... new and more serious conflicts. Some ... blaming the poor and the poorer countries themselves for their troubles ... more exasperating ... widespread and deeply rooted corruption found in many countries ... businesses ... institutions."
7. Competition and survival the fittest is killing public solutions
Pope: "Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless ... masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape. ... Such an economy kills ... it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?"
8. Capitalism treats humans as leftovers in a throwaway culture
Pope: "Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a 'throw away' culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. ... those excluded are no longer society's underside ... no longer even a part of it. ... but the outcast, the 'leftovers.'"
9. Conservative individualism is undermining the common good
Pope: "In a culture where each person wants to be bearer of his or her own subjective truth, it becomes difficult for citizens to devise a common plan which transcends individual gain and personal ambitions. ... freed from those unworthy chains and to attain a way of living and thinking which is more humane, noble and fruitful, and which will bring dignity to their presence on this earth."
10. Capitalism rejects ethics, favors the relativity of individualism
`Pope: "Behind this attitude lurks a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God. ... condemns the manipulation and debasement of the person. ... ethics leads to a God who calls for a committed response which is outside the categories of the marketplace. ... makes it possible to bring about balance and a more humane social order."
Join the debate, engage: Pope's mission will impact everyone, all religions
"High Hopes!" Pope Francis's historic "Apostolic Exhortation," his radical manifesto, is clearly a challenge, forcing a dialogue between conservatives and progressives about free-market capitalism and socialism, about billionaires, politicians and the economy. This is just the opening salvo, we are at a turning point in history, a global economic revolution coming.
Whether you agree or disagree, you cannot afford to stand passively by: Engage, join the dialogue, tell your circle of friends about the pope's radical plan to change the world, because, as it spreads, it will impact everyone, including you. Nobody will be on the sidelines. Post his 10 new economic commandments on social media sites, tweet, retweet, let others know where you stand, for the pope's grass-roots strategies are certain to dramatically change capitalism worldwide, and here in America's free-market economy.


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Sunday Business Page: Pittsburgh Author Robert Matzen 6/9/2019
Sunday Business Page: Pittsburgh Author Robert Matzen 6/9/2019
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Two professors earn Fulbrights
Two College of William and Mary professors were awarded Fulbright Scholar Program grants this fall to conduct research abroad.
Timothy Barnard and Cindy Hahamovitch will travel to France and Ireland, respectively, at the end of the year to teach and conduct research projects during the spring, 2008 semester.
Barnard, visiting assistant professor of American studies and English and coordinator of Mellon projects in the humanities, will research Franco-American film relations and history, specifically French reception of Hollywood cinema in the 1920s. Hahamovitch, associate professor of history, will teach a graduate course on U.S. Immigration History at University College Cork.
Barnard's research will also benefit his work on the Williamsburg Theater Project, a web site database of local film exhibition and reception that is part of the international History of Motion Picture Exhibition and Reception Project. Barnard's grant is co-sponsored by the Franco-American Commission for Education Exchange, and he will be hosted by ARIAS, a research consortium of scholars from the Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III), the École Normale Supérieure and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
"Participating in this Fulbright exchange will create the perfect opportunity for me to pursue my research goals as an American studies and film scholar dedicated to global perspectives," he said. "It will also allow me to expand my interests in both transnational American studies research and global and local film reception studies."
In addition to teaching at University College Cork, Hahamovitch will seek to inform her larger research on international labor migration and will work on a document reader, which is an edited collection of primary sources, or historical documents, for use in history classes. She also plans on learning more about the history of migration out of and into Ireland.
"Ireland is certainly more diverse now that it was when I studied there as a sophomore a quarter century ago, and I'm particularly interested in comparing the Irish and American responses to recent immigration," she said.
In addition to the two faculty members, 11 students and recent graduates of the College were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student scholarships. They are: Chuck Abbott, Amy Benoit, Will Dolive, Helen Wong, Neah Monteiro, Amanda Norris, Jean Rose, Hakan Seyalioglu, Laura Smith, Catherine Williams and Aisa Martinez.
They will work in countries around the world including Oman, Germany, Taiwan, Poland and Hungary. Many of the scholars will work as part of English-teaching assistantships, while others will conduct research on topics ranging from cross-cultural interchange through mathematics to musical connections across the Mediterranean.
The Fulbright Scholar Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and sends 800 U.S. faculty and professionals abroad each year.


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The evil bus and the sadistic driver.
During my various adventures, I have had some challenging bus rides, from riding on the top of a bus while holding an elderly woman's prized rooster in Ecuador to dealing with a drunk wielding a broken bottle on a Greyhound out of Vegas, but this recent ride from Chengdu to Litang takes the cake!
Rough dirt road. Day 2 on the bus.
Usually this bus ride is broken up into two stages: Chengdu to Kangding (10 hours) and then Kangding to Litang (12 hours). While at the bus station, we noticed there was a bus driving straight through. Trying to maximize our time in the mountains, we opted for the marathon ride. I should have known we were in trouble when our bus came into view. It was by far the most beat up dilapidated looking bus in the entire station.
Woman selling freshly roasted walnuts.
The only seats available were in the back of the bus, so Eric, Szu-ting and I piled in and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. Within two minutes of driving the AC stopped working and with only two small windows that could be opened, the temperatures inside the cabin quickly rose into the low 100's. There was the usual cast of world bus characters on board, a screaming baby whose mother was so car sick she vomited non stop, chain smokers and even a poor girl who could not "hold it" resulting in a stream of urine running down the floor of the bus. The road to Kangding was in relatively good shape with only limited sections of dirt road, but construction often caused us to wait on the side of the road for an hour or more. Fortunately, entrepreneurial local people were selling baked corn on the cob and roasted walnuts which we sampled as we waited.
The author, Dave, at hour 18 on the bus.
One thing I have learned, from similar bus travels, is the most important safety item of a bus is not the tires, engine or even seat belts; it is the horn. The "morse code" like beeps our driver used was crucial to everyone's survival. While passing three semis on a blind corner with a 2000-foot drop off below, the steady stream of honks alerted oncoming traffic to our presence.
Waiting for road construction – day 1.
As it turns out we did end up staying in Kangding for the night, but at least all of our expedition gear stayed locked in the bus overnight and at 5:30 am the next morning we were off again. The stretch of road to Litang was all dirt and most of it was under construction. At one point the driver, trying to make up time, floored it down a particularly bumpy stretch of potholes causing the vomiting woman and her 6 month old to go airborne almost hitting the ceiling. A fight nearly erupted between her irate husband and the driver. The end result was a slower speed, which the disks between my vertebrates really appreciated.
We arrived in Litang just in time for dinner, nursing sore necks from the constant charring of the bumpy road and headaches from the nearly 13,000 of elevation gain since leaving Chengdu.
Eric enjoying some fire roasted corn on the cob while waiting for construction.
and some photos from the start of the trip….
Szu-ting weighing the bags.
Szu-ting hoping they don't weigh our luggage in Seattle.
Almost to there.
Szu-ting waiting for our connecting flight in Tokyo.
Szu-ting waiting at 2am, in the Chengdu airport, for Eric's flight to arrive.
Eric and Szu-ting on the rooftop of our hotel in Chengdu.
Dave Anderson was awarded one of the Planet GRANTS It! $5000 grants. To read about his trip, click HERE or visit his blog. Dave will be sending PG updates any chance he gets – stay tuned as his adventures unfold. All photos on this blog are property of Dave Anderson.
To make a donation to the Litang Social English Training Program, please click HERE.


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Some time ago I got hold of a very interesting paperback, with the title War in the Pews. Its subtitle: A Foxhole Guide to Survive Church Conflicts. Its 170 pages are littered with stories of strife in the church, but also present valuable suggestions on how to solve them God's way.
It's fascinating reading. Let me give you a true story of an incident, which almost caused a rift in a congregation. It is about "the battle of a belly button. We all have one, you know that!
A church asked one of its members to paint a mural for the catechism classroom. The artist was to depict the Creation story. Everybody admired the paintinguntil someone spotted that Adam had a belly button. The critics argued convincingly that Adam could not have had a navel, seeing that he was created by God and not born of man.
Most of them couldn't be bothered. Someone suggested that God could very well have created him with a navel. Why not? Anyway, it was decided to leave it as it is.
But, over a period of time, two opposing camps developed, which almost split the church. And as time went on, the battle for or against the navel heated up. In no time the conflict got out of hand.
The session was now forced to take action and asked the painter to do something about it. "No problem, he said, "I'll soon have that fixed. Seeing that Adam stood behind a small shrubnaturallyhe painted an extra leaf, covering Adam's middle.
Sanity came back in that church when both parties after all managed to have a good laugh about it, and humor and peace returned again.
We could easily apply this to our own circles here, couldn't we! I remember many years ago, when some people were absolutely disgruntled with their session. Theythe session, that iswere a dumb lot, lacked vision, and argued a lot about nothing. One of the habitual moaners once did his spiel after church. I got out the local church directory to help him point out who these troublers were. I wondered who they wereperhaps I was included. As we went through the list, he affirmed each one of them to be quite okay. I realized then that he was making a safe, noncommittal generalization. After all, the word session is rather vague and nonthreatening, but when it came to pointing out the individuals, he pulled in his horns!
Some people assassinate their pastors and make their family lives miserable! Others have convictions which go against the general rules of church government, liturgy, or church order, and try to lord it over the others. I do love them and so we should, but unless it is contrary to God's Word, we must make every effort to live in peace and harmony.
Generally speaking, we do desire to reach out to the lost in our own communities, don't we? Perhaps it may be better to leave the lost sheep outside our pens for a while, till we have sorted ourselves out here and there! We need to confess our sins and shortcomings to the Lord and to one another and become more charitable and less judgmental toward one another, instead of sticking a label here and there, mostly untrue, onto a presbytery, a local church, or some individuals.
Aren't we supposed to be the salt of the earth?
Settle matters quickly in love and be reconciled to one another in the Lord. If we can't do that, we had better do some soul-searching and seek repentance and restoration.
If we genuinely desire to be a witness in our communities and seek to save the lost, we need to clean up our own house first. On the surface we may appear to be in not such bad shape, but we could do better! The world watches us like a hawk; have no doubt about that. When an elderly man crosses the road and politely asks his churchgoing neighbor to turn the radio down please, and then gets told to mind his own business, this churchgoer has done great harm, not only to himself as a person and as a professing Christian, but also to the church.
Our witness is a round-the-clock activity, by what we say and do, wherever we are. Our every word and every step is being watched by the world! One of my elderly neighbors harbors an incredible grudge against Christians because of what happened to him in the workplace in his teens. He is still angry and as sarcastic as caustic soda! Sad, isn't it?
Revive us again, O Lord. "Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (Romans 6:4).
We need, individually and corporately, to examine ourselves if we desire to seek the lost.
What is the message we bring by our lifestyle and speech?
Does the world around us recognize in us a chosen peoplenot locked up in our own little world, but ready at all times to reach out in word and deed with the good news of salvation?
May peace prevail in our pews!
Mr. Vanderpyl is a longtime elder in the Reformed Churches of New Zealand. This article, slightly edited, first appeared under another title in the September 1999 issue of Faith in Focus, the denominational publication of the Reformed Churches of New Zealand. Reprinted from New Horizons, February 2000.
|© 2020 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Chaplains and Military Personnel


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Colon Cancer Screening
Information about the prevention of cancer and the science of screening appropriate individuals at high risk of developing cancer is gaining interest. Physicians and individuals alike recognize that the best "treatment" of cancer is preventing its occurrence in the first place or detecting it early when it may be most treatable.
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The disease strikes both men and women, with more than 140,000 cases diagnosed each year. Approximately 50,000 people die from colorectal cancer each year.
The chance of an individual developing cancer depends on both genetic and non-genetic factors. A genetic factor is an inherited, unchangeable trait, while a non-genetic factor is a variable in a person's environment, which can often be changed. Non-genetic factors may include diet, exercise, or exposure to other substances present in our surroundings. These non-genetic factors are often referred to as environmental factors. Some non-genetic factors play a role in facilitating the process of healthy cells turning cancerous (i.e. the correlation between smoking and lung cancer) while other cancers have no known environmental correlation but are known to have a genetic predisposition. A genetic predisposition means that a person may be at higher risk for a certain cancer if a family member has that type of cancer.
Heredity or Genetic Factors
People with a personal or family history of adenomatous polyps or familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) are at an increased risk for developing colorectal cancer. Adenomatous polyps are non-cancerous tumors that grow in the colon or rectum and can become cancerous, ultimately developing into colorectal cancer. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is a genetic disease that causes hundreds of adenomatous polyps to form in the colon or rectum. FAP most often affects adolescents and young adults, many of whom develop colorectal cancer at an early age.
Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is a genetic syndrome caused by mutation in one of several genes. HNPCC accounts for about 3-5% of all colorectal cancer. With HNPCC, people generally develop a single colorectal cancer rather than an unusual number of polyps, as in FAP. Individuals with the HNPCC gene mutations have an 80% lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Individuals with a family history of colorectal cancer or colorectal adenomas (polyps) also have an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer, as do those with a personal history of either of these conditions. In addition, people suffering from inflammatory bowel disease have a greater chance of developing colorectal cancer.
Environmental or Non-Genetic Factors
Diet: Some, but not all, research indicates that a high-fat diet, as well as a diet low in fiber and folic acid, may play a role in the development of colorectal cancer. Three recently published clinical studies, however, have failed to produce evidence to support the theory that a diet low in fiber leads to colorectal cancer.1 There is considerable evidence, however, that a high intake of red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer.
In a study involving 76,402 women, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston found that a "western" diet increases the risk of colon cancer, compared to a "prudent" diet. A "western" diet was defined as including higher levels of red and processed meats, sweets and desserts, French fries, and refined grains while the "prudent" diet consisted of higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, poultry and whole grains. After the data was adjusted for additional risk factors (which can skew statistical results), the researchers reported that women on a Western diet were 46% more likely to develop colon cancer than women who ate a prudent diet.2
Another dietary factor that has consistently been linked with an increased risk of colorectal cancer is alcohol intake.3,4 Alcohol – regardless of the type (beer, wine, or spirits) — appears to increase the risk of colorectal cancer in both men and women. The risks of moderate alcohol intake must, however, be balanced with the potential benefits; moderate alcohol intake reduces the risk of heart disease.
Obesity: Obesity has consistently been linked with an increased risk of colon cancer in men.5 The extent to which obesity influences colon cancer risk in women is less clear, although larger waist circumference has been linked with increased colon cancer risk in both men and women.6
Smoking: Studies of the link between tobacco and risk of colorectal cancer have been inconsistent. A pooled analysis of the Women's Health Initiative studies found an increased risk of rectal cancer among smokers, but no increased risk of colon cancer.7 Some previous studies, however, have reported a link between smoking and colon cancer.
Researchers have estimated that more than 50% of colon cancers could be prevented through healthy lifestyle choices.8
Exercise: Numerous studies have demonstrated that regular physical activity reduces the risk of colon cancer.9,10,11
Talk with your doctor before starting an exercise program. If your doctor decides that it's appropriate for you, you may benefit from following exercise guidelines such as those provided by the American Cancer Society.12 Developed for the general population (and not specifically for cancer survivors), the guidelines recommend that adults engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on five or more days per week. A longer duration of exercise (45 to 60 minutes) may provide additional benefits.
Moderate-intensity activity includes brisk walking and cycling on level terrain. Vigorous activity includes cycling or walking up hills and jogging. For more information, visit the physical activity Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Detection and Treatment of Precancerous Polyps: For cancers such as breast cancer, screening does not prevent the development of the cancer; rather, screening detects the cancer at an early stage when treatment is most likely to be successful. In the case of colon cancer, however, screening can sometimes prevent the development of cancer by identifying precancerous colon polyps. Removing these polyps can prevent the later development of cancer. Colorectal cancer screening tests are described in more detail below.
Diet: There is convincing evidence that excess body fat substantially increases the risk for many types of cancer. While much of the cancer-related nutrition information cautions against a high-fat diet, the real culprit may be an excess of calories. Studies indicate that there is little, if any, relationship between body fat and fat composition of the diet. These studies show that excessive caloric intake from both fats and carbohydrates lead to the same result of excess body fat. The ideal way to avoid excess body fat is to limit caloric intake and/or balance caloric intake with ample exercise.
Studies suggest that high intake of red meat may increase the risk of colorectal cancer. One strategy for positive dietary change is to replace red meat with chicken, fish, nuts and legumes.
For many years, researchers speculated that the low incidence of colorectal cancer in parts of Africa could be linked to a high-fiber diet; however, several studies have failed to support this theory. In 1999, three pivotal clinical studies evaluating the effects of a high-fiber diet on colorectal cancer failed to establish a correlation between high fiber consumption and reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer. In two of these studies, researchers directly compared 2 groups of individuals with either high or low fiber consumption and found an equal number of polyps in each group. There are many reasons to eat a diet high in fiber, particularly to help reduce the risk for coronary artery disease; however, such a diet does not appear to help prevent the development of colorectal polyps or cancer.
There is strong evidence that moderate to high alcohol consumption increases the risk of certain cancers. One reason for this relationship may be that alcohol interferes with the availability of folic acid. Alcohol in combination with tobacco may create an even greater risk.
Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS): NSAIDS are used to reduce inflammation and pain; they include drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen. Studies have suggested that NSAIDS reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.13 The potential benefits of regular use of these drugs, however, must be weighed against the potential risks. In 2007, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against routine use of aspirin or other NSAIDS for the prevention of colorectal cancer in individuals at average risk of colorectal cancer.14
The following points contributed to this decision:
- While higher doses of aspirin appear to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, lower doses of aspirin do not. Higher doses of aspirin increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, and aspirin has also been linked with an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
- Similarly, while there is some evidence that non-aspirin NSAIDS may reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer, these drugs increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and kidney problems. In addition, the class of NSAIDS known as COX-2 inhibitors has been linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular problems.
The USPSTF notes, however "These recommendations do not apply to patients with a personal history of colorectal cancer or other conditions that put them at high risk for the disease." It is also important to note that these recommendations do not alter previous recommendations about the use of low-dose aspirin in people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Patients at high risk for colorectal cancer as a result of personal or family history may wish to talk with their doctor about steps they can take to reduce their risk.
Calcium: Researchers have demonstrated a link between high calcium intake and a reduction in the development of colorectal adenomas. One study showed that patients taking 1200 mg of calcium daily demonstrated a 20% reduction in colorectal adenoma formation and a 45% reduction in advanced adenoma formation.15 Physicians surmise that a reduction in adenoma formation would lead to a reduction in cancer rates. Furthermore, calcium and Vitamin D may work synergistically to decrease adenoma formation.16
Vitamin D: Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that comes from dietary supplements, foods such as fortified milk and cereal, certain kinds of fish (including salmon, mackerel, and tuna), and exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D is hypothesized to play a role in the prevention of some types of cancer, including colon cancer. According to results from two large studies – the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses' Health Study – individuals with higher blood levels of vitamin D may have a reduced risk of developing colon cancer.17
Screening and Early Diagnosis
For many types of cancer, progress in cancer screening has offered promise for earlier detection and higher cure rates. The term screening refers to the regular use of certain examinations or tests in persons who do not have symptoms of cancer.
Screening is crucial for the prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer. The American Cancer Society currently recommends that people at average risk of colorectal cancer begin being screened for colorectal cancer at the age of 50. Screening may need to begin at a much earlier age for people with a personal or family history of adenomatous polyps, FAP, HNPCC, colorectal cancer, or chronic inflammatory bowel disease.
Several screening strategies are currently available. These include the fecal occult blood test (FOBT), flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy and double contrast barium enema. The frequency of screening depends on the method. In general, FOBT is performed every year, sigmoidoscopy is performed every five years, and colonoscopy is performed every 10 years. Individuals interested in colorectal cancer screening should discuss the options with their physician in order to determine the most appropriate procedure.
According to recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), routine colorectal cancer screening should continue until the age of 75.18 Patients over this age may wish to talk with their physician about the need for continued screening.
Fecal Occult-Blood Test (FOBT): The fecal occult-blood test checks for hidden blood in the stool. Recently, results from an 18-year study indicated that annual or biannual FOBT could significantly reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer. If positive, this test indicates the presence of bleeding polyps and the need for further screening, such as colonoscopy. The further screening tests allow the identification and removal of polyps, which results in a reduced incidence of colorectal cancer.
Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT): Fecal immunochemical tests are a newer type of fecal occult-blood test. Unlike traditional FOBT, FIT does not require drug or dietary restrictions on the part of the patient.
Flexible sigmoidoscopy: During this procedure, a physician uses a lighted tube to look inside the rectum and the lower part of the colon (sigmoid colon) for polyps or areas suspicious for cancer. The physician may perform a biopsy in order to collect samples of suspicious tissues or cells for closer examination. This is an outpatient procedure that does not require sedative anesthesia or pain medication. There are no or few complications associated with this procedure.
Colonoscopy: During this procedure, a longer flexible tube that is attached to a camera is inserted through the rectum, allowing physicians to examine the internal lining of the colon for polyps or other abnormalities. The physician may perform a biopsy in order to collect samples of suspicious tissues or cells for closer examination. This is a more difficult procedure than sigmoidoscopy to perform, requiring anesthesia or heavy sedation, but it allows the entire colon to be viewed. Significant complications occur in 0.1-0.3% of patients or less.19
Double-contrast barium enema: A chalky substance called barium is inserted through the rectum and into the colon and rectum. The patient then undergoes x-rays of the colon and rectum so that the physician can evaluate the area for polyps or other abnormalities. The barium helps open the colon so that the x-rays are more detailed and clear.
While these screening strategies help to monitor for the development of adenomatous polyps and colorectal cancer, other tests exist which may allow physicians to identify patients who are at risk for the development of colorectal cancer.
Predictive genetic testing: A predictive test for hereditary colorectal cancer is now available. This test detects disease-causing mutations in two genes, MLH1 and MSH2, which are responsible for the majority of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). This test may allow patients who are identified to be at a high risk for HNPCC to have earlier and more frequent exams and to have pre-cancerous polyps removed. Individuals interested in genetic testing should consult with their physicians about the risks and benefits of this procedure.
Strategies to Improve Screening and Early Detection of Colon Cancer
The potential for earlier detection and higher cure rates increases with the advent of more refined screening techniques. In an effort to provide more screening options and perhaps more effective prevention strategies, researchers continue to explore new techniques for the screening and early detection of cancer.
Several new strategies for the screening of colorectal cancer have recently emerged. Despite progress in this area, it is still important that individuals continue to utilize the standard screening procedures in an effort to maintain health and detect colorectal cancer early when it is most treatable. However, these new procedures hold promise for earlier and more reliable detection of colorectal cancer and some individuals may be interested in participating in clinical trials that will help to determine the effectiveness of these new techniques.
DNA stool test: This new screening procedure involves looking for abnormal DNA in stool samples. Changes in DNA occur as tumors develop in the colon. The tumors shed cells into the intestine, which makes it possible to detect the abnormal DNA cells in stool samples. This simple, non-invasive screening procedure has proven effective in some clinical studies20 but is expensive to perform. Research is ongoing to determine the feasibility of using this as a standard screening procedure.
Virtual colonoscopy: In virtual colonoscopy (also called CT colonography), spiral CT scanners scan the entire colon to produce a 3-D image. The procedure allows for the complete visualization of the colon more quickly and less invasively than with conventional colonoscopy, although patients who have polyps detected will still need to undergo conventional colonoscopy to have the polyps removed. Virtual colonoscopy is a promising new technique, but more research may be needed before it becomes a standard screening procedure for colorectal cancer.
1 Park Y, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, et al. Dietary fiber intake and risk of colorectal cancer: a pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2005;294:2849-57.
2 Fung T, Hu FB, Fuchs C, et al. Major dietary patterns and the risk of colorectal cancer in women. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2003; 163:309-314.
3 Cho E, Smith-Warner SA, Ritz J et al. Alcohol intake and colorectal cancer: a pooled analysis of cohort studies. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2004;140:603-13.
4 Ferrari P, Jenab M, Norat T et al. Lifetime and baseline alcohol intake and risk of colon and rectal cancers in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC). International Journal of Cancer. 2007;121:2065-72.
5 Thygesen LC, Gronbaek M, Johansen C et al. Prospective weight change and colon cancer risk in male US health professionals. International Journal of Cancer. 2008:123:1160-5.
6 Pischon T, Lahmann PH, Boeing H et al. Body size and risk of colon and rectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2006;98:921-31.
7 Paskett ED, Reeves KW, Rohan TE et al. Association between cigarette smoking and colorectal cancer in the Women's Health Initiative. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2007;99:1729-35.
8 Harvard Report on Cancer Prevention. Volume 3: Prevention of Colon Cancer in the United States. Cancer Causes and Control. 1999;10:167-180.
9 Howard RA, Freedman DM, Park Y, Hollenbeck A, Schatzkin A, Leitzmann MF. Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and the risk of colon and rectal cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Cancer Causes and Control. 2008;19:939-53.
10 Nilsen TI, Romundstad PR, Petersen H, Gunnell D, Vatten LJ. Recreational physical activity and cancer risk in subsites of the colon (the Nord-Trondelag Health Study). Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2008;17:183-8.
11 Friedenreich C, Norat T, Steindorf K et al. Physical activity and risk of colon and rectal cancers: the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2006;15:2398-407.
12 Doyle C, Kushi LH, Byers T et al. Nutrition and physical activity during and after cancer treatment: an American Cancer Society Guide for informed choices. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2006;56:323-353.
13 Jacobs E, Thun M, Bain E, et al. A large cohort study of long-term daily use of adult-strength aspirin and cancer incidence. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2007; 99: 608-615.
14 U.S Preventive Services Task Force. Routine Aspirin or Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs for the primary prevention of colorectal cancer: U.S. preventive services task force recommendation statement. >Annals of Internal Medicine. 2007;146:361-364.
15 Baron JA, Beach M, Mandel JS, van Stolk RU, Haile RW, Sandler RS, Rothstein R, Summers RW, Snover DC, Beck GJ, Bond JH, Greenberg ER. Calcium supplements for the prevention of colorectal adenomas. Calcium Polyp Prevention Study Group. New England Journal of Medicine. 1999;340:101-107
16 Grau MV, Baron JA, Sandler RS, Haile RW, Beach ML, Church TR, Heber D. Vitamin D, calcium supplementation, and colorectal adenomas: results of a randomized trial. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2003; 95: 1765-1771.
17 Wu K, Feskanich D, Fuchs CS, Willett WC, Hollis BW, Giovannucci EL. A nested case-control study of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and risk of colorectal cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2007;99:1120-9.
18 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Colorectal Cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. Annals of Internal Medicine. Early online publication October 7, 2008.
19 Zubarik R, Fleisher DE, Mastropietro C, et al. Prospective analysis of complications 30 days after outpatient colonoscopy. Gastrointestinal Colonoscopy. 1999;50:322-8.
20 Itzkowitz SH, Brand R, Jandorf L, et al. A simplified, noninvasive stool DNA test for colorectal cancer detection. American Journal of Gastroenterology. Early online publication August 27, 2008.
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In the first 10 minutes of the second season of HBO drama "The Newsroom," creator Aaron Sorkin hits viewers with half a dozen news themes, an intense legal discussion, a flashback and SOPA.
Yes, SOPA, the acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act being debated in Congress. It's the kind of complex topics that will keep news junkies and fans of Sorkin's chaotic television newsroom on their toes for season two, which premieres Sunday.
Although the first season of "The Newsroom" has a good chance of picking up Emmy nominations next week, including for best drama, Sorkin's creation was picked apart by the critics.
Now the writer who made his name with the Emmy-winning drama "The West Wing" and won a writing Oscar for "The Social Network" begins this season with something to prove.
In a sign of what's at stake, Sorkin told The Hollywood Reporter that for season two he re-wrote the first three episodes and had to re-shoot chunks of the first and second at a cost of several million dollars to HBO, owned by Time Warner .
"The Newsroom" stars Jeff Daniels as gruff news anchor Will McAvoy, bent on delivering a nightly newscast that tackles the tough news issues, regardless of ratings pressures. He is supported in his quest by his former love and producer MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer), his boss (Sam Waterston) and smart staffers whose fragile personal lives enrich each episode.
In the first season, Sorkin was criticized for presenting a sanctimonious view of the news, with "New York Times" critic Alessandra Stanley saying: "'The Newsroom' would be a lot better if the main characters preached less and went back to reporting."
For this season, Sorkin hired a dozen consultants, mostly journalists, to help him navigate the news. But he insists he is not out to tell the world how to produce news.
"This show isn't meant to be a 'here's how you do it' kind of thing," Sorkin told Reuters this week. "It's a workplace show."
The Sorkin-created workplace is a bewildering environment, rife with his trademark, detail-filled dialogue and breaking news events, most of which happened in the real world. Add to that a complex legal case that will thread its way through entire season.
In the first few minutes of season two, Will McAvoy is in deep trouble with his corporate masters for calling the conservative Tea Party movement "the American Taliban."
A corporate lawyer played by show newcomer Marcia Gay Harden says to Will: "Fourteen months ago, you went on the air and called the Tea Party the American Taliban. What happened then?" Will responds "A lot."
The viewer is then pulled into the vortex of news from the year before in flashback, from the campaigning of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to the rebel victory in Libya to Occupy Wall Street to SOPA. And then there is a fictional story about U.S. use of chemical weapons code-named "Genoa," based on a real 1998 story that got CNN in trouble. It will be the bete noire for "News Night" this season.
Daniels, who may also be an Emmy contender, believes Will McAvoy's objectives are not just the stuff of fiction.
"I think there are shows out there that are trying to do, and successfully do, what Will is trying to do... And that is to tell the truth," he said.
Sorkin, for his part, says he is not selling "The Newsroom" as a critique of today's news media landscape.
"I think it's impossible to make any statement about the media," Sorkin said. "There's just so much of it. It's so big."


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Tenure Track Position in Social Psychology: Clark University
The Department of Psychology invites applications for the position of Assistant Professor (tenure-track) to begin in August 2014. Clark University offers the advantages of both a distinguished research university and a small liberal arts college (see http://www.clark.edu/~psydept).
The Psychology Department has Ph.D. programs in Social, Clinical, and Developmental Psychology. We seek a social psychologist (holding a Ph.D. in social psychology by the time of the appointment) who examines important social issues by including broad cultural, societal, and structural level analysis, as well as basic individual processes. The ideal candidate should be interested both in theory and application related to socially relevant issues, competent in a variety of methods, have experience working in diverse contexts and with community samples, and provide synergistic links with the other programs in the department as well as with other University programs such as Communication and Culture, Race and Ethnic Relations, Women's and Gender Studies, Peace Studies, or the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Candidates should have an established area of research that shows promise for obtaining external funding. The successful candidate should be able to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in research methods or statistics and seminars and lecture courses in social psychology, including their field of interest as well as general topics in social psychology such as attitudes, persuasion, emotion, or group and intergroup processes.
All applications are to be submitted electronically to the following e-mail address:firstname.lastname@example.com. Applicants should submit a statement of research and teaching interests, CV, and three copies of the publications they consider their best contribution to the field (this can include work under review). Three letters of recommendation should be sent directly as files to the Chair of the Search Committee to the e-mail address provided above. Full consideration will be given to all applications received by October 7, 2013.
Clark University is committed to sustaining a diverse and inclusive community of faculty, students, and staff with the conviction that such an environment catalyzes learning and cultivates ethical, well-informed, and well-prepared citizens. To this end, we are especially interested in qualified candidates whose research, teaching, and service reflect active engagement with varied perspectives and constituencies. We are an affirmative action/equal employment opportunity university and we strongly encourage women and members of minority groups to apply. AA/EEO.


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Opinion: Abusing Apple
Editorial board member Joe Rago on Judge Denise Cote's investigation into Apple's e-book business. Photo: Associated Press
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... I ... the judge has embarked on an investigation of apple that is raising eyebrows ... but not the Apple itself ... more about the judge's conduct ... here with the story is editorial board member ... Joe rego to joins me now Joe the minute try was Judge Denise Cote for viewers out there that don't know already and how she involved with Apple ... which is the presiding judge that the antitrust trial ... for Apple's ... entry into the U S market this was a ... period in December two thousand and nine in January two thousand ten Apple was convicted by Judge Cote ... in a bench trial ... jury ... of ... conspiring to Raise Vehicle Prices Now that at that point in the Amazon Kindle dominated ninety percent of the ... e book smart given the introduction of the I pad ... increased competition and consumer choice ... and actually ... lowered ... people prices now that didn't really matter to Judge Cote who who had to clear before the trial even began ... her tentative view that was that Apple was the ... co conspirator ... of of this suppose and block ... what we should mention a Harper Collins so just for News Corporation was also a are involved here ... I ... think that the judge seemed to take this ... idea further than just that verdict how ... can you heard is that in her eye conjunction to the sentiment in the case you wanted an outside monitor ... succumbing to Apple ... um you know in review its antitrust training procedures and compliance and and so forth then she appointed ... a guy named Michael Bromwich lawyer ... an old friend of hers ... and he's gone into Apple ... and started in the Inquisition ... he might Inquisition sticky so it could hurt injunction against Apple until this January to them the opportunity to overhaul its ... training procedures ... he's coming in and saying ... you know I want interviews with ... every top ... Apple executive ... you know every board member ... Al court Tim Cook ... I he's making proprietary requests for documents China bypass Apple's in house counsel to start this ... investigation and meet with these people ... without their lawyers present he just be clear ... this is after Apple entered the market and brought people places down the city the initial premise of the things right is a balance there they're being pursued by the Justice Department ... billion dollar class action supposedly on behalf of consumers and thirty three state attorneys general ... who won a piece of this company don't look to be done here about Mr. Abramovich and Mr. just conduct right the case is currently on appeal at the Second Circuit in it involves ... troubling news ... it would set a troubling precedent for antitrust enforcement ... which is why Apple is finding it so hard and thank goodness the company has enough money ... to to take on the federal government you know that the publishers ... settled here under threat of financial ruin ... and that's much harder to do with a stronger company like Apple ... might just makes you shake your head ... editoral board member Joe radio the thing thank so much for the update