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Patent application title: GRANULATOR BLADES WITH A HIGH WEAR RESISTANCE AND SHARPENING METHOD THEREOF
Riccardo Felisari (San Giorgio Di Mantova, IT)
Alessandro Casalini (Mantova, IT)
Alessandro Casalini (Mantova, IT)
POLIMERI EUROPA S.p.A.
IPC8 Class: AB02C1900FI
USPC Class:
Class name: Solid material comminution or disintegration apparatus comminuting elements
Publication date: 2011-10-20
Patent application number: 20110253826
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Granulator blades with a high wear resistance made of cold work tool
steel, preferably with a high vanadium content and thermally treated
after machining, at a temperature ranging from 500° C. to
700° C. The sharpening of the blades is effected by abrading the
blades against the surface of the die plate, under suitable operating
1. Knives made of cold work tool steel, having hardness lower than 65
Rockwell degrees, C scale, for use in granulators for thermoplastic
polymers, to which, prior to mounting on the granulator, a thermal
treatment is applied, such thermal treatment consisting in heating the
knives to a temperature between 500 and 700.degree. C. for a time higher
than 5 minutes and then cooling them gradually.
2. Knives according to claim 1, wherein the heating time is higher than 20 minutes.
3. Knives according to claim 1 or 2, wherein cooling occurs at a rate equal to or lower than 15.degree. C./minute.
4. Knives according to claim 1, 2 or 3 characterised by a bottom heel angle, between the blade and the surface of the die plate, in the range between 2 and 45.degree..
5. Knives according to any one of the preceding claims, which are made of ledeburitic tool steel.
6. Knives according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ledeburitic steel comprises chromium, molybdenum and vanadium.
7. Knives according to claim 6, wherein the steel comprises 3-12% vanadium, 4-12% chromium and 1-5% molybdenum.
8. Method for sharpening knives according to any one of claims 1-7, which comprises mounting the knives in the hub of the granulator, putting them into rotation, subjecting them to a thrust, towards the surface of the die plate, higher than 0.5 N per knife and keeping simultaneously a cooling step by the circulation of a thermostatic liquid wherein the flow rate of such a thermostatic liquid is periodically varied.
9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the fluids contained in the granulation chamber are both gaseous and liquid, and wherein the volume fraction of gas is greater than 0.6 and lower than 1.
[0001] The present invention relates to granulator blades with a high wear resistance and the relative sharpening method.
[0002] The blades, object of the present invention, can be used in granulators for thermoplastic polymers, such as for example water-ring, underwater and water spray granulators.
[0003] Vinyl and vinyl aromatic polymers, optionally expandable, are among the thermoplastic polymers to which the present invention can be applied. More specifically, it can be applied to the granulation of polystyrene, expandable polystyrene and its alloys.
[0004] All the conditions specified in the text should be considered as being preferred even if not explicitly indicated.
[0005] The cutting of thermoplastic polymers in the molten state can be effected by passing them through a series of holes situated in a die plate, followed by cutting the polymer still in the molten state by means of a specific device.
[0006] The cutting can be effected with the use of a series of knives, in continuous rotation and with the cutting blade in correspondence with the surface of the die plate.
[0007] The granules thus obtained are cooled and removed by means of a thermo-regulator fluid.
[0008] Various systems for the granulation of the polymer use the technique described above. Among these, the water spray polymer cutting technology, as described in patent WO 03/053650, underwater and water ring technologies are of particular importance. These and other technologies are illustrated in numerous patents or patent applications, among which U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,196; WO 03/106544; WO 03/053650; WO 2007/087001; WO 2007/089497.
[0009] In some applications, however, the granulation can be problematical. In particular, a difficulty to be solved is obtaining a long-lasting cutting system, i.e. capable of reducing the frequency of replacement of the knives. The duration of the knives strictly depends on their wear rate caused by friction against the die plate and also by the same cutting operation of the polymer.
[0010] Various technological solutions have been developed for obtaining an adequate reliability, together with a high cutting quality (such as the absence of scrap and generation of polymer powder).
[0011] Patent application WO 2007/089497 describes particular knife geometries and relative knife-holder hub, so that the first are almost perpendicular with respect to the surface of the die plate. This geometry allows a better detachment of the beads of molten polymer from the surface of the knife.
[0012] Patent application WO 03/053650 describes a water spray cutting method which allows the cooling rate of the granule to be regulated with the use of a spray of thermovector fluid which only occupies a part of the volume of the granulator, the remaining part being occupied by gas. In this way, both the quality of the granulation and the tendency of the holes to become clogged are controlled.
[0013] Patent application US 2005/0126015 describes particular configurations of rotating knives and the relative supporting structure, capable of ensuring a reduced friction. This allows the vibration and heating of the knives to be minimized.
[0014] The patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,296,985 illustrates particular equipment for the granulation of thermoplastic polymers, equipped with a device for the transmission of the torque between a shaft which can be moved axially and the knife-holder hub.
[0015] Patent application WO 2007/087001 describes a method for the start-up of granulators for thermoplastic resins. By using particular die plates, this method allows to start pelletizing both by avoiding both excessive cooling, that could clog the holes of the die plate, and also by ensuring a sufficient cooling for obtaining a good quality of the granulate.
[0016] The knives are typically kept under pressure against the surface of the die plate, in order to ensure a good cutting quality. The pressure, together with the high rotation rates, causes a high wear of the same knives. This wear is an important limitation for industrial plants, where the granulation is typically effected in continuous and where maintenance breaks therefore correspond to a reduction in the production capacity of the plant.
[0017] This wear is more marked when polymer resins are employed containing inorganic additives with a considerable hardness, or at a high concentration, or in both cases. Examples of these applications are described in patents U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,713 and EP 1514895.
[0018] The wear is particularly critical in the cutting of more flowing resins, such as expandable resins, and in micro-granulation. Under these conditions, in fact, it is necessary to ensure a maximum adherence of the knives to the surface of the granulator. This high adherence causes, as a consequence, a high wear by abrasion.
[0019] The material of which the cutting knives are made is of critical importance for limiting their wear and for a correct and long-lasting granulation of the polymer.
[0020] As is known, the use of extremely hard materials allows the life duration of the blades to be increased. The surface of the die plate must therefore be harder than the blades so that these are the first to become worn. Alternatively, it is sufficient for only a part of the die plate surface, even a minority, to be made of a harder material, as while rotating the knives around the axis, at least a part of the blade is always in contact with said harder material.
[0021] Among materials for knives which are most widely used for these applications, are cold work tool steels. Some of these, such as for example, type K100 of Bohler-Uddeholm, ensure a high dimensional stability, have a sufficient resilience and a considerable hardness (Rockwell), for example higher than 50 HRC.
[0022] However, especially in the applications mentioned above, knives made with these materials are also subjected to significantly high wear for industrial use.
[0023] Another example of a material which can be used for producing knife blades is represented by ledeburite steels. Although these have an adequate wear resistance, they have a limited processability in the sharpening phase. Furthermore, the significant hardness can make high-quality granulation difficult, due to the excessive rigidity of the blade and consequent reduced adherence of the same to the surface of the die plate.
[0024] A part from the material, the control system of the thrust pressure of the knives on the die plate is also fundamental. The knives are normally thrust against the die plate surface by means of a suitable system, for example an oil-dynamic system which ensures a predetermined thrust on the hub on which the knives are rigidly applied.
[0025] In these systems, the wear can be controlled by reducing the pressure which acts on the knives. This operation can be dangerous, however. In this way, in fact, the contact of the knives on the cutting surface may no longer be guaranteed due to the vibrations, induced by the rotating system, and due to the polymer thrust. When there is no support, the knives withdraw and the granulation loses its quality or becomes impossible.
[0026] In the whole of the present document, the terms "shear quality" and "granulation quality" should be considered equivalent.
[0027] According to the present invention, described in the claims, the material used for the knives is steel with a high resistance to wear. The material is preferably cold work tool steel, such as ledeburitic steels, possibly obtained by powder metallurgy.
[0028] Even more preferably, the material is an alloy steel based on chromium, molybdenum and vanadium.
[0029] Preferred examples of these materials contain, by weight, 1-4% of carbon, 4-12% of chromium, 1-5% of molybdenum, 0-0.7% of manganese, 3-12% of vanadium and 0-1.5% of silicon.
[0030] Examples of these materials are Vanadis-4 Extra, Vanadis-6 and Vanadis-10, produced by Bohler-Uddeholm and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,297,177, 6,818,040 and 6,348,109.
[0031] Sometimes the use of knives made with this type of steel does not allow to obtain a satisfactory granulation, unless with a particular procedure, object of the present invention.
[0032] As already mentioned, in fact, the use of high hardness steels improves the duration but reduces the cut quality. Vice versa, softer knives provide a high cut quality to the detriment of the duration.
[0033] The knives, object of the present invention, are advantageously thermally treated before being assembled on the cutting system. The thermal treatment comprises the step of heating the knives to a temperature ranging from 500 to 700° C.; more preferably from 550 to 650° C.
[0034] The knives are kept at this temperature for a time greater than 5 minutes, more typically greater than 20 minutes, for example from 35 to 250 minutes and are then slowly cooled, until a temperature equal to or lower than 500° C., for example at an average cooling rate equal to or lower than 15° C./minute, for example up to 450° C., more preferably lower than 10° C. per minute.
[0035] The hardness of thermally treated knife is generally lower than the non-treated knife. The reduction in hardness is typically from 2 to 20 Rockwell degrees, scale C.
[0036] Surprisingly, knives prepared according to this procedure are very resistant to wear, in spite of this reduction in hardness and even if applied on die plates characterized by a higher surface hardness, for example starting from 10 Rockwell C degrees. This allows obtaining an improved granulation quality, at the same time maintaining a considerable life prolongation of knives, during the granulator running.
[0037] Furthermore, the use of knives, prepared according to the method described in the present invention, allows obtaining a simplification of the restarting operations of granulation device after the substitution of the same knives, as described hereunder. It is known that, in order to obtain a high-quality granulation, it is essential to ensure an adequate support for the knives on the die plate surface. In order to obtain this result, the knives are typically fixed to the hub while they are held against a flat, smooth supporting surface. In some cases, however, such as micro-granules or expandable polymers cutting, this fixing procedure is not sufficient for obtaining an adequate cutting quality.
[0038] In these cases, an even higher correspondence between the surface generated by rotating knives and die plate, is in fact necessary. This correspondence can be obtained by means of a sharpening operation where knives are partially worn against the die plate surface.
[0039] Traditional knives made of steel, such as K100 produced by Bohler, have a low resistance to wear, thus they are easily abraded against the die plate surface and therefore easily sharpened. At the same time, the life of knives is modest.
[0040] The use of steels with a higher wear resistance produces a significant duration increase, but generally sharpening is difficult, requiring long times and particular operating conditions. Although the knives, object of the present invention, maintain a considerable resistance to abrasion wear, they are surprisingly easy to sharpen, thus accelerating the restarting operations of granulation device.
[0041] The sharpening is conducted by subjecting the knives, kept in a rotating movement, to a thrust, towards the surface of the die plate, greater than 0.5 N per knife, for example greater than 1 N per knife, preferably between 20 and 100 N. Furthermore, as is known, during the knife sharpening, conducted before feeding the molten polymer to the die plate, the blades which are abraded against the die plate must be continuously cooled to avoid overheating due to friction. A method has also been surprisingly found for facilitating and accelerating the sharpening process of the knives, prepared according to the present invention. This method consists in reducing the blade cooling during the sharpening phase with respect to the value adopted during the granulation phase. In water spray granulators or, more generally, in granulators where the volume fraction of gas is greater than 0.6 and lower than 1, this method can be applied by means of a reduction of the water flow in the granulator or, more generally, of the vector fluid.
[0042] The same approach can be used in underwater granulators, or a stream of gas can be introduced in order to reduce the liquid fraction and consequently reduce the heat transfer.
[0043] According to the present invention, the optimum flow reduction for these granulators ranges from 1:2 to 1:100 with respect to the fluid flow-rate generally used during the granulation of the polymer.
[0044] In order to maximize the sharpening rate, it is also possible to periodically or continuously vary the heat transfer. This can be achieved by alternating the cooling fluid flow-rate between two fixed values, at regular time intervals. Said flow-rate, for example, can be varied between a reference flow-rate and 1:20 of said value, at regular time intervals of 30 seconds.
[0045] According to another operative procedure, object of the present invention, said variation in the heat transfer can be achieved by periodically interrupting the cooling flow for a predetermined time interval. For example, the cooling fluid can be directed towards the knives for 50 seconds and interrupted or deviated to another place for 10 seconds. The cycle, which lasts 60 seconds, is repeated until the sharpening has been completed.
[0046] A further reduction in the sharpening times is obtainable if the knives to be sharpened have a geometry that, upon contact with the die plate surface, the contact surface is extremely reduced.
[0047] This can be obtained by ensuring that the bottom heel angle of the blade (i.e. the angle between the die plate surface and the knife side faced said surface) is not zero. The bottom heel angle of the blade preferably ranges from 2 to 45°.
[0048] The cutting angle (i.e. the angle formed between the top and bottom heel angle) is advantageously less than 90°, preferably between 5° and 70°.
[0049] FIG. 1 illustrates the hardness in Rockwell degrees Scale C, relating to the knives, object of the present invention, in function of the tempering temperature; and
[0050] FIG. 2 illustrates a front view and a side view of a pair of knives for the granulation of thermoplastic polymers, illustrative of the present invention. The knife is fixed to the knife-holder hub by means of two bolts through the holes 23 and 24. The thickness of the cutting blade 21 and the length of the cutting blade 22 are regulated to ensure the correct blade flexibility, in order to optimize the adherence of the same to the cutting surface.
[0051] FIG. 3 is a section illustrating the contact of the knife blade on the die plate surface. With reference to this figure, 32 is the bottom heel angle; 33 is the top heel angle; and 31 is the cutting angle.
[0052] The knife position with respect to the cutting surface is illustrated in FIG. 4 (where, for simplicity, the knife-holder hub is not shown).
[0053] The granulator blades with a high wear resistance, object of the present invention, and their use in the cutting of thermoplastic polymers in the molten state are now better described with reference to the enclosed non-limiting examples.
Example 1A
[0054] A sheet made of Vanadis 10 material, produced by Bohler-Uddeholm, is processed to obtain knives having the shape illustrated in FIG. 2.
[0055] The hardness, measured before and after the processings, is equal to 58 and 56 Rockwell degrees, scale C.
[0056] The knives are inserted, kept apart, in a muffle, flushed with a nitrogen stream. The muffle kiln is turned on and heated at a rate of 10° C./minute up to 500° C., and at 2° C. a minute up to the prefixed tempering temperature equal to 620°. This temperature is kept constant for three hours, the muffle is then switched-off and the knives are left to cool slowly (at about 5° C. per minute). When the temperature reaches 400° C. they are extracted and left to cool in calm air until room temperature is reached. The hardness, measured after the thermal treatment, is 44.5 Rockwell degrees, scale C.
[0057] The knives are assembled on the hub of the granulator and sharpened under these conditions: rotation rate 1,500 rpm; force acting on each knife, in the normal direction to the die plate surface, equal to about 80 N; cooled by a water spray (total water flow-rate: 800 l/h; velocity 15 m/s, calculated on the basis of the cross section of the water in the nozzle), nebulized in a nitrogen atmosphere. The duration of the sharpening is equal to 120 minutes, and 0.1 millimeters are eroded.
[0058] The knives so sharpened are used for the granulation of expandable thermoplastic polystyrene (average molecular weight MW equal to 180,000 g/mole, containing 5% by weight, calculated with respect to the total weight of the expandable polymer, of a mixture 75:25 of n-pentane and iso-pentane respectively), under the following conditions: rotation rate 1,500 rpm; force acting on each knife, in the normal direction to the die plate surface, equal to about 60 N; cooled by a water spray (total water flow-rate: 1,600 l/h; velocity 30 m/s, calculated on the basis of the cross section of the water in the nozzle), nebulized in a nitrogen atmosphere. The expandable polymer is homogeneously distributed in the die plate and passed through a series of holes having a diameter of 0.7 mm.
[0059] The wear is measured by means of a micrometer which measures the position of the hub where the knives are rigidly fixed on. The wear rate is calculated on the basis of the variation in the position registered every 30 minutes, if during the sharpening phase; or every 5 hours during the granulation phase. Table 2 indicates the granulation quality obtained and the minimum and maximum wear rate registered during the sharpening phase and during the granulation phase.
Comparative Examples 1B and 1C
[0060] Example 1A was repeated on knives coming from the same sheet but without any thermal tempering. The resulting hardness after the construction of the knives, in Rockwell degrees, scale C, is expressed in Table 1. The cutting quality obtained is indicated in Table 2.
Examples 1D-1G
[0061] Example 1A was repeated on knives coming from the same sheet but with thermal tempering at different temperatures. The resulting hardness in Rockwell degrees, scale C, is expressed in Table 1. The subsequent Table 2 indicates the granulation quality obtained and the minimum and maximum wear rate registered during the sharpening phase and during the granulation phase.
Example 2
[0062] Example 1A was repeated, but during the sharpening, the flow-rate of the cooling water is periodically regulated, in order to alternate period equal to 30 seconds, at full flow-rate (850 l/h) and a spray velocity estimated of 16 m/s, with periods of 10 seconds, during which the water flow-rate is reduced to 1/8 of former value. The duration of the sharpening is equal to 60 minutes.
Comparative Example 2
[0063] A sheet made of K-100 material is processed to obtain knives having the shape illustrated in FIG. 2.
[0064] The hardness, measured after these processings, is equal to 58 Rockwell degrees, scale C.
[0065] The knives are assembled on the hub of the granulator and sharpened under these conditions: rotation rate 1,500 rpm; force acting on each knife, in the normal direction to the die plate surface, equal to about 40 N; cooled by a water spray at 15 m/s, nebulized in a nitrogen atmosphere. The duration of the sharpening is equal to 60 minutes.
Comparative Example 3
[0066] Comparative example 2 is repeated, but using K-110 as material. The sharpening is conducted under the same conditions.
[0067] Table 2 indicates the general wear resistance data and the cutting quality obtained.
[0068] With reference to Table 2, the knives prepared and used according to the Examples described herein allow to obtain a good cutting quality, and a modest or non-measured wear rate, during the granulation of the polymer. The knives prepared and used according to comparative Examples 2 and 3 also show a good granulation quality, but a high wear which significantly reduces their duration. The knives prepared according to comparative Examples 1B and 1C do not allow obtaining an acceptable granulation.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 TEM- WEAR RATE PER- (μm/hr) ATURE SHARPENING GRANULATION CUTTING EXAMPLES (° C.) MIN MAX MIN MAX QUALITY 1A 620 20 200 0 10 GOOD COMP. 1B -- N.D. N.D. N.D. N.D. POOR COMP. 1C -- N.D. N.D. N.D. N.D. POOR 1D 560 0 10 0 1 GOOD 1E 600 6 50 0 5 GOOD 1F 610 6 50 0 5 GOOD 1G 575 0 10 0 2 GOOD 2 620 100 2000 0 10 GOOD COMP. -- 100 500 10 100 GOOD 2 COMP. -- 100 500 10 100 GOOD 3 NOTE. N.D. = Not determinable
Patent applications by Alessandro Casalini, Mantova IT
Patent applications by Riccardo Felisari, San Giorgio Di Mantova IT
Patent applications by POLIMERI EUROPA S.p.A.
Patent applications in class Comminuting elements
Patent applications in all subclasses Comminuting elements
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You should read this update if you hold or manage multi occupational residential real estate in England and Wales.
The 20-second summary
Two reported cases following the Supreme Court's ruling in Daejan Investments Limited v Benson [2013] UK SC 14 ("Benson") demonstrate how the major changes in approach required by that ruling are now being followed and adopted by the courts in applications to them for dispensation.
The ability to recover contributions from residential tenants through service charge machinery to the costs of works of repair, maintenance and improvement to their buildings ("qualifying works"), without prior consultation with them, is severely constrained by statutory regulation. Where the consultation requirements are triggered but are not undertaken or not undertaken fully, the penalty is to limit recoverability per residential tenant to £250 each (the "statutory cap").
At the same time, there is a statutory jurisdiction to dispense with compliance with these consultation requirements and in Benson the Supreme Court made at least four major changes to the approach formally taken by tribunals and courts in considering dispensation requests.
The cases
The first decision which illustrates this new guidance in action is Jastrzembski v Westminster City Council [2013] UKUT 0284 (LC) where the court acknowledged that, post Benson, the central issue for it to determine was whether the leaseholder has suffered prejudice, not whether the specific failure to comply with the statutory consultation requirements was a technical oversight or a serious failing.
The court determined that the specific compliance failure was a technical oversight and that no prejudice had been suffered. The landlord had, in fact, consulted with the leaseholder, given him an opportunity to make observations on the proposed works and nominate a contractor (the very matters which the initial notice (which the landlord had failed to send) was designed to deal with).
In the second decision, Re OM Property Management [2014] UKUT 9 (LC), the landlords were successful in overturning an earlier decision in the proceedings which had concluded that the failure to comply with the statutory requirements, being a substantial one, it was not necessary to look at whether actual prejudice had been suffered by the leaseholders.
On appeal, again applying the guidance in Benson, the court looked carefully at whether the leaseholders had in fact suffered actual prejudice from the specific compliance failure to provide full access to details of two tenders out of the four in total obtained by the landlords and concluded in the negative.
In relation to a further specific compliance failure, to provide notice to all the leaseholders of the responses received to the initial consultation notice, again, the court ruled on appeal, applying Benson, that no real prejudice had been suffered by the leaseholders; the compliance failure had no impact on the scope of the works proposed or their cost.
These cases will be welcome news to landlords.


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Last week, I became presiding clerk of Freedom Friends Church. That wasn't a surprise. Although you never know what the meeting will do, I had been assistant presiding clerk for the previous year with the expectation that I would go on to be clerk, and no one had raised concerns about my nomination. But I wasn't expecting to clerk the business meeting in which I became clerk.
On Sunday morning before meeting, I got a call from Alivia, who was then presiding clerk. She sounded awful. She told me that after Ministry and Oversight met the day before, she had come down with a terrible cold, and had spent the night awake with a sore throat. I said that I was sorry, and that I could clerk business meeting if she wasn't up for it. She said she would think about it, and called me back a few minutes later to say that she thought it would be better for me to clerk.
I was terrified. Although I have clerked committee meetings and conference calls, I had never clerked monthly meeting. And, in addition to the regular business meeting, this was the Sunday we were going to have yearly meeting (because Freedom Friends is an independent monthly meeting, we have our own yearly meeting). I had never even attended yearly meeting at Freedom Friends.
I knew I needed some backup, so I sent out an email to 22 Friends from all over the country, asking them to pray for me. I said,
Dear Friends,
I just found out that Alivia has a bad sore throat and probably will not be able to clerk business/yearly meeting today, so I will most likely be clerking in her place. This is the business meeting where we are considering the new slate of officers, including me as presiding clerk. I would really appreciate it if you would pray for me and for Freedom Friends, whenever you get this (since God is out of time, I figure after-the-fact prayers work just as well). Thank you!
A few minutes later, Peggy and Alivia picked me up and we went to church.
When we got to the church, Alivia and I went over the powerpoint slides that she had prepared for the meetings. We talked again about whether she was up for clerking, and agreed again that she was not. I know it was disappointing for her, after being clerk for over six years, to not be able to clerk her final business meeting, but it seemed right to both of us.
While we were talking, I realized that my hands were shaking so much that I couldn't hold my cup of tea. I prayed to be able to get through the meeting. Alivia prayed for me, and said that she would be praying during business meeting. Then meeting for worship began.
It has been our practice at Freedom Friends for a while to have business meeting rise out of our usual meeting for worship. So we began our usual semi-programmed worship with a song and gratitudes and petitions. During the time for petitions, I said that I had not woken up that morning expecting to clerk business meeting, and asked the meeting to hold me in prayer.
After open worship, I felt led to pray and begin the business meeting. As soon as business meeting began, I felt a calm descend on me. I knew that Alivia and others were praying for me, and I felt easy to go through the agenda that Ministry and Oversight had prepared. As I was clerking, I felt as if there were hands on my shoulders. Even though I knew there was no one there, I almost turned around to check. I could feel the presence of many of the Friends I had asked to hold me in prayer there in the room with me.
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Business meeting took about an hour, then we took a 10 minute break, and met again for yearly meeting. In our yearly meeting, we approved the new slate of officers, including me as presiding clerk, and minuted our gratitude for those who had served for the previous year. We also extended our pastor's call for another year, and heard and approved the State of the Church Report. And then it was over.
I know that being clerk of Freedom Friends will be one of the most challenging things I have ever done. I know I won't do it perfectly, and making mistakes along the way will be part of the learning experience. But thinking about it now, I feel so filled with gratitude. I am grateful to all those who were praying for me, both there and far away. I am grateful to Alivia for being faithful and allowing me to step into this role. I am grateful to Freedom Friends for trusting me to listen to them and to God. And I am grateful to God for being there with me through it all.


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Derek Ezra has been involved with the formation of energy policy ever since he joined the National Coal Board, not long after its formation in 1946. He rose through the ranks to become its chairman shortly before the energy crisis of the 1970s, and was made Baron Ezra of Horsham on his retirement in 1983.
Since then, his interest in energy has more than kept pace with its increasingly important place on the political agenda. Now - with government projections indicating that, unless something is done, the UK could be obliged to import 90 per cent of its fuel and power by 2020 - he believes the time has come to head off the coming energy crunch by means of the devolution of electric power. To this end, he has formed a company, Micropower, that might one day be compared to Bill Gates' Microsoft. Except that where Gates vows to put a computer on every desk in every home, Ezra is determined that every home will generate its own electricity.
The most interesting thing about the Micropower concept is that, by virtue of its miniaturisation to appliance size, it is futuristic, but it does not fall into the one-off 'home of the future' category. Lord Ezra makes it very clear that the big market for the microgeneration of electricity will be the domestic replacement, or retrofit, market. While he is happy to allow experiments to continue with wind power, wave power, fuel cells, photovoltaics and anything else that can prove itself advantageous in the energy field, he pins his own faith on the development of natural gas-powered electricity generation and heating devices - combined heating and power (CHP) appliances, no bigger (and hopefully not much more expensive) than the gas central heating boilers we use today.
But Lord Ezra's plan is not merely to replace one kind of domestic appliance with a more capable one.
He has larger strategic objectives. He argues that what is necessary to combat the coming shortage of electricity generating capacity is not more big power stations, nuclear or otherwise, to serve a national grid that unavoidably loses half the electricity pumped into it through line losses. Instead, we need more embedded energy, generated and priced at the point of use - consumerised CHP, in fact.
At present, much research is going on into regulatory and installation changes to permit the marketing of the first domestic CHP appliances in 2003. It is envisaged that the national grid will remain - not least because peaks in domestic demand will exceed the capacity of economically sized domestic generators - but successfully marketed, dispersed generation will be able to take care of increases in electricity demand between now and 2020, thus obviating the need to build more large power stations.But that will not be the sum total of Micropower's benefits. The capacity to build nearly autonomous houses and commercial buildings without expensive infrastructure could well have a long-term impact upon patterns of development. Low-density building on greenfield sites, for example, would be greatly simplified if the need for vehicle access, natural or liquid petroleum gas, electricity and water, could be reduced to access and water only.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lord Ezra and other small-scale electricity generation enthusiasts are presently concentrating on the design of various models of domestic CHP appliances, and exploring the changes in the regulatory and pricing environment governing power generation and the return-sale of electricity to the national grid.
Anyone interested in their progress should make a point of attending the all-day Micropower conference at the BRE, Garston, near Watford, Hertfordshire, on 6 November. Tel 01923 664 775.
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Joe Swampsman is out in the wild, ridding HIS swamp from the evil creatures that lurk there, using his gravity-reversal boots and his trusty machete.
Swamp Smash GBJam Version Windows Build This is the build as it was after roughly 6 days of work for the #gbjam contest. Use the arrow keys / WASD for moving around and the LMB for attacking things. Space for jumping.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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A correspondent for Censor.NET reports from the courtroom.
Presiding Judge Natalia Marchuk said this was a temporary absence and, therefore, there was no need to change the panel composition. However, this fact proved to be sufficient for the hearing to be adjourned. The next session of the court is scheduled for April 19, 2017.
Oleksii Pukach
Judge Marchuk also said that the volume of the case that had previously been missing was found. According to the judge, it was studied by the Prosecutor General's Office.
"It may be assumed that this volume has been taken under investigation of the case of Kravchenko (Ukraine's former Interior Minister - Ed.)," the judge said.
She also asked the representatives of the aggrieved party to decide by the next hearing whether to supplement the record with it or not.
As reported, founder of Ukrainska Pravda news website, journalist Heorhii Gongadze disappeared Sept. 16, 2000. His decapitated corpse was later found in the forest in Kyiv's vicinity. Ex-Chief of Interior Ministry's Directed Surveillance Department Oleksii Pukach was arrested on charges of commission of this crime in a village in the Zhytomyr region July 21, 2009.
The investigation found that Pukach received a verbal order to eliminate Heorhii Gongadze from then-Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Yurii Kravchenko. The criminal ring led by Pukach consisting of members of the Main Directorate of the Interior Ministry Valerii Kostenko, Oleksandr Popovych (both sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2008), and Mykola Protasov (got 13 years in prison in 2008) committed the murder Sept. 17, 2000.
The court found Pukach guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment Jan. 23, 2013. Asked by the judge whether he agreed with the verdict, Pukach said: "I will agree with it when I will be sharing this cage with Kuchma and Lytvyn." The Kyiv Court of Appeal upheld the verdict Jan. 6, 2016.
Pukach, charged with journalist Gongadze murder, says unknown masked people put pressure on him
Prosecutor requested trial for Yanukovych in absentia, hearing postponed
Court proposes three options for Yanukovych to be present during trial, lawyers oppose
PGO refuses to investigate Pukach's allegations regarding pressure put on him. PHOTOS


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I learned today that a kind, wonderful man I have worked with in community theater lost his wife this week to ovarian cancer. They have two small children (4 & 1) and this news is just so devastating. If you're the praying sort, please lift this family up.
I have sewn every day except Sundays and last Saturday when I spent the day at the annual Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show. I enjoy that day so much- my dear friend Diane and I have made it our tradition to go together and I love her company so much. I bought a few treats this year (we were unemployed last year so I didn't buy much) : a wool candle mat kit, some pre-cut squares, a few fat quarters, a redwork pattern and the one thing I really wanted but didn't know it--- a ruler that makes joining the ends of binding a snap to put together. I'm not sure what's wrong with my brain but when I sew on a binding I struggle to get that nice bias seam on the last connection. I watched a demo of this tool and knew I had to have it!
Progress has been made on the Scrap Vomit blocks (no pictures) and the blocks for the 'Taking Names' test/swap. I also made the doll quilt for this months Doll Quilter's Monthly exchange. Incedently, it will be my last as I have withdrawn from the group.
swap blocks
doll quilt


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The wheels on this baby alone tell you it's a car worth protecting! My head says, if you're gonna spend a good chunk of money on a great car, spend a couple more dollars and get a good car cover to protect it! Whether you're parking it in its own garage or, heaven forbid, outside, a quality cover will keep the moisture, dust, dirt, sun, heat, leaves, bird poop, and stray sticks & stones away from it. The cover will do its best to keep stray cats and rodents from damaging the finish as well!
Many of the custom car covers available today are made of a woven polyester which has been coated with an aluminized polyurethane acrylic. This combines to make the inside of the cover soft and non-abrasive to the car's finish, while at the same time keeping the water off. Most are water repellant and come with plenty of material to keep mirrors and wheels covered as well. Good covers will generally even have pockets for the mirrors to fit into.
The bottom is made to fit snugly and comes with straps to secure it at the front and back of the car. They can be locked, too, if you so desire! The covers are designed to go on and come off quickly and easily, which helps to encourage their use! There is usually a drawstring type storage bag to put them in when you're not using them.
Now, if you've got the classic car, or the Mustang convertible, or a new Camaro or Charger, or any kind of summer wagon, you certainly want to make sure these get all covered up tight over the long winters. Especially here in the Midwest! No matter how great the garage or storage building is that you're housing one of these in, spend the money and cover it up! The car will keep its youthful appearance and you will never regret it.
There are plenty of great web stores out there that feature car covers, as well as covers for just about anything else you can think of. From boats and jet skis, to campers and RV's, to snow mobiles, to golf carts, and even covers for your lawn tractor, you can find a good cover for it. Whatever vehicle you're driving, car, truck, van, SUV, or ATV, they can get it covered for you. So even if you're driving a Neon or a Pinto, go get yourself a custom car cover and take good care of your little red ride.


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On September 11, 2003, the Honorable Judge James B. Zagel entered an Order ("Order") pursuant to a motion by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") providing that the Independent Examiner's Report dated September 5, 2003 be made available to the public. The Order requires that the Independent Examiner's report be included in the filings for this matter, and also requires that the report be posted on the official website for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov) on September 15, 2003.
The Court found that the Independent Examiner's Report discussed Spiegel's financial condition and identified material accounting irregularities. In the Order, Judge Zagel found that the information contained in the Independent Examiner's September 5, 2003 Report is material to the investing public and that it is in the public interest to make the Independent Examiner's Report available to the public.
The Independent Examiner's Report was completed as a result of Spiegel's partial settlement with the Securities and Exhange Commission ("Commission") in this matter. On March 7, 2003, the Commission filed a civil injunctive action alleging that Spiegel, Inc. ("Spiegel") violated the federal securities laws by withholding material information from the public. Spiegel consented to the entry of a permanent injunction without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's complaint. The complaint alleged that Spiegel withheld the fact that on or about the beginning of 2002, its independent auditor had notified Spiegel that it may not be able to continue as a "going concern." The complaint further alleged that Spiegel's independent auditor later issued an audit report on or about January or February 2002 which stated that the audit firm had "substantial doubts" about Spiegel's ability to continue as a going concern.
The complaint alleged that Spiegel decided not to make its required 10-K and 10-Q filings to conceal the "going concern" issue from the public. Instead, the company filed a series of Forms NT (notices of late filing) indicating that Spiegel was not in a position to file because various lending agreements were not in place. According to the complaint, statements made by Spiegel executives confirm that Spiegel chose not to make its required filings to avoid disclosing the going concern notice and to avoid the negative "disruptions" that the disclosure of this information would cause. The complaint further alleged that Spiegel failed to disclose its auditor's "going concern" notice in various press releases and public statements that discussed the company's financial condition.
As a partial settlement with the Commission, Spiegel consented to the entry of a permanent injunction for violations of Sections 10(b) and 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rules 10b-5, 13a-1 and 13a-13 promulgated thereunder, which was entered on March 11, 2003, as amended on March 27, 2003. The partial settlement required the appointment of an Independent Examiner whose mandate was to prepare a report discussing Spiegel's financial condition and identifying any accounting irregularities. The Court will determine at a later date whether it is appropriate for Spiegel to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest and/or civil penalties.
The Commission's investigation in this matter continues.


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Rent: $5,600
Bed/Bath: 3bd / 2ba
Type: SFH - Unfurnished
Terms: One Year Lease
Available: Now
Lovely Updated 3 Bedroom Home in Bernal Heights
Cross Street:
Cortland Ave
San Francisco
Listing Type:
Just three miles south of downtown, Bernal Heights is one of the older neighborhoods filled with charm, diversity, and character. Quaint and well-maintained housing crawls over several hills, with a park that includes Bernal Hill serving as the centerpiece. Many of the Victorian and Queen Anne homes have been remodeled, and lush landscaping often graces small but meticulously groomed yards. One of the most pleasing aspects of Bernal Heights is the protection offered by the hills, reducing the fog and brightening the view of the bay and surrounding hills. The community spirit is strong in Bernal Heights, and many of its proud residents consider is a "village" within San Francisco.More About Bernal Heights


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Sonoma County Vacations
465A Healdsburg AvenueHealdsburg, CA 95448
Toll Free: 800-454-6674
Local: 707-433-8899
Email: [email protected]
Sonoma County Vacations and Healdsburg Property Management represent homes nestled in the heart of Sonoma County's Wine Country. Areas include Healdsburg, Santa Rosa, Geyserville, Forestville, Sebastopol, Cloverdale and the Sonoma foothills. We offer a friendly, laid back, relaxing environment, while still catering to the needs of our guests and their wine country wishes as well as providing clean, safe, comfortable homes for long term living.
Hotels, B&B, Inns, Vacation Rentals:
TOT Registration Number: 387
TOT Registration Number: 387
Lodging Rate:
$$$$ - $200 up
$$$$ - $200 up


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The practice brings together a unique team of specialists who have experience treating all areas of women's health.
BellaNova Women's Health is staffed by three obstetrician gynecologists, Alissa Conklin, MD, Ashley Dupuis, DO, and Benjamin Wood, DO; four nurse midwives, Tracy Anderson, CNM, Melissa Holderread, CNM, Kathryn Sibbold, CNM, Laurel Yoder, CNM; and two primary care physicians, Barbara Carlson, MD, family medicine, Kimberlee Tomerlin, DO, internal medicine, and physician assistant Mary Beth Good, PA.
In addition to offering a full range of regular gynecological and pre-natal care, Skincare Specialist, Almond Pond, will oversee the practice's elite medical spa services.
BellaNova Women's Health is committed to bringing the most advanced treatment options to southwest Michigan. We help with:
Bladder Issues
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Gynecologic Consults
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Medical Spa
Menopausal Issue
Obstetrics Care
Lakeland Locations
Health Library
Rights and Privacy
Lakeland News
Southwest Michigan
About Lakeland
Get Fit in the Mitt
Community Resources


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When we move to our new house we only have a few days before its our nipper's first birthday. I know, I know...they won't remember a thing and all that, but y'know, its a big day for us parents too. So its a bit like celebrating a year of successfully keeping alive a small human.
My plan is to decorate her room and give it to her on the day, with a ribbon to cut and all, Queen stylee.
I thought I'd start doing a few things now, even though our tiny flat is like a warehouse of boxes and we have just two square feet of space in which we are all living. Any how, I ended up cutting up bits of felt and paper into the early hours last night.
I painted these Ikea box frames with some pale grey acrylic eggshell paint, then got busy with the scissors. I found some nice animal wrapping paper which was my inspiration for the fox.
Behind them is some vintage wallpaper.
The labels just say fox and bear and then their Latin names.
After that, I got on to the bigger frame. I made an elephant balancing on a ball.
*I think I should state here, that I absolutely hate the use of animals in the circus, but I must admit that I love the vintage imagery and designs from old circuses. Its odd, but there you go.
not sure, at the end, whether I like this one or not, maybe it should have been bigger? its done now so it may grow on me.
It also lights up. Not sure about this either, but I guess the little one will like it eh!
I am loving this gold metallic embroidery thread, I have used for just about everything!
Of course, the clockwork elephant was the model for this picture.
So, I guess there will be quite a few 'decorating' posts to come, be warned! ...also, I do want to show you our workshop, think we will give up on the plumber and just put the furniture how it was.


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Esther, the Jewess who used her influence as Queen of Persia to save her people, is introduced into the Biblical text with two names:
He [Mordecai] was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. (Esther 2:7, NASB)While the name Esther appears 55 times in the Bible, the name Hadassah never again appears. The book of the Bible that bears the heroine's name reads Esther, not Hadassah.
Hadassah is Esther's Hebrew name, likely the name given her by her parents. Hadassah means "myrtle". While the myrtle is a plain plant, its crushed leaves produce a pleasant fragrance. It is one of the four species bundled together in the celebration of Sukkot (based on Leviticus 23:40).
Esther, however, is a Persian name. It is either derived from the Persian word for "star" or a theonym which incorporates the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. While its exact meaning is contested, its Persian etymology is not.
In Hebrew and Aramaic, the word ester is related to the Hebrew word meaning "to hide". Esther hid her Jewish identity (Esther 2:10, 20) and her Persian named helped her do it. The famous Rabbinic commentator Abraham ibn Ezra (1089-1164) justifies Esther's subterfuge by noting that if she had not disguised her religion, she would bot have been able to observe it.
Was Esther wrong to conceal her religion? Is the fact that her Hebrew name is largely forgotten an indictment against her? How public should one be with their religious beliefs?


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ValleyCrest Promotes Executives
ValleyCrest Landscape Companies recently announced the promotions of two senior-level executives and the addition of a third executive to its leadership team.
Effective May 1, 2012, Richard A. Sperber will be promoted to Chairman of the Board of ValleyCrest Landscape Companies.
This change will allow Sperber to focus on charting the vision and direction of the family of companies, while remaining involved with client and employee growth and development strategies.
As part of this transition, Roger J. Zino will be promoted to Chief Executive Officer of ValleyCrest Landscape Companies and will remain President of ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance, his current position.
Additionally, Andrew J. Brennan will re-join the company as Chief Operating Officer of ValleyCrest Landscape Companies, a newly-created position reporting to Zino.
"The driver behind these changes is to keep ValleyCrest strong and on course for the next 62 years," Sperber said of the family of companies founded by his father, Burton S. Sperber, in 1949.
For more about ValleyCrest, visit www.valleycrest.com .


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Can you feel Spring in the air? The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the flowers are beginning to bloom. Life is everywhere... what better way to celebrate than with the first ever Elizabeth Craft Designs Design Team challenge with the theme of Flowers! Once a month the team will be given a theme to inspire our creativity. We will post on our blogs and then there will be a post on the ECD Blog with links to everyone's projects.
I love flowers and I love coloring on Silk Microfine Glitter with Copic Markers. I've had the Daisies in Frames Outline Stickers calling my name for some time so I decided to use them for this challenge.
To create this card I began with a white base and added pattern paper from Bazzill's Avalon Collection. I rounded the corners on the bottom only to soften the look of the card. I cut a 5 1/2 x 2 1/8 strip of Avalon pink pattern paper and added white scalloped border to the top and bottom. To create the daisy sqaures I adhered double sided adhesive to a strip of white cardstock and then added the three daisy squares- sticky side down and glittered them with Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter. Remember to polish your glitter by rubbing it with your finger to set the glitter in the adhesive and bring up the shine.
Time to color! I used Copic Markers to color the Daisy squares in the following colors: R20, Y13, BG32, G94 and O to soften the edges. If you haven't colored on Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter before you can refer to THIS video tutorial by Els which will show you the process.
Here is a close up- don't you just love all the sparkle?!
Once I had added the daisy squares I felt like there needed to be a little contrast in the design so I used some of the negative pieces of the peel offs to give that extra punch. I used a piercer to lift them off the sheet and place them on the card.
To finish up the card I added the daisy panel on pop dots and then added the Happy Birthday outline sticker to the bottom left. I then added a strip of black border to the top and lower part of the card. Two small white ribbon bows finishes off the card. Isn't it sweet?
I hope you found a little inspiration today! Thanks for stopping by!
ECD Supplies used:
Other supplies:
Copic Markers: R20, Y13, BG32, G94, 0
Pop Dots
White ribbon


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The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor features a 411-horsepower 6.2-liter V8 engine, six-speed automatic transmission and a full-set of Fox internal bypass shocks with external reservoirs. The SVT Raptor is engineered as a high-performance off-road truck offering a wider stance, 35-inch BFGoodrich all-terrain tires and 11.2 inches of front suspension travel.
The Raptor's V8 engine delivers 434 pounds of torque per foot, handles a 980-pound payload and has a 7,050-pound towing capacity. The Raptor has an exterior width of 86 inches, widening the standard F-150 by 7 inches. The Raptor also adds a thicker-walled solid rear axle, hill descent control and an electronic differential locker. This electronic differential allows the Raptor to achieve high speeds while off-road mode is engaged. The Raptor's off-road mode allows the driver to turn off the anti-lock brake system, roll stability control and traction control for more-aggressive driving situations. As a final departure from the stock F-150, the Raptor replaces Ford's iconic blue grille emblem with "FORD" boldly spelled out across a brick-wall grille.
The SVT Raptor is also available in a 4-door SuperCrew version. The SVT Raptor SuperCrew increases the truck's payload to 1,770 pounds and pushes the towing capacity to 8,000 pounds. The SuperCrew is also equipped with a redesigned center console and high-bolster seating. The 2014 F-150 SVT Raptor starts at $45,000 as of March 2015.


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Dawkins at Politics and Prose
I attended Richard Dawkins's presentation regarding his new book The God Delusion at Politics and Prose Bookstore in DC today, 24 October 2006. Overall I was glad I went. Dawkins has been infamous on my horizon as a militant and eloquent atheist and I wanted to go because I believe Christians have available a mind and a sustainable rationality which famous detractors are in the end on a simple human level, not equal to. Dawkins raised a number of issues and then answered a number of questions from the crowd which I will try to reiterate here. I found him to be overall decent enough though like a silly school boy when it came to mocking religion. He revealed in a number of points what I take to indicate a rather poor grasp of religion, his chosen topic. Nevertheless, I found him in some ways helpful to an extent in defending reason (and in some ways close to the pope in his Regensberg lecture when he affirmed reason against blind emotionalism) though ultimately he undercuts reason itself. I had two questions coming in which I noted down beforehand: Would he give a response to the recent criticism of his book by philosopher Thomas Nagel in the National Review? He did not, but reiterated the argument criticized by Nagel and others (which I will cover briefly below) so I regretted not moving to the mic to try to ask it. However, my second question was asked by another: Dawkins has been taken at times as affirming a "strong determinism" and at other times seeming to contradict this. Philosopher Daniel Dennett, Dawkins's American counterpart, another aggressive atheist, went into an explicit discussion of this when he wrote about Dawkins's meme theory in Darwin's Dangerous Idea and he argued that Dawkins's statements in The Selfish Gene suggesting human freewill were lapses that Dawkins rejects in later writings. Dennett is defending "strong materialism" and the notion that our thoughts are irrational forces that colonize our minds and that ultimately all thought is reducible to just that, irrationality (which is exactly the absurdism that Husserl spotted and described about a century ago in Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy). Dawkins replied in this Q & A that he saw there was a philosophical difficulty and that he didn't know the answer and could only say that emotionally it doesn't feel that way and that he couldn't stand the thought of it being that way. He suggested that if it is an inconsistency to believe that we have freewill, we have to live with. So in this case, we may assume, he believes a delusion might be acceptable. This was in perfect conformity, it seems to me, again to Husserl's description of the naturalist, in which Husserl asserts that the naturalist refutes himself by undercutting his whole moralizing enterprise by leaving no possible philosophical ground for his values and sermonizing tendencies. I think one draws the contention from Husserl that naturalism is more importantly a psychology than an argument. (See Husserl's statements appended at the end of this summary). I do not wish to be to peremptory in describing his points but most of Dawkins's comments were made in the form of populist appeal to emotional response and I wish to focus as much as possible on his arguments. Points he raised in the presentation, often mockingly, were: --The Trinity is mysterious… He expressed his certainty that it was just bunk. --The Aryan heresy….the debate about whether Jesus was God seemed stupid to him --The theological usage of the term "substance" seemed stupid to him. ---He accused theology of being obscurantist. ---He specifically attacked the Catholic church and those who wish to include Mary as part of the Trinity but that is condemned as a heresy if I recall right. He also attacked the multiplicity of saints and the many different Ladies. He spoke about some event where a man was shot and it was said that our Lady of Fatima guided the bullet so it didn't kill him and joked, "Why didn't she guide it so it didn't hit him at all?" ---He went to covering content of chapter seven of his book entitled "The Good Book" in which he charged that following the Bible would be morally repugnant. He discussed the event where God told Abraham to go and sacrifice Isaac and then stopped him when he showed himself willing to carry it out. He found this repugnant and could see no way this could be explained. I think that it only looks that way when one makes too many assumptions. God was prefiguring his sacrifice of His Son, His very heart, exposed to the reviling of the world. In this way God clearly put His heart into the world. Abraham, as the father of faith was called a friend of God and entered into a level of reciprocity with God through God's initiating command by be willing to sacrifice his promised son who doubtless meant more to him than his own life to God. The Scriptures explain that Abraham reasoned that God would resurrect him. They also say that the desire for human sacrifice never crossed the mind of God. The emotional distress, mystery and fear of the situation may have appeared like cruelty to Isaac but God is not afraid to appear bad or frightening when He has larger lessons to teach His faithful than the pastures within a small conception of God. ---He suggested that the jealousy God is described as having is sexual in its overtones because He chastises Israel for whoring after other gods. I often think of G.K. Chesterton's quip that materialism is a schoolboy's philosophy when I encounter comments like this which seem to show its enduring aptness. Also Schopenhauer's quip that "materialism is the philosophy of the subject who forgets to take account of himself" occurs to me. Dawkins elaborated a little on this, generally showing that he no idea of why ancient people worshipped idols in the first place and preferred simply to ridicule it and make no distinction between Greek pantheons and monotheism. ---The next point he made is one that I think is the most difficult for me. He talked about Jericho and the complete slaughter God ordered the Israelites to carry out. He said these slaughters were morally indistinguishable from the slaughter of the Kurds by Saddam Hussein, etc. Dawkins raised some important points it seems about the life of these verses in the understanding of some modern Israeli children who saw them justified when it came to Israel because of their religious commitment but unjustified if the scenario was switched so that the perpetrator was not the ancient Israelites but a modern Chinese major. Several things I keep in mind in grappling with this issue are 1) it is God's prerogative and would be His right to finish us all. I do not see how anyone could rationally argue that a perfect God is morally bound to allow any imperfection to exist, and because we are imperfect humans, that includes us. But that really is not adequate in itself. There is an emotional response it seems with some content. 2) God was dealing with a people in that time and situation and He chose only through historical time to unfold His plan. To do this He could not allow His unfolding message to be mistaken for man's attempts to reach out to God. He had to inculcate in the Israelites the knowledge of His holiness, first by separating them from the Egyptians and preventing their assimilation with the idol worshippers around them. Then when they began to assimilate the idols anyway and turned away from God and oppressed the poor God used the Assyrians and Babylonians to preserve for Himself a remnant. So He was unfolding His plan even through the evil actions and violence of the Assyrians and Babylonians. But this still seems to me a difficulty because I wrestle, not with the right of God to annihilate us all but with the accomplishing of it by commanding the Israelites to slaughter. I think Scripture offers some explanation in the story which suggests that God awaited the sending of the Israelite army to scourge away these peoples until their sins had reached a limit of extremity warranting a terrible judgment such as His judgment on the world of violence through the Flood. --He also listed off some of the things people were killed for in the Old Testament and took some time to focus on one incident where a man broke the Sabbath command by gathering wood on the Sabbath and was stoned for it. He said a few more things. This is not meant to be a comprehensive coverage. I already mentioned the one question asked him above and his answer. He was also asked whether the agnostic position was correct and he agreed that we are all agnostics in that we can't disprove anything, such as the JuJu and the flying Spaghetti Monster and faeries but in practice most people assume they don't exist and he equates God with faeries. One man introduced himself as an atheist and related that he had a friend who believed in evolution and was homosexual and went to a liberal church and disbelieved most of the Bible except the Gospels and believed in separation of church and state and that he was really nice. Dawkins responded by saying that he did not believe religious belief could be closely correlated with whether a person is nice or not. (I recalled statements made by Dawkins that religious parents who raised their children religiously were abusing the child and wondered if this was not a contradiction but he later made a comment which helped me to understand his point of view better which strangely enough has some affinities with the Amish and Anabaptists and Church of Christ, etc.). He did say however that we should ask if religion causes an overall trend in bad directions. One man asked if he saw religion as a means that people separated themselves from others. Dawkins apparently didn't see this as always true but did see friction in parts of Ireland for instance where there was nothing but religion and that by becoming identified with a religious label the anger and desire for retribution is generalized toward counterlabels. He expressed his distaste and his voice changed showing he had an earnest conviction on the point that it was like child abuse to label a child from the cradle upward Catholic or Protestant. But in this I think there is some agreement at least among a wide group of Christians. I am specifically familiar from my Church of Christ background with their belief that a person could not believe until they were old enough to understand for themselves and for this reason they do not perform baptism until a person reaches what is considered the age of accountability and make the decision individually for themselves. The Amish also in their way acknowledge this reality with their coming of age custom that is covered in a well-known documentary whose name I forget. Both the Church of Christ and the Amish share Anabaptist roots. I agree with them and with Dawkins that a person must be old enough to understand and reason for themselves in order to appropriate their faith- that is I agree with Dawkins that a person should not just unthinkingly adopt any set of beliefs, though I would add religious or other, but that he should actively engage the intellect available to him. Yet Dawkins undercuts this rationality with his 'strong determinism" and does not allude it by avoiding the philosophical issues emotionally but only earns the epithet of Schopenhauer that he has forgotten to take account of himself and demonstrates consistently through his eight or so books the correctness of Husserl's critique who noted that application of naturalism to an account of oneself ends in absurdity by undermining itself. Dawkins said this point wasn't related to faith anyway, suggesting that he was merely assuming that the irrationalism of all faiths. A lady, obviously a Christian believer of some kind, asked what he thought of the faith base of the twelve step programs that abound. Dawkins answered by dumb-foundingly revealing that he did not know that these programs were faith based and that he had learned something from her question. He said that it was not obviously stupid to persuade people to believe in a higher power and that even it is a good technique it didn't matter. She said that in the Baltimore area they end the twelve step meetings with the Lord's Prayer. He replied, "Well that is just stupid." Another person noted the two body guards that had been provided by the store standing behind him and asked if he had ever been threatened. He replied, "I've never been threatened." I thought this is interesting because religion supposedly encourages violence but in the West Christians have never threatened this famous atheist. It seems to me quite certain that he would be threatened in the Middle East but he has been focusing on Christians in the West and would like to make no distinctions between religions. Another asked him how he accounted for the doube helix and DNA and someone in the crowd yelled "Read The Selfish Gene." Dawkins replied that it is a long story that he has been laying out in his eight books. He showed his conviction as he spoke of the "magnificent elegance in how you can get to staggering heights of complexity from a very simple process" and that once you see this your consciousness is raised to the power of science. He made the argument regarding the complicatedness of God which Thomas Nagel addressed in a recent article in The National Review. Here is an example of Dawkins making the argument from his chapter in the anthology Intelligent Thought:: "Given that chance is ruled out for sufficient levels of improbability, we know of only two processes that can generate specified improbability. They are intelligent design and natural selection, and only the latter is capable of serving as an ultimate explanation. It generates specified improbability from a starting point of great simplicity. Intelligent design can't do that, because the designer must itself be an entity at an extremely high level of specified improbability. Whereas the specification of the Boeing 747 is that it must be able to fly, the specification of "intelligent designer" is that it must be able to design. And intelligent design cannot be the ultimate explanation for anything, for it begs the question of its own origin." To this Thomas Nagel replies: "But God, whatever he may be, is not a complex physical inhabitant of the natural world. The explanation of his existence as a chance concatenation of atoms is not a possibility for which we must find an alternative, because that is not what anybody means by God. If the God hypothesis makes sense at all, it offers a different kind of explanation from those of physical science: purpose or intention of a mind without a body, capable nevertheless of creating and forming the entire physical world. The point of the hypothesis is to claim that not all explanation is physical, and that there is a mental, purposive, or intentional explanation more fundamental than the basic laws of physics, because it explains even them… All explanations come to an end somewhere. The real opposition between Dawkins's physicalist naturalism and the God hypothesis is a disagreement over whether this end point is physical, extensional, and purposeless, or mental, intentional, and purposive. On either view, the ultimate explanation is not itself explained. The God hypothesis does not explain the existence of God, and naturalistic physicalism does not explain the laws of physics." Some of his statements cause one to wonder if Dawkins even knows what he is talking about when he speaks about religion. ---Another questioner raised the question of Pascal's Wager where Pascal argued that if you don't know whether there is a God or not isn't it better to believe in a God in case it turns out that there was one and yo0ur not believing would make Him angry. Dawkins said that was a wonderful conundrum and that he thought Pascal was not serious when he said it but only joking and that either we believe something or we don't. He went on to mock the idea of God caring whether people believed in Him or not, saying that made God sound insecure. APPENDIX "Characterisitic of all forms of extreme and consistent naturalism, from popular naturalism to the most recent forms of sensation-monism and energism, is on one hand the naturalizing of consciousness, including all intentionally immanent data of consciousness, including all intentionally immanent data of consciousness, and on the other the naturalizing of ideas and consequently of all absolute ideals and norms. From the latter point of view, without realizing it, naturalism refutes itself. If we take an exemplary index of all ideality, formal logic, then the formal-logical principles, the so-called "laws of thought of thought," are interpreted by naturalism as natural laws of thinking. That this brings with it the sort of absurdity that characterizes every theory of skepticism in the fullest sense has elsewhere been demonstrated in detail. One can submit naturalistic axiology and practical philosophy (including ethics) as well as naturalistic practice to a radical criticism of the same sort. For theoretical absurdities are inevitably followed by absurdities (evident inconsistencies) in actual theoretical, axiological, and ethical ways of acting. The naturalist is, one can safely say, idealist and objectivist in the way he acts. He is dominated by the purpose of making scientifically known (i.e., in a way that compels any rational individual) whatever is genuine truth, the genuinely beautiful and good; he wants to know how to determine what is its universal essence and the method by which it [namely, that which is genuinely true, or genuinely beautiful, or genuinely good] is to be obtained in the particular case. He believes that through natural science and through philosophy based on the same science the goal has for the most part been attained, and with all the enthusiasm that such a consciousness gives, he has installed himself as teacher and practical reformer in regard to the true, the good, the beautiful, from the standpoint of natural science. He is, however, an idealist who sets up and (so he thinks) justifies theories, which deny precisely what he presupposes in his idealistic way of acting, whether it be in constructing theories or in justifying and recommending values or practical norms as the most beautiful and the best. He is after all, going on presuppositions, to the extent that he theorizes at all, to the extent that he objectively sets up values to which value judgments are to correspond, and likewise in setting up practical rules according to which each one is to be guided in his willing and in his conduct. The naturalist teaches, preaches, moralizes, reforms. (Haeckel and Oswald are good examples.) But he denies what every sermon, every demand, if it is to have a meaning, presupposes. The only thing is, he does not preach in express terms that the only rational thing to do is to deny reason, as well theoretical as axiological and practical reason. He would in fact, banish that sort of thing far from him. The absurdity is not in his case evident, but remains hidden from him because he naturalizes reason…It is manifest, of course, by this very circumstance how slight is the practically effective force for arguments based on consequences. Prejudices blind, and one who sees only empirical facts and grants intrinsic validity only to empirical science will not be particularly disturbed by absurd consequences that cannot be proved empirically to contradict facts of nature.This sort of argument he will put aside as "Scholasticism." What is more, arguments drawn from consequences lead easily to an undesired result in the other direction, that is for those who are inclined to credit them with demonstrative force." -Edmund Husserl, Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy, trans. By Quentin Lauer, "Philosophy as Rigorous Science", (Harper & Row Pub., New York: 1965) pp. 80-82.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Richard Dawkins's Presentation at Politics and Prose in DC on 24 October 2006
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In Ice Cream Headache, Billy stops in at the Supreme Dairy Bar for a milkshake. While the owner of the dairy bar, Ray, is making the milkshake, Ray thinks back to when he was a child and went to the soda fountain at Adkins' Drug Store with his father and sister for malts and ice cream sodas.
How many of these fountain drinks have you tried? Are there any I might have left off?
Soda Fountain Favorites
What are your "ice cream headache" favorites?


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RTI activist Jethwa's killer brought to Ahmedabad
Crime branch officials today brought Sailesh Pandya, accused of killing RTI activist Amit Jethwa, to the city from Mumbai.india Updated: Nov 22, 2010 01:35 IST
Crime branch officials today brought Sailesh Pandya, accused of killing RTI activist Amit Jethwa, to the city from Mumbai.
The 36-year-old shooter, who had allegedly shot dead Jethwa in Admedabad in July, was arrested in Mumbai on Tuesday last for possessing illegal firearms.
Jethwa was killed a few days after he filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against illegal mining in the protected Gir sanctuary in Junagadh district.
So far, police have arrested six persons in the case including Pratap alias Shiva Solanki, nephew of BJP MP from Junagadh Dinu Solanki, and a police constable Bahadursinh Vadher.
Solanki and Vadher conspired to eliminate Jethwa, as his activism was damaging their mining business, police said adding that the contract to kill Jethwa was given to Sailesh Pandya.
Pandya had shot Jethwa at point blank range in front of Gujarat high court in Ahmedabad in July.
Pandya, a former teacher, also faces an attempt to murder case in Patan, police added.
First Published: Nov 22, 2010 01:34 IST


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Aahat (आहट Āhaṭa) was an Indian thriller/horror television series that aired on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony Entertainment Television Asia. The series premiered on 6 June 1996 to 25 November 2010. The first three seasons were broadcast on Saturdays only at 10 PM IST. The fourth season was broadcast on Fridays and Saturdays at 11 PM. IST which ended on 26 June 2010. The fifth season was broadcast from 28 June 2010, to 25 November 2010, every Monday to Thursday at 10:30 PM IST. Throughout the globe, Aahat received positive critical reception.
The series is based on ghost stories. Each story focuses on a different aspect of paranormal activity, such as ghosts, zombies, phantoms, undead persons, possessed objects and witches and wizards. Canadian actor, Remi Kaler, worked in this series in 1999 and 2000.


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Happy Monday! We had a very busy but fun weekend that included a bowling birthday party for my four year old. My nephew also turns four this week (no, my sister and I didn't plan it that way) I made this card using Echo Park paper and my PTI stamps. I am not loving the picture quality of this photo, I apologize for that. :) Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.
New Chic n Scratch Blog
4 hours ago


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McAllen -- Israel E. Gonzalez Jr., of Mission has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $936,15910 restitution to the IRS for filing fraudulent U.S. Income Tax returns, United States Attorney Jos� Angel Moreno and Rodney E. Clarke, special agent in charge of Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) announced today.
Gonzalez, sentenced Tuesday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane, pleaded guilty on Jan. 28, 2011, to filing fraudulent U.S. Income Tax returns. According to the allegations in the indictment filed of record in this case, Gonzalez prepared and presented to the IRS 16 U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns for income tax years 2004 through 2006 for clients claiming various false deductions, including various Form 1040 Schedule C deductions such as business depreciation. In January, Gonzalez admitted to the court that he submitted a false U.S. Income Tax return for one of his clients on April 1, 2006, in which he falsely claimed his client had business depreciation in the amount of $109,550, knowing his client was not entitled to such a deduction.
In addition to the prison term and restitution order, the court has ordered Gonzalez serve a one-year-term of supervised release. Gonzalez has been permitted to remain on bond until May 9, 2011, when he has been ordered to surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his sentence pending transfer to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future.�
The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by special agents of the IRS-CI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Wells prosecuted the case.


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I had the honor of serving at the Coaches Time Out conference this weekend. It was hands down the best conference I have been to in a while. I knew something was different when I didn't see any skinny jeans, hipster beards or horned-rimmed fake glasses but instead it was all track suits and golf shirts. I also was not asked how big my church was or what kind of guitar I was playing. If you feel that subtext you can understand how refreshing it was to to get out of my usual crowd. I know the change in demographic helped me to see and hear God's truth through a different perspective. Here are 3 things I took away from the weekend that I know will help to make you a better worship leader.
1. Lead
I know, you already know this, I thought I did too, let me explain. At the first production meeting the conference coordinator pulled me aside and said something like, "Loren, I don't want this to be like a Sunday service. There are a bunch of coaches here, if you want them to stand you need to tell them to stand. They don't do well with the feel free to do whatever you feel led to do mentality." That conversation put me on my heels and a bit of anxiety started to make its way into my heart. If I am honest, it is easy for me to become a worship musician instead of a worship leader, I don't like telling people what to do or how to do it.
To effectively lead worship for a roomful of coaches I had to adapt, I am really glad Joe pulled me aside to talk or else I would have done what I do week in and week out. On any given Sunday there are all kinds of people in front of you, many with different learning styles. Are you leading all of them, or just the ones you are comfortable with?
2. Get Beyond The Music
At the conference they taught about 3 dimensional coaching, they stipulated that most coaches never get past the first dimension and here are the 3 dimensions they used.
1st Dimension – FUNDAMENTALS – Strength, Power, Cardio, Speed, Quickness, Technique, Repetition
2nd Dimension – PSYCHOLOGY – Motivation, Confidence, Emotions, Team Cohesion
3rd Dimension – HEART – Value, Identity, Significance, Worth, Character
I loved this because if you took Strength, Power, Cardio, Speed and Quickness out of the 1st Dimension and replaced it with Musicianship, Instrumental Skills and Vocal Skills you would have a guide for 3 Dimensional Worship Leading. We need to take our teams past the music and into the heart of the what and why of worship. If all you are doing is rehearsing music at your rehearsal you aren't reaching your team's full potential. But this might be the most counterintuitive part, your team will actually sound better, be a tighter band and connect with each other when you take them deeper, beyond the music.
3. Get Real
In the middle of one of the sets from the conference a coach yelled out, "The words aren't right!" This was mid-strum mind you, I was immediately jolted out of whatever groove I was in . My point here is that coaches don't hold back, it is their job to get the best out of you. I know that I have shied away from sharing my inner thoughts during practice, but I might be doing my team a disservice because of my fear of confrontation. It is our job to make our teams better, you can't do that by letting it slide, however it must be done in love.
Thanks For Reading,
Loren Miller
Helping People Worship


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So. After quite a few months of absence, I am back to blogging.
Maybe. Hopefully.
The past three months have been my winter months and I'm truly hoping that spring as finally sprung.
You see, last week I had the darkest night of the year after reading all about Jenny's Traveling Red Dress. I was somewhat familiar with the original story of The Traveling Red Dress, being a reader of Jenny's for a while, but seeing the update on the dress really hit a nerve for me.
I realized that for the past three months I have been wrapped in a cocoon of depression that I find myself in every winter. I attempted to head it off at the pass this year by going to see a counselor on base in November, but we didn't really hit it off and after a few sessions, I just stopped going. I realized that I had been preventing myself from feeling anything at all these past few months. That I have basically been walking around like a zombie. And after realizing that, I sort of felt the pain of three month's depression all at once.
Living with seasonal affective disorder is a real bitch, especially because I know it's coming every year but there seems to be nothing to be done for it.
And all winter, I lie to myself and tell myself that I am perfectly fine as I systematically shut people out of my life and basically shut down.
Doing this in my first trimester of pregnancy this year simply gave me an excuse.
I chalked up the extra sleeping hours to fatigue from the pregnancy. I blamed my complete inability to function on the constant nausea, which, don't get me wrong, totally sucked. But even when I was feeling okay - I still sat and did nothing. Nothing at all.
Last week I woke up, reading all of the posts on The Traveling Red Dress facebook page. There were people out there struggling just as I was. There were thousands of women willing to share their stories, to not let depression beat them down and make them feel absolutely useless. There were people willing to help these women out of that battle. Photographers offering free sessions, people offering their gently used red dresses or even buying red ball gowns for these women to wear.
It is a beautiful thing and I realized that I. Am. Not. Alone.
No matter how much my depression likes to tell me that I am.
So, that's all I need to remember.
And I'm back.
I've got a new assignment for myself.
I'm 15 weeks pregnant today and this month I am going to get the little Punkin Head's room ready for Smalls.
More on that challenge later. For now,
I'm signing out.
The Traveling Red Dress
Posted by Charli Labels: Depression , Getting back into things , SAD , Seasonal Affective Disorder , The Bloggess , The Traveling Red Dress


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Why is it in this country that we are expected to keep up with our continual professional development at the workplace, have endless checks before we are allowed in to watch a school nativity, three month and six month trial work periods and appraisals, yet one of our leading banks manages to elect a chairman without, it seems, properly checking whether he was competent to undertake the role?In June this year Mr Flowers was forced out of the Co-Operative's banking arm because doubts were raised about his competence but he had been in the role since March 2010.
Since the eighties when quality kite marks and QED (Quality Every Day) schemes were flown as the answer to quality assurance, allowing consumers and others to see who was a quality company, organisations have had quality assurance managers running around auditing, checking and preparing for external inspection visits. Box files of flow charts, individual qualifications and CV's have been gathered over the years so that a business can retain the right to proudly display its sign or logo of quality assurance.Setting the standards for consumer choice and confidence
I am all for consumer choice and believe that having a standard that everyone can aim for in terms of quality assurance is an excellent idea. It makes sense that in different industries and sectors there will be a set of slightly different criteria but in the end the core principle is this. In any transaction, whether it is banking, shopping, service delivery, medical treatment, educational activities and so on, as a consumer we all want to be treated fairly, we want to know that the service or goods provided will do what it says on the tin or if it goes wrong, then we can get a refund or exchange or the appropriate compensation if it has drastically impacted on the quality of our life. We expect the people who are delivering the goods or services to be qualified in what they are doing and those elected to oversee their work have achieved that position because of a reasonable and justified process. This can come in the form of experience, qualification and personal and social skills as long it is appropriate to the job in hand.Thinning out those responsible for electing Chairman to post
The Co-operative Bank and their staff shouldn't be tarnished with the same brush because of, allegedly, what their ex-Chairman got up to, and an inquiry will soon be underway. But someone, somewhere should have checked on what made Mr Flowers qualified for the post before he was offered it and it will be interesting to see what comes from this sorry state of affairs. Interestingly one of the trustees of an educational awarding body called Open Awards, responsible for ensuring the quality and rigour of these educational qualifications is a staff member of the Co-op bank –perhaps they have a check list he can borrow when electing the next Co-op chairman?