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NSSA All American Teams Announced- Team Kolar is Well Represented!
We are excited to announce our Team Kolar shooters that made the NSSA All American Team! These teams are selected annually based on shooters' performance in the previous shooting year. They are then selected based on the All-American Points System. Last year you all made us proud with your hard work, and here are the results to prove your dedication pays off. We could not be more honored to have you all representing Kolar Arms....[READ MORE]
Derrick Mein Wins 2016 NSCA Sub Gauge National Championship
Kolar Pro Staff Shooter Derrick Mein caps off the 2016 season winning the Sub Gauge HOA National Championship as well as the 20 Gauge Event. His score of 290x300 was enough to win by two targets. The Sub Gauge HOA consist of 100 20 gauge, 100 28 gauge and 100 410 targets. Derrick used the new Max Lite Sub Gauge barrel sets to insure his victory providing the consistency required in all events- In addition a special congratulations to Bill McGuire on winning the Main Event HOA, and his induction to the NSCA Hall of Fame....[READ MORE]
Team Kolar Has Strong Showing at The 2016 NSSA World Skeet Championships
The 2016 NSSA World Skeet Championships is in the books. Team Kolar Shooters enjoy a dominating performance in both the Mini and Main World Championships....[READ MORE]
ATA All American Team Announced
Congratulations to all Team Kolar members that made the ATA All American Team! We at Kolar are proud of our excellent shooters who represent us so well. It is great to see that all of you are shooting so great! Keep it up, and we will see your names next year! The All Americans are as followed...[READ MORE]
Team Kolar Sweeps HOA Podium at the 2016 Us Open Skeet Championships
Team Kolar Shooters Finish Top Seven in the HOA as well as First and third in the Lady Hoa. We didn't stop there winning the Doubles, 12 Gauge, 28 gauge as well. The Proof is in the Results...[READ MORE]
Richard Marshall Junior and Tank Lunsford Win at The Ohio State Shoot
Pro Staff Shooter Richard Marshall Junior and Team Kolar Member Tank Lunsford take no time getting used to their new Kolar max T/A's in 2016. Ricky's choice is the Kolar Max T/A Standard High Rib with the new Light Contour .740 barrels, Tank is sporting the Low Profile Combo-...[READ MORE]
Clay Baldwin Wins HOA at The Stockton Open Skeet Championships
Team Kolar Successful at the 2015 NSSA World Skeet Championships
The 2015 NSSA World Skeet Championships has been completed, and Team Kolar did not disappoint. On top is a common place for our shooters and this year is no exception. New World Champions Clay Baldwin ( 28 gauge ) and Brent Edwards ( 410 Bore and C of C ) received their World Championship Rings from Kolar President John Ramagli...[READ MORE]
Kolar Shooters Sweep Every Event at The Kolar Mid America Skeet Shoot
Kolar Shooters Sweep all Open and Ladies Titles at the Kolar Mid America Skeet Shoot held at the St. Joe Valley Conservation Club over the Memorial Day Weekend...[READ MORE]
New Legend Engraving Pattern
New "Legend " Enraving Pattern New for 2016 Available in all Kolar Models...[READ MORE]
Team Kolar Junior 2015 National 28 gauge High Average Leader
Team Kolar Junior Skeet Shooter has amazing 2015 Season...[READ MORE]
Kolar Pro Shooter Weekend Sponsored By Elite Shotguns
Come join our Pro Staff for Instruction, Demo our New Line of Kolar Max Shotguns...[READ MORE]
Team Kolar Shooter Cheyenne Waldrop Wins Silver Medal at Junior World Cup, Suhl Germany
Team Kolar Junior International Trap Shooter Earns Silver Medal at The Junior World Cup in Suhl Germany...[READ MORE]
2015 Kolar Youth Challenge a Huge Success
As a result of our generous Kolar family of sponsors, 32 Junior Shooters had their entry fees paid at the 2015 Junior World Skeet Championships in San Antonio Texas. The top ten Sub Junior, Junior and Collegiate shooters based on NSSA All American points were the direct recipients of this program. In addition, Murry Gerber of Elite Shotguns generously donated a Kolar Max Skeet that was given at the drawing nite on Saturday, the lucky winner was Cody Sergeant and was he excited and appreciative! Many thanks to all our sponsors: Elite Shotguns- Paxton Arms- L & B Kolar Sales- Clay and Keri Baldwin- Ben and Ann Gallup- Kevin and Brooke Monteleone- John Haugh- John Waters and Debra Perry- L.P. Giambrone_ Mike Stewart Steve Mancinelli Mike Searle...[READ MORE]
Team Kolar Shooters have one thing in common.....Winning
Last weekend was another example of the success in the winners circle by those who shoot the best- The Kolar Max Shotgun. Across all disciplines, Skeet, Trap and Sporting Clays, Our shooters were on top of the podium....[READ MORE]


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Barclay (1975) commenting on Paul's attitude to ministry as written in Romans 15:14-21 says "It is when a man ceases to think of what God can do with him, that things began to happen" (p 203). I see many people looking for what they can do for God, often with the result of driving others away. There is an egotism in thinking of what we can do.
God has equipped us; he has given us skills and talents; he has put us in particular contexts. God does these things so that he can do things with us. We are in these contexts because of what He wants to do with us and not because of what we can do.
How many battles do we have to go through before we realise that God will reveal to us what he wants us to do if we will wait on Him rather than push ahead with our great plans and schemes.
As I write this, I am reminded of Colsen's (2006) book where the main character begins to learn to respond to situations that are around him. It is the response to our current situation that makes the real difference. This means developing our personal relationship with Jesus and learning to hear His voice in each situation of each day.
Jesus advised his disciples not to prepare a defence but that they would be given what to say when the time came. How much do we believe that God can give us the words and direction for each day? We might think we can plan our day but each day, we are faced with new and unexpected opportunities. Can we really plan for them? All we can do is trust that God will give us the words that we need and has given us the knowledge to know how to respond. God uses parts of our journey to prepare us for what lies ahead.
Barclay, W. (1975). The letter to the Romans (revised ed.). Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press.
Colsen, J. (2006). So you don't want to go to church any more: An unexpected journey. Los Angeles: Windblown Media.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2012, Article ID 356712, 7 pages
Grade 2 Spondylolisthesis at L4-5 Treated by XLIF: Safety and Midterm Results in the "Worst Case Scenario"
Spine Midwest, Inc., Suite 301, 200 St. Mary's Medical Plaza, Jefferson City, MO 65101, USA
Received 7 May 2012; Accepted 29 July 2012
Academic Editors: G. J. Hooper, C. C. Niu, and Y. K. Tu
Copyright © 2012 W. B. Rodgers et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Spondylolisthesis is one of the most common indications for spinal surgery. However, no one approach has been proven to be more effective in treating spondylolisthesis. Recent advances in minimally invasive spine technology have allowed for different approaches to be applied to this indication, notably extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF). The risk, however, of using XLIF in treating grade II spondylolisthesis is the ventral position of the lumbar plexus, particularly at L4-5. Objective. This study reports the safety and midterm clinical and radiographic outcomes of patients with grade II lumbar spondylolisthesis treated with XLIF. Methods. 63 patients with grade II spondylolisthesis and spinal stenosis were treated with XLIF and were available for 12-month followup. Of those, 61 (97%) were treated at L4-5. Clinical (VAS, complications, and reoperation rate) and radiographic (anterolisthesis, disk height, and fusion) parameters were assessed. Study Design. Data were collected via a prospective registry and analyzed retrospectively. Results. Sixty-three patients were available for evaluations at least one year postoperatively. Average pain (visual analog scale) decreased from a score of 8.7 at baseline to 2.2 at 12 months postoperatively. Average anterior slippage was reduced by 73% and was well maintained. Average disk height (4.6 mm pre-op and 9.0 mm post-op) nearly doubled after surgery. Slight settling (average 1.3 mm) occurred over the twelve-month follow-up period. There were no neural injuries and no nonunions noted. Conclusions. XLIF is a safe and effective minimally invasive treatment alternative for grade II spondylolisthesis. Real-time neurological monitoring and attention to technique are mandatory.
1. Introduction
Spondylolisthesis remains one of the most common indications for surgery on the spine. The efficacy of surgical treatment for this condition has been repeatedly confirmed [1], most notably in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) study [2–4] and as such, fusion is frequently recommended for patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis [5, 6]. While the long-term benefits of surgical treatment over nonoperative care for this indication have been shown, only recently has the cost-effectiveness of this procedure been proven in high-level data [7]. Recent reports have discussed and compared a variety of fusion procedures, including anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF), posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF), [8] transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) [9], and minimally invasive (MIS) TLIF and MIS ALIF [10]. Despite a great deal of investigation, no approach has proven more effective than the others, and no universal treatment guideline can be proposed [5].
Recent advances in MIS technology are now being applied to spinal pathologies. One of these techniques, extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) has been suggested as a safe, minimally invasive alternative to traditional open fusion procedures. The technique has previously been described in detail Figure 1 [11] and several reports with long-term outcomes and large-series samples are emerging, showing the efficacy of the approach with fewer morbidities than conventional approaches [12–18].
XLIF has been recommended for spondylolisthesis up to grade 2 [11, 13] but the concerns about neural complications associated with the lateral approaches to the spine [19–21] beg the question of safety. These concerns are most pronounced at the L4-5 level, where the lumbar plexus is most ventral anatomically [8, 22–27]. Significant anterolisthesis at this level only exacerbates the risk.
To our knowledge, no reports have specifically addressed the treatment of grade 2 spondylolisthesis at L4-5 with XLIF. Herein, we report on our early and intermediate term results in applying this technique to what is arguably its "worst case scenario."
2. Methods
2.1. Patient Population
Sixty-three patients (10 men and 53 women; mean age 64.5 years) available for 12-month followup after undergoing XLIF for grade 2 spondylolisthesis were treated with XLIF at a single institution between November 2006 and March 2011. In all cases supplemental posterior instrumentation was applied. No posterior direct decompression was performed, relying solely on the indirect decompression achieved through disk height restoration and reduction of slip. Demographics, diagnosis, previous surgery, body mass index (BMI), and preexisting comorbidities were recorded. Under Saint Mary's Health Center Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, clinical and radiographic outcomes were prospectively collected and evaluated at pre-op, post-op, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months followup.
2.2. Radiographic Evaluation
Standing anteroposterior (AP), static lateral, and flexion-extension lateral radiographs were obtained preoperatively and at two weeks, three months, six months, and twelve months after surgery. Measurements of disk height (mm) and anterolisthesis (mm) were taken. Spinal stenosis was confirmed by preoperative CT or MR imaging. Radiographic analysis was performed by a physician other than the operating surgeon.
Fusion was defined as the presence of bridging bone across the disk space (modified Lenke grade 1 or 2) [28] and the absence of significant motion (<5 degrees, <2 mm interspinous widening) on dynamic radiographs.
2.3. Clinical Evaluation
Visual analog scale (VAS) pain measurements were obtained at each time point through the completion of patient outcomes questionnaires administered by the research staff. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded by the evaluating physician. At twelve months postoperatively, patients were asked to complete an additional questionnaire assessing the presence of new back or leg pain (pain not present prior to surgery), their degree of satisfaction with the result, and their willingness to have the procedure again.
2.4. XLIF Surgical Technique
Extreme lateral interbody fusion, or XLIF, is a 90° off midline or true lateral approach that allows for large graft placement and excellent disk height restoration and provides indirect decompression at the stenotic motion segment. This approach can be performed using two 3 cm to 4 cm skin incisions. Safe passage to the retroperitoneal space is assured by gentle blunt dissection. As the psoas muscle is traversed, the lumbosacral plexus is protected by the use of automated electrophysiology. Exposure is achieved with an expandable three-bladed retractor, which allows for direct illuminated visualization facilitating diskectomy and complete anterior column stabilization using a large load-bearing implant. In patients with significant listhetic deformity, the adherence to procedural technique, including careful patient positioning, gentle retroperitoneal dissection, and meticulous psoas traverse using advanced neurological monitoring before performing a complete discectomy and placing a properly size interbody spacer is essential [13] where neural structures are pulled ventrally by the slipping L4 vertebral body (Figure 2).
It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of reliable, timely monitoring of the neural elements as the surgeon traverses the psoas muscle. Visual identification of the lumbar plexus is not possible but the plexus can be protected by using an automated real-time electrophysiology technology (Figure 3).
3. Results
The demographic, diagnosis, and comorbidity data for the total cohort are summarized in Table 1. For all patients, hospital stay averaged 1.2 days and hemoglobin decreased 1.4 g on average. There were two (3.4%) complications in the total cohort, one patient experiencing postoperative ileus, the second having a broken pedicle screw on radiographs obtained after a motor vehicle accident 14 months after surgery. CT imaging showed a solid fusion and the patient was asymptomatic. There were no infections. Although early postoperative transient upper thigh pain and hip flexion weakness were common, as expected consequences to operative trauma to the psoas muscle, these symptoms were not persistent. There were no neurologic deficits. Two (3.4%) patients of the total cohort underwent further surgery within one year: both for adjacent segment disease, one treated with PLF, the other with XLIF.
Grade II spondylolistheses were most commonly present at L4-5 (97%), though in a single level each, L2-3, and L3-4 were indicated. A total of 80 levels (1.3 per patient) were treated (63 for grade II spondylolisthesis). One-, two-, and three-level procedures were performed in 78%, 18%, and 5% of cases, respectively. Biologic materials varied, but most included demineralized bone matrix (87%). Transpedicular fixation was used in all but one instance of grade II spondylolisthesis, where transpedicular facet fixation was used. Treatment variables are included in Table 2.
Clinical and radiographic outcomes are shown in Table 3. At 12 months, there was no radiographic instability noted on dynamic radiographs and all patients appeared to have bridging bone across the interbody space (Figures 4(a) and 4(b)). Eight patients underwent CT imaging. All were judged to be fused by an independent radiologist (Figure 5).
Neither radiographic (slip) nor VAS improvement and maintenance at last followup were influenced by age, BMI/obesity, preexisting comorbidities, prior surgery, levels treated, or unilateral versus bilateral fixation (). Patient satisfaction and willingness to have undergone the procedure again were, however, dependent on slip improvement ( and , resp.). A summary of slip and VAS findings by demographic and treatment variables is included in Table 4. Although average correction was well maintained, 6.4% of patients had lost more than 3 mm of listhetic correction and 6.4% had lost more than 3 mm of disk height.
At last followup, 89.3% rated themselves as "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their results and 92.9% stated that they would choose to have the procedure again.
4. Discussion
The purpose of this study was to examine the safety and efficacy of XLIF in the treatment of grade 2 spondylolisthesis. The use of XLIF to treat degenerative conditions has been documented, as has the procedure's reduced complication rate when compared to traditional open approaches, either anterior [29] or posterior [30, 31]. Analysis of our results shows excellent reduction in listhetic deformity and improvement of disk height with maintenance of these radiographic outcomes over time. Progression toward fusion appears to be routine. Likewise, clinical outcomes denote marked improvement in VAS with persistent improvement at one year. Patient satisfaction with the procedure approaches 90% in most studies, a finding confirmed by our results. These clinical measures attest to the resolution of stenotic symptoms through the indirect decompression and stabilization achieved.
However, the concerns regarding the safety of lateral transpsoas approaches to the lumbar spine remain. In a frequently cited study, [19] the authors reported a 27% incidence of groin numbness (but no motor deficits) using an endoscopic transpsoas approach without neurologic monitoring. It should be noted that this study has been mistakenly referenced [19] as a description of the XLIF approach, which is minimally invasive but not endoscopic and mandates the use of real-time neurologic monitoring. Another study [21] noted two L4 nerve root injuries (3.4%) in a series of 58 lateral fusion cases (and a 22.4% complication rate). This paper reported cases using both XLIF and direct lateral interbody fusion (DLIF) without delineating the number of each type of procedure or distinguishing the complications by procedure. Since the recommended technique is somewhat different in the two procedures and the duration of hospitalization was so prolonged (XLIF: 6 days; DLIF: 4 days), one might argue that this study was a learning curve comparison and should not be cited as definitive. In the largest published series to date, 600 patients treated with XLIF experienced a length of hospitalization averaging 1.21 days and a 6.2% complication rate (rate of transient motor deficit—0.7%) [18].
Nonetheless, neurologic deficits associated with lateral approaches are an area of great discussion. As has been documented anatomically and radiographically, the lumbar plexus migrates ventrally as one descends caudally from L2-3 to L4-5 [8, 22–27]. This places the plexus at greatest risk in a transpsoas approach at the L4-5 level. In addition, anterolisthesis of the superior vertebral body carries the plexus even more ventral, heightening safety concerns. However, as shown by our data, in the presence of real-time neurologic monitoring and with attention to the details of the technique mentioned above, grade 2 listhetic segments, especially at L4-5, can be treated successfully without neurologic injury. The importance of monitoring and technique cannot be overemphasized.
Clinically, surgery for spondylolisthesis has been shown to yield better patient outcomes than nonoperative treatment in large randomized trials [2–4]. Multiple techniques have been employed—decompression alone, [32] PLF, [6] instrumented PLF [33] PLIF [34], ALIF [35], TLIF [9], as well as MIS ALIF [10], or MIS TLIF [19] procedures—without a clear consensus emerging [5]. In addition to clinical effectiveness, recent results of a randomized controlled trial have shown that instrumented fusion for the treatment of degenerative spondylolisthesis is substantially cost effective compared to conservative care [32]. This study noted a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gain of 0.39 in the fusion cohort at a cost of $54,500 (down from 0.23 QALY and $115,600 cost per QALY gained at two years postoperative) per QALY gained. With the threshold for cost effectiveness in the United States at $100,000 per QALY gained, [36, 37] this proves that in the treatment of degenerative spondylolisthesis, instrumented lumbar fusion is solidly cost effective compared to conservative care at four-years postoperative. However, no breakdown of the 344 fusion surgeries (269 with instrumentation) by type of procedure was provided but, based on the timeframe of the study, it may be inferred that the vast majority of those fusions were performed using traditional open techniques. As we have shown in this study, the complications associated with MIS XLIF fusion for spondylolisthesis are notably less than the complications reported with traditional open approaches. Furthermore, open spinal fusions have been reported to have much longer hospitalizations (ALIF: 3.9 days [28], PLIF: 9.7 days [29], or TLIF: 5.5 days [38]) than the 1.2 days we report herein. A recent study, compared the operating costs for a hospital performing XLIF and open PLIF in the treatment of two-level degenerative spinal conditions showed a decrease in operating costs by 9.6% (including the higher price for XLIF implants) with a 1.2 compared with 3.2 day hospital stay (resp.) with significantly fewer transfusions and residual events [39]. A similar study of open and miniopen posterior found significantly lower hospital charges, complications, length of stay, and transfer to inpatient rehabilitation using minimally invasive posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) compared with open PLIF [40]. It stands to reason that modern surgical fusion options—utilizing direct visualization, miniopen approaches—would be expected to yield a markedly decreased dollar cost per QALY gained because these MIS techniques require shorter hospital stays and result in fewer expensive complications.
5. Conclusion
XLIF is safe and effective for the treatment of grade 2 spondylolisthesis at L4-5. The use of this technique results in marked clinical and radiographic improvement which is maintained over time. The use of real-time neurologic monitoring and careful attention to technique are mandatory.
W. Rodgers serves as a Consultant to NuVasive, the designers of the XLIF procedure. He is an inventor on four pending patents. He has been paid for teaching, receives royalties, owns NuVasive stock, serves on the advisory board, and is paid research support and travel expenses. He is also a Consultant to Exactech, makers of the majority of the bone grafting material used in the procedures discussed in this paper. Exactech also provides research support to W. Rodgers and and supports travel expenses.
The authors would like to acknowledge Christopher Case, M. D. (IRB Chairman, St. Mary's Health Center IRB, Jefferson City, MO) for his assistance with paper review. Portions of this work, including early and interim reports, were presented in abstract/poster/oral presentation form at the International Meeting of Advanced Spine Techniques (IMAST) in 2009 and 2008, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Meeting in 2009, the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Spinal Disorders and Peripheral Nerves in 2009, and the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) Meeting in 2008.
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text:
When I was a kid I hated two things about my birthday: 1) it wasn't during the summer (I was so jealous of kids who got to have beach or pool birthday parties!), and 2) because my birthday is in September and I started school when I was four instead of five, I was the youngest in the class. (And for some reason, being the youngest was just no fun…everyone thought it was super cool to be the oldest. Oh how things change as an adult, lol.)
With an end-of-June birthday, my dad is luckier on both counts.
Another great thing about a summer birthday is that you can make different kinds of treats that you wouldn't normally make for cold-weather birthdays. Like Reese's Brownie Ice Cream Cake or Mixed Berry and Toblerone Ice Cream Sandwiches. Or fun popsicle flavors like Strawberry Cheesecake or Cappuccino.
Or ice cream treats that are re-made into cakes, like Banana Split Cake Cups.
When I saw this recipe on Tasty Kitchen right before my dad's birthday, I knew it was meant to be. Although you can make the recipe in individual glass jars (because who doesn't adore dessert in a jar?!), I made one in a small jar (the cook has to test the recipe, right?) and the rest in a 9 by 13-inch dish. It was the perfect summer birthday cake, but it would also be perfect for summer picnics, potlucks, and barbeques. It's a real crowd-pleaser!
Head over to my guest post on the Tasty Kitchen Blog to check out the full recipe for Banana Split Cake Cups!


text:
Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City is a succulent oasis surrounded by a conservative environment. This tower of granite stands solemnly alone at a main intersection. The fortress-like walls glimmer in the Salt Lake City sun. Behind this shield, however, lies an elegant, exuberant, pleasure-driven haven.
I walked through the front, revolving door and feasted my eyes on a uniquely designed lobby decorated in bold colors and rich textures that wake the senses with a visual feast evocative of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The highly visible "harem couch" at the entrance of the hotel has become an ironic icon in Salt Lake City and is a popular site for guest and non-guest picture-taking. In fact, the 'harem couch' is the first item guests see upon entering the lobby. The opulent orange canopy creates an inviting, yet wonderfully mysterious, tent around the rich red velvet couch. Combined with the brightly colored throw pillows strewn about the couch, the 'harem couch' seems to whisper the most wickedly pleasing sweet somethings in your ear!
The Hotel Monaco provides complimentary wine hour (starting a 5pm sharp) in the hotel lobby. This is one of the most surprising and decadent pleasures of Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City and a source of considerable public notoriety. A small bar is set up in the lobby and guests may enjoy wine and each other while lounging in the luxurious lobby. Guests will have no problem finding topics to chat about, for the coffee tables in the lobby are decorated with fascinating coffee table books. I had a great time sipping my chardonnay and perusing a book all about tattoos. I also engaged in some lighthearted banter with a group of fellow journalists, the weekend concierge, and the manager of the hotel restaurant, Bambara.
I opened the door to my room and found the most entertaining decor that I have encountered in a hotel. The guest rooms are decorated with the inviting stripes on the walls, gold stars on the carpet, zebra print throw blankets, polk-a-dotted chair, and fresh colors everywhere. The Hotel Monaco encourages all of their guests leave their inhibitions behind and embrace their animalistic desires as they slip into the terry-cloth leopard print robes. 'Forgot It? We've Got It!" provides essential travel items like toothbrushes, nail filers, and all the toiletries that sometimes get left behind in the mad dash to the airport. Gourmet treats in the fully-stocked refrigerator and mini-bar are available for a fee. Speaking of treats' the Hotel Monaco even provides 'special treats' for those amorous couples in for a wild night, but who may have forgotten to stop by the drug store for protection on their way to the hotel!
The Utah Jazz are regular guests of the Hotel Monaco. In honor of these NBA athletes, "Tall Rooms" are available, featuring 9-foot king sized beds and heightened showerheads and bathroom counters. 'Tall Rooms' are available for all sky-scraping guests, professional athlete or civilian.
Other amenities provided by the Hotel Monaco include: complimentary WiFi high-speed Internet access throughout the hotel and in all guestrooms, two-line speaker phones with computer dataports, private voicemail, in-room fax, copier and printer, round-the-clock room service, evening turndown service, valet and laundry service, complimentary shoeshine, amenities of home such as a coffee maker (with Starbucks coffee), morning newspaper, iron and ironing board, CD stereo, hairdryer, "Om Away From Home" yoga program featuring the Yoga Channel on every TV, a complimentary basket of accessories for use during your stay, individual climate control, in some suites a two-person whirlpool tub, luxurious bath products, and a yoga basket.
The Hotel Monaco welcomes any and all guests, people or pets! Yes, the hotel has a pet-friendly policy. This means that well-behaved dogs and cats are excitedly invited to stay at the Hotel Monaco. Pets here are VIPs. Just like 'pet parents,' the hotel takes the term pet-friendly to a new level. They greet the VIP pooches or kitties with the 'All Dogs Go to 7, Cats to 11' package, designed just for the parent and pet. Upon arrival at the hotel, pets are registered in the exclusive VIP Pet Register. They receive a welcoming toy along with souvenir food and water bowls. Pretty nice for the puppies!
The Hotel Monaco is just steps away from Salt Lake City's business and cultural attractions, including the Salt Palace Convention Center, Capitol Theatre, Abravanel Hall, the Delta Center, historic Temple Square, and restaurants and clubs. In fact, I walked across the parking lot, a mere 50 steps, to find a very cute and hip bar, the Red Door. Now, if that is not convenient, I don't know what is!
For more information, click here.


text:
Most of my days right now are focused on my kids. My youngest is in another destructive round, so I'm trying to keep them occupied but they seem to be exhausting me more. I did get a few shuttles casting in resin right now, as well as the new center post design for the shuttles that will have tatting in them.
|Souvenir Popcorn buckets from Disneyland
While cleaning up a few of the Disney Buckets, I came across a pair of shuttles that had some thread that looks like size 30 on it. I just picked a pattern that I can go on without thinking about and began tatting. It's Ruth Perry's Endless Tatting. Nice simple easy straight forward pattern that I don't have to concentrate on. It had me thinking that maybe I should just tat in white for a while. If I wanted to add color, I can just dye the finished product.
|Tatting Pattern: Endless Tatting by Ruth Perry.


text:
Friday, March 27, 2015
Kingdom Quotes - Henri Nouwen on Hearing The Father's Voice
Home is the center of my being where I can hear the voice that says: "You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests"— the same voice that gave life to the first Adam and spoke to Jesus, the second Adam; the same voice that speaks to all the children of God and sets them free to live in the midst of a dark world while remaining in the light. I have heard that voice. It has spoken to me in the past and continues to speak to me now. It is the never- interrupted voice of love speaking from eternity and giving life and love whenever it is heard. When I hear that voice, I know that I am home with God and have nothing to fear. As the Beloved of my heavenly Father, "I can walk in the valley of darkness: no evil would I fear." As the Beloved, I can "cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils." Having "received without charge," I can "give without charge." As the Beloved, I can confront, console, admonish, and encourage without fear of rejection or need for affirmation. As the Beloved, I can suffer persecution without desire for revenge and receive praise without using it as a proof of my goodness. As the Beloved, I can be tortured and killed without ever having to doubt that the love that is given to me is stronger than death. As the Beloved, I am free to live and give life, free also to die while giving life. (from The Return Of The Prodigal Son)
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:07 PM No comments: Links to this post
Lost Things - The Story of Our Failed Moral Infrastructure - #1 - Lost Dogs?
Lost Dogs? Have you lost your mind? No, I haven't, but WE have. We have lost our minds, our souls, our freedom, our integrity and a lot more than that.
Oh yeah, back to dogs. You've seen them in your neighborhood and on the bulletin board at your local grocer. That sad picture of a poor little pooch that has been lost and is being sought out by a distraught owner or master. (Wow, what terrible language to use of a creature that's just as valuable as you are, right? Are we the master of the animals and they our slaves? I'll let you sort that on your own, for now, unless you let PETA do your thinking for you.- P.C. Brain) Perhaps you've seen that cartoon, the one with the rather portly lady, the beleaguered owner of the lost pet, placing her lost dog sign up on the local public spot. But you notice that the sad thing is unfortunatley placed directly between both of her rather plump hind quarters. Poor pup!
She was not aware what she had lost, all the while still diligently seeking for it.
I really get the sense that the entire world has gone insane, or have I? If I were really going crazy is there someone who could actually tell me how to get back to reality? Or would my fellow travelers just say something like, "Hey, this is just a new view in your life experience, and who am I to judge you about that? Perhaps you are evolving?" Is it all relative? Really?
We'll start with a cute little story from last month about the eighteen year old girl who got a call from a friend who was in the process of ending his life by asphixiating himself in his truck at a K-Mart parking lot. He had rigged a gizmo to emit gas into the cabin of his truck, but got out before he finished the deed and contacted his "friend." who promptly texted him to "get back in." He did, and that was that. She probably will go to jail for this, for a long time, I hope, but I'm mentioning this story just now to bring out something that's missing and not just what was done, or not done.
What was missing? There were actually many possibilities in this scenario, but the one thing I was thinking of was a value for human life. Now I could go on and on about slippery slopes and various horns of all kinds of dilemmas, but this is just plain out good old fashioned evil. People have insisted on a right to choose and screaming for the freedom to act any way they wish, but there just might be a limit to these so-called rights. But I believe that what you see in this scenario is the logical conclusion of our cultural presuppositions. When we teach our young people that you can, in certain circumstances, elliminate a human life then they will take you seriously and promptly act out on what they have been told.
As they say, one generation's ceiling is another's floor. Where the crusaders for the death of "fetuses" succeeded in getting their "rights," and could therefore engage in any sexual escapades without consequence, eventually someone was going to see this as license to devalue all forms of life, except the ones we deem worth living. "I thought that people weren't suffering anymore. So, in a sense, I thought I was helping.'" That's a quote from Charles Cullen, who murdered at the least 40 people with injections as a health care worker. Charles was just helping these folks out, doing what the the government will eventually have to do, right? You know, as a form of cost control in health care, like Obamacare. "But that's not a death panel, it's a quality of life panel, right?" Right. (The death panel thing's a joke, right?…maybe.)
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 11:50 AM No comments: Links to this post
And So It Begins... The Race Of 2016 Has Begun
|March 23, 2015 - Texas Senator Ted Cruz Announces Bid For White House
So if you have been visiting another planet lately and haven't heard, the presidential race for 2016 has truly begun with the first entrant being one Senator Ted Cruz from the fabulous state of Texas.
He announced his candidacy at Liberty University, that most sacred of all places both Christian and Conservative. Somewhere, probably heaven, Jerry Falwell was smiling approvingly as his school was used to be not only a starting place for a presidential campaign, but a symbol of what the candidate wanted to communicate as his core values of faith and liberty.
But of course there was that earlier pre-campaign release of the masterpiece of country music videography know as "Stand Up With Hillary," in which we learned that she is "a daughter and a mother," as well as all of the other things that Hillary Clinton has in common with most country music fans, like the fact that she is "a daughter and a mother." And by that I must insist that it is meant in the purely biological sense.
So here we are, at the beginning of the end of the dark time we must affectionatley call the Obam-ocalypse, or if you prefer, the Great Regression, or the time of community organizing run amok. Whatever you can call a time of stagnating wages, eroding morals and ethics, and a near total loss of respect around the world, absolute breakdown of trust between races, and a new level of general malaise brought about by a complete loss of confidence in any kind of leadership, then call it that if you want. My word for it in the english language is C-R-A-P. But I digress, having given in to the temptation to say what is on my mind, instead of going to the good news.
Yes, the good news. Which is that we will get a new leader in a scant, short twenty or so months. Enjoy your time on Airforce One, Barack, because your ticket has an expiration date, and that's a good thing. (Cue theme music, "Leavin' On A Jet Plane.")
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 11:41 AM No comments: Links to this post
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Myles Munroe, Wife Killed in Airplane Crash
Dr. Myles Munroe
Dr. Myles Munroe, internationally-known author, bible teacher, governmental consultant and leadership mentor, was one of nine passengers on a plane that crashed in Grand Bahama on Sunday afternoon, according to multiple news reports.
A Lear 36 executive jet left the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) for the Grand Bahama International Airport, the Department of Civil Aviation reports. The plane departed at 4:07 p.m. and carried nine people. The vessel crashed while making its landing approach, the Department of Civil Aviation said.
Although it was originally reported that his daughter was on board, Grand Bahamas police are now reporting that his wife Ruth and his Bahamas Faith Ministries deputy, Richard Pinder, along with another pastor and his family were victims.
Myles Munroe's ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Stay tuned to Charisma News for an update to this story. And please keep his family in your prayers.
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:06 AM No comments: Links to this post
Saturday, November 1, 2014
The New "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - Todd Starnes on Foxnews.com
The New "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
A colonel's column was removed from an Air National Guard newsletter because the writer violated military policy by including references to Jesus Christ and God, an Ohio National Guard spokesman said.
Col. Florencio Marquinez, the medical group commander of the 180th Fighter Wing, wrote an essay in the September edition of the "Stinger." It was titled, "A Spiritual Journey as a Commander."
He wrote about how his mother's faith in Jesus Christ influenced his life and he referenced a Bible verse from the New Testament, "With God all things are possible."
"So no matter how stressful your life can be with juggling family issues, relationships, career advancement, work, school, or any burden that life throws your way, cast it upon the Lord and He will sustain you," the colonel wrote.
It wasn't too longer after the newsletter was posted online before someone filed a complaint – lamenting that the colonel's words had caused great angst and offense.
read more at Foxnews.com
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 1:07 PM No comments: Links to this post
The Man Who Fell To Earth
The Man Who Fell To Earth
I saw a blog post last week on a San Francisco area website that asked the question "Is Obama an ascended being?" The exact quote was something like is he an "enlightened" person. You see, back in 2008, that is the kind of questions those in the blogosphere and media were asking. They were wondering if he was a gift from the gods or even a god himself. What exacty had he done to deserve such considerstion? Was he a great healer and restorer of people, or neighborhoods, or states, or anything else? Did he impress people with his incredible thinking or rhetorical skills? Had he come up wth some compeling, new, way to do things in the world? Had he fundamentally chaged any area of the places he had lived and worked? Just exactly what had he done to deserve all of the worshipful adulation and speculation?
Do you remember all of the art and photography that depicted him as the likeness of FDR, JFK, Teddy Roosevelt, and even Ronald Reagan? Not to mention regularly being compared to Abraham Lincoln, and other great men of our country's past.
He was GIVEN a Nobel prize before his first year in office was past, based on, well, good feelings, because he had not done anything yet. Certainly nothing to the level of deserving a Nobel peace prize. It was just for being Barak Obama. And that's my problem, and yours, in fact.
I'll tell you why. Because a sane man, a truly great man, would refuse to be portrayed in these obscene ways. A truly visionary leader would have eschewed this kind of adulation. But see Barak Obama in front of Greek columns declaring the time of healing the earth itself and calming the rising tides. Taking to himself larger than life importance and receiving adulation and worship instead of calling people to humility and hard work, and something even somewhat measurable to some standard whatsoever.
This is the greatest failing of Barak Obama, his own hubris. Allowing people to see him as some savior, some kind of messianic figure that will singlehandedly change the very fabric of the times we live in without all of that baggage from, you know, actual achievement.
I'll finish with the best quote to sum this all up: "Shame on you, Barak Obama!" Thanks, Hillary, you were more right than you could know.
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:33 PM No comments: Links to this post
Kingdom Quotes - Oswald Chambers on Heartbreak
Why shouldn't we go through heartbreaks? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain; we sit down on the threshold of God's purpose and die away of self-pity, and all so called Christian sympathy will aid us to our death bed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, and says - "Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine." If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:18 PM No comments: Links to this post
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Kingdom Quotes: Your Heritage Of Grace - C.H. Spurgeon
Your Heritage Of Grace
There is a heritage of grace which we ought to be bold enough to win for our possession. All that one believer has gained is free to another. We may be strong in faith, fervent in love, and abundant in labor; there is nothing to prevent it; let us go up and take possession. The sweetest experience and the brightest grace are as much for us as for any of our brethren; Jehovah has set it before us; no one can deny our right; let us go up and possess it in His name.
C.H. Spurgeon
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:21 PM No comments: Links to this post
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Is Truth Dead? (A Commentary by Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson from wnd.com)
The truth is dying in America.
Outspoken ESPN host Stephen A. Smith commented during a recent on-air discussion about the NFL's two-game suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, following charges Rice assaulted his girlfriend.
Smith strongly emphasized that it is never acceptable for a man to hit a woman, and then said women should also make sure they don't do "anything to provoke wrong actions."
Soon enough, the predictable feigned outrages came. Smith's colleague Michelle Beadle attacked him with a series of tweets: "I was just forced to watch this morning's 'First Take.' A) I'll never feel clean againB) I'm now aware that I can provoke my own beating." Beadle also called Smith's remarks "irresponsible and disgusting."
Smith apologized, saying it was the most "egregious" mistake of his career. He said it wasn't his intention to say that women could be responsible for their own abuse. A day after his apology, Smith was suspended by ESPN.
What's ironic is that before his suspension, Smith defended former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy, after Dungy came under fire for saying that he would not have drafted Michael Sam (the first openly gay NFL player) because it would be too much of a distraction. Dungy was criticized; then he caved and walked his comments back.
There was nothing wrong with what Dungy or Smith said. And I will not walk that back!
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/08/the-death-of-truth/#pbuZIhEtfI15etca.99
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 2:02 PM No comments: Links to this post
Thanks, Christian White Men! by Andrew Klavan
Thanks, Christian White Men by Andrew Klavan
Andrew is back doing incisive and funny videos! Watch 'em all, they're great, unless you aren't in the mood for a little dose of the truth...
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 1:50 PM No comments: Links to this post
Women Told To Stop Praying At Georgia Mall
It's not uncommon for shopping malls to have rules of conduct. Some places ban saggy pants. Others won't let you ask people for money. But a mall in Georgia may have one of the most unusual rules -- they won't let shoppers pray – not even over their meals.
Meet Tammy Brantley of Dublin, Ga. She's a wife, a mom and an avid power walker. She's also a person of deep faith in God.(read more by Todd Starnes at Foxnews.com)
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 1:44 PM No comments: Links to this post
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Kingdom Quotes: Those Who Are Willing To See Shall See
"Those who are willing to see shall see; it is because we shut our eyes that we become so sadly blind."
C. H. Spurgeon
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Well, It's Been A Long, Strange Trip..But We're Back! All about "The Kingdom Way"
Well, I don't know what your excuse for not blogging much lately is, but here's mine. I wrote a book on the process of discovering your destiny, cleverly called, The Kingdom Way: Discovering The Path To Your Destiny! Don't believe me? Here's the cover:
Want to know more? Go to Amazon.com to look at and/or purchase it, for a modest $19.99, which is a heck of a deal for a 398 page book.
Had to use my pretentious author name, C. Wayne Stewart. That sounds better than Cliff Stewart, right?
The book is a twelve week study of the aspects and steps to discovering your destiny, and takes you from the place of not understanding your own path and worldview to having a focused life and passing on a multi-generational vision and call. Basically, it's a book about everything, as in, life, the universe and everything.
The Kindle version will be out in a month or so. I'm workin' on it!
Here is the back cover blurb about the book:
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What am I here to do?
Is there a God?
If so, does He have a plan for my life?
The Kingdom Way is a book intended to help those on the path of life to begin to answer these important questions for themselves. The book is designed as a twelve week course, equivalent to one season of your life, with five studies per week and questions to answer that develop into a treasure trove of information about your particular life call and path. Join author C. Wayne Stewart as he explores the amazing possibilities available to those willing to take the journey called
The Kingdom Way.
Along the way, you will discover:
- The skills and information necessary to honestly seek God
- How to truly see God through creation and His personal attributes
- That when you meet God, you are finally able to see yourself
- That you can hear the voice of God and what that means in your life
- The incredible power that is released when your will and God's will are aligned
- What it means when God has spoken to you for a specific purpose, or call
- How God's dream and vision for you unfolds into a compelling life of effective impact
- The wonderful gifts, talents and motivations God has given you to accomplish your life purpose
- The skill and ability to perceive processes, times and seasons
- An understanding of what it will take to fight for your dream and to persevere until it is done
- What it might look like to live in the preferable future of a fulfilled dream, call, vision and destiny
- How to live as a visionary leader
Whether you use it for personal or group study, The Kingdom Way will help you to know what God has uniquely designed you to do, what He is doing in the lives of others and how you can make a profound difference in the world. Take the challenge. Take
The Kingdom Way.
"Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths."
Isaiah 2:3
About the Author
C. Wayne Stewart is founder and president of Restoration Ministries in Centennial, Colorado and also serves on staff of Plumbline Ministries (Kansas City) with Brian Fenimore. He is a jazz fan, a lover of coffee, and an admitted Jesus Freak. His vision is to see people walk out their call and destiny in God to the full.
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 1:11 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson, and read by Richard Burton
The Hound of Heaven
By Francis Thompson (1859–1907)
I FLED Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter. 5
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase, 10
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
'All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.' 15
I pleaded, outlaw-wise,
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followèd,
Yet was I sore adread 20
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside).
But, if one little casement parted wide,
The gust of His approach would clash it to.
Fear wist not to evade, as Love wist to pursue.
Across the margent of the world I fled, 25
And troubled the gold gateways of the stars,
Smiting for shelter on their clangèd bars;
Fretted to dulcet jars
And silvern chatter the pale ports o' the moon.
I said to Dawn: Be sudden—to Eve: Be soon; 30
With thy young skiey blossoms heap me over
From this tremendous Lover—
Float thy vague veil about me, lest He see!
I tempted all His servitors, but to find
My own betrayal in their constancy, 35
In faith to Him their fickleness to me,
Their traitorous trueness, and their loyal deceit.
To all swift things for swiftness did I sue;
Clung to the whistling mane of every wind.
But whether they swept, smoothly fleet, 40
The long savannahs of the blue;
Or whether, Thunder-driven,
They clanged his chariot 'thwart a heaven,
Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn o' their feet:—
Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue. 45
Still with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
Came on the following Feet,
And a Voice above their beat— 50
'Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me.'
I sought no more that after which I strayed
In face of man or maid;
But still within the little children's eyes
Seems something, something that replies, 55
They at least are for me, surely for me!
I turned me to them very wistfully;
But just as their young eyes grew sudden fair
With dawning answers there,
Their angel plucked them from me by the hair. 60
'Come then, ye other children, Nature's—share
With me' (said I) 'your delicate fellowship;
Let me greet you lip to lip,
Let me twine with you caresses,
Wantoning 65
With our Lady-Mother's vagrant tresses,
With her in her wind-walled palace,
Underneath her azured daïs,
Quaffing, as your taintless way is, 70
From a chalice
Lucent-weeping out of the dayspring.'
So it was done:
I in their delicate fellowship was one—
Drew the bolt of Nature's secrecies. 75
I knew all the swift importings
On the wilful face of skies;
I knew how the clouds arise
Spumèd of the wild sea-snortings;
All that's born or dies 80
Rose and drooped with; made them shapers
Of mine own moods, or wailful or divine;
With them joyed and was bereaven.
I was heavy with the even,
When she lit her glimmering tapers 85
Round the day's dead sanctities.
I laughed in the morning's eyes.
I triumphed and I saddened with all weather,
Heaven and I wept together,
And its sweet tears were salt with mortal mine; 90
Against the red throb of its sunset-heart
I laid my own to beat,
And share commingling heat;
But not by that, by that, was eased my human smart.
In vain my tears were wet on Heaven's grey cheek. 95
For ah! we know not what each other says,
These things and I; in sound I speak—
Their sound is but their stir, they speak by silences.
Nature, poor stepdame, cannot slake my drouth;
Let her, if she would owe me, 100
Drop yon blue bosom-veil of sky, and show me
The breasts o' her tenderness:
Never did any milk of hers once bless
My thirsting mouth.
Nigh and nigh draws the chase, 105
With unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy;
And past those noisèd Feet
A voice comes yet more fleet—
'Lo! naught contents thee, who content'st not Me!' 110
Naked I wait Thy love's uplifted stroke!
My harness piece by piece Thou hast hewn from me,
And smitten me to my knee;
I am defenceless utterly.
I slept, methinks, and woke, 115
And, slowly gazing, find me stripped in sleep.
In the rash lustihead of my young powers,
I shook the pillaring hours
And pulled my life upon me; grimed with smears,
I stand amid the dust o' the mounded years— 120
My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
My days have crackled and gone up in smoke,
Have puffed and burst as sun-starts on a stream.
Yea, faileth now even dream
The dreamer, and the lute the lutanist; 125
Even the linked fantasies, in whose blossomy twist
I swung the earth a trinket at my wrist,
Are yielding; cords of all too weak account
For earth with heavy griefs so overplussed.
Ah! is Thy love indeed 130
A weed, albeit an amaranthine weed,
Suffering no flowers except its own to mount?
Ah! must—
Designer infinite!—
Ah! must Thou char the wood ere Thou canst limn with it? 135
My freshness spent its wavering shower i' the dust;
And now my heart is as a broken fount,
Wherein tear-drippings stagnate, spilt down ever
From the dank thoughts that shiver
Upon the sighful branches of my mind. 140
Such is; what is to be?
The pulp so bitter, how shall taste the rind?
I dimly guess what Time in mists confounds;
Yet ever and anon a trumpet sounds
From the hid battlements of Eternity; 145
Those shaken mists a space unsettle, then
Round the half-glimpsèd turrets slowly wash again.
But not ere him who summoneth
I first have seen, enwound
With glooming robes purpureal, cypress-crowned; 150
His name I know, and what his trumpet saith.
Whether man's heart or life it be which yields
Thee harvest, must Thy harvest-fields
Be dunged with rotten death?
Now of that long pursuit 155
Comes on at hand the bruit;
That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:
'And is thy earth so marred,
Shattered in shard on shard?
Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me! 160
Strange, piteous, futile thing!
Wherefore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I makes much of naught' (He said),
'And human love needs human meriting:
How hast thou merited— 165
Of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me? 170
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home: 175
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!'
Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
'Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, 180
I am He Whom thou seekest!Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.'
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 11:58 AM No comments: Links to this post
What Really Satisfies Your Soul? A Kingdom Quote From Henry Blackaby
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 11:45 AM No comments: Links to this post
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Welcome to JUMP THE SHARK Week!
For example, let's remember that, according to the Dems, Mitt Romney is so powerful and diabolical that he can leave a job in 1999, go into the future and give a woman cancer and cause her death in 2006, and then come back into reality and space-time just in time to kill off the rest of the poor and deject huddled masses. He then, of course, would finish it off with a nice cigar and a cognac. He then would reappear in our time continuum in time to save the 2002 winter olympics and plan his eventual takeover of the world while daily dining on babies and drinking the tears of depressed sweatshop workers.
Perhaps I am exaggerating the Democrat's fears of Mitt Romney. But what else would explain their willingness to follow and support a man who has utterly failed in each and every possible way to live up to the goals he set for himself. I refer you to one statement to the effect of "Well, if I don't turn things around in three years we'll be overrun by baby eating, cancer causing super-villains!"
And what about the plans Romney has to sell all non-Mormons to a group of space aliens for the cost of settling all of the United State's debts. Oh, wait? That was the Israelis. Uh, no, it was actually some hidden professor in the halls of Obama's past that he won't let us know about. Does that ring a Bell? Maybe a Derek Bell? Must be hidden in the closet with all of those pictures of the dead Usama, Barack's first communion Quran and all of the pictures of those freaky "composite" people he mentions in his biographies. Didn't that used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder?
So what's the point of all of this? In all of the attempts to JUMP THE SHARK today, I haven't even come close to what Barack, David Plouffe, Bill Burton, Stephanie Cutter and all of his other hench-type persons did this week. Not even close.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Obama That I Used To Know
This is a parody of a song by a group called Gotye called "Somebody That I Used To Know."
It is a an excellent parody, and you can see the original here if you are haven't heard it.
This tells the story of all the young hope-and-changers and what happened after they voted for O. Just like the original song, they feel like jilted lovers, left out in the cold and not just forgotten, but coldly rejected. Oh, where is that Obama they used to know? He never really was...
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:41 PM No comments: Links to this post
Saturday, July 14, 2012
From HOPE to FEAR - again
via American Crossroads - the best part of the "Fear"video, nice and short!
Click the above link to see the whole video.
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:51 PM No comments: Links to this post
The REAL Obama
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:45 PM No comments: Links to this post
From HOPE to FEAR
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 12:35 PM No comments: Links to this post
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
J. Lee Grady - Don't Let Delays Defeat You
A breakthrough is waiting for those who persevere. If you have stopped praying, receive fresh grace to pray again.
George Mueller, the great 19th-century British evangelist, prayed in more than $7 million during his lifetime to feed the thousands of orphans in his care. He didn't believe in telling people about his financial needs, yet he always had enough to pay his enormous grocery bill because God supernaturally provided.
But Mueller's faith was stretched in other ways. He prayed regularly over a list of five people he wanted to see converted to faith in Jesus. The first man was saved after five years. The second and third men converted to Christ after 10 years. The fourth man was saved after 25 years of consistent prayer.
"Sometimes construction crews in my city erect large flashing signs along the highway near my house. All drivers groan when they see the message: 'EXPECT DELAYS.' Life is littered with these signs, and Jesus said they are part of our training process."
But here's the clincher: Mueller prayed for the fifth man's conversion for a whopping 52 years. The friend made a profession of faith in Christ a few months after Mueller's funeral!
This story challenges me to the core because I'm so impatient. I'm guilty of revving my engine at stoplights and tapping my foot when my Internet connection is slow. Technology is a blessing, but it has also spoiled me into thinking I can get spiritual results as fast as I want them.
Would you pray about something consistently for 52 years if there was no sign an answer was coming? I started praying about some big requests three years ago, and I realized recently that I had grown weary of the process. Prayer had become painful. Doubts began smothering my dreams. I felt like giving up, but God spoke three simple truths to my heart. They might help you:
1. God never said this would be easy. Jesus gave us many wonderful, rosy promises, but He also said: "In the world you have tribulation" (John 16:33, NASB). That's not a Scripture you will find embroidered on a pillow or inscribed on a flowery greeting card. But it's a guarantee. Anybody who attempts something great for God will face difficulties.
Sometimes construction crews in my city erect large flashing signs along the highway near my house. All drivers groan when they see the message: "EXPECT DELAYS." Life is littered with these signs, and Jesus said they are part of our training process. If Abraham and Sarah had to wait 25 years for the birth of their promised heir, why do we think our answers should be instant?
2. You must persevere if you want to receive. Perseverance is one of those archaic words we've stripped from our vocabulary. Waiting is a weird concept for people in the 21st century who have movies-on-demand. If someone tells us to wait, we just find an app on our phone to speed up the process.
But there is no shortcut when it comes to receiving God's answers. The definition of perseverance is "steady persistence in a course of action or purpose, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement." Faith is painful because God is stretching our spiritual capacity to receive. Press through the pain! There is gain on the other side.
Speaking of prayer, Jesus said: "Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7, AMP). In other words, don't stop praying no matter how long the answer takes.
3. The end result of faith is a larger territory. When Isaac sojourned in the land of Gerar, the Bible says he re-dug the wells of his father and then dug new wells. After he dug the first two, the Philistines quarreled with Isaac and tried to claim ownership of the water. But when Isaac dug a third time, the fighting stopped and he named the new well "Rehoboth," which means "a broad place" (see Gen. 26:18-24).
Isaac could have become discouraged after the first well-digging fiasco. Many people back off at the first sign of a fight, but Isaac didn't let the quarrels stop him. He dug a second time and hit yet another roadblock. But he kept on digging. When the breakthrough occurred, Isaac declared: "At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land" (26:22, NASB).
The lesson Isaac learned is still part of our faith curriculum today. There is no getting around it. We must keep on believing when circumstances tell us to quit. We must stretch our faith when it feels like we have no more stretch left. We must pray beyond the delay.
George Mueller said: "God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God's hands as a means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith."
If you have grown weary, or even if you have quit believing, receive fresh grace to pray again. Let patience have its perfect work. God will fortify your faith and empower you to receive a miraculous breakthrough.
J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma and the director of The Mordecai Project. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady.
Posted by Cliff Stewart at 1:25 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Michael Brown - Young Americans, Faithless and Fatherless
According to a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, almost one in three Americans under the age of 30 doubt that God exists, while, in contrast, the figure for Americans over the age of 65 is less than one in ten. Could there be a connection between the fatherlessness of this younger generation and their struggles with faith? According to a theory called "the psychology of atheism," the answer might well be yes.
But first, some caveats. 1) There are many reasons why people struggle with the issue of faith, so it would be wrong to think that "one size fits all." 2) The highest percentage of fatherlessness is found in the African American community, and yet African Americans tend to be more religiously oriented than other population sectors. 3) It cannot be denied that a large portion of contemporary American Christianity is often superficial, hypocritical, and powerless (in terms of radical life transformation), and these serious defects certainly account for some of the faith struggles experienced by American young people. That being said, it is important to probe the connection between fatherlessness and faithlessness.
In 1999, New York University professor Paul C. Vitz, a former atheist himself, wrote a book entitled Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism. In it, he argued that the absence of a father or the presence of a defective father (say, a weak, cowardly father or an abusive father) often played a major role in the development of the atheism of the child (or grownup). A similar argument was made by journalist John P. Koster, Jr., in his 1989 book The Atheist Syndrome.
To be clear, these authors are not denying that atheists claim to have strong, rational reasons for their atheism. Instead, Vitz and Koster argue that what lies at the root of atheism is often the lack of a solid father figure, thereby allowing unbelief to become dominant later in life (or even in childhood).
According to Vitz, "an atheist's disappointment in and resentment of his own father unconsciously justifies his rejection of God," a theory Vitz developed while reading the biographies of well-known atheists. He calls it the "defective father" hypothesis.
Under the category of "Dead Fathers," Vitz lists famous atheists like Nietzsche, Hume, Russell, Sartre, and Camus; under "Abusive and Weak Fathers" he lists Hobbes, Voltaire, Freud, and Wells, among others. He then compares their stories with the stories of theists like Pascal, Wilberforce, Kierkegaard, Chesterton, Buber, Barth, Bonhoeffer, and others, before reviewing apparent exceptions to his theory.
Speaking of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Vitz notes that her son, William, "claims that he did not know why his mother hated her father so much – but hate him she did. In the opening chapter of the book, he reports a very ugly fight in which O'Hair attempted to kill her father with a ten-inch butcher knife. She failed but screamed, 'I'll see you dead. I'll get you yet. I'll walk on your grave.'" Does this remind you of her desire to eliminate God from American life?
Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, "I have absolutely no knowledge of atheism as an outcome of reasoning, still less an event; with me it is obvious by instinct." As a young boy, Nietzsche was very close to his father, who was a pastor, but he died shortly before Nietzsche's fifth birthday, having suffered the previous year from a brain disease.
In his early teens, Nietzsche wrote about the agony he experienced when his father died, noting that, "In everything God has led me safely as a father leads his weak child. . . . Like a child I trust in his grace." So, for the teenage Nietzsche, God was just like a loving father. Unfortunately, Nietzsche also remembered his father as weak and sickly, and it was this image, Vitz claims, that Nietzsche "also associated, naturally enough, with his father's Christianity. . . . It is therefore not hard to view Nietzsche's rejection of God and Christianity as a rejection of the weakness of his father," a father who abandoned him by death when he was but a little boy.
As for H. G. Wells, he was raised by an irresponsible and often absentee father (named Joe) and by a mother whose faith collapsed when her 9-year-old daughter died suddenly from appendicitis two years before Wells was born. Vitz notes, "Whether it was Joe the father or God the Father who gave no answer seems to make no difference to Wells, because for him both were equally absent."
Describing his mother's faith struggle in his autobiography, Wells wrote, "My father was away at cricket, and I think she realized more and more acutely as the years dragged on without material alleviation, that Our Father and Our Lord . . . were also away, playing perhaps at their own sort of cricket in some remote quarter of the starry universe."
Returning to our day, the U. S. Census Bureau reports that as of 2011, one third of American children are growing up without their biological father, and over the last 50 years, the number of babies born to unwed mothers has jumped from 5 percent to 40 percent.
Could it be, then, that there really is a connection between the lack of fathers and the lack of faith among young Americans?
via Townhall.com
Seems like Michael Brown is really getting to the core of what is really going on in our culture, especially lately. The Vitz book he mentions is excellent, by the way. - Cliff @the Triangle
Why Obama Will Lose in a Landslide - by Wayne Allyn Root
Most political predictions are made by biased pollsters, pundits, or prognosticators who are either rooting for Republicans or Democrats. I am neither. I am a former Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee, and a well-known Vegas oddsmaker with one of the most accurate records of predicting political races.
Neither Obama nor Romney are my horses in the race. I believe both Republicans and Democrats have destroyed the U.S. economy and brought us to the edge of economic disaster. My vote will go to Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson in November, whom I believe has the most fiscally conservative track record of any Governor in modern U.S. political history. Without the bold spending cuts of a Gary Johnson or Ron Paul, I don't believe it's possible to turnaround America.
But as an oddsmaker with a pretty remarkable track record of picking political races, I play no favorites. I simply use common sense to call them as I see them. Back in late December I released my New Years Predictions. I predicted back then- before a single GOP primary had been held, with Romney trailing for months to almost every GOP competitor from Rick Perry to Herman Cain to Newt- that Romney would easily rout his competition to win the GOP nomination by a landslide. I also predicted that the Presidential race between Obama and Romney would be very close until election day. But that on election day Romney would win by a landslide similar to Reagan-Carter in 1980.
Understanding history, today I am even more convinced of a resounding Romney victory. 32 years ago at this moment in time, Reagan was losing by 9 points to Carter. Romney is right now running even in polls. So why do most pollsters give Obama the edge?
First, most pollsters are missing one ingredient- common sense. Here is my gut instinct. Not one American who voted for McCain 4 years ago will switch to Obama. Not one in all the land. But many millions of people who voted for an unknown Obama 4 years ago are angry, disillusioned, turned off, or scared about the future. Voters know Obama now- and that is a bad harbinger.
Now to an analysis of the voting blocks that matter in U.S. politics:
*Black voters. Obama has nowhere to go but down among this group. His endorsement of gay marriage has alienated many black church-going Christians. He may get 88% of their vote instead of the 96% he got in 2008. This is not good news for Obama.
*Hispanic voters. Obama has nowhere to go but down among this group. If Romney picks Rubio as his VP running-mate the GOP may pick up an extra 10% to 15% of Hispanic voters (plus lock down Florida). This is not good news for Obama.
*Jewish voters. Obama has been weak in his support of Israel. Many Jewish voters and big donors are angry and disappointed. I predict Obama's Jewish support drops from 78% in 2008 to the low 60's. This is not good news for Obama.
*Youth voters. Obama's biggest and most enthusiastic believers from 4 years ago have graduated into a job market from hell. Young people are disillusioned, frightened, and broke- a bad combination. The enthusiasm is long gone. Turnout will be much lower among young voters, as will actual voting percentages. This not good news for Obama.
*Catholic voters. Obama won a majority of Catholics in 2008. That won't happen again. Out of desperation to please women, Obama went to war with the Catholic Church over contraception. Now he is being sued by the Catholic Church. Majority lost. This is not good news for Obama.
*Small Business owners. Because I ran for Vice President last time around, and I'm a small businessman myself, I know literally thousands of small business owners. At least 40% of them in my circle of friends, fans and supporters voted for Obama 4 years ago to "give someone different a chance." I warned them that he would pursue a war on capitalism and demonize anyone who owned a business...that he'd support unions over the private sector in a big way...that he'd overwhelm the economy with spending and debt. My friends didn't listen. Four years later, I can't find one person in my circle of small business owner friends voting for Obama. Not one. This is not good news for Obama.
*Blue collar working class whites. Do I need to say a thing? White working class voters are about as happy with Obama as Boston Red Sox fans feel about the New York Yankees. This is not good news for Obama.
*Suburban moms. The issue isn't contraception…it's having a job to pay for contraception. Obama's economy frightens these moms. They are worried about putting food on the table. They fear for their children's future. This is not good news for Obama.
*Military Veterans. McCain won this group by 10 points. Romney is winning by 24 points. The more our military vets got to see of Obama, the more they disliked him. This is not good news for Obama.
Add it up. Is there one major group where Obama has gained since 2008? Will anyone in America wake up on election day saying "I didn't vote for Obama 4 years ago. But he's done such a fantastic job, I can't wait to vote for him today." Does anyone feel that a vote for Obama makes their job more secure?
Forget the polls. My gut instincts as a Vegas oddsmaker and common sense small businessman tell me this will be a historic landslide and a world-class repudiation of Obama's radical and risky socialist agenda. It's Reagan-Carter all over again.
But I'll give Obama credit for one thing- he is living proof that familiarity breeds contempt.
via Townhall.com
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Discussion in 'Digital Audio' started by KettyKrueger, Mar 25, 2008.
Would this kind of conversion keep my files lossless? or is this akin to converting mp3s to wavs??
They're lossless. WAV is lossless (when encoded as Linear PCM). No loss.
But wouldn't going from Apple lossless to wav cause similar issues as mp3-wav? Taking a compressed file and 'uncompressing' it causes artifacts.
If you zip a wav file and unzip it you don't loose anything. The same goes with lossless.
Mp3/lossy isn't really compression at all, it's subtraction.
What about the word "lossless" don't you understand?
MP3 is not lossless. It's lossy. The artifacts are within the MP3.
Apple Lossless is compressed in the same way a ZIP archive is. There is no loss of data, but the file size is smaller. The only downside to Apple Lossless is that it isn't as easy to process as PCM audio (what usually goes into WAV).
Bear in mind that WAV doesn't mean anything as such, it's just a file 'container' where sound of different codecs is stored.
I stand corrected [but not entirely convinced].
I've have done some research and all tests seem to indicate both file types produce identical audio (phase reverse tests=silence).
What exactly does lossless remove?
What is added again when converting to wav?
Is there changes in bit rates?
It doesn't remove or add anything, just like ZIP doesn't remove or add anything from files. Lossless compression merely uses algorithmic data compression techniques. Lossy compression removes data, that's why it's called "lossy." If you really want to learn how these sorts of things work, I'd suggest picking up a book on it.
There's a change in bit rate in that because the file has been compressed, it now takes less bits over time to represent the same data.
So do lossless codecs effectively get decoded back to PCM during playback?
Effectively, EVERYTHING gets decoded back to PCM during playback, which is then converted into an analog signal which drives your speakers.
So PCM is the best suited to A/D and D/A conversion, but is inefficient at storing data as bits?
Mp3 and other lossy codecs were just messy stop-gaps until we got lossless. Plus, for those who don't care about quality, take up less space.
And presumably in the future we will be recording directly to more efficient lossless codecs [such as Apple lossless]?
Not really. Just like video professionals don't record directly to H.264, neither would audio professionals record to lossless. It'd just introduce one more piece of unnecessary complexity to the audio acquisition chain. There the focus isn't on saving space, it's on reducing complexity and thus maximizing quality. They have huge gobs of disk space to work with, so size isn't really a concern.
The easiest way to think of it is like this.
If there is a large part of the waveform for your music which contains no information (ie, it is silent), PCM would look like '000000000000000000000000000000' (very very very VERY simplified).
Apple Lossless would store it as '0 x 30', 30 being the number of 0s.
This isn't technically 'correct', but it gives you a vague understanding of how it works.
BMP vs PNG is exactly the same, they both produce exactly the same image, but PNG is much smaller than BMP.
I understand that principle-thats how far my understanding into it goes. But how often is a piece of music completely silent? My confusion in that sense comes from the fact that an audio waveform is constantly changing-therefor it would be unlikely 2bits in the row have the same value [in PCM state]?
Is this confusion stemming from the "very very very very simplified" way of explaining it? Do the 'compressed' bits of data have to be in a row? Or is that just the easiest way to visualise/understand it?
From Wikipedia:
Run-length encoding (a very basic and specific sort of encoding) is what Killyp described above. See the linked bits in the original article for explanations of linear prediction and Golomb-Rice encoding. Hope you like math!
I hate maths even more now!!!! haha!
And from reading up through those wiki's I'm even more confused as to what it's doing! But thanks for the link. At least now I know not to get into coding or too deep into compression techniques!
Sorry to the O/P for half hijacking your thread!
Thanks for the replies!!
The reason I asked is because my music library is in Apple Lossless but to stream it to my PS3 it needs to be .wav (or a lossy format).
Trouble with wavs is that you can't embed artwork or tags.
Oh well, at least I can enjoy my lossless music in the living room
To quote the great sage Strong Bad:
"Technology is... magic! Basically, it's something that's really cool that you don't know how it works, and when it breaks you have to buy a new one!"