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Sunday, December 23, 2007
The third rail of world politics
But there is another broader issue that seems to have become the third rail of world politics: overpopulation. This week in an astounding piece in USA Today, the newspaper told us that U. S. fertility rates had returned to the replacement value of 2.1 (that is, 2.1 births per woman on average) after being below replacement since 1971. This was deemed good because "[a] high fertility rate is important to industrialized nations. When birthrates are low, there are fewer people to fill jobs and support the elderly." Ergo, the low fertility rates of Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, and South Korea (all mentioned in the article) must be bad. These countries were said to be "struggling with low birthrates and aging populations." In fact, some of these low fertility countries are now providing government incentives for larger families.
Within the narrow measures of economic competitiveness and public pension support for the elderly the labels of good and bad might be applicable. But what about the environmental degradation and resource depletion that are resulting from overpopulation in these very same countries? Not a single word!
Is there any explanation for this glaring omission? Probably, there are many. But one explanation is sticking in my mind. The explanation comes courtesy of Albert Barlett, the retired University of Colorado physics professor who has spent his retirement warning the world about the dangers of exponential growth. Barlett reminds us in a recently published essay included in an anthology entitled The Future of Sustainability that carrying capacity can be imported from other countries. That means that the damage resulting from overpopulation in the countries mentioned in the article is not always visible within those countries. Only Russia, for example, is self-sufficient in energy. And, Russia, Japan and South Korea must import considerable amounts of food. Much of the raw material for the factories in all the countries mentioned is imported from other countries, mostly so-called developing countries, from their mines, their fields, their fisheries and their forests.
So it is no wonder that the reporters at USA Today didn't notice the deleterious effects of overpopulation on these so-called industrialized nations. As those countries import carrying capacity, they also export environmental degradation and resource depletion. Everything looks fine to most people in the importing nations. For example, while Japanese consumers are helping to strip the world of its remaining forests, the country preserves its own forests and enjoys a forest cover of around 67 percent.
The damage does, however, show up on the evening news as a conflict in some distant, dusty country where forests are being leveled and rivers are being drained. The conflict is usually put down to some ethnic or religious rivalry. Often a quick recap of the last few centuries of history in such places is provided for the sole purpose of proving that "these people have never gotten along."
Even if some politicians, policymakers and reporters in wealthy countries can see beyond the daily mirage of plenty to the overpopulation problem, they do not want to touch it. Those who advocate for measures to reduce population often find themselves accused of one or more of the following motivations: 1) a desire to kill the old and the infirm, 2) a desire to force people to have abortions, 3) a desire to prevent poor countries from achieving political and military power, 4) a genocidal mania aimed at reducing the population of certain minorities, and 5) a pathological attachment to animals and nature coupled with a desire to preserve the world for nonhumans. I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn't really matter how many times you say the word "voluntary" in front of the words "family planning," you will still be under suspicion.
Of course, those wishing to avoid all taint of unsavory or paranoid accusations will simply call you "anti-growth." This automatically makes you an enemy of the poor who will have no hope of bettering themselves under your plan for population reduction. If you answer this charge by suggesting that perhaps we should redistribute the world's wealth more equitably while simultaneously reducing population, they will call you a "socialist" if they're trying to be polite or a "communist" if they're not.
One thing you can be sure of. No defensible ecological argument will be made to refute you.
It is not obvious to me how to change the discourse on population. I usually avoid it in my initial discussions with people about our ecological predicament. If someone asks about population during a question and answer session, I respond as well as I can. Sometimes a well-informed questioner surmises that I simply must understand the connection between overpopulation and our environmental and resource problems. Such a questioner will phrase his or her query this way: "How come you didn't talk about overpopulation? That's at the root of all our problems."
Well, now I can refer those questioners to this piece.
16 comments:
- Bytesmiths said...
Thanks for another fine missive, Kurt!
There are many ways we could go about de-populating, but as you note, all of them fraught with peril.
So perhaps the first thing that must happen is that the ethic must change. Only then can real change take place.
I was dismayed over the exchange I had with one prominent environmental writer/speaker recently. She has four kids. I politely asked her how she reconciled her environmentalism with her having had four children, and she basically said, "None of your business. It happened."
Not that I wanted to make someone feel bad, but this sort of attitude needs to change. I had expected something like, "I've learned a lot since then," or "That was before I understood the problem." I had hoped for something I could take away, an inspiring, pithy statement I could use with my young friends who are starting families. Her youngest is just two, and for all I know from her response, there may be more coming.
Residents of western industrial nations have always viewed population as a third-world problem. But as Donella Meadows noted, I = P * A * T, or Impact equals Population times Affluence (energy use) times Technology. Westerners have the affluence and technology, so even minor changes in population can have a profound impact.
One provocative solution (after achieving a popular ethic change, itself a monumental task) would be a lottery. This could have an unforeseen benefit, as foreseen by science fiction writer Larry Niven in his Ringworld series: the "luck" of future generations may be better, as Darwinian forces select for those who can win lotteries. Don't underestimate the importance of this; future generations are going to need all the luck they can get!
- Kurt Cobb said...
A reader named Phil emailed this thought-experiment:
Suppose you're living on a group of islands, much like the British Isles ... but there is no coal or other fossil fuel. Life is good, population is stable or slowly increasing ... but forest cover has gone down from 90% 200 years ago to 40% today and is continuing to drop 1% each year. Are the islands overpopulated? Which problem would you rather have in 40 years' time: a shortage of young workers or a complete absence of firewood?
- Kiashu said...
You're the first person talking about overpopulation I've seen who is talking about First World overpopulation.
More commonly, what happens is that some white middle-classed person who has no children hears about the hundreds of millions of Asians and Africans who are, like us, quite keen to eat burgers and SUVs, and this person then realises... well, there's not enough for everyone. Solution? "Well, maybe if there were less darkies in the world we could all eat burgers and drive SUVs! Yay! Everyone can be rich and wasteful after all! I can continue to eat burgers and drives SUVs without guilt, I won't even have to throw money at some carbon offset scam company to make myself feel better! Hooray!"
The hostility comes because the traditional root of supposed concerns about population is racism and classism. We can have babies, but not those dark-skinned and poor people, they should all be sterilised and go clean the streets or something.
The important part of your equation is "affluence". The thing about population is that it's not how big it is, it's what you do with it.
Excellent essay, enough so to get me reading through other articles on your blog. And I fully agree with you and with Kiashu, that population reduction must be on the agenda of the affluent world as well as "everywhere else." (In fact, even more so, due to our disproportionate impact.)
I too have recently had "an interesting experience." I discovered that some people, who are otherwise highly intelligent and fully aware of the climate crisis and related issues, go absolutely balllistic when any mention is made of doing something about overpopulation. In one case, a physics PhD said that he would sooner see the world plunged into dieoff (resource wars, famines, pandemics) than accept a mandatory "one baby per family" policy or similar solution.
The overt denialists can be counted on to go ballistic over any suggestion of mandatory measures to reduce consumption. This phenomenon is well known. But the fact that some people who are committed to sustainability hit the ceiling when population reduction comes up, is a new and interesting discovery that it seems a number of us have made at about the same time.
What I think is going on here is very simple: reason has taken the back seat to animal instinct, perhaps augmented further by the base human desire to see one's own tribe dominate other tribes.
Here's another thought experiment for you: ask someone, "Would you die if you didn't have a baby?" Clearly the answer is "no." Thus, clearly, having babies is not a subsistence need in the same sense as having clean water and food.
Then ask them, "would you give up your car in order to have a baby? ...would you give up eating meat in order to have a baby? ...would you give up living in a nice big house and move into a cramped apartment in order to have a baby? ...give up indoor plumbing?...electricity?..." and so on. Then ask, "what would you be unwilling to give up in order to have a baby?" I would be very very interested to hear the outcome of this type of line of questioning, for a decent sample across the political spectrum.
This posting is getting too long so I'll wrap up by saying that yes, I'm in favor of a baby lottery.
It turns out that even one child per family does not lead to a rapid enough population decline to avoid the high probability of the present state of overshoot leading to a population collapse via rapid dieoff. The reduction has to happen more rapidly, and long story short, the correct number is probably in the range of one baby per every three or four families.
If humans were truly rational creatures whose actions were based upon free will rather than driven by blind instincts (such as reproduction and consumption), we would agree and proceed until we were down to 2 billion, at which point we could resume having two children per family. The generations that made the necessary sacrifices would be held in high esteem by their descendants in a sustainable world.
But this has about as much probability of occurring as an extraterrestrial space craft landing on the White House Lawn.
So long as blind instinct is in the driver's seat, the rest of us had better prepare for the inevitable crash.
We should have made an effort to acculturate a pattern of global full year sabbaticals from having babies. Tradition tells us to rest every 7 days. Our species needs rest at least every 7 years. Such observance was common in small "primitive" societies where pregnancies were intentionally clustered between long periods of rest. They could see what they were doing and coordinate it. We may have learned this lesson too late... it takes a full lifetime for a reduction in births to lower population levels.
- daggett said...
Hi Kurt,
(Merry Christmas, if it's still Christmas in the US. It's Boxing day here in Australia)
You may be interested to know that you were quoted in a discussion we are having in response to an article "Is it reactionary to oppose immigration?" on Margo Kingston's webdiary (also published here).
- Kiashu said...
As I said, the danger with the focus on population is that it's an excuse for inaction. "Well I don't have babies so I can keep driving my SUV and eating burgers, why doesn't the government do something about all those people having babies?"
As I point out here, you and I can reduce our personal resource consumption and pollution impact by two-thirds, tomorrow, without significant effort or suffering, and while saving money.
Whereas short of genocide, population won't be reduced by two-thirds even in thirty years.
Who has more impact on the environment, the hippy family of four on their bicycles eating organic lentils, or the yuppie single childless person in their SUV on holiday overseas skiing?
Our wasteful lifestyle is to blame for resource depletion and pollution, not the absolute number of the people in the world. Lifestyle is easy to change, population is slow to change without genocide.
If I = P x A x T, why focus on the slow to change one when we can focus on the (relatively) quick and easy to change one? Why, because the person suggesting we focus on the slow to change one doesn't want any change in the quick one. Rich Westerners would rather tell other people not to have children than themselves to take the bus.
I certainly plan to have children. Anyone who wishes to criticise me on the basis of I = PAT, well when their AT=25% of Western average like mine, then they can criticise. Until then, they can bugger off.
"Please don't have children, so I can continue my wasteful luxurious lifestyle without guilt."
To quote Aldous Huxley out of context, "Nothing less than everything is fully sufficient."
At present we have to reduce both population and consumption levels each by about 60% in order to achieve sustainability. Otherwise nature will do it for us.
Regardless of anything else, every single human requires X gallons of clean water per day, Y calories of food per day, and Z square feet of space in which to sleep per day, along with Q quantity of sewage disposed of per day.
If a person typically needs an absolute minimum of 1.5 gallons of water per day for drinking, cooking, and washing; and 2,000 calories per day; and lives 65 years, then: during their lifetime they will consume close to 36,000 gallons of water, and about 47.5 million calories of food; and producing that food in turn will require yet more water.
There is no single action any person can take that has anywhere near the ecological impact of making a baby.
In case this gets into details of personal lifestyle, I offer the following:
Miles driven per month, about 400 in total. Down from about 1,200 a few years ago via putting my clients' systems on remote-access so I can service them from my desk at home. Of the total miles driven, the majority are for work requirements (client site visits that are not serviceable remotely) and the small minority are for personal trips.
Electricity consumption per month: 109 KWH as of last electric bill. Down by about 83 KWH per month compared to previous levels, via building my own refrigerator/freezer system from off the shelf parts, as well as taking all the usual conservation measures.
Water consumption: "Purge water" (the cold water before the hot water comes up in the shower) diverted to storage tank, used as input to laundry. Output from laundry (graywater) stored in second tank and used as input to toilet. Household water usage reduced approx. 25% in this way compared to normal; and there is also no outdoor watering, which saves another approx. 40% compared to normal.
I'm also the guy who developed the telecommuter feature for PBXs (office telephone systems) that automatically routes calls from your downtown office to your home office without need of expensive VOIP (internet telephony) equipment. This was adopted by the leading manufacturer of PBXs in the line size 20 to 40 extensions, making the feature available to small and medium sized businesses (and it works better than the one Jet Blue uses to route calls to their employees' home offices). The point of this exercise being that every telecommuter is one less car making two needless trips per day: so the thing I designed is helping take cars off the road everywhere it is deployed.
I walk my talk. Therefore I have standing to criticize unsustainable behaviors in general. Including excessive consumption, and, as per the point of this column, excessive reproduction.
The point of my "would you give up (this, that, or the other thing) to have a baby" thought-experiment was to illustrate that for most humans most of the time, the desire to have babies is more powerful than the desire for almost any material comfort you can name: and in some places, that includes adequate food and water.
The fact that people will sooner starve than stop making babies, is proof positive that making babies is driven not by any rational thought process but primarily by instinct. You don't need to make a baby in order to live. You do need clean water and adequate food. Making a baby in order to have a personal caretaker when you're older, is as selfish or more so than buying a Lincoln Navigator.
Babies born in affluent cultures, who grow up with a mentality of entitlement to further material excess, are effectively taking food and water from the mouths of babies born in the third world. However, babies born in the third world are also effectively taking food and water from each others' mouths. When population has overshot carrying capacity, the result is a zero-sum game: every single baby is competing for resources against every other baby.
As for the relative ease of changing lifestyles vs. changing reproductive behaviors, consider this:
At present, sustainability in a world of 6.5 billion humans translates to the material standard of living in Cuba. And while I'm no fan of communism, they do have clean drinking water, sufficient food, education and medical care that are the envy of much of the world. They survived their own oil crash with few or no fatalities. Those are the empirical facts.
In Cuba private automobiles are virtually unknown, a point that many sustainability advocates would applaud.
However, in Cuba, rural electricity supply means a community solar system that provides a one-hundred watt circuit to every house. That's enough for a couple of lights and either a radio, or in US terms, a laptop or a small black and white TV. The refrigerator is communal, the washing machine is communal, and forget about a toaster (800 watts).
A single 100-watt circuit to your house means a maximum power consumption of 72 KWH / month, though realistically it means about 60% to 70% of that level due to the intermittency of sunlight and the inability to provide full battery backup.
Try living on about 50 KWH per month, with a maximum usage of 100 watts at any given time. Say goodbye to your refrigerator and you might be about halfway there. Say goodbye to every appliance that has a heating element (toaster, coffee pot, etc.). You might be able to do without most of those, but the fridge is the big one: now figure out how you're going to prepare your meals.
You see, it's not as easy as it seems. Yes, it's easy to give up the obvious sources of waste such as SUVs, commuting by car, bigscreen TVs, etc. But to truly achieve sustainability, to change lifestyle to a sufficient degree, you will have to figure out how to prepare meals without need of refrigeration or devices that use electricity to heat food (and using natural gas or propane is cheating).
It's a hell of a lot simpler to take the pill or put on one of those latex things.
Yes, they have it all figured out in Cuba, but the entire society is on a hardcore sustainable footing, 300-passenger city buses and urban agriculture on every bit of open land included.
The bottom line is, there is no substitute for a significant reduction in population. At 6.5 billion, what is required is a complete revolution in our energy usage and everything that goes along with; but at 9 billion humans even Cuban-level austerity is over the line by about 40%.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. We can't "build our way out of this," whether with technological miracles such as nuclear fusion or with mundane measures such as bicycles and vegetarian diets. Or rather, we can't do it that way alone. What it takes is all of those measures, and to stop having babies like there's no tomorrow. Or there will truly be no tomorrow.
´The generations that made the necessary sacrifices would be held in high esteem by their descendants in a sustainable world.´
There´s a quote somewhere that points out that `Celibacy isn´t a hereditary trait.´ On this same vein, I would offer that there exists a certain irony in the above comment by g2. But I´m merely being glib.
- Nick
One of the posters over at The Oil Drum has the tagline "Are humans smarter than yeast?" as part of his signature. Sadly, the answer appears to be "No."
A good post but you miss the main point about rebounding 'Western' birth rates. Immigration.
Where information is available you will find that the rebound in birth rates in the West is due to immigrants or their children having more children than the indigenous populations.
According to the BNP (British National Party) in the UK, the average white indigenous British woman has around 1.4 children but a female British resident of Pakistani origin has around 4 children on average.
Kiashu, what is happening is that first work countries are acting as pressure valves for uncontrolled third world population explosions. Any good that efficiencies and future energy conservation in developed countries will be offset by huge immigration gains. I read reports on the Telegraph website that the UK population is projected to be 70 - 90 million by 2050.
Kiashu, in your country, Australia, there seems to be a consensus that the country is above carrying capacity yet you still allow 100,000 migrants in annually. Why?
- Kiashu said...
We let migrants in because we're not racists with a history of wanting to betray the country to foreign powers, like the BNP you quote.
The Australian continent is a delicate one. Having even one million people living as we do would eventually destroy the land. The problem isn't whether we have ten times or twenty times as many people as the land can support in our lifestyle, it's our lifestyle.
Consider that Australia and the US combined have 5% the world's population, but generate 25% its greenhouse gases. The recent IPCC report concludes that to avoid "catastrophic climate change" - by which they mean an eventual rise of 2C in temperature worldwide - the world must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 85% on year 2000 levels.
If the entire world except for the US and Australia were to disappear between now and 2050, the population reduction would be 95%, but the greenhouse gas emission reduction would be only 75%. That is, the US and Australia alone could cause catastrophic climate change.
Alternately, the world could reduce population to 321 million and that remaining population live like the US and Australia, and we'd still get catastrophic climate change.
The most important factor is our lifestyle. g2 was kind enough to calculate some lifetime consumption figures for us. However, what's important isn't the actual volume of consumption, but consumption relative to capacity. If I have $1 million in the bank earning $50,000 interest annually, but spend $100,000, I'm eating into my principal, and will eventually run out of money and have no income. If I spend $50,000 then I'm "sustainable", and if I spend less then the principal will go up.
So what's important is not whether we have some child who'll consume X litres of water and Y calories of food in their lifetime, but how that water and food were got, and whether they drew on the principal of the Earth. The principal and interest of the Earth, its "carrying capacity" are difficult to calculate directly. It's easier to look at results; we may not know exactly what the interest rate is, but we can see when the principal is rising, holding steady or falling.
Since we're causing climate change, it's obvious we're drawing on our principal. We're spending more than we earn. That way leads to bankruptcy. And that could happen to the Earth even with a 95% reduction in the world's population, if we continue to live as we do.
Again, I can reduce by two-thirds my personal impact on the world; overnight reduction of world population by two-thirds is not possible without genocide.
The general rule is that as education and income rise, birth rate drops, but they're not related in a linear way. That is, imagine there's a Kenyan family with three kids, two parents and a grandparent on $2,000, and a New Hampshire couple with one child on $100,000; the New Hampshire family has one-half as many members, but consumes and pollutes more than twice as much.
Westerners like to talk about the problems of population because it distracts from talking about the problems of overconsumption and pollution. "Alright, I just won't have any kids," is a lot easier than "I'll change my affluent lifestyle."
Again, if population and affluence are equally important in the equation, does it make more sense to focus on the one that's physically easy to change, but socially difficult (affluence), or the one that's both socially and physically difficult to change (population)? Naturally, we Westerners prefer to focus on the one that means the least effort for us.
Grow some balls. Reduce your consumption and pollution. No amount of handing out condoms is going to let you keep driving your SUV and eating burgers without any effect.
"You don't need to make a baby in order to live. You do need clean water and adequate food. Making a baby in order to have a personal caretaker when you're older, is as selfish or more so than buying a Lincoln Navigator."
The fact is that being voluntarily childless is a form of suicide. We are all going to die, but to die without any descendants is a much more final form of death, because it means that your dna disappears. You may or may not agree with this logic, but I guarantee that if you go to my age, 63, without children, you will regret it.
Kiashu. Please explain how the BNP and other 'racists' have a history of betraying the UK to foreign powers. Which foreign powers?
You fail to appreciate my point in the red mist that appeared when I mentioned the BNP. People are moving to the US and Australia for a lifestyle that is more CO2 emitting . The best thing for western countries to do is stop concentrating on economic expansion brought about by high levels of immigration and instead think about energy conservation.
On a personal level. I don't own a car but a bicycle, walk to the supermarket, don't run my air con at all, don't take international holidays etc. According to one website I found I emit the same CO2 as an average Indian, I am pleased to announce. I wish others would do the same. I also wish they would vote for anti-immigration parties but hey! one thing at a time is good enough.
Have a good think about it. You can use your economic resources in Australia housing, feeding and schooling 10,000 refugees and 90,000 immigrants every year or you could start building concentrating solar stations in the outback to provide renewable non-CO2 producing electricity.
And don't forget to tell me how the BNP people have a history of betraying the UK to foreign powers and which ones.
- Kiashu said...
The British Union of Fascists under Mosley in 1939 onwards wanted Britain to have a negotiated peace with Germany which would involve a German occupation of Britain. Many BUF members spied for the Nazis during the war.
After the war, the BUF became the Union Movement, then the Action Party, the League of St George and the National Front, the latter of which evolved into the modern BNP.
When asked in 1993 if the BNP was racist, its deputy leader Richard Edmonds said, "We are 100 per cent racist, yes". Founder John Tyndall proclaimed that "Mein Kampf is my bible."
Murderous racism and treason are the heart of the BNP, the heart of its philosophy, its ideological and membership history.
The BNP supports a reduction of Britain's population - at least the dark-skinned kind.
Australia need not choose between having migrants and building renewable energy. It's like those idiots who say that if we build trains we must have less hospitals. We're a wealthy country. We can do both.
Fascism is vile enough as a political ideology. The desperation of the fascists to have some sort of popular influence is show by their recent appropriation of ecological themes. I am not an ecofascist, nor is it an ideology (if it can be graced with the name "ideology") I can recommend to anyone else.
- The North Coast said...
Population control has to begin with women, and women's rights.
Does any woman WANT to spend a major part of her life being pregnant?
Does any mother WANT to see her kids go without the decencies of life because she had 6 kids, but could have provided easily for one or two?
If it isn't good for the poor families on the other side of the tracks to have 6 kids they can't support, how can it be good for a world where 70% of the population is mired in poverty, to increase when they can't eat as it is?
Simple logic- if you can't support yourself, you can't raise kids who will support you in old age. You will only breed more and deeper poverty and misery.
As for supporting oldsters- the notion that we need an ever-expanding population to support our swelling population of elderly only shows that most country's old-age support systems are Ponzi schemes. What we see is that we don't need more young people nearly so much as we need sustainable retirement programs and savings from early youth. =


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subset: commoncrawl


text: Hello, I noticed that CAVS (cavsdsp_mmx.c) uses the following macros from H.264: - TRANSPOSE4 (dsputil_mmx.c, appeared in r1365; last changed in r8939) - SUMSUB_BA (idct_mmx.c r4329, then h264dsp_mmx.c r4338; never changed) In addition, such macros can be used in other dsp stuff (iDCT stuff mostly), so factorizing makes sense to me. TRANSPOSE8 is another candidate. Now, there is a plurality of file origins, the macros had little change throughout their history, so I'm inclined to thing it's not worth copying dsputil_mmx.c (both file and history) to a new file and work from it. Then, name to pick. Considering all those macros come from H.264 code, and are only macros, I would name it h264dsp_mmx.h. Last, copyright. I consider Loren to be the real author of all this code, so I've attributed to him. In case I make sense, please find a patch attached for all of this. Best regards, Christophe GISQUET -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: h264_utils.diff URL: <http://lists.mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/ffmpeg-devel/attachments/20080109/b18cde26/attachment.txt>


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This is my first video game short that I am posting here. I made this game after thinking about my career struggles. As I headed toward college graduation, I was feeling trapped between the choice of going on to AAA or F2P type mobile and facebook games.
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Lefkada holiday – day 1 and 2
Hello everyone! This is the first post from our summer sea holiday. The posts about our Lefkada holiday are coming a bit late but that is because I have decided not to take the laptop with us and enjoy this week of sea, sun, and no distraction from computers and technology if possible… I find myself in front of the computer the whole time in the rest of the year so the decision was simple to take.
Nevertheless we will post the updates in the chronological order so everyone can follow up with our posts.
This summer holiday we decided to go with a couple of family members and friends in Greece, to be more specific on the island of Lefkada. So we went there with 3 cars in total of 12 persons. At first I was a bit scared to go by car because it is a long way to go … about 1200 Km from our home, but we had a stop over in Thessaloniki on the way there and also on the way back.
The advantage in this is the adventure to drive and see the areas where you pass, enjoy the scenery and the road. In the first day we left from our homes around 5 in the morning, drove for about 3 hours in Romania and then we crossed Bulgaria from north to south and we also passed trough Sofia. This part of the road was the most difficult, about 6-7 hours with not so great in scenery and we got a feeling the road was never ending. Then we entered Greece and in about 1-2 hours we were in Thessaloniki.
Thessaloniki is a big city with a lot of history and the few hours in the first evening and the half day in the second day of our trip was not enough to see all the potential of this city. Some of the greek people we encountered told us proudly Thessaloniki is one of the most beautiful greek cities. We haven't been in so many big greek cities so we need to believe them.
The most famous landmark of the city of Thessaloniki is it's White Tower, we paid the 3 EUR entrance fee and went in the tower that has 6 floors organized as a city historical guide. The only downside is that the museum is only in Greek and you receive free of charge a listening device in English. The panorama from the top of the tower is stunning…
Below you can see the quay and the great park next to the White Tower and the Sea….
From the tower we spotted the Thessaloniki citadel on the hills, unfortunately we had no time to go there as it was far to go from the tower.
The next day we left with the final destination Lefkada and after 4 hours of driving trough amazing scenery and mountains (btw the highway trough the mountains was really amazing) we finally arrived in Lefkada…But this in the next post on our blog.
Hope you have enjoyed this post, please like and share if you did and stay tuned for the next one from our summer holiday.


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Museum Passes
The Livingston Public Library loans museum passes to the following institutions:
Frick Collection
Grounds for Sculpture
Imagine That!!!
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Jewish Museum
Montclair Art Museum
Morris Museum
Newark Museum
Livingston residents, 18 years or older who have library cards in good standing, may borrow passes and visit museums without having to pay an admission charge.
A borrower may reserve a pass by phone to be picked up the same day, before Library closing time. Passes will also be available on a first-come, first-served walk-in basis. The pass may be borrowed for three days, in addition to the day it was checked out. Borrowers are reminded to bring their Livingston Library card and the museum pass in order to gain admission. Passes must be returned before Library closing time on the date it is due. Passes may not be put in the Book Drop.
Each museum offers different benefits – including number of people admitted, discounts to shops and parking. Borrowers are responsible for calling or checking the museum website, directly, for hours of operation, current exhibits, parking, or directions. Each museum determines the rules and regulations governing the use of its museum pass.
Please contact the Livingston Public Library at 973-992-4600 for additional details regarding this exciting program.
Our Museum Pass Program is funded by the Friends of the Livingston Public Library.


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Sunday, July 17, 2011
I can't think of a title for this post
8 comments:
- Allie said...
Nothing wrong with taking a break Clare, sometimes you just HAVE to! Your cards are lovely!
- July 18, 2011 at 1:03 AM
- Terri said...
Love your cards! You don't know how lucky you are that your daughter joins in with you to make things. Mine didn't appreciate me in any way until she was a Mom herself, and lived 6oo miles away. Now she quilts... and I am so proud!
- July 18, 2011 at 3:53 AM
- Indigo Blue said...
A break is very good for you I think. At Easter Sophie and I made a huge batch of cards over 2 day period. Sophie has a nice little collection to last her for about a year.
- July 18, 2011 at 6:42 AM
- Cardygirl said...
Nice to have family time...love the cards!
- July 18, 2011 at 7:25 AM
- Jeni said...
Very pretty cards.... and also nice to spend family time together...
- July 18, 2011 at 7:34 PM
- Posie Patchwork said...
I hope you find your groove back, well room for the groove. I change & chop things all the time, there is just no way i can do it all at the same time, with a husband away for 3 years, 4 children & 4 parts to my businesses, so i keep changing it up, love Posie
- July 19, 2011 at 2:17 PM
- 4 Lil' Girls said...
Your cards are sweet, my lil girl Ella & i love to make cards at christmas, but seeing these beauties inspires me to do more at other times. Love your blog!!!
Karen :)
- July 20, 2011 at 9:50 PM
- Stitchin' time said...
Nice cards and nice that you could make them with your daughter :).
- July 23, 2011 at 10:56 AM


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* TSX falls 131.07 points, or 1.13 percent, to 11,431.44
* Index touches lowest point since July 2010
* Seven of 10 sectors lower; golds, energy weigh
By Trish Nixon
TORONTO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Toronto's main stock index hit its lowest level since July, 2010 on Friday, pushing the market into bear territory, as investors sold riskier assets on growing fears of a Greek debt default and global recession.
Concerns about a global economic slowdown battered the commodities complex for a second day, pressuring the resource-heavy Canadian stock index.
The materials group tumbled 3.3 percent as base-metal miners continued to slide and as gold fell to a 6-1/2 week low, setting the stage for its sharpest weekly drop since Dec 2008. [MET/L] [GOL/]
"It's a U.S. dollar thing ... when people get really really panicked, the U.S. dollar, there is no substitute. Gold to a large extent is the flip-side of the U.S. dollar," said Brendan Caldwell, chief executive of Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.
"Gold stocks have fallen right out of bed with gold, and that's what's really pulling our market."
Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) was the heaviest decliner, down 4 percent at C$48.20, while GoldCorp (G.TO) fell 3.9 percent to C$47.20.
At 10:35 a.m (1435 GMT) the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 131.07 points, or 1.13 percent, at 11,431.44. It touched a session low of 11,355.82, its weakest since July 2010.
The index has fallen more than 6 percent in the last three sessions and is now down more than 20 percent from its 2011 peak, which is generally viewed as the definition of a bear market.
A pledge by G20 leading economies to shore up the financial system failed to alleviate fears of a Greek default and global economic slump.
European banking shares suffered after Deutsche Bank said the region's banks may take a bigger-than-expected hit from a swap arrangement on Greek government debt. [MKTS/GLOB]
Seven of 10 main groups on the TSX were lower. Energy issues stocks were down 1.2 percent, tracking the price of oil as Brent crude fell to a six-week low near $103 a barrel. Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO) fell 2 percent to C$30.28. [O/R]
The financial sector traded flat. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) was the index's most influential advancer, up 0.4 percent to C$45.56, while Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) rose 0.4 percent to C$50.18.
"If everybody was worried about the world coming to an end our banks would be under pressure today, and they're up modestly," said Caldwell. (Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)


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Back to Brett's Book Collection
Back to Horror
Edited by Al Sarantonio
999: Twenty-nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense
999: Twenty-nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense
999: Twenty-nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense is a consistently solid collection of short stories, never published before being included in this book. More than one made best of collections in the year it was published. Al Sarrantonio set out to collect only high quality stories, and even had the rather lofty goal of starting another upsurge in horror sales. While he didn't necessarily succeed at all he set out to do, this IS an extremely solid collection that belongs on the shelf of all serious horror fans. Joe Lansdale's "Mad Dog Summer" is the best of a very impressive lot, and I also greatly enjoyed William Peter Blatty's short novel Elsewhere. Oddly enough, I wasn't as impressed with several stories by authors who I am a fan of, including T. E. D. Klein's "Growing Things" and Thomas Ligotti's "The Shadow, The Darkness", though I'm sure a lot of you will disagree with me as to the quality of those and other tales in the list below.
Comments: What do Rasputin's skull, dead tourists come back to life, and a prominent member of the Soviet government have to do with one another in an apocalyptic future? One whole hell of a lot apparently!
Comments: The Matheson family, especially the children, are paying for past crimes of their family. These crimes only become clear after a long, lonely, somehow OFF summer at rural Cross Hill, ancestral home of the Mathesons.
Comments: At first I didn't like this one much, but the ending is a nice little shocker.
Comments: Famous horror author Richard Kinnell quickly enough comes to regret buying a painting with certain, shall we say, DISTURBING properties.
Comments: The narrator is one cold-hearted bastard...and that's being nice!
Comments: I've heard many good things about Klein, but I didn't particularly care for this one. The reader is forced to jump to too many conclusions for this house to be the one which appears in the home improvement magazines.
Comments: I've heard of cheerleaders becoming vampire hunters, but nuns? I like it.
Comments: Brother Capricorn's New Zodiac Club isn't showing the civility he had desired in his club members. And to make matters worse, their eating habits are a bit peculiar as well…
Comments: William gets a chance to look over his life from an unlikely source.
Comments: I didn't really get this one. It apparently involves a man trying to warn himself of impending disaster through a phone call.
"Catfish Gal Blues"
Comments: Hop Armstrong has a way with the ladies, even non-human ladies. He should've made sure she didn't have a boyfriend first though.
Comments: Tom Shone (Thompson) arrives in town too late to find a normal hotel. Instead he finds something out of a nightmare...
Comments: Frankie Paone pays for his sins through an unlikely source.
Comments: Elizabeth is bound and determined to be a good mother, unlike her own. But it's going to take time and probably more than one body...
Comments: This one is VERY Lovecraftian in tone and outlook, something I normally enjoy. In other words, mere human beings do not stand a chance against the cosmic forces arrayed against us, and there is no use trying. However, I just didn't like the actual story very much.
Comments: The theater at the tops of a set of stairs behind a locked door holds some horrifying secrets, secrets which Putnam learns only too well.
Comments: Dominic Kazan gets a chance to go back and stand up to his father, improving his current life many times over in the process. Al Sarrantonio says this reminds him of a Twilight Zone episode, and I have to very much agree.
Comments: Harlow Winton has gone from an orphan to a wealthy man overnight. His great-uncle left everything to him…including his peculiar house where SOMETHING lurked in the darkness. I like the way McKiernan keeps the monster vague. My imagination runs wild when I read a story like this.
Comments: The author of The Exorcist penned this excellent short novel of a haunted house and the efforts of a group of people to spend five days there. As I read this one, I found myself sharing in the protagonists' growing sense of dread and confusion. I guessed the twist rather early on, but it made no difference as far as the story's effectiveness went.
666 pp.
email me at: firstname.lastname@example.com


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THE DELTONA Junior High School Parent-Teacher Association has agreed unanimously to endorse the maximum $115 million bond issue for school construction and equipment proposed by the Volusia County School Board. We do this for these reasons:
-- Horace Mann once said: ''When you open a school you close a jail.'' If we, the adults of Volusia County, do not keep up with the population of our school-age children, whether they are ours by birth or not, we eventually will take care of them with us as the taxpayers and their playing the role of dependent burdens on society.


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Ever since I "ombre-d" my hair, the ends have been even more lifeless than normal. My hair is fine and brittle so it doesn't take much to make the damage from years of heat styling and colouring appear evident. So, this year I've decided that I'm going to put in more of an effort to bring my hair "back to life".
So, why not start with the basics?
A hair mask that has been used for years to help put moisture back into your strands and reinforce it with protein. Olive oil and egg. I know, it is quite a gross combination, but doing this mask once a week has been making a noticeable difference in adding some softness and shine back to my hair. (Disclaimer, I am NOT a hair person, so please don't hold me too accountable if this doesn't work out for you, but I hope it does!).
There are many positive claims for olive oil as a hair conditioner made by hair care lovers. The website "Olive Oil Excellence" outlines them here:
Benefits of Using Olive Oil on your Hair
- Dandruff treatments – Dandruff is usually caused when the scalp becomes dry and flaky, causing those unsightly white flakes. Olive oil is a natural moisturizer. When massaged into the scalp it will moisturize your scalp, reducing the appearance of your dandruff naturally, with no chemically laden shampoos. Use the treatment as often as needed until the problem fades and then just once or twice a week to keep it from reoccurring.
- Frizzy hair tamer – Dry hair is brittle hair and even just brushing your hair can cause split ends that turn your hair into a frizzy mess. Using olive oil on just the ends of your hair moisturizes those brittle ends, and will help smooth down the split ends, taming the frizz and the flyaway hairs. Use it after styling on just the ends of your hair to tame your hair. This works great in the winter when hair tends to be dryer and this solution is perfect for those who routinely flat iron their hair. When used after straightening your hair, olive oil will hold give moisture and a bit of weight to the ends, keeping your hair looking smooth.
- Adds Shine – Healthy hair has a natural shine. Damaged and dry hair looks dull and lifeless but you can bring your hair back to life with olive oil. When used as a conditioner olive oil infuses your hair with moisture, restoring it to a healthy and beautiful looking shine.
- Easier to Manage – Unhealthy hair is not easy to style; it is either limp or frizzy. Using olive oil as a hot oil treatment will make your hair healthy and manageable once again.
- Softens Hair – Some people have hair that is rough and course. Weekly olive oil treatments are a natural way to soften your hair because it will saturate your hair with moisture
Step 1: Combine egg and olive oil (about 1/2 cup) into a bowl.
Step 2: Mix it all up!
Step 3: I used a bbq sauce-type brush to apply the mask to my hair. I find this isn't as messy/gross as using your hands.
Step 4: Apply all over your hair! You can also just stick to the ends if you want.
Follow up this step by wrapping your hair in Saran Wrap or a shower cap and leave for 1-2 hours.
Final notes: Make sure you rinse off this treatment in warm water, not hot! You don't want cooked egg all up in your hair. Follow with a shampoo and conditioner on the ends. Make sure you wash out very well!
Let me know if you try this mask! What are you favourite at-home hair treatments?


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THE Place to be on Southern Georgian Bay – Share Your Opinions with us!
- News
- 05 January 2016
- Hailey Thomson
- Hits: 5741
Meaford, Ontario – January 3, 2016 – Council's Strategic Priorities 2015-2018 were approved on October 26, 2015 and included our vision that the Municipality of Meaford will be "THE place to be on Southern Georgian Bay". The Municipality had also discontinued the use of the marketing tag line 'The Other Big Apple' in March 2014 and is committed to reviewing and solidifying our brand.
"Our brand embodies the emotional connection with our citizens, our visitors, our businesses and partners." Said Mayor Barb Clumpus. "We are committed to 'getting it right'."
Dedicated volunteers from a sub working group of the Meaford Economic Development Advisory Committee are leading a consultative initiative on the many special attributes that make Meaford THE Place to be on Southern Georgian Bay.
The working group welcomes your input and invites you to complete a short survey to share your opinions which is available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/meafordbrand.
Hard copies are also provided at the following locations: Municipal offices at 21 Trowbridge St. West, Meaford Public Library, Meaford Hall, or upon request can be mailed.
The survey will be open from January 4th to February 1st, 2016.
Contact Us
Shirley Keaveney
Municipality of Meaford
21 Trowbridge Street West, Meaford
519-374-5194 (municipal cell) | email@example.com


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Father Sebastian K. George delivering a sermon and Communion at St. Madeleine Catholic Church, High Springs. (Today Photo/C.M. Walker)
HIGH SPRINGS – Drivers flowing past St. Madeleine Catholic Church off of U.S. Highway 441 in High Springs may see a new sign by the roadside announcing that the Santa Fe Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche has been created.
While the shrine itself is new, the building housing it is anything but.
The lovely white chapel with a cross on top was originally built in 1925 at what was previously known as 140 Northeast Second Avenue and Second Street in High Springs. It was moved to its present location on Dec. 26, 1979, and is set back from the front of the property.
A much larger church was built for the crowds of people who attend church on Saturdays and Sundays. The little white building is used throughout the week for smaller groups of people.
As with all old buildings, it was in need of refurbishing after it was moved. After considerable effort, it is now a sparkling white stained-glass structure surrounded by lush green grass, flowers, gardens, cemeteries, benches and other ancillary structures.
A sign on one of the doors to the shrine, both of which are adorned with flower wreaths, reads "Holy Door of Mercy."
The Diocese of St. Augustine has named the Shrine as one of the sites designated to welcome visitors during the Jubilee Holy Year of Mercy, Dec. 8, 2015 - Nov. 20, 2016. Visitors during this time will receive the special graces available during the Jubilee Year.
The shrine is open daily and Minerva Couret and others have a wealth of information to share with visitors, referred to as pilgrims, who stop by to pray, walk the paths laid out on the property or just sit in contemplation.
On December 5, 2015, the most Reverend Filipe Estevez, Bishop of St. Augustine, bestowed a special privilege on the parish of St. Madeleine Catholic Church by designating the renovated chapel as The Santa Fe Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. This allowed for the faithful in the western-most reaches of the diocese who have a devotion to Our Lady to have a place of pilgrimage and spiritual refuge without the need to travel to St. Augustine.
History of a Shrine to Our Lady of La Leche
According to tradition, the Milk Grotto, not far from Bethlehem, is the site where the Holy Family took refuge during the Slaughter of the Innocents before their flight to Egypt. While there, the Virgin Mary nursed the child Jesus. Some drops of milk sprinkled the walls, changing the color of the stone to white.
The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary breastfeeding the infant Jesus dates back to the 16th Century in the Spanish city of Madrid where she is called Nuestra Senora de la Leche y Buen Parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery).
In 1598, the image was rescued from irreverent hands and placed in the home of a married couple. The woman and her unborn child were thought to die during childbirth, and her husband prayed intently to our Lady of La Leche to grant his wife a safe delivery. Our Lady heard his prayer and thereupon, his dying pregnant wife and child were saved.
Together, the couple spread the news to other families about Our Lady's power with God. Soon after, the devotion became famous throughout Spain.
Becoming aware of Our Lady's intercession, King Philip III, who was the ruler during that time, personally undertook the erection of a shrine in honor of Our Lady of La Leche.
Present day benefits of the Shrine
From December 2015 – September 2016, more than 29 group pilgrimages (836 people) have made the journey to the Santa Fe Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. Visitors from 34 Florida cities have signed into the Shrine's register. Visitors from a similar number of out-of-state locations have come from as far away as Sitka, Alaska. International visitors have traveled from the Philippines, Puerto Rico, China, Australia and England to pray at the Shrine.
"We have had people stop in because they saw our billboard on I-75 and decided to come in and pray," said Teresa Glaser, a helper at the shrine and the person who is in charge of public relations. "Our signs have garnered interesting comments," said Glaser. "'I love your shrine to Our Lady. Thank you for putting up the highway billboard so that I and all travelers can find this Holy Gem!' said one person. Another wrote, 'Saw the sign from the freeway. Just came for a visit from Michigan...what a wonderful shrine for Our Lady!'"
Needless to say, members of the St. Madeleine's Catholic Church are proud of what has been accomplished in such a short time and the numbers of people who visit the Santa Fe Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche. They welcome all who want to stop in for whatever reason, no matter what their religious preference, and enjoy getting to know new people and helping wherever they can.
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Santa Fe Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche
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Hilton Workers Walk the Picket Line for Women's Rights
Today on International Women's Day, workers of the Stamford Hilton marched out through the front door and formed a picket line to call attention to their fight for a fair contract.
March 08, 2018
They were joined by a solidarity delegation from International Women's Strike Connecticut, members of the community, and fellow workers from other unionized workplaces in the city.
The dozens of workers, both women and men and of all races, picketed under the banner of Equality. They demanded equality for immigrants, equality for women, and equality for black workers, and they chanted for hours in Spanish, Creole, and English. The fight for women's liberation is a fight for equality, it is also a workers' fight.
This was a mobilization of the working class fighting for a contract but knowing that the struggle for women's rights is intimately bound up in the fight against capitalist exploitation.
Throughout the world workers are in motion, in the Spanish State, in Argentina, in Uruguay, workers are striking and marching, and they're marching in Stamford too.


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Home >> Feast of Our Lady of the Lily >> General Info
Dated: Tuesday, 21-May-1912
Undoubtedly, the thing that the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception has most at heart is the Holy Statue of Our Lady of Lilies. The 21st May 1876 was certainly a great day for the Confraternity. On this day, the Artistic Statue of Our Lady of Lilies a masterpiece of the very well known artist Giovanni Darmanin, came for the first time into the community that has venerated her since time immemorial. A Statue of high artistic value, it is noted particularly for its benign and captivating glance. The Statue of Our Lady of Lilies symbolises the pride of the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and holds the privilege to be one of the very few statues in Malta carried out processionally twice a year. Presently, under the leadership of Joe Gauci, Confraternity Rector, assisted by Marvin Sciberras, the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of Mqabba never ceases to update itself to modern times, whilst preserving the aim for which it was established, to widespread the Marian charisma inside our community, completely and fully dedicated to the Holy Virgin , Mother of Humanity.
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When I worked in the film industry, I was constantly amazed by the tricks of the trade and all the intricate details that go into the movie making process, that the audience would never even consider. It's extraordinary how many people it takes to make the movie magic happen. From microphone holders to writers, actors, extras, PAs, ADs and an endless parade of job titles. Did you know even the bugs you see in movies have trainers? There is a vast lineup of people, companies, and circumstances that make movies happen that you would never even think about.
This is the magic behind the scenes, and this is exactly the way your life created.
In our lives, we have a very limited perception. We are essentially the audience in our lives, sitting back and watching the film. We cannot possibly grasp the amount of magic that is taking place behind the scenes. It takes thousands of people to create a movie, just think how many it takes to participate in creating your life! We tend to think of ourselves as the sole creator, and that all it takes is the right mindset and goals to get what we want, but even then, it takes an incredible amount of collective consciousness to make things happen. This can feel extremely irritating when our life feels stagnant or lacking movement, and especially terrible when we want something which doesn't seem to be happening the way we want it to. With so much talk about manifesting the life you want and how to manifest anything you want, it can seem confusing when things are not going your way.
A good example of this would be a job you are interested in. You want the job, you see yourself there, you create a vision board, you write a killer cover letter, turn in your resume and begin celebrating your win then, nothing. How can this be? What you're not seeing is the magic behind the scenes. We don't see all the pieces that fall into place to make our lives look the way we want. We decide we want something and expect the universe to pull up in a shiny car and hand it to us. But it takes millions of moments, people, and circumstances to make that possible.
What you don't see is there's a woman who currently has the job you want. Around the time you apply she suddenly decides it's time to start a family. Her husband agrees, they are blessed with a baby, and after a lovely 10-month pregnancy and 6-week maternity leave she decides she doesn't want to go back to work and almost a year after you applied, the position is now open. To us, this may feel like an eternity because we're only seeing what we are, or are not, getting. We're not seeing the whole picture and everything happening to make our "film" come together. God puts the desire in our hearts, and when we decide it's time, begins putting the pieces in motion for us. Since we do not see the other pieces we become frustrated and begin to lose our faith in God, the process, and everything in between.
Sometimes this magic is more evident than others. Perhaps your flight is delayed and while you're waiting you meet the partner of your dreams. Maybe you call in sick to work and there's a fatal accident on the route you would have taken. Life is full of more obvious magic, but for the most part, we may never know why things happen the way they do. We can only amazed by the situations when they fall into place. The most important part is to trust the magic, no matter what the outcome, and know that it will fall into place in our favor, however that may look.
If you were making a movie with Steven Spielberg, would you be worried about whether he had proper lenses for his camera? Would you have anxiety wondering if he's got proper funding to back the film? Of course not! You would feel completely comfortable knowing that Steven Spielberg is a professional, who makes incredible films with a massive amount of experience. You would trust that he knows what he's doing and could relax and let the process happen because he is one the the top movie makers of all time. So why is it that we don't do this with our lives? God is infinite with infinite resources and capabilities far beyond our scope of comprehension, yet we insist on demanding our lives look a certain way and that we know better. How is it that we would trust Steven Spielberg to make a movie but we have trouble trusting God to make our movie?
It comes down to being able to let God take the reins in our lives. God is the almighty director of our lives and has the ability to produce our masterpiece, but WE get in his way. We become so hard headed with what we prefer that we don't let him make his magic. God could constantly be lining up a million pieces to your puzzle so that you can meet the love of your life but you are so busy insisting your ex, (who treats you badly) is the only one for you, that you are not noticing the Soul Mate God is putting in your path!
If we would actually let go, and let God do what he does best, our lives would not only be a lot less stressful, but we would have so much less heartache. God keeps knocking on our door saying "Let's Make A Movie!" and we're stuck watching the same old film. Instead of forcing our will onto God, let's be CO-Creators in our movie. Let's stop insisting how the movie should look when we have a "director" who knows WAY more than we do. Easier said than done?
Follow these tips and watch as your stress levels and anxiety subside, while your happiness and manifestation levels increase rapidly.
Let Go And Let God
This is the first and most difficult step. We have to let go of our ideas as to what we are supposed to be doing and how it is supposed to look. I know someone who wanted to make a film and was 100% sure as to how it would happen. They wanted to secure x amount of money for funding (FYI x = millions of dollars!) they would then get attention from some particular industry people, get the actors they had in mind to star in the film, win awards and get insane notoriety, be famous and get the pick of the litter for the rest of their career. Sounds pretty specific right? Now think of the possibilities that are being left out because of the laser focus on one idea. Goals are great, but we must let go of "this is the way it's going to happen" and be open to the possibility that there is something better for us. Sometimes our goals are our intuition driving us, but it may not be for the reasons or outcome that we believe it to be. By having a goal, but being open to there being different ways it may come to fruition, you give God the ability to give you what is in your highest and best good, in the easiest way possible. When we push our agenda onto our goals, we may actually be making it more difficult than need be. When we talk about letting go or going with the flow, it may come across as though we don't need to work hard and that if we relax and tell God, "alright you make my movie and I'll kick it over here", everything will fall into your lap. This is not the case.
Hard work is a must when it comes to creating the life you want. The key is to work hard to your achieve your goals but be open to the idea that God may have better plans for us.
Have Strong Players
When Gary Oldman was asked what it was like to work with Denzel Washington in 'The Book of Eli' he said that Denzel was such a good actor that it gave them the opportunity to "play". When Al Pacino worked with Madonna on 'Dick Tracy' he thought she was unprofessional and should be fired. Her lack of professionalism created a bad work environment for the cast and crew.
When you have strong players in your life you are simplifying your life. You can have people in your life who allow you to "play" or people who create stressful situations for yourself and your "crew". You want to have people in your life that promote ease, love, support, and peace, so that you are not being swallowed up by drama or situations which take you away from your passions or goals. Surround yourself with people who have drive, similar passions or goals, and the ability to give as much love, support, and inspiration as you give to them.
Be Positive And Know God Is Working For You
It can be difficult not to get discouraged when things don't go our way, but instead of getting disappointed, get excited! If you want something and it doesn't happen, thank your lucky stars and know that something out there is better for you. If we are opening to manifesting something better, God will provide it for us. It is alright to feel bummed out but do not wallow in it. You never know, the longer you're keeping your eye on the things you didn't get, you may be missing all the marvelous blessings God is trying to gift you.
You will see big changes in your life, feel stress-free, and become deliriously happy when you let God work his magic. Even if you don't see all the pieces, the magic behind the scenes is happening and we have to trust it is being done. No matter what happens.
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Whether a trend or not, butterfly rings will always be fabulous and chic when nestled on a girl's hand. Learn more about butterfly rings here and know what style fits you best.
We wish you a very and please visit us again!!! Thanks.
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1 June 2010
Catalonian integration Granja Crusvi is among the first in the world to adopt Pas Reform's latest advancement in hatchery technologies. The company is to renovate part of its existing hatchery, replacing its entire hatcher capacity with the new SmartPro™ system, launched this year.
The Reus-based integration was also among the first to adopt Pas Reform's SmartSet™ setters, when they launched in 2005. 'The technical results we achieved with Smart have been fundamental to our continuing growth over the past four years', says Evarist Caparo, general manager of Granja Crusvi, 'and we are once again impressed – this time with the new 'modular design' concept of the SmartPro™ hatchers.
'It is a unique offering in the hatchery sector", he says, "SmartPro™ retains all the strength of modular, single-stage incubation, while further enhancing climate control on a larger scale, to deliver reliably robust day old chicks.'
Pas Reform's representative in Spain, Mr. Jaume Sauntaularia, explains, 'Having worked with Granja Crusvi for the last five years, we are very pleased that our continuing collaboration has culminated in the first phase of a complete hatchery remodelling – and delighted that Granja Crusvi yet again shows its pioneering side - to be the first SmartPro™ adopter in Spain.'


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DIY Porthole
Hey guys! Monday is here and I am going to show you how to make this cute ship window or it is called a porthole. This is a great decor piece for any room in your house. A great idea is to make a little reading nook and hang it up there. So let's get started on making this porthole!
Gather your supplies:
A circle clock (or a circle shaped frame), 3 shades of blue, 2 pieces of paper (or 1 very large sheet of paper), a paint brush, a pencil, and a pair of scissors.
Step 2:
Take your paper, your scissors and the circle paper that is usually in your frame or old clock. Trace that circle on to your paper so that it is the same size. Cut out your circle.
Step 3:
Take your paints and circle cut out paper and start off painting dark blue at the bottom and keep painting lighter colored blues as you go up. Stop when you get half way. This will be our ocean of our porthole.
Step 4:
Let your paint dry completely before placing into your frame. And your done! Hang onto the wall or place it onto a shelf and you will feel as if you are on a ship out at sea looking out the porthole.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know if you make this craft because it always makes my day when I find out someone tried out one of my crafts! Let me know in the comments what you would like to see next and I will do my best to make it happen! Have a great day and I'll see you next Monday! -BloggerGirl


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Welcome to one of the finest fishing lodges in Labrador, Canada. Fishing in Canada offers a safe destination with unspoiled wilderness and trout fishing you can only dream about.
Our flyfishing lodge is located in Labrador, Canada at Eagle River and is a remote fly-in fishing site.
Our flyfishing trips include accommodations, all prepared meals featuring home-style cooking, a experienced fishing guide shared between two anglers, charter flight to the fishing lodge and return, plus all amenities for your comfort and safety.
The brook trout fishing is some of the best to be found in Labrador and the world, both in quantity and quality of fish which average three to six pounds, some even larger. Our weekly flyfishing trips are reasonably priced and do offer all moving water fishing in rivers and streams.
For a sportfishing adventure you'll long remember, contact us at Eagle River Trout Lodge.
Labrador, located in the northeast corner of Canada, is a wilderness fly fisher's dream come true. Hundreds of miles of undisturbed lakes and rivers exist here, and extremely limited access translates into some of the most pristine surroundings to be found anywhere in the world.
The remote headwaters of world-renowned Eagle River, lying about 60 air miles to the south of Goose Bay, contain some of the finest fishing for brook trout and Northern pike to be found in Canada.
Originally built in 1968, Eagle River Fishing Lodge has been rebuilt on the site of the old fishing camp and upgraded to contain all modern amenities. Anglers will enjoy the remoteness of a Canadian fishing trip while enjoying the warmth of a comfortable facility "in the middle of nowhere".
The fishing lodge includes accommodations for 12 guests in six modern double-occupancy bedrooms, each equipped with private shower, toilet and sink. Entry through our "mud room" allows anglers to leave waders, vests, and equipment in a secure area where wet clothes can dry out and fishing gear is safely stored.
The fully equipped and staffed kitchen contains all modern conveniences and appliances for preparation of tasty meals. The two-story, double "A" frame main building has a common area for dining and socializing on the main floor. A second lounge upstairs is our designated smoking area where one can relax with an after-dinner drink, or tie flies on the fishing lodge's fly tying bench in preparation for the next day's adventure.
Anglers have only to step in front of the fishing lodge and cast to catch brook trout averaging up to four pounds, but seasoned fishing guides are there to take you further afield in comfortable Gander River boats for more lively action at the river's inlet and outlet.
Shallow, weedy areas of the watershed contain Northern pike of 20 pounds and more, providing a challenge for fly fishers who choose to take them on light tackle. Eagle River Trout Lodge offers a combination of comfort, remoteness, and great Canadian fishing opportunities that will appeal to young and old alike.
Select Eagle River for your next world class fly fishing Adventure, "Brook Trout" that no doubt you will dream about!!


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48 players / 84 plays
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by vip2000
First published on 13th July, 2015
84 total plays
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Monday, July 13, 2015
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Happen to be in New York City right now? Then you may want to check this out! I was just sent the following press release and I'm sharing it with you:
On Wednesday May 18th, Kings Ave Tattoo NYC and Inked Magazine will be hosting seminal SoCal punk-rockers Face To Face and tattoo artist Corey Miller of L.A. Ink fame for an exclusive in-store event.
The band will be signing copies of their latest album Laugh Now, Laugh Later with MILLER who designed the album's artwork. Meet the band and the artist, get your copy of the CD, vinyl and artwork signed and enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the Face To Face show that night at the Best Buy Theater!
Kings Ave Tattoo NYC is located at 188 Bowery (at Spring Street) in New York City. This event starts at 5pm.
If any of our readers do happen to check it out, please feel free to send in some photos and a short write-up of your experience and I'll share it here ModBlog.
And don't forget to submit your photos to BME too!


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Monday, May 23, 2011
A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by H.P.L.
As marvelous as Centipede Press's Knowing Darkness: Artists Inspired by Stephen King was, A Lovecraft Retrospective excels it in every way. The text, while dry and not terribly insightful, is more cogent and less error-ridden; the range of artists and styles is, given Lovecraft's longer history, deeper; and the overall quality and wow-factor of the art is greater. The book itself is even slightly larger. (And the price tag is higher.) This is not a book to be flipped through once and then set back on the shelf; it's an artifact to be returned to again and again, allowing the disturbing, evocative images to penetrate deeper and deeper into the mind, until you've been warped permanently.
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Now that I'm working here and there I needed to have a more fool proof system at home for other people looking after my kids. Occasionally my sister-in-law, mother-in-law or nieces may care for my children and well my husband and I know where everything is but they get a little confused.
One issue is nappies. Both the girls have pink huggies nappies and even though they are in different sizes they are so similar it can be hard to tell for others. So I grabbed these two baskets I had bought at Red Dot last year and decided they would helped. I went to a spotlight and bought two letters for about 90c each. I painted them and stuck them on the side of the baskets. I used superglue and I think it was my first incident free super glue application ever!!
And as Molly would say Ta da....
So now my girls will hopefully not end up in the wrong sized nappies again :)


text: In a move to further contribute to the betterment of societies around the world, Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) continues its Happy Move Global Youth Volunteers program, a corporate social initiative under the Happy Move, one of the core programs of Hyundai anchored on its principle of "Moving The World Together," the social contribution slogan of Hyundai Motor Company, which expresses Hyundai's dedication to improving the world by sharing love with our neighbors in the global village. Now on its fourth year, the Happy Move Global Youth Volunteers program will be spread across five countries, including the Philippines, China, India, Brazil, and Egypt to offer community development projects, public facilities renovation and house building, as well as medical services and hygiene education. Harnessing the power of the youth, the said program aims to foster societal transformation and positively influence the young generation to be more sensitive towards others as they set out to help shape communities into healthy, growing locations for sustainability-one of Hyundai's strongest advocacies. Each year since the summer of 2008, a total of 1,000 student volunteers from South Korean universities are dispatched to various locations every year. Since its launch, 3,000 volunteers have already enlisted in the program, including those that will be dispatched winter of this year. In partnership with Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official Philippine distributor of Hyundai, Hyundai Motor Company will bring in sixty student volunteers from various universities in South Korea who will devote their time, energy, and inspiration for a two-weeklong program inclusive of build and renovation activities at Pinalagad Village and Dulong Tangke Village in Barangay Malinta, Valenzuela City, Manila, to help impoverished families start rebuilding their lives anew this 2011. For Pinalagad Village, the program aims to build 10 houses for the most underprivileged families and renovate and extend the toilets of Pinalagad Elementary School, as well as conduct a hygiene awareness educational campaign for the students. For Dulong Tangke Village, volunteers will build a cement access road to the village and install public toilets to promote a more hygienic environment. A mini Olympics composed of friendly sporting events is also slated simultaneous to volunteering to foster teamwork, fun, and camaraderie among the Korean youth volunteers and students from Philippine universities in Manila. The said event also serves as a venue for cultural exchange and understanding of unique traditions among Korean and Philippine youth. Moving on to new beginnings this year, Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. take their drive to another level-that of celebrating life and seeking to make others happy via volunteerism to provide others a fresh new start for a better future.