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I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.
—Romans 12:1-2—
Man is called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of his earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God.
—Evangelium Vitae—
My good ol' "friend" Caloy is at it again. But this time, he hit it BIG time.
For argument's sake, let's say that I'm a semi-celebrity like Carlos Celdrán. And since I'm a semi-celeb wielding what petty knowledge I have about advocacy and what heroism really is all about, what I will do is pull up a stunt in order for me to be talked about, just like many desperate petty celebs do to make it big, to get noticed, to skyrocket to celebrity status, to be the cream of the public eye.
If I were sincere with what I am fighting for? I will fight for it tooth and nail, but fair and square, with a sincerity that will be (and should be) respected not just by onlookers but even by my most bitter and scornful of enemies.
Sadly, it seems that respect for one's self —especially for others— was far from the holier-than-thou mind of Celdrán when he pulled a rather wacky publicity stunt yesterday at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros. Dressed like Rizal, Celdrán interrupted an ecumenical service being administered by both Catholic and Protestant leaders. Moving up to the altar, he drew up a placard which bore the name "Damaso" in reference to the unlikeable friar in Rizal's first novel, obviously mocking the Catholic hierarchy present at that time.
It was a stunt that would have made Celdrán's idol, himself a Catholic convert, turn over in his grave in the Luneta.
In what he thought was a heroic act, Celdrán belted out against the Catholic presbytery in frustration: "Stop getting involved in politics!" He was promptly arrested by the police who were present.
To Celdrán's "heroic" mind, his arrest must have been his shining moment. Overnight, he became a hero to many a sex-starved individual belonging to an asinine generation who, having just read a couple of lines or pages from, say, Sartre or Marx or Hume, picture themselves as all-knowing intellectuals. These WASP-educated youngsters —misled by a secular adventurism foolishly supported by an equally WASP-controlled State— still cling to, and celebrate, the riveting pleasures guaranteed by the Sexual Revolution brought upon by an erroneous Occidental shift in our country's extrapolitical affairs (way back in 1898), a shift that was to become a sad turning point for our country's mangled history.
The bone of contention: contraception
If we may use a bit of Joaquinesquerie here, Celdrán had "gone for lost" because of his zeal for the passing into law of the highly polemical House Bill 5043, otherwise known as the Reproductive Health Bill, that is still hanging on for dear life (no pun intended).
In response to an unbridled poverty, hunger, and depleting natural resources, RH Bill advocates claim that curbing the population is the answer. The proposed law claims to uphold and promote a "responsible parenthood, informed choice, birth spacing and respect for life in conformity with internationally recognized human rights standards". Furthermore, aside from claims (if not pretense) of a concern for "sustainable human development", the bill mandates the State to guarantee the Filipino people a "universal access to medically-safe (sic), legal, affordable and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information thereon even as it prioritizes the needs of women and children, among other underprivileged sectors".
For just a brief moment, let us ignore the humorous saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In fairness to the RH Bill, its ultimate end —or what is not "skin-deep" to most of us— is to at least alleviate (if not get rid of) poverty, to promote sustainable development, and generally a better life for all, especially the children. For RH Bill and pro-choice champions, it's simple mathematics: in order to eliminate all human plight, it is necessary to curb the population to maintain some sort of balance, to sustain a natural equilibrium, of a planet (or, in our case, a country) whose natural resources are hardly replenished. A "manageable" population will bring about prosperity, education (and perhaps land) for all, healthy individuals in a world free from food shortage, etc. These advocates who subscribe to the Malthusian theory of population have been led to believe that "the power of population" is far more superior to "the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man".
But the bottomline is this: RH Bill is all for population control.
Population + Economy = ?
Now, the million-dollar question: will population control do us any good more than the harm raised by those who fear it? Let us then observe two superpowers, China and the US, where the issue of reproductive health is not even an issue.
When we speak of population control, we should look no further but to our "heavily populated" neighbor, China, whose notorious one-child policy has raised more concerned eyebrows than inspired admiration. Although China is now considered as a superpower, its questionable population-control practices hardly had anything to do with its rise to economic stardom, if at all.
In today's globalized community, to say that a country has risen from the ashes of poverty is to embrace free trade, a liberal democracy that goes by the name of capitalism. That is the norm, the standard. In recent years, China's gradual shift from a government harboring a state-controlled means of production to one that now endears itself to a McDonald's-and-Starbucks culture made capitalist-minded scholars to declare that China, at long last, is at par with the US (officially, we now have two modern empires in our midst that will soon be textbook material for future generations).
With regards to China's case, we should not even talk about the US anymore, arguably the source of all this modern-day reproductive health hullaballoo, and whose many states have even legalized abortion. Just take a look at what happened to their economy during the last three years. Up to now, it is still trying to wheel itself out of economic danger. Obviously, a controlled population was not able to save them from the brunt of a self-defeating economic system which itself had imposed in many a military-weak country (the Philippines included) all the world over.
Warring against the Church
Since time immemorial, the Catholic Church has been up in arms whenever the issue of birth control is raised. But this is not just about pills and condoms and IUDs and anal sex. The issue is more about life. And the sanctity of it.
On 25 July 1968, Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) was promulgated, reaffirming the Catholic Church's stand against artificial methods of family planning as well as abortion. Since this encyclical was against all types of artificial family planning, it became controversial especially to Catholics who were already compromising in their morals and who were already practicing a contraceptive lifestyle (the Sexual Revolution vis-à-vis Rock "music", drugs, and Pop Culture as a whole). And not only the Catholic flock but the Catholic hierarchy were divided: almost 50% of American and European bishops were against the ideals of Humanae Vitae.
Years later, on 25 March 1995, Pope John Paul II issued perhaps the longest encyclical letter ever written in history: the Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). It, too, was met by the same hatred and scorn.
Ridiculously, those who point out that the Catholic Church is blind to the poverty surrounding her, as caused by a ballooning population, are shooting themselves on the foot. For if they accuse Church leaders of being inconsiderate towards the RH Bill (which actually has visible loopholes and vagaries to an impartial, considerate, and discerning eye), have they, even for a few seconds, flipped open some pages of the abovementioned encyclicals?
Going back to today's asinine youth, who seem to claim to have a monopoly of good results (if not the truth), whose laughable ad hominems against the Church make them just that: laughable — in chorus they now sing Celdrán's infamous words to the priests and the bishops: "Stop getting involved in politics!"
But are they?
If they have been thinking more instead of letting their emotions carry them to comedic heights, have they ever stopped to think that ? The Church is entrusted to protect the sanctity of life; the government has breached it. By proposing the RH Bill, the government has tread upon holy grounds, a terra incognita not understood by secularized minds in the government. In effect, the government has declared war against the Church. It was they, not the Church, who made the first volley of shots. CBCP or no CBCP, the Church was merely on the defensive end.
The life covenant
But what really, then, is this life, or "pre-life", that the Church has sworn to protect?
Anti-Catholics say that there are two main reasons why the Church opposes contraception: because the priests are not married, thus they do not have to live with the economic consequences of a family man, and; the Church want all the Catholics they can have in the world.
Seriously, this is but childish riff-raff.
There is a deeper cause, something sanctifying, amorously metaphysical, logically loveable, even Biblical, philosophically addicting to the extreme.
The reason? Covenant.
This is something I learned during the course of my early married life. It is no secret to close friends and loved ones that my marriage to my wife Yeyette did not start out well. We were young, very young. The marriage was unplanned because the pregnancy was unplanned. Indeed, we committed the usual mistakes of a promiscuous youth (as promiscuous as today's RH Bill adherents).
When I eloped with my wife, I was a rabid and proud atheist. As the years progressed, my marriage to my wife changed it all. Little by little, during my reconversion to the Catholic Church (aided by books written by yesterday and today's top theological minds such as Scott Hahn and Patrick Madrid), I realized that our marriage —or marriage as a whole— is actually not a mere social contract (involving the exchange of goods and services) but a covenant, an exchange of persons.
This "marriage covenant" is consummated through a sacred act, a marriage union which nowadays is being belittled, commercialized, trivialized, and treated as mere pleasure stuff. It is called SEX.
Ironically, the anti-Catholic novel, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, knows more about the sacredness of sex than do these anti-Catholic kids drooling behind Celdrán's nondescriptive swagger.
Now, whenever this sacred act called sex is enacted and renewed, God uses it to give new life. This marital act shows us the mystical life-giving love of this marriage covenant in a very different way. In various covenants found throughout Holy Scripture wherein God's love is transmitted and shown, it is only through the covenant of marriage where that love becomes more powerful, more feasible, more real. So visible is this power of love from God that it communicates life: a baby inside the mother's womb!
"Go forth and multiply," was God's first commandment to Adam and Eve. This commandment was actually to image God (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the Santíssima Trinidad, the "Divine Family"). In the sacred act of sex, the couple becomes one in the covenant of marriage. This "oneness" to which they transform into becomes so manifest, so real that, nine months later, they will have to give it a name.
Therefore, this sacred act, this natural union created by God for man and woman, is thwarted every time contraceptives are used. And that is where the Catholic Church's ire and indignation comes from. Long before Brown and those people behind him conceptualized "sacred sex", the Church has already been its most fiercest defender because it already deciphered sex's "mystical properties" a long, long time ago.
Therefore, contraceptives are, no matter how one puts it, anti-life.
The child miracle
Whenever news of a saintly apparition or perhaps a divine healing is reported on TV, one thing comes to mind: miracles. But miracles happen every day whenever a child is born. Why is this fact so trivialized and given taken for granted?
This I realized when me and Yeyette almost had our first son Momay aborted in late 2003. Thankfully, it never happened. But since then, the way we looked at babies has never been the same.
Having children is the ultimate goal in enacting the marriage covenant. Through marital sex (which is sacred), we fashion a new life, thus we "image" God in the process. The use of contraceptives and other abortifacients inhibits this both sacred and natural act.
And since we arrived at the word natural, why, pray, tell, do we have to put a stop to something natural, i.e., pregnancy?
Before we go off on a tangent, let us go back to the miracle of a newly created life. RH Bill implies that it protects life as well. But it is virtually impossible not to view this implication in a twisted way since it is self-contradicting. All elements within the context of the RH Bill advocate the use of contraceptives. The existence of "it's all up to the married couple" clauses have already been presupposed simply by the existence and dominance of all these anti-life chemicals, methods, and devices in the said bill.
Whereas Holy Scripture speaks highly of life, RH Bill treats it matter-of-factly.
Nowhere in Scripture will one find an admonition for too much children. On the contrary, virtually every verse in the Holy Bible which has a mention of children spoke of them as only and always a blessing! There is no verse at all which cautioned married couples about the expenses of children outweighing their worth. In the Bible, no blessing was pronounced over those who had perfect spacing between their children, or those who had planned each conception, etc. Even fertility was something to be prized and proud of. It was never considered a curse, a stigma, something that is aberrantly thought of today. It was God who opened and closed the womb. Only He, through marital sex, has the full rights over it, for it is where life is created. And with each new life, a blessing…
A miracle.
To all Christians/Catholics (and those of other denominations, cults, and theists): have you ever asked yourselves if the RH Bill reflect how God saw children?
The logic of this all
In view of the foregoing, one can safely say that all unnatural methods of birth control during sex abort the creation of life. Thus, it is a violation of the natural law. Although one can say that condoms are far more different from clinical abortions —since the former prevents the formation of life, while the latter terminates an already existing life inside the womb—, it is all the same: they both prevent life.
Even if pro-choice proponents point out that human life commences somewhat later than at the moment of conception, one must at the same time recognize that the human fetus is ordered by nature to become an intelligent, free being, an individual fashioned in the image of God. If we deprive even the creation of a human person through marital sex, then we are depriving him or her the right to exist.
I think of my four kids: Krystal, Momay, Jefe, and Juanito. These lovely children of mine would not have existed if I had used artificial methods of family planning. And I will not dare, nor do I have the stomach, to look back to such a possibility of them having not existed at all, a "what if" in my personal history.
What is to be done?
The enemy to poverty is not the Church. Also, the topic of "overpopulation" should be looked into with a more prying mind because, truth to tell, it is virtually a myth. Do not allow congested and overpopulated cities to deceive you. All the problems we have right now which we thought is the result of an overpopulated world is but an imbalance in life brought about by the greed and lust for power by a select few.
And this is true. Otherwise, there would not be militants outside the city streets protesting against the wily powers-that-be, stinking drunk with power and oil and land contracts. All this "politicking" is a subtle war against the Church which has become a poster boy for scapegoating and romanticized attacks by an equally drunk-with-knowledge youth.
Sex is not the culprit here. Uninhibited sex is. And that is exactly what RH Bill is after. Wittingly or unwittingly, it tends to belittle sex as something that is almost routine, like brushing one's teeth.
If you do not want to have children because you cannot afford to have another mouth to feed, there is a solution for it without having to go through those artificial methods: do not engage in sexual activities. If you claim that it cannot be as simple as that because of the overpowering considerations surrounding your lifestyle, then you have already determined the problem.
We fought for too much freedom, a freedom that we claim can never exist under the Church. So now we got what we want. And this freedom spawned a freak called Pop Culture. And through mass media, Pop Culture has been toying around with man's baser instincts. Too much freedom has debased human sexuality to a mere plaything. A few years back, you would see semi-naked and naked women only in illicit beer houses and night joints. Now you see semi-naked women gyrating on noontime TV programs in both ABS-CBN and GMA. I won't be surprised anymore if, say, ten years from now or so, TV dancers will be without clothing anymore. And Celdrán with them, doing the most obscene (perhaps with a placard this time of DOÑA CONSOLACIÓN).
What RH Bill does not tell us
Digging "skin-deep" into the issue now, one should realize sooner or later that the youth are actually being exploited, the same way me and Yeyette were exploited years ago. We all grow up, bound to be curious about sex, about our bodies.
Nothing wrong with that.
But with this youthful curiousness, this innocence, comes a vulnerability with which these conspirators against life are after. And they use the mass media to glamorize sex, to captivate these young people into doing the things that only a couple bound by God's covenant are ought to be doing.
And to be safe, these conspirators against life subtly create a "sex industry", for like military matters, sex is BIG BUSINESS. Imagine the millions and perhaps billions of money it would generate for these conspirators.
Also, RH Bill does not, and will never, inform you that many contraceptives are actually abortifacients. They cause early abortion.
Finally, RH Bill, even if enacted into law, will sooner or later show its hollow face. For in reality, contraception is already a failure. Why? Because many Filipinos, like other nationalities, have been using contraceptives long before RH Bill was even framed. The rate of unplanned pregnancy, especially among teenagers, has been rising steadily over the last 30 to 40 years. Many such cases end either in abortion or single parenthood.
Finally, RH Bill, again wittingly or unwittingly, will only promote promiscuity, something that is against the natural order of things. Besides, all promises of contraception, since it was invented during the latter half of the last century, never came through. Instead, we have more promiscuity, therefore more unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, more broken families and single parents, an alarming rise in sexually transmitted diseases, sexual crimes against women and children, pornography (that is being, bit by bit, accepted into the mainstream!), abortion trauma, etc.
So this is the kind of society you want? =(
As for Celdrán's supporters, look at your "hero" now. He still dons his Pepe Rizal suit, smiling whenever there is a photo op for him. What has he done for you? He only created more fame for himself. And he has paved the way for a much sicker society, a society of sex-starved individuals who will one day rape their own children, notwithstanding pet dogs and goldfishes.
If only Rizal were alive —he who died a Catholic, he who died having repented from his immature ways— he would have slapped Celdrán for having maligned his memory.
Yet you call Celdrán your "new José Rizal" just because you claim that he had the balls to defend the freedom of the human genitals from what is supposed to be sacred?
Before I end this rage, let us, again, for argument's sake, imagine that the Muslims are also against the RH Bill, and that they are the most vocal, more vocal than the Catholic Church…
Will Carlos Celdrán have the same "balls" to invade a Muslim mosque?
I will bet my life that he wouldn't dare do so. Whatever "balls" he may have will instantly turn into wrinkled grapefruits if he dares to step inside a mosque.
Cowards like him will only attack a weary institution, such as the Church, which has been in constant attack and bullying ever since Jesus Christ was executed.
In closing, Carlos Celdrán's stunt proved nothing for pro-RH bill advocates. Why? Because his crazy heckling last Thursday inside the Manila Cathedral failed to sway the beliefs of those who are against the RH bill. He only angered them even more. Thus, his childish prank only made the already divided parties more antagonistic against each other. What kind of heroism is that? He not only maligned the Church; he also placed our national hero in a very bad light.


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Holy Smokes! It's already the middle of June! Our weather here in north central Illinois hasn't exactly been summer-like, which has created the impression that it's still Spring. But the calendar says differently so it's time to get motivated and really start looking at what's coming up in the next few months.
The most important thing on my schedule, other than another birthday for the U.S., my hubs and I, is the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference 2013 in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Ft. Wayne? Omigosh, yes...!!! It's the place I talk about to anyone who'll listen because it is the second largest genealogical library in the United States. That's right...outside of Salt Lake City, the Allen County Public Library is the next best place to research your (or your client's) family.
What makes ACPL so fabulous? Hmmm...where to start? The library itself is centrally located in downtown Ft. Wayne, Indiana. While it's not exactly a big City, Ft. Wayne is relatively easy to get to, and once there has a great mid-western feel to it. The Library itself is open and light and the staff has always been warm, welcoming, and incredibly helpful. One word of caution: if you want to view microfilm, bring fingerless gloves and something made of thinsulate or a parka. Not kidding. Seriously. The cold isn't so bad because the machines have USB connections for flashdrives, so you don't have to worry about bringing cash for copies. Now that's winning!
There is an incredible collection of family histories that really are the highlight of the Library. What's more, you can have your OWN history created: all you have to do is bring along the materials that you want published and the library will make two bound copies, one for you and one for the Library shelves (not instantaneously mind you, there's a backlog but for free it's worth the wait). I call it a physical version of Ancestry/FamilySearch; the volumes run the gamut from very old handwritten pages without sources of any kind to well written, professional genealogies, any of which can provide just the right item that will help you move forward in your own research.
Did I mention the fabulous Irish Pub moments from the Library? J K O'Donnell's has great service, fabulous food and, for those who may want to have an adult frosty beverage, a nice selection of brews and wines?
Oh, yeah...the Conference...heh. The lineup of speakers is top-notch and too lengthy to fit into a single post, so I'll follow up with posts with more details about the 'guts & glory' of it in the next few days. In the meantime, you only have until July 1st to get the $50 discount on registration. $50 would buy a few folks a nice meal at O'Donnell's. Just sayin'...
17 June 2013
Motivation Monday - Midwestern Gem Shines for FGS Conference 2013, August 21 - 24
2 comments:
- Anonymous18 June, 2013 13:23
Laura I will be there all the way from sunny Rhode Island. Looking forward to meeting you!ReplyDelete
Hi, Laura, so nice to see a post from you. They really are wonderfully helpful at the ACPL, and I like what you say about a "physical version of Ancestry/Family Search." I echo your recommendation to bring your own family history original materials to the library -- so generous of them to make copies!!ReplyDelete
I hope that somehow, some way, I can get to at least part of the conference and maybe have lunch with you at J K O'Donnell's! Hope that works!
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"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."
Thomas Jefferson
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The Conejo/Las Virgenes Future Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to studying and shaping the future in the Conejo/Las Virgenes region. CLVFF has a history of anticipating community needs and initiating projects and programs to meet those needs. Current Future Foundation Members include innovative and visionary leaders from every sector, public and private, and from every segment of our community.


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LONDON, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man called 911 just minutes after killing his wife, sobbing and confessing to a dispatcher that he fatally shot the cancer-stricken woman, and asking to take a last look at her before his arrest, according to recordings released Thursday.
Ernest Chris Chumbley, 48, cries throughout the 16-minute call placed around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and says he shot the woman twice in the face with a .32-caliber handgun in their southeastern Kentucky home. He said in a jailhouse interview after the shooting that he shot his wife to end her pain from terminal breast cancer.
"Give me police, I'm under arrest," Chumbley says on the call.
Chumbley has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge and is being held in jail on a $200,000 bond. He is being kept in a single isolation cell, which is monitored continuously by video, Laurel County Jailer Jamie Mosley said Thursday afternoon.
Police found 44-year-old Virginia Chumbley's body in the bedroom when they arrived.
Defense attorney Kelly Ridings said Thursday that it was too early in the case to comment. Chumbley has a court hearing on Tuesday.
Chumbley left the gun in the bedroom and told police he was unarmed. He told the 911 dispatcher that his wife was a cancer patient and was supposed to go to the doctor the next day.
"Two shots, that's all I did to her," he said.
Near the end of the call, he asks the dispatcher if he can go to his wife's body in the bedroom, but he is told not to move.
"Can I go see her? I want to go see my wife," he said, but then agreed not to go to the bedroom.
Chumbley told WKYT-TV from jail that his wife wanted him to end her pain, and he told her he could offer her "what the doctor gave you."
"She said 'No, I want you to stop my pain for good,'" Chumbley told the news station. Mosley said Chumbley has declined further interviews from the jail.
Neighbors in the small subdivision near the Appalachian foothills said that the husband and wife were a happy couple, but that Virginia Chumbley's cancer had taken a harsh toll in recent years.
"They seem like a normal family. We were just all shocked that it happened," said Cheryl Cobb, who lives next door.
Stan Campbell, another neighbor, said the couple loved each other dearly. But the cancer put a strain on their lives, and the Chumbleys filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
"In my opinion, I think she might have talked him into doing that because she was hurting so bad," Campbell said. "She was in real bad shape. I know she was hurting."
Neighbors awoke to police lights, and some saw Chumbley being led away in handcuffs.
"He had a lot of pressure on him," Campbell said. "He loved his wife so good he would do anything for her."


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European Commission
Brussels, 10 July 2013
Proposal for a Single Resolution Mechanism for the Banking Union – frequently asked questions
1. Why is the Commission proposing a Single Resolution Mechanism in addition to the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive?
The proposed Directive on Bank Recovery and Resolution (BRRD) (see IP/12/570) would, when adopted, determine the rules for how EU banks in difficulties were restructured, how vital functions for the real economy were maintained, and how losses and costs were allocated to the banks' shareholders and creditors. It would provide more comprehensive and effective arrangements to deal with failing banks at national level, as well as arrangements to tackle cross-border banking failures.
The draft Directive would rely on a network of national authorities and resolution funds to resolve banks. While this network would be a major step forward to minimising different national approaches and fragmentation of the Single Market, it would not be sufficient for Member States who share the common currency or are supervised by the European Central Bank (ECB) in the Banking Union.
In December 2012, the European Council recognised that in the Banking Union, bank supervision and resolution needed to be exercised by the same level of authority. They confirmed this at their meeting of 28 June 2013. Indeed, it is not possible to have a single European mechanism for the supervision of banks but to leave the resolution of banks to national authorities as tensions between the supervisor (ECB) and national resolution authorities could emerge over how to deal with ailing banks. At the same time, market expectations about Member States' ability to deal with bank failure nationally could persist, reinforcing negative feedback loops between sovereigns and banks and maintaining fragmentation and competitive distortions across the Single Market.
The recent financial crisis in Cyprus also highlighted the need for swift and decisive action backed by EU-level funding arrangements in order to avoid a situation in which bank resolution conducted at national level would have a disproportionate impact on the real economy, and to curb uncertainty and prevent bank runs and contagion of other parts of the euro area and the Single Market. A network of national authorities, even if coordinated at intergovernmental level, is not sufficiently operational in this respect.
Compared to a mere network of national resolution authorities, a Single Resolution Mechanism with a strong central decision-making body and a Single Bank Resolution Fund would provide key benefits for Member States, taxpayers, banks, and financial and economic stability in the entire EU, for example:
2. What is the legal basis for the proposal and why?
The legal basis for the proposal is Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which allows the adoption of measures for the approximation of national provisions aiming at the establishment and functioning of the Single Market.
The proposed Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) would provide for an integrated decision-making structure aligning resolution under the SRM with supervision under the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) to eliminate the competitive disadvantage that banks in the participating Member States in the SSM have compared to the non-participating Member States because of the lack of a centralised system to deal with banks in distress.
The proposal aims to preserve the integrity and enhance the functioning of the Single Market. Uniform application of a single set of resolution rules, together with access to a single European resolution fund by a central authority would restore the orderly functioning of EU banking markets, would remove potential obstacles to the exercise of free movement of capital, freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment and would avoid significant distortion of competition, at least in those Member States which share the supervision of credit institutions at European level.
Resolution decisions would be prepared and monitored centrally by a Single Resolution Board to ensure a coherent and uniform approach of the resolution rules. The Single Resolution Board would apply the Single Rulebook on bank resolution provided for in the draft Directive on Bank Recovery and Resolution to the banks in the participating Member States just as the national resolution authorities apply it in the other Member States.
3. What is the scope of the proposed Single Resolution Mechanism? What banks would be covered by it?
The Single Resolution Mechanism would be directly responsible for the resolution of all banks in Member States participating in the Single Supervisory Mechanism (about 6 000).
Unlike supervision which is an on-going activity, resolution is more sporadic: banks do not all fail at the same time. Resolution thus requires fewer human resources than supervision, meaning that the differentiated division of day-to-day supervisory responsibilities between the European Central Bank (ECB) and national supervisors under the ultimate oversight of the ECB is not applicable. On the contrary, carrying out effective resolution with minimal impact on financial stability and taxpayers depends decisively on the skills and experience of the resolution authority. A Single Mechanism covering all banks would protect financial stability and taxpayers better than a system with fragmented responsibilities assigned to numerous different authorities.
However, the fact that all banks would be covered by the SRM does not mean that no distinctions would be made according to different types of banks and their business models, for example when calculating contributions to the Single Resolution Fund (see Question 20).
4. What are the main components of the Single Resolution Mechanism and how would the mechanism work?
A Single Resolution Mechanism must be effective in times of crisis and allow decisions to be taken quickly with binding effect for all Member States. At the same time, it must involve Member States, recognising the significance of bank resolution for national economies.
A Single Resolution Board would prepare and carry out the resolution of any bank in a Member State participating in the Banking Union. It would have broad preparatory powers and be responsible for the key decisions on how a bank would be resolved.
Based on the proposal of the Single Resolution Board, the European Commission would decide if and when to place a bank into resolution.
National resolution authorities would be closely involved in the resolution process. They would assist the Single Resolution Board in preparing its actions which would draw on their expertise and experience, for example in the form of staff exchanges. Crucially, national authorities would be in charge of implementing the resolution decisions in line with national company and insolvency law. Member States would thus be integrated into the mechanism in the preparatory and implementation stage regarding banks in their jurisdiction.
The Single Resolution Board would monitor the execution by the national resolution authorities of its decisions at national level and, should a national resolution authority not comply with its decision, could directly address executive orders to the troubled banks.
A Single Bank Resolution Fund would be set up under the control of the Single Resolution Board to back its decisions and ensure the availability of medium-term funding support to enable the bank (either in its original form, through a bridge bank or as an asset management vehicle – bad bank) to continue operating while it is being restructured. A credible European resolution mechanism requires credible funding arrangements, financed ex ante. Otherwise the existing coordination problems in providing assistance for restructuring would persist, and the link between states and banks would not be broken. The Fund would be built up over time by contributions from the banking sector, replacing the national resolution funds of Member States participating in the Banking Union.
5. In practice what would each step involve?
A bank would be placed into resolution when it was failing or likely to fail, when no private sector arrangement could avert failure, and when resolution was in the public interest because the bank's failure would damage financial stability. In practice, the steps would be as follows:
6. When would the European Stability Mechanism step in?
As outlined in the Commission's Blueprint for a Deep and Genuine Economic and Monetary Union and in the Four Presidents' reports of 2012, the Banking Union needs credible backup financing arrangements at the level where supervision and resolution are carried out. While resolution aims at funding the restructuring of a bank with available private resources (absorption of losses by capital, sale of assets, bail-in of creditors, and use of resolution funds), credible public backstop arrangements are needed to ensure access to additional funds in extraordinary circumstances.
The proposed Regulation establishing the Single Resolution Mechanism would not explicitly ascribe any new role to the European Stability Mechanism. However, rules on how national or European public funds could be used in cases of bank resolution are to be laid down by the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, still under negotiation. The logic of resolution is that banks should be resolved by private means; therefore any public role for the state or the European Stability Mechanism should be implicit, possible notably in crises of systemic magnitude and subject to the parameters laid out in the proposed Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. The intention is that any backup funding from the public would be recouped from the bank under resolution, and if this were not possible from the resolution fund, which could raise additional ex-post contributions from banks for these purposes. This would ensure that the backstop was fiscally neutral in the medium-term.
As banks develop stronger loss-absorbing capacity and the resolution fund builds up, this active public backstop role would progressively diminish as resolution by self-sustained private means would become the norm. It would remain only as an ultimate backstop to underpin the functioning and oversight of the banking sector in the Banking Union.
7. What other links or differences are there between the proposed Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) and the proposed Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM)?
Within the Single Resolution Mechanism, the Rulebook set out in the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive would apply to the participating Member States as it applies within the whole Single Market. Therefore, the proposed Regulation often refers to the proposed Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive.
This proposal for a Directive is still being negotiated (report voted by the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on 20 May 2013; and a general approach of the Council approved on 26 June 2013). The proposed SRM regulation must ultimately be fully in line with the agreement on the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive to be found between the Council and the European Parliament, hopefully this autumn.
However, as the negotiations are on-going and the proposed Directive is not yet adopted, where parts of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive provisions had to be reproduced within the text, this proposal refers to the Council general approach as the latest available version. This should not be construed as the Commission expressing a preference for the Council text over the European Parliament's text. It is foreseen that those provisions will be updated to reflect fully the final agreement on the Directive found between the Council and the European Parliament.
8. Why would the European Commission take the decision to trigger resolution? Why not give the role to the European Central Bank or an agency such as the European Banking Authority?
Only decisive resolution action at European level can ensure that failing banks are resolved with minimal cross-border spillovers. Under the current EU Treaty, at European level, only an EU institution (European Commission, European Central Bank, Council of the EU, European Parliament, or Court of Justice of the European Union) can take the final decision on when to trigger the resolution of a bank.
The Commission has the necessary experience on bank restructuring. It has played this role extensively during the financial crisis as a condition for approving state aid to banks. As guardian of the Treaties, the Commission is the best placed among EU institutions to ensure that final decisions fully respect the principles underpinning the functioning of the EU and are consistent and equal across the Single Market. Its role would also ensure that the overall mechanism remains fully accountable vis-à-vis the European Parliament and Member States, in accordance with the conclusions of European Council of December 2012 and June 2013.
Adding resolution powers to the ECB's monetary and supervisory roles could give rise to conflict between its tasks. However, as supervisor under the Single Supervisory Mechanism and in view of their in-depth knowledge of the banks, the ECB is set to play an important role, not least in making the proposal to trigger resolution.
As for the European Banking Authority, legally it could not take the decision to trigger resolution as only an EU institution can do so, not an Agency. Also, the main task of the European Banking Authority is to contribute to the creation of the European Single Rulebook in banking whose objective is to provide a single set of harmonised prudential rules for financial institutions throughout the EU. The European Banking Authority also plays an important role in promoting convergence of supervisory practices and is mandated to assess risks and vulnerabilities in the EU banking sector (MEMO/10/434).
9. How would the accountability of the overall mechanism and Single Resolution Board vis-à-vis the Parliament and Member States work?
The accountability arrangement established in the context of the Single Supervisory Mechanism would broadly serve as the model. The components of the Single Resolution Mechanism would be subject to strong accountability provisions.
This would ensure that the Single Resolution Board used its powers in the most effective and impartial way. The Executive Director and Deputy-Executive Director of the Board would be appointed by the EU's Council of Ministers following approval of the European Parliament. The Board would be accountable to the European Parliament and the Council for any decisions it took. The national parliaments of the participating Member States would also be informed of the activities of the Board.
10. How would the Single Resolution Board be constituted?
The Board would be composed of the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Director, the representatives appointed by the Commission and the ECB, and the representatives of the resolution authorities of participating Member States. The Board would operate in two sessions: an executive one and a plenary one. The voting rules in each session would balance the need to take into account the interests of all Member States and to ensure effective European decisions.
In its plenary session, the Board would consist of all of the above representatives and take all decisions of general and budgetary nature. Decisions would be mostly taken by simple majority vote.
In its executive session, the Board would take the key preparatory and operational decisions for resolving individual banks including use of the resolution fund, and the decisions addressed to national authorities to implement the measures. For this session, the Board would consist of the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Director, the representatives appointed by the Commission and the ECB, and the relevant national authorities where the troubled bank had subsidiaries. Decisions would be by simple majority.
In the case of cross-border groups, the authority of the Member State in which the group was based (home Member State) would have a full vote, and each of the authorities of other relevant Member States (host Member States) would have a fraction of a vote, so that the votes of all host Member States together accounted for a full vote. This reflects the fact that the home Member State has the biggest responsibility when a cross-border banking group fails. In addition, further safeguards are foreseen to ensure that the SRM did not affect Member States' budgetary responsibilities (see Question 19). There would be no vetoes as it is essential decisions could be taken effectively.
11. Would the role of the Commission within the SRM not be in conflict with its tasks to monitor state aid, and with potential additional tasks conferred on it under the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive?
No. Under the Treaty, the Commission would in all cases need to act in the interest of the Union as a whole. It would apply exactly the same standards when examining whether resolution action envisaged under the SRM was compatible with state aid provisions as it would apply when examining envisaged action by national authorities.
12. When would the Single Resolution Mechanism enter into force?
At the European Council on 27-28 June this year, EU leaders set themselves the target of reaching agreement on the mechanism by the end of 2013 so that it can be adopted before the end of the current European Parliament term in 2014. This would enable it to apply from January 2015, together with the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive which would constitute its rulebook.
13. What would happen in the transition phase before the Single Resolution Mechanism was set up?
During the transition phase before the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive enter into force, bank crises will continue to be managed on the basis of national regimes. However, these regimes are set to converge increasingly towards agreed principles of resolution, namely the allocation of bank losses to shareholders and creditors instead of taxpayers. This is achieved on the one hand by the revised guidelines on state aid to banks also adopted today (see IP/13/672) and on the other, the possibility of direct recapitalisation of banks by the European Stability Mechanism. Both require appropriate "burden-sharing" by private investors in a bank as a condition of public support by national and European Stability Mechanism (ESM) resources.
14. What about the transitional phase before the Single Bank Resolution Fund is sufficiently funded?
The entry into force of the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive would mean that the shareholders and creditors accepted the losses of an ailing bank, just as in any other failing business. Instead of a bank being bailed out by taxpayers, it would be for the private investors in a bank to be bailed in.
The resolution fund consists of contributions from the banking sector. The idea of a resolution fund is not to replace private investors in absorbing losses and in providing new capital to a bank but to give financial aid such as guarantees or loans in the short or medium term to ensure the viability of the restructured bank and namely of its functions which are critical for financial stability and the overall economy.
The resolution fund would be built up gradually to ensure that banks' lending capacity to the real economy was not negatively impacted in the short-term. Before it is sufficiently capitalised, the fund could, if necessary, levy additional funds from the banking sector. It could also borrow funds on the market. Under the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive Member States would be free to decide what to do in this respect.
A public backstop could also lend money as set out in the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, notably in exceptional circumstances. This loan would be recovered from banks in the medium term to ensure that the mechanism was fiscally neutral. As the fund built up and banks' capital positions improved, the need for credit from the public backstop would decrease in corresponding fashion.
15. In the event of the resolution of a cross-border group, how would the mechanism ensure that the host Member States were adequately represented in the process of resolution?
The composition of the Single Resolution Board would take into account the interests of all affected Member States. The host Member States of a group would participate fully in the Executive Board when deciding on resolution and would have the same weight as the home Member State (see Question 10). The Board, in recommending a resolution decision to the European Commission, would consider the interests of the home and host Member States in accordance with clear principles set out in the Regulation (such as the rule according to which the interests of Member States concerned should be balanced to avoid unfairly prejudicing or unfairly protecting the interests of a participating Member State).
The Board could not discriminate between creditors in different Member States and would have to ensure that its decisions were fair and took into account the effects on the real economy in all the affected Member States.
16. What would the Single Resolution Mechanism mean for Member States which are not in the euro area?
The Banking Union is open to Member States which are not in the euro area. As a result, the Single Resolution Mechanism would apply to banks within participating Member States, whether they were euro area Member States or Member States which had joined the Banking Union. The Single Market would be preserved because the same rules provided for in in the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive would apply to all Member States.
For the resolution of cross-border banks established both in participating Member States and in non-participating Member States, resolution colleges and other procedures (such as, for example, mediation by the European Banking Authority where there was disagreement between the national resolution authorities concerned) provided for under the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive would continue to apply.
In a resolution college, which would continue to be governed by the rules set out in the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, the national resolution authorities of the Member States not participating in the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Resolution Board would represent all the national authorities of participating Member States concerned. However, the national resolution authorities of the participating Member States in the Single Resolution Mechanism could attend as observers in the resolution colleges.
In case of group resolution involving non-participating Member States in the Single Resolution Mechanism, the Board would be empowered to cooperate with the non-participating Member States at key stages of the process, for example in order to prepare comprehensive recovery and resolution plans. The proposal would also prevent any of the components of the Single Resolution Mechanism from discriminating against credit institutions, deposit holders, investors or other creditors on grounds of their nationality or place of business.
The European Banking Authority would mediate between the Single Resolution Board and the resolution authorities of non-participating Member States in line with the role conferred on it by the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive.
17. How big would the resolution fund be and how much would banks contribute to it?
The total target size of the resolution fund would equal 1% of the covered deposits of all banks in Member States participating in the Banking Union. In absolute terms and based on 2011 data on banks' balance sheets, the fund would reach around €55 billion. The target size of the fund would be dynamic and increase automatically if the banking industry grew.
The fund would be built up over 10 years. This could be extended to 14 years if the fund made disbursements exceeding half of the target size of the fund. Thus, the banking industry would contribute annually around one-tenth of the target amount or in absolute terms, around €5.5 billion. The precise amount that an individual bank would contribute would be determined by a Commission delegated act taking into account the risk profile of a given bank.
After the initial phase to build up the fund, banks would be subject to additional contributions if their contribution basis grew or there were disbursements from the fund. If the available financial means of the fund became lower than half of its target size, banks would become subject to a minimum annual contribution of one quarter of the covered deposits of all banks in Member States participating in the Banking Union. In other words the banking industry would have to contribute around €14 billion per annum to the fund until it was fully replenished.
These figures are consistent with those underpinning the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, as set out in the impact assessment accompanying that proposal, revised and updated in light of developments since then.
The Single Resolution Fund would replace the national resolution financing arrangements of the Member States participating in it. Therefore, the Member States which have already established national resolution financing arrangements at the time of entry into force of this Regulation would be free to decide on the use of national financing arrangements according to their national law. For example, Member States could decide that those national resolution financing arrangements paid the contributions due to the Fund on behalf of their banks until those arrangements fully depleted.
18. Would the Single Resolution Board be financed by Member States or the EU budget?
Neither. The expenses of the Board would be covered by levies on banks. These would be annual contributions distinct from those made to the Single Bank Resolution Fund which would cover the staff costs, administrative and other related expenses of the Board.
19. Would the SRM be able to force Member States to use national taxpayers' money to bail out a bank?
No. The SRM would be constructed with the objective that resolution was carried out without recourse to national taxpayers' money. Any resolution costs would have to first be borne by a bank's shareholders and creditors. Under most scenarios this should be sufficient. If, exceptionally, additional resources were needed, the Single Bank Resolution Fund would come into play. But even where, under very exceptional circumstances, the Fund's resources were insufficient, the SRM would not be able to force a Member State to provide extraordinary public support to a bank resolution.
20. Who would contribute to the Single Resolution Fund? How would contributions be calculated?
The proposal is based on the principle that all banks within participating Member States would contribute to the fund. This reflects the fact that in integrated financial markets, any financial support to resolve a bank benefits financial stability and the health of other banks not only in the Member State concerned, but also in other Member States. Since banks throughout participating Member States would be indirect beneficiaries of such support, contributions to finance the support should not be limited to banks from a single Member State.
However, the contributions would be calculated in a way that would reflect different types of banks and their business models. First, the contributions would be calculated in line with the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive on the basis of criteria taking into account the amount of liabilities minus own funds and covered deposits of each bank, and adjusted to their risk profile. This means that banks which were financed almost exclusively by deposits would in practice have very low contributions. (Of course, these banks would contribute to national deposit guarantee schemes.)
Second, contributions would be risk-based, reflecting different risks inherent in different types of banking activities.
Finally, the proposal foresees safeguards in order to avoid that levying of contributions created financial stability issues in healthy institutions, i.e. temporary exemption from the obligation to pay ex-post contributions.
21. How would the SRM interact with national deposit guarantee schemes?
The SRM would not further harmonise deposit guarantee schemes (see Question 22).
National deposit guarantee schemes would thus continue to fulfil the functions assigned to them in the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive and in the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. They could be called on to pay out to depositors in case of liquidation, or, in case of resolution, they would contribute, up to the amount of covered deposits, for the amount of losses that they would have had to bear if the bank had been wound up under normal insolvency proceedings. Those functions would not be altered by the proposed SRM.
To the extent this would lead to a depletion of national Deposit Guarantee Schemes, and in order to ensure that recourse to taxpayers was a last resort, the Single Resolution Fund would be allowed to lend to the national Deposit Guarantee Schemes under the terms and conditions provided for under Article 10 of the proposal for a revision of the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (voluntary borrowing) (see IP/10/918). Any such borrowing would have to be repaid by the national Deposit Guarantee Scheme concerned.
The SRM would not affect Institutional Protection Schemes and other intra-group financing support mechanisms set up by certain groups of credit institutions. The SRM would only intervene when such private sector solutions were not successful in dealing with a bank failure.
22. Why is the Commission not proposing a single Deposit Guarantee Scheme?
The functioning of national Deposit Guarantee Schemes, protecting deposits up to €100 000, should first be improved by concluding current negotiations on the Commission's July 2010 proposal. As part of this work, appropriate lending arrangements between national schemes, as proposed by the Commission, would strengthen the overall protection of depositors across the EU. National deposit guarantee schemes would continue to contribute to finance resolution instead of covered depositors in line with their role foreseen under the proposed Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. Where a bank was resolved, the national deposit guarantee scheme to which the bank was affiliated would contribute, up to the amount of covered deposits, to the amount of losses that it would have had to bear if the bank had been wound up under normal insolvency proceedings. The Single Bank Resolution Fund would also be able to lend money to national deposit guarantee schemes, for example to enable them to pay out to depositors.
23. How would the mechanism have mitigated the crisis in Cyprus?
The recent crisis in Cyprus underlined the need for prompt and decisive action on the basis of rules that are known in advance by the markets. Supervision by the European Central Bank based on the stricter prudential rules of the Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive, the so-called CRD IV package (MEMO/13/272) would have prevented the Cypriot banking system from taking as many risks. If serious problems had nonetheless emerged, the Single Resolution Mechanism would, based on pre-established comprehensive recovery and resolution plans, have allowed for decisive action at European level. This would have been supported by European funding from a resolution fund built up by the banking sector which would have softened the impact of bank resolution on the real economy.
24. What would the Single Resolution Mechanism mean for banking groups that operate in third countries?
As many credit institutions operate not only within the Union, but internationally, it is envisaged that support to third country authorities should be provided in accordance with the legal framework set out in Article 88 of the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. As according to the proposed SRM Regulation, the Board would be the single entity empowered to resolve failing banks in the participating Member States, the Board would be exclusively competent to conclude non-binding cooperation agreements with third country authorities, on behalf of the national authorities of the participating Member States.
25. How does the proposed approach compare with that in other parts of the world?
The Financial Stability Board's "Key Attributes of Effective Resolution Regimes" endorsed by the G20, require jurisdictions to establish frameworks for resolving large, systemically important banks. The situation in other parts of the world is not homogenous. While some jurisdictions already have resolution regimes in place, others are in the process of taking the necessary legislative action.
In the EU the adoption and implementation of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive will equip Member States with a broad range of powers to intervene and resolve failing banks. The SRM will equip the euro area and the other Member States who wish to join in, with a single, centralised resolution authority. This centralised authority is to a large extent comparable to other central resolution authorities in other jurisdictions (such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the US).
The functions of the SRM of preserving public confidence in the EU financial system, in preventing systemic damage by ensuring the continuation of critical functions, in determining the resolution strategy for large banking groups, in managing the funding of resolution, are comparable to the functions of the FDIC. However, contrary to the FDIC, the SRM would not vest the central authority with all the responsibilities related to the management of bank failures, but would leave an important role to the national resolution authorities. This is due to the nature of the EU in which different national legal systems and traditions co-exist. The central authority would take the main resolution decisions - like which resolution tool to use, i.e. whether to sell the failing bank to a healthy bank, or to set up a bridge bank or to apply the bail-in and restructure the whole bank as a going concern - while the national resolution authorities would implement the decisions taken at central level and take all the measures necessary to apply the tools and concretely resolve banks in their jurisdictions. Neither would the central resolution authority be vested with the power, like the FDIC, to liquidate the assets of the failed bank. The role of liquidating agents would remain at national level and would be carried out on the basis of national law.
26. What are the next steps?
The proposed Regulation will be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Council for adoption. The European Council has called on the Council to agree on a position by the end of the year. Trilogues between Council and European Parliament could then take place in the first months of 2014, to ensure that the proposal could still be adopted before the end of the current European Parliament term in 2014.
In parallel, trilogues on the proposed Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive will be carried out.
It is expected that the SRM would be established and the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive be fully implemented and applied as of 1 January 2015.
See also IP/13/674 and MEMO/13/679.
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This article is about a group or individual that may no longer be active in solar cooking. It is retained here for archival purposes.
Last edited: 6 May 2013
The Pastoralists Integrated Development Programme (PIDP) is a registered Kenyan charitable trust that enhances the social and economic welfare of pastoralists. Working with community-based organizations, PIDP spearheads environmental conservation through solar cooking promotion in nomadic pastoralist districts in Kenya. PIDP was founded in 2004.
- January 13-15, 2011: Solar cooker training was provided to 19 conservation workers known as "game scouts" representing conservancies, group ranches, trust funds and communities in several pastoralist districts of Kenya, including Trans Mara, Laikipia, Kajiado and Kajiado North. During the workshop, PIDP's Charles Leshore lectured on the negative health and environmental impacts associated with cooking over firewood and how this is affecting nomadic Maasai in Kenya. He then conducted solar cooker demonstrations and led group discussions on when and where solar cooking is useful. Leshore hopes that the participants will go on to teach their colleagues and other community members. Several have already asked Leshore to conduct follow-up trainings in their respective districts. Solar cooking was just one component of the 3-day workshop, titled "Integrated Wildlife Ecosystem Management for Sustainable Conservation and Livelihoods." The African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (Kenya) Ltd., also known as the Giraffe Centre, hosted and co-sponsored the event.
Kiserian, Kenya
Tel. +254-0721921846
Email: email@example.com
Web: http://mpido.org/index.htm


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Or is it the other way around? The Washington Times reports:
The condemnation of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda by the Islamic Commission of Spain on the first anniversary of the train bombings in Madrid that took 200 lives is making waves throughout the Muslim world.
The Spanish commission's fatwa, or condemnation, follows other signs of the kind of public theological debate rarely seen in the Muslim world, openly challenging the dominance of Saudi Arabia's wealthy Wahhabi fanatics.
On the other hand, the Washington Post describes an ugly incident in Basra, in which fundamentalist Shiite "militia" attacked a group of college students who were having a picnic:
A group of Shiite Muslim militiamen with rifles, pistols, thick wire cables and sticks charged into crowds of hundreds at a college picnic. They fired shots, beat students and hauled some of them away in pickup trucks. The transgressions: men dancing and singing, music playing and couples mixing.
"They focused on the women," said Saeed's … Osama Adnan. "They were beating them viciously."
"Without any discrimination," Saeed added.
Within half an hour, the fracas had ended. University officials said 15 students were seriously injured.
Whether Islam can be reformed is the great question of the age. It is a question to which no one knows the answer.


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Learn real-world applications for the concepts you learned in Introduction to Networking. Continue to build your knowledge of networks and networking, with detailed treatments of TCP/IP, how switches and routers operate, DNS, and more. You'll gain a full understanding of almost every aspect of networking technology, including hot topics such as virtual private networks, security, Internet connectivity, and cloud computing. Completion of this course and its prerequisite should serve as a springboard for a career in computer networking or training for CCNA Certification.
David Iseminger is a computer and networking expert and an experienced teacher of networking topics. As a student first and expert second, Iseminger knows which teaching approaches are most effective. Iseminger has worked at Microsoft Corporation as a telecommunications specialist, networking performance analyst, and lead programming writer for cutting-edge network disciplines, including emerging wireless technologies. Iseminger has published 12 computer books with various publishers, including John Wiley & Sons, Macmillan, Microsoft Press, and one ...for Dummies book. His formal education is from the University of Washington where he earned degrees in English and Comparative Literature with a minor in writing. Iseminger earned his MCSE certification in under a month.
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7:00 pm
Fake Or Fortune? "Degas and the Little Dancer" Journalist Fiona Bruce, art expert Philip Mould and art historian Bendor Grosvenor, along with cutting-edge scientists investigate mysteries behind paintings in a new three-part season. A small painting bought as a work by Edgar Hilaire Degas is not in the official catalogue and is not recognized as genuine. The trio travels to Paris, Hamburg and Berlin while chasing its history. Part 1 of 3G
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Dust Bowl "The Great Plow Up" This film by Ken Burns chronicles the environmental catastrophe of the Great Plains during the 1930s. The frenzied wheat boom of the early 20th-century that plows the prairie lands becomes the victim of a decade-long drought that turns those lands into deserts and unleashes a pattern of massive, deadly dust storms. Twenty-six survivors of those hard times telling their stories and the eloquently written diaries of two women provide a narrative. Part 1 of 2G
10:00 pm
Frontline "The Retirement Gamble" Ten trillion dollars in Americans' retirement savings are invested in large and small accounts managed by banks, brokerages, mutual funds, and insurance companies. But whether an IRA or 401K will assure a safe retirement is largely a gamble. Building off reporting from the special "Money, Power and Wall Street," FRONTLINE raises questions about how America's financial institutions protect retirement savings.G
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Charlie Rose NULL


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David O'Hara needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 36 designs submitted by 6 freelance designers.
We are a small start-up that is looking to do big things, specifically with regards to people's relationships with each other. While others are interested in the data that makes up those relationships, we interested in the people. We believe that there is infinite value in closer relationships and our mission is to develop tools that improve peoples ability to make their relationships more meaningful, and effective, both personally and professionally.
We are targeting new customers (iPhone only at this time) as well as current customers looking for our additional service add-ons.
While the main intent of the site is to be informative, we will also have a shopping cart that allows the user to purchase add-on services for the product. We need to include (but not be limited to) information about the company and the people, the products, the buzz (specifically social media) surrounding our videos, articles, and book release, and a support section. Design should transmit a feeling of professional and reliable company while remaining clean but warm.
I have additional information that I will post as a comment for all that may help in getting the feel correct.
Submission should include home page, an interior content page (for text and media), a blog layout that is similar in feel but distinct to home page, and a shopping cart layout all in a layered PSD. We don't want to have to license any photos so please be cautious of copyrighting.
The home page should include the logo, navigation (as described previously), a feature section to showcase the application, callouts for testimonials, social media and the upcoming book (maybe some quotes or something). Also, there needs to be a few action items. Buying the application is primary but keeping informed of proceeding would be good as well.
Additional pages should maintain the navigation (no mystery meat navigation please) but could possibly change up for the blog piece so they feel similar but distinct.
http://viporbit.com is our current landing page - it's simple and only for collecting pre-release contact info. Obviously it's plain currently but that's sort of intentional. We would like the site to remain action oriented.
We are a big fan of http://tapbots.com/ and http://www.actionmethod.com/ websites. Not that we'd like to copy their style though. We really want the site to remain personal, especially since the basis of our product is relationships. Since there is a book coming out by our CEO at the same time, a callout for the book would be great as well as an action item to lead to the book site also. Ultimately, driving customers to buy our app and/or the book is a priority.


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Find the perfect hotel in Riverside using our hotel guide provided below. Explore our guide for inexpensive and discount hotel/motel rates in or near Riverside, MO for your upcoming personal or group trip. We show the best Riverside Missouri hotel/motel rooms. Review the Riverside hotel list below to find the perfect lodging. We also have a map of the Riverside hotels.
The Riverside center point is approximately 3 miles north of Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport and 4 miles north of Cmg Cafe and Catering.
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See all ›2266 Citations
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Lignocellulosic biomass has long been recognized as a potential sustainable source of mixed sugars for fermentation to biofuels and other biomaterials. Several technologies have been developed during the past 80 years that allow this conversion process to occur, and the clear objective now is to make this process cost-competitive in today's markets. Here, we consider the natural resistance of plant cell walls to microbial and enzymatic deconstruction, collectively known as "biomass recalcitrance." It is this property of plants that is largely responsible for the high cost of lignocellulose conversion. To achieve sustainable energy production, it will be necessary to overcome the chemical and structural properties that have evolved in biomass to prevent its disassembly.


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Dr Cedric Garland has convinced me to take 5,000 to 6,000 IU of vit D daily.
There's is also this. Vitamin D Could Lower Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes, Study Sug...
The DINOMIT model makes a lot of sense to me, as a retired biology teacher familiar with cell tight junctions.
Views: 1164
Vitamin D Replacement Improves Muscle Efficiency
Low levels of vitamin D can impair the efficiency of mitochondria in your muscle cells. The good news is supplements can fix it.
The research shows for the first time that vitamin D levels are correlated with muscle efficiency, and that muscle aerobic metabolism improves with Vitamin D supplementation.
"Patients with vitamin D deficiency often experience symptoms of muscle fatigue. Our findings in a small group of patients with very low vitamin D levels show that muscle efficiency significantly improves when vitamin D status is improved.''
For Smokers, Low Levels of Vitamin D May Lead to Cancer
Smoking seems to lower levels of vitamin D, and those smokers with the lowest levels are more likely to get tobacco-related cancer. Supplements help.
... decreased levels of vitamin D may predispose smokers to developing tobacco-related cancer.
These results show for the first time that the risk of tobacco-related cancers as a group is associated with lower concentrations of vitamin D. The data also indicate that tobacco smoke chemicals may influence vitamin D metabolism and function, while vitamin D may conversely modify the carcinogenicity of tobacco smoke chemicals. If further research confirms this, it would be consistent with previous studies demonstrating the anti-tumorigenic effects of vitamin D derivatives, as well as the correlation of vitamin D deficiency with favorable cancer-forming conditions and increased susceptibility to tobacco smoke carcinogens. Interestingly, though, low vitamin D levels were not connected with risk of other cancer types.
New research showed that a supplement of 400 IU/day was insufficient to raise vitamin D blood deficient levels in healthy adults, but 2,000 IU/day was sufficient. They also found that sufficient vitamin D blood levels activated a wide range of genes associated with preventing "cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease".
Potential Immune Benefits of Strong Vitamin D Status in Healthy Ind...
The study ... reveals for the first time that improvement in the vitamin D status of healthy adults significantly impacts genes involved with a number of biologic pathways associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases.
At the end of the pilot, the group that received 2000 IUs achieved a vitamin D status of 34 ng/mL, which is considered sufficient, while the group that received 400 IUs achieved an insufficient status of 25 ng/mL.
The results of the gene expression analysis indicated statistically significant alterations in the activity of 291 genes. Further analysis showed that the biologic functions associated with the 291 genes are related to 160 biologic pathways linked to cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and CVD. [emphasis mine]
Vitamin D May Lower Diabetes Risk in Obese Children and Adolescents
... researchers found vitamin D supplements can help obese children and teens control their blood-sugar levels, which may help them stave off the disease.
"By increasing vitamin D intake alone, we got a response that was nearly as powerful as what we have seen using a prescription drug," said Catherine Peterson, an associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at MU. "We saw a decrease in insulin levels, which means better glucose control, despite no changes in body weight, dietary intake or physical activity."
"What makes vitamin D insufficiency different in obese individuals is that they process vitamin D about half as efficiently as normal-weight people," Peterson said. "The vitamin gets stored in their fat tissues, which keeps it from being processed. This means obese individuals need to take in about twice as much vitamin D as their lean peers to maintain sufficient levels of vitamin D." [emphasis mine]
I've read that if you're taking more than 2000 IU of vitamin D/day you should get your blood level checked periodically.
I take 3000 IU/day and last time I had a blood test for vit D, it was in high normal range.
The mechanism for Vitamin D's inhibition of cancer has been discovered. It decreases a protein involved in cell division which is elevated in most malignant cells.
Newly discovered effects of vitamin D on cancer
Vitamin D slows the progression of cells from premalignant to malignant states, keeping their proliferation in check
A team of researchers at McGill University have discovered a molecular basis for the potential cancer preventive effects of vitamin D. The team, led by McGill professors John White and David Goltzman, of the Faculty of Medicine's Department of Physiology, discovered that the active form of vitamin D acts by several mechanisms to inhibit both the production and function of the protein cMYC. cMYC drives cell division and is active at elevated levels in more than half of all cancers.
Bad news for vitamin D. A review of research showed only bone health benefit, not benefit for cardiovascular health or cancer prevention.
Vitamin D Shows No Benefit Against Cancer, Heart Disease
Vitamin D supplements don't help prevent chronic diseases unrelated to the bones, according to a review of published research that challenges the prevailing wisdom held by proponents.
While scientific evidence supports the importance of vitamin D for bone health, its benefits in reducing the risk of diseases ranging from cancer to heart disease as shown in 290 observational studies were largely unconfirmed in 172 randomized controlled trials, experiments considered the gold standard for establishing causal links, according to the review published today in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology medical journal.
The discrepancy in findings between the two types of studies suggests that low levels of vitamin D aren't a cause but a consequence of ill health, particularly inflammation linked to many diseases,...
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Derrick Rose Matches Abdul-Jabbars Record With 36 Points In His Playoff Debut!
DJ His-story reports "Derrick Rose makes history & Has a Fantastic 36 Point, 11 Assist Playoff Debut"
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Somewhere in the group, a young Italian woman, known for her biting sense of sarcasm, managed to look my way and ask me if these weren't the worst red wines I'd ever tasted in one sitting. "No", I told her, "once when I was a young boy, the local monsignor asked me to pour from various bottles so he could choose his altar wine for the upcoming Lenten season." She replied. "That was, at least, in a warm, quiet, safe place where no one could upset the fragile balance of your mind." I reckoned she had never been an altar boy
Sarcasm, like garlic, is best served in small portions that seamlessly angle into the event without making their presence known. It is only after you have taken a spoon, or a clove, and it is too late to reject it, that it unwinds its message, slowly over time. A forkful, in the face, is excessive and not seductive.
When I am served a plate of pasta with a sauce that is more garlic than tomato, I know if I eat it, I'll be in for a few days of penance and solitude. And when I drink a wine that has been overly seasoned, it will punish me in similar manner, though it won't repulse people around me as readily. But that can surface from me in an often unintentional bite from behind the bars. I would never lunge for the neck, more for fear of continued isolation from those of my kind.
There are wines that follow this script. I don't know which country they come from or if they come from a screenplay from a winemaker or winery owner who thinks it is his right to direct the life of the grapes to fit his or her vision of what wine is.
Modern wines are starting to look more like their owners than the land they came from.
Give me that old time religion. Turn me back to straightforward Chianti, not meant to impress but to caress.
Help me make it through the night. Or at least budbreak.


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What comes with those extra experience levels in World of Warcraft's Cataclysm expansion? Blizzard will be releasing info on new spells, new skills, and talent tree changes this week for all classes - except the Paladin, because Paladins suck.
World of Warcraft players have been eagerly awaiting news of the new skills and spells they'll be rocking in Cataclysm since the expansion was first revealed, a couple of weeks before BlizzCon 2009. Blizzard is ready to show you the future, rolling out information on the updates for nine of the game's ten classes this week.
Tomorrow they'll be dropping information on the Shaman, Priest, and Warlock. Thursday we'll get the skinny on the Warrior, Death Knight, and Rogue. Then on Friday, look for news about the Hunter, Druid, and Mage.
As for the Paladin, well, he's still deep in development, according to Blizzard blue poster Bashiok, and won't be ready for the big reveal until April 16th at the earliest.
The paladin is still deep in development. Instead of giving a preview that would be potentially less comprehensive than the other classes we made the decision to post it when it's ready, in order to properly honor the paladin class and those that play them. The wait isn't too long however as we're expecting to be able to post it on April 16.
To paraphrase in an incredibly irresponsible manner, what he is trying to say here is that no one wanted to work on the Paladin, because they are jerks. They're probably only working on them now in fear of being fired for insubordination.
I might have interpreted that message incorrectly, but it makes sense to me.
Cataclysm Class Information Coming! [WoW Forums via MMORPG.com]


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The St. Bede Lady Bruins reached the sectional finals once again, firmly maintaining its hold as the premier program in Bureau County. As a results, the 2012-13 All-BCR Girls basketball team is another gang of green.
First Team
Shiela Browning, LaMoille/Ohio (5-9, SR/G): The Lady Lions go-to girl, averaged 11.5 points per game, saving some of her best games against some big competition with 18 points vs. Annawan and Newark. She also had an area-best 68 steals and led her team with 55 assists and 28 three-point shots. She is the top leading scorer returning in the Class of 2014 with 637 career points.
"She's so strong and athletic. I think the best is yet to come," L/O coach Dick Gross said.
Mo Dean, St. Bede (6-1, SR/C): The Lady Bruins offense ran through the 6-1 Dean and for good reason — when she got her hands on the ball in the post, it typically found its way through the net. The Lady Bruins tower of power averaged 14.4 ppg on 63.75 field goal percentage. The IBCA Third Team All-Stater also averaged 7.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.
"She was dominant for us on both ends of the floor and, most importantly, kept herself out of foul trouble to stay in all games! We were a different team without her on the floor and she made herself a name around the state by playing so well," coach Tom McGunnigal said, noting Dean's IBCA and Associated Press All-State recognition.
Becca Herrmann, Hall (5-9, JR/F): The Lady Devils lost a lot of talent in the post last year with the graduation of twin towers Jaclyn Kane, the 2013 BCR co-Player of the Year, and Kelle Nett. The junior Herrmann stepped right in and filled a big void, leading the Lady Devils in scoring (10.3 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg) and blocked shots (1.3 big).
"Becca led us in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, so that says a lot," Hall coach Mike Struna said.
Lydia Stariha, St. Bede (5-6, SR/G): The senior point guard had two main jobs for the Lady Bruins — run their offense and draw their toughest defensive assignment. Along the way, the IBCA Special Mention All-State selection also led the Lady Bruins in assists and ranks second in scoring (7.8), rebounding (3.6) and steals (1.7).
"Lydia was our most complete all-around player. Had all of the tools you need to be a solid player … vocal leader, could score, could handle the ball, could assist, and most importantly, could guard," McGunnigal said. "She had a great four years and was one of the main reasons of our postseason run to the sectional finals."
Makenzey Wilson, Princeton (5-7, SR/G-F): The first player McGunnigal said he game-planned for when the Lady Bruins met the Tigresses was Wilson. She gave the Tigresses a steadying influence on the floor, leading the team in scoring (6.9 ppg) and pulling down 6.9 rebounds a game. She was also looked upon for her defense and this year much more ball handling.
"We took Makenzey out of her comfort zone in the post where she excels so well and asked her to do much of the ball handling for us this year. She welcomed the challenge and was a great team player and leader," PHS coach Kevin Hieronymus said.
Second Team
Nicole Bornsheuer, BV (6-0, JR/C): In her second season of varsity ball, Storm coach Tiffany Gonigam said the junior center continued to make tremendous gains this year. The 6-footer was a force in the post, averaging 7.3 points and 6.9 rebounds a game.
"Nicole was very consistent for us this year and our girls looked to her to do a lot of things for us. She enjoys the game and is a competitor," BV coach Tiffany Gonigam said.
Whitley Funfsinn, St. Bede (5-9, SR/F): The senior guard was most noticeable perhaps in her absence, because when she returned from an early-season injury, McGunnigal said. "We took off as a team, especially from a defensive standpoint." She displayed a well-rounded game, averaging 6.6 points, 3.4 rebounds,1.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game, and was a three-point threat.
"She helped so much because of her instincts and natural abilities in getting to the ball! Her offense was an added bonus when that came around once she recovered fully from her injury and regained her conditioning," McGunnigal said.
Zoe Mead, Princeton (5-11, JR/C): The athletic post gave the Tigresses a consistent threat in scoring (6.5) and rebounding (6.83). Had season highs in scoring with 20 points vs. Hall and 16 vs. Kewanee along with nights of 17 and 14 rebounds.
"Zoe showed us several glimpses of her brilliance and I look forward to seeing her develop her skills more next year for us," Hieronymus said.
Emmalee Sears, Princeton (5-9, SR/F): The senior power forward gave the Tigresses a strong presence inside, leading the team with 221 rebounds (7.9 rpg), including a high of 17 boards and a string of four straight games with 13. She was also the team's second-leading scorer (6.7 ppg) with a game-winning shot.
"Emmalee came to play every night. She never took a night off," Hieronymus said. "You'd like to have five players like Emmalee in your lineup."
Laura Sickley, St. Bede (5-7, JR/G): The junior guard made a major impact in her first year of varsity ball. She had a break-out game with 26 points vs. Mendota in the Lady Bruins Classic finals, 10 in the fourth quarter. She led the Lady Bruins in three-point baskets and percentage was well-rounded overall - 7.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.2 spg.
"She is such a heady and gritty player. She can go all day long she is in such great shape," McGunnigal said. "I think 'Los' learned a lot about leadership and what she can do for us next year as a senior that she will be one of the top players around."
Third Team
Heaven Bennett, BV (5-11, SO/C): The 5-11 sophomore stood tall in her first season on the Storm varsity, averaging 8.0 rebounds and 4.9 points a game.
Ellen Herrmann, Hall (5-8, So/G-F): Came along strong during her sophomore season to give the Lady Devils a good sister-act with Becca, averaging 6.7 points and 4.9 rebounds a game.
Kaylee Golden, Hall (5-2, JR/G): Took over as point guard when teammate Brenna Faletti went down with a season-ending injury and wound up as the team's second leading scorer (5.6 ppg).
Lexi Marselle, Princeton (5-6, SR/G): Was a threat on a three-pointers and a weapon defensively, swiping the ball away 1.9 times per game.
McCaela May, Princeton (5-8, SR/G): Made her mark behind the three-point arc for the Tigresses, leading to three double-digit scoring games.
Honorable mention
BV: Krista Naaktgeboren.
DePue: Alicia Marquez.
Hall: Jacquie Wallaert.
PHS: Sydney Hall.
L/O: Elizabeth Geuther, Kaitlyn Hughes.
St. Bede: Raley Mauck, Lexi Miranda.


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Geography and Aid
Why can't international donors and project managers think more in terms of the geography and location of their programs? Last week the Aiddata conference in Oxford discussed new approaches to enhance aid transparency and donor coordination. Key issues many panelists discussed were:
- To what extent aid flows are responsive to local needs?
- How to enhance the social accountability of development aid?
- How to improve the impact of aid on improving the well-being of poor communities?