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Spofford Rainbow
Spofford Rainbow
Photographs of rainbows always show a lovely spectrum of colors, but the best images are more than just a "picture of a rainbow". It is the surrounding compositional elements which provide a sense of place and context, that makes a rainbow image compelling. Double rainbow over Spofford, New Hampshire.
This weeks blog is about getting the most out of these spectacular, but fleeting, displays. It takes planning, luck and a little physics. Learn how to find the photographic Pot of Gold.
jeffnewcomerphotography.blogspot.com/2012/07/rainbow-phot...
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Tuesday, October 9, 2012
MIND AND HEART
DeLap, 71, worked in student evangelism for 15 years with the North American Mission Board, 10 years with the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources) and 10-plus years with Baptist Student Union ministries at several Texas campuses. The Illinois native is a graduate of Georgetown College in Kentucky and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas.
When DeLap speaks of memorizing the Word, his conversation has an everyman tone and phrasing until it shifts toward eloquence when he quotes a Bible passage -- and people's attentiveness heightens.
"People respond to the Word of God," DeLap says. "It's not my authority, but it's God's authority. It's His Word. All I am doing is delivering it from my heart to theirs. Proverbs 9:9 says, 'Give instruction to the wise and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning.'"
DeLap undergirds his point by quoting Deuteronomy 6:6: "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
And 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Most people are shaped by "all the other words in their lives from the culture" -- from TV, movies and music, DeLap says. Yet, deep down, they are "hungry just to hear the Word of God coming off somebody's lips straight to their heart and life."
Whoever is "teachable to the Word of God ... will be the one who is blessed," DeLap continues. "Psalm 32:9 says, 'Don't be like a senseless horse or mule that has to have a bit in its mouth to keep it in line. Many sorrows come to the wicked but his abiding love surrounds those who trust in him.'"
When he was first challenged to memorize Scripture as a college sophomore, DeLap says he focused on three verses a week. After his seminary studies, it became a chapter from the Bible each month for five years. Since then, he has memorized a verse a week, "52 weeks a year."
"I was a skeptic at first" as an engineering student, DeLap acknowledges. But two verses soon "caused me to think about my life" -- Psalm 119:9,11: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.... I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
Gradually, DeLap recounts, "The more I put the Word of God into my heart ... the more I was interested in what God wanted for my life." The Bible "began to take on new meaning. I began to pay attention to the content and the context of what the Lord was saying."
To those who may think Scripture memory is too difficult, DeLap asks, "Well, what's your name? And who's your best friend? What's your phone number? What's your address? ... Why do you remember ? Because they're important to you."
"If the Word of God becomes important enough to us," DeLap says, "we'll begin to memorize it."
The aging process has made it more difficult for DeLap to keep his Bible verses sharp. "They're getting away from me faster and they're harder to recall," he says, "but that doesn't stop me from reviewing a number of them each day and each week."
DeLap continues to employ the same Scripture memory method he has taught to students over the years: He writes the passage on a small card (2½ by 1½ inches) and records the reference (where it is located in the Bible, such as Genesis 1:1) before and after the verse or verses he embarks on memorizing. He carries several dozen cards with him in a leather pouch and reviews a number of them in his morning prayer time and whenever he may have a few spare moments during the day.
He has sold a starter kit at his speaking engagements over the years, with each $10 packet containing 36 cards that already have key Scriptures printed on them, several dozen blank cards for people to add their own memory verses, a leather pouch and an instruction booklet titled "Memorize to Evangelize."
With each Bible passage he memorizes, DeLap initially focuses on the reference. He then adds the first phrase of the passage, continuing to repeat the reference before and after each repetition; gradually, he commits the full passage to memory phrase by phrase.
He reviews his recent memory verses every three to four weeks by rotating a few of the cards in his leather pouch each day. For the hundreds of verses he has memorized over the years, he uses a Life Saver box for a long-term rotating review.
"The more you say and the more you review it, the more it becomes a part of your life," DeLap says. "It soon becomes what I call 'your verse.' ... It feels like the verse belongs to you."
It becomes part of a person's thinking, part of the Word's transformation of the person's life, DeLap says. At times, a memory verse gives comfort, guidance, assurance or strength in times of difficulty or crisis, he says, adding that when a verse becomes a bit hazy, the reference often will spark its recall.
And there are times when a verse "begins to explode in your mind and your heart," DeLap says. "That's the thrill of the Word -- it comes to life."
When he speaks of the Word, DeLap says it is "not just another book of history or philosophy.... It is the most important message that God has given to all mankind."
It sets forth not only "principles to live by and to obey" such as the Ten Commandments, Proverbs and Psalms, DeLap says, but it offers people "the best message I know" -- salvation drawn from Jesus' life, His teachings and, particularly, His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.
At his home in Franklin, Tenn., DeLap has all the letters he has received from college students over the years who have embraced his call to memorize Scripture. The comments he has seen most frequently are "I've never felt so close to the Lord" and "I've never witnessed so much in my life."
"They feel emotionally and spiritually close to God," DeLap, a member of ClearView Baptist Church, says. "He becomes dynamically real and alive like never before."
When a person feels a spiritual tug to tell loved ones and friends about the value of faith, memorizing Scripture helps lift the fear of "I won't know what to say," DeLap continues.
"When they start putting the Word in their lives, they start getting a confidence that they will have something to say," he says. "Whether consciously or unconsciously, they begin to be free to share their witness for the Lord." They are increasingly sensitive to the Holy Spirit's activity "to help people see the way to get into the Kingdom of God through the grace of God -- by seeing their sinfulness, turning to Jesus for forgiveness and inviting Him to dwell in your life now and forever....
"You can hear the Word, you can read the Word and you can study the Word, and these are good," DeLap says, "but memorizing it is an added blessing and dimension that you don't get from the other ways of putting the Word of God in your life."
The Word "challenges your life, it corrects your life," DeLap says. Memorizing verses about God's call to love, for example, can help a person become kinder, more interested in others' well-being and more merciful, he says.
"It sets you free. Free to what? Free to love. Free to care.... In John 8:31-32, Jesus says, 'If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.'
"Many people never get to the point of being free in their Christian life," DeLap says. "They're still bound by things that they've learned or picked up along the way. They never let the Word of God give them freedom....
"When the Word of God comes into your life, something has got to give. Either it causes you to go on and walk with God like you've never done before or you quit memorizing and your life goes downhill again."
DeLap has sought God's blessing particularly in his home. His wife Beverly embraced his passion and he regularly met with their four children to guide them in committing a range of Bible verses to memory as they grew up. A number of his grandchildren also have grown up memorizing Scripture.
DeLap quotes the words of Jeremiah 32:39: "I will give them one heart and one way that they may reverence me forever for their own good and for the good of their children after them." "I've seen that work now," he says. "That's what we left in our kids' lives and now they've left it in their kids' lives."
--30--
Art Toalston is editor of Baptist Press. Queries for further information about Rollin DeLap's Scripture memory plan, "Memorize to Evangelize," can be sent to him at rbdelap@aol.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 509 Downy Meade Drive, Franklin, TN 37064.
When DeLap speaks of memorizing the Word, his conversation has an everyman tone and phrasing until it shifts toward eloquence when he quotes a Bible passage -- and people's attentiveness heightens.
"People respond to the Word of God," DeLap says. "It's not my authority, but it's God's authority. It's His Word. All I am doing is delivering it from my heart to theirs. Proverbs 9:9 says, 'Give instruction to the wise and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning.'"
DeLap undergirds his point by quoting Deuteronomy 6:6: "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
And 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Most people are shaped by "all the other words in their lives from the culture" -- from TV, movies and music, DeLap says. Yet, deep down, they are "hungry just to hear the Word of God coming off somebody's lips straight to their heart and life."
Whoever is "teachable to the Word of God ... will be the one who is blessed," DeLap continues. "Psalm 32:9 says, 'Don't be like a senseless horse or mule that has to have a bit in its mouth to keep it in line. Many sorrows come to the wicked but his abiding love surrounds those who trust in him.'"
When he was first challenged to memorize Scripture as a college sophomore, DeLap says he focused on three verses a week. After his seminary studies, it became a chapter from the Bible each month for five years. Since then, he has memorized a verse a week, "52 weeks a year."
"I was a skeptic at first" as an engineering student, DeLap acknowledges. But two verses soon "caused me to think about my life" -- Psalm 119:9,11: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.... I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
Gradually, DeLap recounts, "The more I put the Word of God into my heart ... the more I was interested in what God wanted for my life." The Bible "began to take on new meaning. I began to pay attention to the content and the context of what the Lord was saying."
To those who may think Scripture memory is too difficult, DeLap asks, "Well, what's your name? And who's your best friend? What's your phone number? What's your address? ... Why do you remember ? Because they're important to you."
"If the Word of God becomes important enough to us," DeLap says, "we'll begin to memorize it."
The aging process has made it more difficult for DeLap to keep his Bible verses sharp. "They're getting away from me faster and they're harder to recall," he says, "but that doesn't stop me from reviewing a number of them each day and each week."
DeLap continues to employ the same Scripture memory method he has taught to students over the years: He writes the passage on a small card (2½ by 1½ inches) and records the reference (where it is located in the Bible, such as Genesis 1:1) before and after the verse or verses he embarks on memorizing. He carries several dozen cards with him in a leather pouch and reviews a number of them in his morning prayer time and whenever he may have a few spare moments during the day.
He has sold a starter kit at his speaking engagements over the years, with each $10 packet containing 36 cards that already have key Scriptures printed on them, several dozen blank cards for people to add their own memory verses, a leather pouch and an instruction booklet titled "Memorize to Evangelize."
With each Bible passage he memorizes, DeLap initially focuses on the reference. He then adds the first phrase of the passage, continuing to repeat the reference before and after each repetition; gradually, he commits the full passage to memory phrase by phrase.
He reviews his recent memory verses every three to four weeks by rotating a few of the cards in his leather pouch each day. For the hundreds of verses he has memorized over the years, he uses a Life Saver box for a long-term rotating review.
"The more you say and the more you review it, the more it becomes a part of your life," DeLap says. "It soon becomes what I call 'your verse.' ... It feels like the verse belongs to you."
It becomes part of a person's thinking, part of the Word's transformation of the person's life, DeLap says. At times, a memory verse gives comfort, guidance, assurance or strength in times of difficulty or crisis, he says, adding that when a verse becomes a bit hazy, the reference often will spark its recall.
And there are times when a verse "begins to explode in your mind and your heart," DeLap says. "That's the thrill of the Word -- it comes to life."
When he speaks of the Word, DeLap says it is "not just another book of history or philosophy.... It is the most important message that God has given to all mankind."
It sets forth not only "principles to live by and to obey" such as the Ten Commandments, Proverbs and Psalms, DeLap says, but it offers people "the best message I know" -- salvation drawn from Jesus' life, His teachings and, particularly, His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.
At his home in Franklin, Tenn., DeLap has all the letters he has received from college students over the years who have embraced his call to memorize Scripture. The comments he has seen most frequently are "I've never felt so close to the Lord" and "I've never witnessed so much in my life."
"They feel emotionally and spiritually close to God," DeLap, a member of ClearView Baptist Church, says. "He becomes dynamically real and alive like never before."
When a person feels a spiritual tug to tell loved ones and friends about the value of faith, memorizing Scripture helps lift the fear of "I won't know what to say," DeLap continues.
"When they start putting the Word in their lives, they start getting a confidence that they will have something to say," he says. "Whether consciously or unconsciously, they begin to be free to share their witness for the Lord." They are increasingly sensitive to the Holy Spirit's activity "to help people see the way to get into the Kingdom of God through the grace of God -- by seeing their sinfulness, turning to Jesus for forgiveness and inviting Him to dwell in your life now and forever....
"You can hear the Word, you can read the Word and you can study the Word, and these are good," DeLap says, "but memorizing it is an added blessing and dimension that you don't get from the other ways of putting the Word of God in your life."
The Word "challenges your life, it corrects your life," DeLap says. Memorizing verses about God's call to love, for example, can help a person become kinder, more interested in others' well-being and more merciful, he says.
"It sets you free. Free to what? Free to love. Free to care.... In John 8:31-32, Jesus says, 'If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.'
"Many people never get to the point of being free in their Christian life," DeLap says. "They're still bound by things that they've learned or picked up along the way. They never let the Word of God give them freedom....
"When the Word of God comes into your life, something has got to give. Either it causes you to go on and walk with God like you've never done before or you quit memorizing and your life goes downhill again."
DeLap has sought God's blessing particularly in his home. His wife Beverly embraced his passion and he regularly met with their four children to guide them in committing a range of Bible verses to memory as they grew up. A number of his grandchildren also have grown up memorizing Scripture.
DeLap quotes the words of Jeremiah 32:39: "I will give them one heart and one way that they may reverence me forever for their own good and for the good of their children after them." "I've seen that work now," he says. "That's what we left in our kids' lives and now they've left it in their kids' lives."
--30--
Art Toalston is editor of Baptist Press. Queries for further information about Rollin DeLap's Scripture memory plan, "Memorize to Evangelize," can be sent to him at rbdelap@aol.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 509 Downy Meade Drive, Franklin, TN 37064.
Monday, October 8, 2012
GRACIOUSNESS ...
This is an idea I sometimes think is lost on us, and I'm not sure if it's because of society or our the times we live in. We don't embrace the concept of sovereignty -- that is, the idea that someone can do whatever they like, whenever they like, and that they have the right to do so.
Americans believe in having some individual authority, as long as it doesn't impinge on others. But we don't embrace the idea of one person unilaterally deciding because of his or her right to do so. That's not even something bestowed to the President.
But God is not the President. He is the creator, and as such He has rights. It is His right to assemble and disassemble. It is His right to create and re-create. Just like we have a right to make computers or programs or policies do as we wish when we create them, God has ultimate rules over us and this world that He created.
There was a day when there was no need for a Christ. It was the dawn of creation, and Man lived in perfect harmony with HIs Creator. There was nothing that stood between them. Nothing that would pull them apart of separate them. The Bible records humankind was naked and unashamed.
But we no longer live in that day. God did not make us the way we create computers -- to bend to our will. He gave us a free will, a right to choose, and has never rescinded that gift. But our right to chose does not take away His sovereignty. He still has His right to do whatever He chooses when He chooses, however He chooses, no matter who it effects.
He makes the rules. It is He who has made us and not we ourselves. His rules, His right.
He could have left us out in the cold, as pathetic creatures who used His gift of free will to chose poorly, but He didn't.
In His sovereignty, and because of His great love for us, He made a Way for us to restore a broken relationship with Him. That's actually good news: God loved us so much that even when we were lost and broken, He made a way for us to get back into a right relationship with Him.
Jesus is that way, and that is more than fair; it is gracious.
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Sunday, October 7, 2012
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Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Easy does it
Monetary policy is the secret ingredient to bringing down debt ratios
Sep 29th 2012 | from the print edition
..POLITICIANS across the rich world are quarrelling over how to deal with public debt. Yet the most important actors in the drama may be unelected central bankers, according to a study by the International Monetary Fund, published in its latest economic outlook. The IMF looked at 26 episodes since 1875 when debt topped 100% of GDP, to determine how those ratios got back down.
Growth, spending cuts and tax increases did their bit, but the make-or-break factor was monetary policy. Low or falling nominal interest rates and inflation were crucial to reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio. When interest rates were high and deflation rife, consolidation failed. This is mildly positive news for America and Britain, whose central banks are determined to keep monetary policy easy as austerity bites. But it suggests a bleak future for countries locked into the monetary straitjacket of the euro, in the absence of easier monetary policy by the European Central Bank.
Monetary policy is the secret ingredient to bringing down debt ratios
Sep 29th 2012 | from the print edition
..POLITICIANS across the rich world are quarrelling over how to deal with public debt. Yet the most important actors in the drama may be unelected central bankers, according to a study by the International Monetary Fund, published in its latest economic outlook. The IMF looked at 26 episodes since 1875 when debt topped 100% of GDP, to determine how those ratios got back down.
Growth, spending cuts and tax increases did their bit, but the make-or-break factor was monetary policy. Low or falling nominal interest rates and inflation were crucial to reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio. When interest rates were high and deflation rife, consolidation failed. This is mildly positive news for America and Britain, whose central banks are determined to keep monetary policy easy as austerity bites. But it suggests a bleak future for countries locked into the monetary straitjacket of the euro, in the absence of easier monetary policy by the European Central Bank.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Fine Arts Slideshow Slideshow
Fine Arts Slideshow Slideshow: TripAdvisor™ TripWow ★ Fine Arts Slideshow Slideshow ★ to Kuala Lumpur. Stunning free travel slideshows on TripAdvisor
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Blame the Killers—Not a YouTube Movie—for the Murder of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya – Tablet Magazine
Blame the Killers—Not a YouTube Movie—for the Murder of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya – Tablet Magazine ;.. Middle East
A Pretext to Murder in Libya
Don’t blame a YouTube movie for ‘inciting’ the mob that killed the U.S. ambassador. Blame the killers.
By Matt Welch
September 13, 2012 7:59 AM
38comments
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A vehicle and the surrounding area are engulfed in flames inside the U.S. consulate compound in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. (STR/AFP/GettyImages)People used to talk a lot about the world before and after Sept. 11. As in, back before the deadly attacks on that morning in 2001, we operated under a set of naive assumptions about national security, Islamic radicalism, and worst-case scenarios on American soil. And afterward, depending on your point of view, we adapted or overreacted to our cruel new reality.
Well, a similar bifurcation may be appropriate for Sept. 11 and 12 of 2012. On that first day, it still seemed reasonable to enough people in the U.S. embassy in Cairo to preemptively denounce an anti-Islam YouTube video in order to stave off a growing mob of angry Islamists. A press release issued by the embassy that morning condemned the “continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims,” in an effort to forestall potential violence from the Islamist mob. But by Day 2, the Islamist mob had ransacked the embassy in question, pulled down (and tried to burn) the American flag, and replaced it with a black banner that read, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.”
As one of the Cairo protesters, Mohammad al-Zawahiri, the brother of al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, reportedly explained: The U.S. government’s statement condemning the producers of the video that insults the Prophet was not enough. Neither prophylactic apologies nor self-censorship, it turns out, seem to mollify religious fanatics.
Not that many in America’s political class seem to notice. It’s a modern marvel to witness how thoroughly the country’s journalists and commentators have, over the past decade, internalized false notions about Muslims, violence, and free expression. For instance, that depicting the historical figure of Muhammad is untenable blasphemy (see the Muhammad Image Archive for a repository of rejoinders); that the mere discussion about the proposed portrayal of a cartoon Muhammad bear-suit should be avoided at all costs in order to avoid a potential spasm of Mideast violence; and that retreating so abjectly from the defense of free speech will somehow make the world a safer place.
A Pretext to Murder in Libya
Don’t blame a YouTube movie for ‘inciting’ the mob that killed the U.S. ambassador. Blame the killers.
By Matt Welch
September 13, 2012 7:59 AM
38comments
A vehicle and the surrounding area are engulfed in flames inside the U.S. consulate compound in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. (STR/AFP/GettyImages)People used to talk a lot about the world before and after Sept. 11. As in, back before the deadly attacks on that morning in 2001, we operated under a set of naive assumptions about national security, Islamic radicalism, and worst-case scenarios on American soil. And afterward, depending on your point of view, we adapted or overreacted to our cruel new reality.
Well, a similar bifurcation may be appropriate for Sept. 11 and 12 of 2012. On that first day, it still seemed reasonable to enough people in the U.S. embassy in Cairo to preemptively denounce an anti-Islam YouTube video in order to stave off a growing mob of angry Islamists. A press release issued by the embassy that morning condemned the “continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims,” in an effort to forestall potential violence from the Islamist mob. But by Day 2, the Islamist mob had ransacked the embassy in question, pulled down (and tried to burn) the American flag, and replaced it with a black banner that read, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.”
As one of the Cairo protesters, Mohammad al-Zawahiri, the brother of al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, reportedly explained: The U.S. government’s statement condemning the producers of the video that insults the Prophet was not enough. Neither prophylactic apologies nor self-censorship, it turns out, seem to mollify religious fanatics.
Not that many in America’s political class seem to notice. It’s a modern marvel to witness how thoroughly the country’s journalists and commentators have, over the past decade, internalized false notions about Muslims, violence, and free expression. For instance, that depicting the historical figure of Muhammad is untenable blasphemy (see the Muhammad Image Archive for a repository of rejoinders); that the mere discussion about the proposed portrayal of a cartoon Muhammad bear-suit should be avoided at all costs in order to avoid a potential spasm of Mideast violence; and that retreating so abjectly from the defense of free speech will somehow make the world a safer place.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
NYT: US companies brace for exit from euro by Greece - Business - US business - The New York Times - NBCNews.com
NYT: US companies brace for exit from euro by Greece - Business - US business - The New York Times - NBCNews.com ;.. American companies have actually been more aggressive about seeking out advice than their European counterparts, according to John Gibbons, head of treasury services in Europe for JPMorgan Chase.
Mr. Gibbons said a handful of the largest American companies had requested the special accounts configured for a currency that did not yet exist.
“We’re planning against the extreme,” he said. “You don’t lose anything by doing it.”
This story, "U.S. Companies Brace for an Exit From the Euro by Greece," first appeared in The New York Times.
Mr. Gibbons said a handful of the largest American companies had requested the special accounts configured for a currency that did not yet exist.
“We’re planning against the extreme,” he said. “You don’t lose anything by doing it.”
This story, "U.S. Companies Brace for an Exit From the Euro by Greece," first appeared in The New York Times.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
Careers Are Dead. Welcome To Your Low-Wage, Temp Work Future - Forbes
Yes, Paul Ryan Spoke the Truth About Obama's Fiscal Record at the Republican Convention - Forbes
Yes, Paul Ryan Spoke the Truth About Obama's Fiscal Record at the Republican Convention - Forbes ;.. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn’t even ask for. The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we’re going to stop it.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Censorship battle leads SummerStage play to new venue - JSOnline
Censorship battle leads SummerStage play to new venue - JSOnline ;.. Enter from stage right Eliason and Crosstalk. He repeatedly urged listeners to call the volunteer board members, their employers and the DNR to complain about this "blasphemy in the park."
Could anyone mock the Qur'an and get away with it? he asked.
The DNR caved this week, but with some contractual justification, Davis acknowledged.
In a letter Wednesday, Kimberly Currie of the DNR's Bureau of Parks and Recreation confirmed that SummerStage would not perform the play because it wasn't a "family-oriented production" as required under the contract. Davis said that SoundStage promotions had suggested children under 13 not attend.
"We just didn't think kids would get it," he said. "They just used that against us."
Faracy spent the last couple of days scrambling for another venue. Next Act Theatre in Milwaukee's Walker's Point came to the rescue.
David Cecsarini, Next Act's producing artistic director, said, "I as a theater producer and my colleagues have a true stake in this. What happened to Brian was out and out censorship."
If this can happen to an innocuous play like this, he said, "what happens when we do a work that actually has some teeth in it?"
Next Act Theatre at 255 S. Water St. will host Faracy's production of "The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged)" Aug. 31-Sept. 2 and Sept. 7-9. Call the theater at for times and to purchase the $15 tickets.
"Come and have a great time in support of free speech," Cecsarini said.
Contact Laurel Walker at or lwalker@jrn.com. Follow on Twitter @walkcol.
You be the judge:
Tell me it isn't political - JSOnline
Tell me it isn't political - JSOnline ;.. That to me is what makes Cardinal Dolan’s benediction so much worse. He is going to use the platform given to him to rail against the Obama administration and talk about “the sanctity of life.” I mean, sure, he said he invited himself to both the Democratic and Republican conventions to do a benediction. But let’s be clear, he is suing the Obama administration over the Affordable Care Act and the provision about birth control. Could you imagine him actually being invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention? I couldn’t.
I understand that Cardinal Dolan has a strong position on the issue of birth control, but I have issues when he uses his role in the Church to make political points and advance a specific candidate. I mean, maybe he will prove me wrong when he prays, but it’s hard to see that coming from a man who is suing the other candidate.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Republicans eye a return to gold standard - Aug. 24, 2012
Republicans eye a return to gold standard - Aug. 24, 2012 ;.. Related: Professor Bernanke rails against gold standard
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has repeatedly expressed concerns about the idea, sometimes even sparring with Paul in Congressional hearings. Research has shown the rigid constraints of the gold standard worsened the Great Depression, he said. Gold prices can also be volatile.
Plus, there's not enough gold in the world to support such a system, as Bernanke noted in a lecture earlier this year.
"To have a gold standard, you have to go to South Africa or someplace and dig up tons of gold and move it to New York and put it in the basement of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and that's a lot of effort and work," he said.
It's an "awful big waste of resources," he added.
But just in case the idea does gain more traction, here are some rough calculations of what would happen to gold prices, courtesy of Julian Jessop, chief global economist for Capital Economics.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Bain documents offer details on Romney holdings - Yahoo! News
Bain documents offer details on Romney holdings - Yahoo! News ;.. Another Bain investment fund, Sankaty High Yield Partners II, based in Delaware, held nearly $3 million in loans to Adelson's Las Vegas Sands. Adelson is the largest public donor in this year's presidential race, giving more than $45 million to super political action committees benefiting Romney and other GOP candidates.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
General Motors Is Headed For Bankruptcy -- Again - Forbes
General Motors Is Headed For Bankruptcy -- Again - Forbes ;.. Right now, the federal government owns 500,000,000 shares of GM, or about 26% of the company. It would need to get about $53.00/share for these to break even on the bailout, but the stock closed at only $20.21/share on Tuesday. This left the government holding $10.1 billion worth of stock, and sitting on an unrealized loss of $16.4 billion.
Right now, the government’s GM stock is worth about 39% less than it was on November 17, 2010, when the company went public at $33.00/share. However, during the intervening time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen by almost 20%, so GM shares have lost 49% of their value relative to the Dow.
It’s doubtful that the Obama administration would attempt to sell off the government’s massive position in GM while the stock price is falling. It would be too embarrassing politically. Accordingly, if GM shares continue to decline, it is likely that Obama would ride the stock down to zero.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
3 Things You Can Do To Change People's Behavior - Part II; Real Examples - Forbes
3 Things You Can Do To Change People's Behavior - Part II; Real Examples - Forbes ;.. Change Your Brain, Change Your Life
Our personalities, thought patterns and emotional responses are wired into our brains, says Richard Davidson, Ph.D., author of The Emotional Life of Your Brain, but you can change your brain. Here are several exercises that will help rewire the neural pathways to help you think more positively, become more self-aware, focus better, understand social cues, ease your emotional triggers and grow more resilient.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Internet Evolution - Robert McGarvey - Google's Security 'Fix' Complicates Life for Users
Internet Evolution - Robert McGarvey - Google's Security 'Fix' Complicates Life for Users ;.. Except it does not work that easily -- trust me. Hours into this I still don't have my calendar syncing on a Kindle Fire, for instance, and that may be just one of many apps that worked fine yesterday but this morning are mired in thick cyber frustration.
The apparent problem: iOS apps do not support the two-factor authentication invoked by Google, and neither, apparently, do at least some apps on the Android-powered HTC One S (running Ice Cream Sandwich) and a Kindle Fire (running an Amazon-tweaked version of Android).
Google knows this is frustrating. It's even put up a video about it on YouTube.
Google's workaround is "application specific passwords" -- onetime codes that Google advises users not to bother memorizing or writing down -- even though for email on an iPad to sync up it needs that unique password entered (and remembered by the device). Frankly, it's maddening. So far I have set up six of these, and it's not getting easier.
Getting the code is a multi-step process and the first step is clicking on an app that used to work and now does not. Step two: Find the password that's associated with the app. Fairly straightforward with iOS, not always so on Android, where sometimes passwords appear to be hidden.
Netvibes – Social Media Monitoring, Analytics and Alerts Dashboard
Netvibes – Social Media Monitoring, Analytics and Alerts Dashboard: Netvibes is the all-in-one dashboard intelligence platform for real-time social media monitoring, social analytics, brand sentiment, reputation management, team management, company intranets and community portals. The #1 dashboard solution for Fortune 500 brands, agencies and enterprises."
Sunday, August 19, 2012
USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World
USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World ;..The video culture?
A: Video at peak times is greater than 50% of our traffic. Remember, a lot of our peak times are around unique events, Mother's Day, Christmas.
Video has become a powerful way to interact socially, interact with business.
We deliver that notion of (sharing) some of the most amazing moments — when you can't be together, whether it's a baby being born, people getting married, seeing your kids go off to school.
Q: Talk about mobile.
A: What we think really separates us at the top level is the power of the network. The thing that makes communications so powerful is you can go to the device you want to, it works the way you want it to work and it works that way across different devices, whether it's a smart TV running a Skype application or an iPhone or a Windows Phone or Windows PC. I think in social apps we're No. 2 on the iPad, I think on the iPhone we'rerunning No. 5 overall, and we've been very, very successful on other platforms. When it comes to the world
USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World
USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World ;.. "Despite the economy, this is the first generation of people passing away with substantial wealth," said Avi Kestenbaum, a trust and estate specialist with the New York-based law firm Meltzer Lippe Goldstein & Breistone. He estimated he's set up 10 travel-related trusts in the past 15 years, while other clients have given instructions verbally or in a non-legal written "wish list."
The trend has even prompted a travel agency and a law firm to partner together this summer to start offering one-stop-shopping for trust creation and travel planning.
USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World
USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World '.. What now to expect
The annual fee-disclosure statement will not be simple. "It's lengthy, wordy, and there is a bit of complexity," says Dave Gray, vice president of client experience for Charles Schwab. Typically the annual disclosure statements will range from seven to 12 pages, he says.
Not all plans will provide a total dollar amount of a participant's plan costs in the new quarterly statement. Expenses that are subtracted from the total investment fund's revenue do not have to added into the cost statements. So if a portion of a mutual fund's management fees is shared with a record keeper of the plan, it can be built into the cost of the fund, the DOL says. That would reduce the returns that fund investors receive.
Those types of fees will show up in the annual report because they are included in the expense ratio of the investment options. Even if they are not added into the cost total, the quarterly statement is supposed to explain those types of fees to consumers, the DOL says.
USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World
USA TODAY - News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World ;.. The groups stand together in opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and a provision in Obama's health care law. It requires employers, including faith-based institutions, to provide or facilitate employee insurance coverage for contraception. When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the rule an affront to religious liberty, Mormons were right with them, Millet says.
The Bishop John Wester of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City says "we have a healthy relationship and work closely on issues of compassion."
Ultimately, the symbolism of the Romney-Ryan ticket may be that it doesn't matter any more which religion a candidate claims as long as he claims one, says Grant Wacker, professor of Christian history at Duke Divinity School. "It would be much more significant if the candidates had no faith or called themselves agnostics or unbelievers. That is still unimaginable in the USA today," Wacker says.
Assange: The WikiLeaks 'witch-hunt' must end | Politics and Law - CNET News
Assange: The WikiLeaks 'witch-hunt' must end | Politics and Law - CNET News ;.. Assange said the U.S. must "dissolve its FBI investigation" and pledge not to act against journalists who are "shining the light on the rich and powerful."
"There is unity in the oppression, there must be absolute unity and determination in the response," he added. (WikiLeaks has now posted the full transcript of Assange's address.)
Around 100 U.K. police officers remain stationed outside the embassy, surrounding the building should the WikiLeaks founder attempt an escape or venture carelessly beyond diplomatic boundaries.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
The 10 craziest items you can't sell on eBay - Yahoo! News
The 10 craziest items you can't sell on eBay - Yahoo! News ;.. Magic potionsSelling things on eBay that aren't actually real is an interesting phenomenon that may be more common than you think. So common, in fact, that as of August 30, eBay is taking action to ban services that may not even be real. One casualty of this new rule is the selling of magic potions — which currently have a rather large presence on the site. Small vials of liquid being sold for the purposes of defeating "demons" or improving your luck are abundant, but not for long.
6. Prayers
Regardless of what religion — or non-religion — you favor, you've probably never considered the act of praying as something you could actually sell. Well, apparently some intrepid eBayers have monetized the act of speaking to a deity, and ask for real, actual money in order to pray for you or someone you care about. As of August 30, that will no longer be allowed. Thank God.
6. Prayers
Regardless of what religion — or non-religion — you favor, you've probably never considered the act of praying as something you could actually sell. Well, apparently some intrepid eBayers have monetized the act of speaking to a deity, and ask for real, actual money in order to pray for you or someone you care about. As of August 30, that will no longer be allowed. Thank God.
Netvibes – Social Media Monitoring, Analytics and Alerts Dashboard
Netvibes – Social Media Monitoring, Analytics and Alerts Dashboard: Netvibes is the all-in-one dashboard intelligence platform for real-time social media monitoring, social analytics, brand sentiment, reputation management, team management, company intranets and community portals. The #1 dashboard solution for Fortune 500 brands, agencies and enterprises."
Friday, August 17, 2012
What we think about the 50 states — in 1 map
What we think about the 50 states — in 1 map ;.. In politics, perception often trumps reality. Put another way: What people think they know about a politician, an issue or anything else goes a long way to determining how they feel about it — whether or not their initial perception is based in reality or not.
That perception obsession has lead us to seek out any and every tool that helps us get at how people think about their politics — and each other.
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