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The German justice system will entertain a Costa Rican request to extradite controversial Sea Shepherd conservationist and "Whale Wars" star Paul Watson, but he can post bail while the matter is considered, a Frankfurt court ruled Friday.
Bail for Watson - who faces what his organization and attorney allege are politically motivated charges over a 2002 confrontation at sea with Costa Rican fishermen - was set at 250,000 euro ($318,000), Frankfurt high regional court spokesman Ingo Nohre said.
Watson, 61, intends to post it Monday, his group said.
Watson, whose attempts to disrupt Japanese whalers at sea gained fame through Animal Planet's "Whale Wars" TV show, was detained last weekend at the Frankfurt airport after Costa Rica issued an international request for this arrest.
Costa Rican authorities allege that Watson's crew aboard Sea Shepherd's Ocean Warrior ship endangered a Costa Rican fishing vessel during a confrontation off Guatemala's coast, according to the Frankfurt court.
The court ruled Friday that Germany will consider the request, and that Costa Rica will have 90 days to make its case. The German Ministry of Justice then will decide whether to extradite Watson.
The U.S.-based Sea Shepherd, which denies the allegations, has urged supporters through its website and social media to write to German officials, arguing that the charges have less to do with law than with Watson's anti-conservationist enemies, and that it doubts he would get a fair trial.
"As Sea Shepherd becomes increasingly more effective at protecting marine wildlife globally, the enemies of the oceans are using all of their resources to stop us," the group said in a statement. "… (The extradition request) we believe stems from Sea Shepherd victories in curbing shark finning on the high seas."
Thousands appear to have written to German officials so far, Sea Shepherd ship operations officer Peter Hammarstedt said, citing anecdotal evidence, including supportive e-mails the group received.
Hammarstedt said the Ocean Warrior found the Costa Rican crew killing sharks for their fins in Guatemalan waters in 2002, and it initially had permission from Guatemalan authorities to stop it and tow the vessel into port.
The Ocean Warrior used water cannons on the fishing vessel in an effort to stop it, but "there were no injuries and no physical damage to any ship," Hammarstedt said.
The Ocean Warrior succeeded in stopping the ship, but Guatemalan authorities eventually asked Watson to release it, Hammarstedt said.
The confrontation is detailed in part of a 2007 documentary, "Sharkwater," Hammarstedt said.
Anyone who sides with Costa Rica on this is effectively supporting organized crime.
The Costa Rican flagged boat that Sea Shepherd intercepted and detained was filmed illegally killing and finning sharks in Guatemalan waters.
The activists later filmed illegally gotten shark fins being dried on rooftops in Costa Rica which the criminals attempted to hide once they spotted the cameras.
The dude's got more balls than anybody posting comments here. Whether he's right or not is debatable. The only thing any of these posters ever stood up for is walking to the mailbox to get their guv'ment check each month.
@Sean: Please stop eating the paint chips.
Is it bad that these wannabe pirate idiots make me root for the whalers?
I am with you. It is sad these guys are such idiots that I do find myself rooting for the whalers. I don't understand how people can say he is couragous. He plays off of other peoples need to do the right thing, takes their money and rides around in the ocean acting like he is above the law. That is until something happens that he doesn't like then he calls the police- Like his recent campagn against pilot whaling. He's nothing but a joke to me. It makes me want to taste whale meat to see what the hype is about. He'll never get a penny of my cash. You'll notice if there is anything that might get them in trouble he stays in the wheelhouse barking orders. Excuse me King Watson, get your fat butt up and do something.
Paul watson is wrong
This is hardly the first time that a soverign government pretended that they had a case against Sea Shepherd crew or Paul Watson. They always end up folding after grabbing big headlines beating their chests. Then they meekly dismiss charges when the press isn't looking anymore. Watson and the Sea Shepherd crew are heros for continually putting it out there to halt the worst instincts of modern human society.
Hero worhsip? Paul Watson is a liar, fraud and a clown. He has continually mistated the truth. Yeti and those who stated their agreement with Paul Watson, Sam and Alfie+ are misguided and uninformed, seeing just what they want to. Paul Watson should have been in jail years ago. CN
How sad reading comments from idle minds critizicing, laghing at and even sending to prison (or killing) if they could to activists who at least show care and affection for something else than themselves, families and friends (obviously easy tasks).
Do they do it out of sadism, boredom, envy ...? Feeling pity for them here.
Long Life to Lovely Caring Brave Courage Heroes !!!! (if you'll forgive the redundancy, just to balance the fanny-sad comments)
Wish you all a nice day if you can afford it !!
Lock the self righteous bloviating enviro-nut and the rest of this crew up. I am against whaling, but these goof-ball pirate wannabe's are not even close to the solution. You can care about things and do good in the world without being a buffoon –which is what these people and all who watch their "show" are. Grow up!
Dawn, then what's the answer? I see a lot of people saying this isn't the right way to do things, but never provide a viable solution to the problem. What have you done to advocate against such atrocities? Let me guess, nothing. You would rather sit back and criticize those that try. They are proactive and understand the value and importance of shining light on these topics that you will never be able to fully comprehend. These people are passionate and deeply believe in what they are doing. When have you ever fought for anything that you believed in? Never… Just like the majority of those that sit on these forums and bless us with their inquisitive insight to worldly affairs. Stick to what you know, nothing.
This guy is a loose cannon and a real big sleazeball looking for fame.
He can switch shows now, from "Whale Wars" to "Locked Up Abroad".
Send him back to Costa Rica asap to face justice
Lock the whole lot of the Sea Shepards up for criminal interference with legal trade and/or research on the high seas. Given the option I would like to see the whaling fleet get to decide the punishment.
Paul Watson and his ship full of simpletons is no different than the U.S. Govt. going worldwide to get into the business of others and practice violence.
I have mixed feelings on this guy but the mix has changed to about 90% anti Watson. I have watched the show for a couple years and it has become clear that this guy has no friends, he cares about no one on his ship as much as he cares about the whales and one of these days a lot of people are going to die or at least get hurt badly. Last year the left some of their crew overnight in their dingy with no food water shelter or any means for staying warm. The Viking Shores series really turned me more against what they are doing. The people on those remote islands depend on whale meat like natives in Alaska depend on moose and caribou and salmon. Their tactics are dangerous. He is good at stirring up emotions to raise money but at the same time he has no emotions himself. Strange dude. Don't like him anymore.
Never liked him, like what he is trying to do. The crew he has gathered is pathetic at best, past helicopter pilot excluded, I'm shocked they haven't killed each other yet.
I admire Paul Watson (and the crew)for having the courage and total committment to stand up for his belifs against the big guys for as Peter said "the only way to stop them is to sink them". The islanders live in very modern times with grocery stores to buy food including fish just as we do.The killing of the whales is a tradition that is now much outdated and barbaric. Paul Watson and all those that make up his crew are Warriors that defend the awesome and beautiful creatures of our oceans from being destroyed by Greed in its most vicious form.
I completely agree with Alfie+ and I think that the rest of you folks should be ashamed of yourselves!!!


text:
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The company was founded in Stuttgart in 2001 and is privately owned by the two managing partners Marc Böhm and Michael Welte. Since 2011 we operate as a Limited Liability Company.
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Welcome to CHILIBYTES.
CHILIBYTES® is registered with trade mark #305.01.783 at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.

subset: commoncrawl


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[For a more recent blog on decadence see https://clarespark.com/2011/04/03/progressives-the-luxury-debate-and-decadence/.]
Anyone who has followed recent developments in history and politics should be amazed by the ubiquity of the term "identity". What is not noted is the drastic transformation in the meaning of that word, and the implications are alarming for those who believe that civil rights (most especially the right of every individual citizen to challenge authority and to question the lines of interpretation handed down by all existing establishments as to "truth" or the causes of conflict) are intrinsic to an advanced democracy, such as the one we celebrate today, July 4, 2009. For as I have argued in all my published work and in various blogs and comments on the internet, the very concept of the free-standing, relatively autonomous individual is being systematically erased by antidemocrats or pseudo-democrats, who imagine themselves to be "anti-imperialists" and "anti-racists." (I have written about the origins of multiculturalism and its racialist discourse in numerous venues, but here is one that tries to sum it all up: http://hnn.us/articles/4533, or see the version I posted here: https://clarespark.com/2009/12/12/switching-the-enlightenment-corporatist-liberalism-and-the-revision-of-american-history/, or try this more recent blog:https://clarespark.com/2014/09/03/solidarity-on-the-left-vs-disunity-on-the-right/.)
What do I mean by unfinished revolutions? While in graduate school in history, as I learned about "the Age of Revolution" it dawned on me that none of the great transformations from the feudal world to the modern one, mostly in "the West" had been resolved. The Reformation and Counter-Reformation were not simply about whether monarchs in Europe would adhere to Catholicism or Protestantism or Anglicanism (the "Elizabethan compromise"), but the key element–whether or not individual conscience trumped the authority of Churches and Kings–is still a hot topic today. Then came the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century, and the warfare between science and religion proceeds apace, often disguised in "the culture wars." What is at stake here is the universality of observed facts, but the new identity politics relegates such an affront to authority as crypto-fascism or imperialism. For these supposed freedom fighters, there are only group facts, incomprehensible to those not sharing the same (group) identity. Now recall that the further liberalizing American Revolution, grounded in both the scientific revolution and left-wing Protestantism, established the "levelling" notion of equality before the law, along with meritocracy, as its founding principles (at least for propertied white males).
Hard by that unprecedented blessed event came the French Revolution (inspired in part by the American Revolution) and its continued transfer of authority to citizens: Power, knowledge, and virtue now fled castles and cathedrals to repose in the breasts and brains of ordinary people, and, affirming the liberties that had been asserted in the preceding upheavals, appeared a Declaration of the Rights of Man and the elevation of the Prometheus myth, even in the principalities of Germany, as early Goethe and Schiller can attest (and before that, Spinoza in the seventeenth century Netherlandish revolt against Spain).
Lest anyone think that the traditional elites took these events, disastrous to their property and privileges, lying down, one need only read the outpouring of conservative Catholic and other organic conservative denunciations of the bloodthirsty Jacobins and their hideous progeny, progeny that includes Stalin, Mao, and Hitler. For the purpose of this essay, their most significant gesture was the erasure of "rights" in favor of "obligation" or "duty" to the 'revolution, or 'race' or 'nation' or 'community.' Similarly, the individual observer, testing reality with her or his senses, then submitting facts to open-minded and curious others for confirmation, was beheaded or deemed "vile atheist" and mad scientist. Now "identity", understood in my youth as a coherent sense of self, a sense of self that was antithetical to the fragmented and dissociated sufferer from paranoia or other mental illnesses, that notion of self was drastically transformed into "identity" as "national character": a set of perceptions shared by all of the inhabitants of a nation-state or "race" –a population that formed a "community" with a specific Zeitgeist. This latter notion came down to us as Lamarckianism or a kind of blood and soil "environmentalism." The eighteenth-century German theologian J.G. von Herder, the founder of cultural anthropology, got the credit for his "rooted" cosmopolitanism, supposedly an improvement over the atomized, narcissistic, world-destroying individual allegedly promoted by the dread liberals who preceded him in the English, American, and French Enlightenments. (On the perils of the Age of Reason or Utilitarianism, see the interchanges between Coningsby and Sidonia in Benjamin Disraeli's Coningsby.)
Not too long ago, I discovered that some of Herman Melville's markings in one of his Bibles came straight out of Goethe's two Wilhelm Meister novels (the first wild one, written before the French Revolution, the second "reverential" one, written late in life in reaction to the Terror and Napoleon), so I have been reading Goethe and Goethe biography and criticism. It turns out that one Nicholas Boyle, a most prestigious professor of German intellectual history and literature at Cambridge University in the U.K. had published two mammoth volumes on Goethe's life and art, with a third volume promised. Boyle was so outraged by the French Revolution (an event that seems to have dampened the ardor of the Sturm und Drang German writers), that I suspected a conservative Catholic or Tory reading of that revolution. Imagine my delight, then, when I discovered that Boyle had denounced the unforgiving Captain Ahab in another of his books (quoted below), and also admonished Ishmael too for homosexuality! Melville had written a gay and blasphemous book! My notes from Boyle follow, and I have included them here because he gives us a clue as to the real content of "identity" today as understood by its multicultural advocates. As I have proposed above, we are still fighting for the most basic of human rights as promised in the Declaration of Independence.
[my notes:] Nicholas Boyle, "A Catholic Approach to Literature," Secular and Sacred Scriptures: A Catholic Approach To Literature, 2004, p.140 [IDENTITY]: Boyle writes, "Both sacred and secular literature involve the noninstrumental, nonpurposive use of words, and in different ways assert our freedom from the tyranny of functional, goal-directed thought and language: secular literature by using words to give pleasure and so enabling us to enjoy what is: sacred literature by using words to utter obligation, and so to give us our identity, not as beings who perform a function, but as creatures who know what ought to be." P.141: "Even the wisdom books of sacred literature are expressions, however refined and derived, of the original obligation. Even Ecclesiastes, in which first-person utterance and the appeal to the author's experience are so prominent, enjoins us 'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth' (12:1)"
In other chapters (e.g. on Moby-Dick): for Boyle, "having and risking" is modern (false) identity. In this chapter, Boyle deplores the transition starting in 1200 A.D. from a "feudal" world ordained by God to one ruled by money ( capitalism and imperialism). Boyle asserts that we have forgotten that wealth has its origins in work; we have forgotten our origins in God. A capitalist identity is therefore antithetical to the true Christ-infused identity. Hence, Boyle rejects the very notion of a "feudal" world, for the true world is not characterized by such (utilitarian?) categories. So political theory or structural analysis of economic institutions are off the charts!!! But wait, artists are good: Christ redeemed sinful man, and therefore artists can represent the world, conditioned though they may be by historical and linguistic context (cf. the New Historicism!), but (he implies) their work should participate in the ongoing work of redemption (of suffering?), for we are all in Christ and Christ is in us.
How does Boyle deal with antisemitic representations in literature then? In his Goethe biography he passes over without judgment Goethe's several nasty comments about Jews. In the book quoted above, Boyle finds pleasure in Dickens' Fagin, a monster-victim who is, however, forgiven: pp.133-34: "Fagin is saved from being a stereotypical instrument of anti-Semitism and is raised into literature by our enjoyment of his monstrosity, and that is made possible as much by Oliver's final prayer for him—Oh! God forgive this wretched man!" (in which a direct vocative can be heard behind the gasp of sentiment)—as by the relish in the caricature when we first meet him, stirring the coffee in an iron pot and serving hot rolls and, of all things, ham to his 'dears,' while he inspects their pickings."
Now, dear reader, if you have followed me thus far, you will understand that Captain Ahab's unpardonable sin, for Boyle and for others who share his ideology, is Ahab's/Melville's (Jewish?) predilection for revenge. We may infer that Ahab doesn't enjoy the Monster, or the idea that Might Makes Right, or that obligation sans "rights" is a source of pleasure. That Captain Ahab's quest might be a symbol for all the unfinished revolutions of Melville's time, revolutions that allowed a cat to look at a king, or ordinary people to educate themselves through study and reflection upon their experience, and who, moreover, might indulge themselves in the analysis of the institutions that controlled their lives, thence to participate meaningfully in government and self-government–such a reading cannot be allowed in an academy that called a halt to the Age of Revolution as it was once understood. Happy Fourth of July. (For a recent blog on this subject see https://clarespark.com/2013/01/24/culture-wars-and-the-secular-progressives/.)


text:
Dog Walkers in La Malbaie
Book a dog walker to give your dog a 30-minute walk around your neighborhood.
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Try changing your search criteria or updating your location.
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text:
Items where Division is "Faculty of Computer and Information Science > Software Engineering Laboratory"
Number of items at this level: 3.
Luka Fürst and Marjan Mernik and Viljan Mahnič (2012) Graph Grammar Induction as a Parser-Controlled Heuristic Search Process. Lecture Notes in Computer Science [Applications of Graph Transformations with Industrial Relevance (AGTIVE), 4th International Symposium, Budapest, October 2011], 7233 . pp. 121-136.
Luka Fürst and Viljan Mahnič (2012) A Cooperative Development System for an Interactive Introductory Programming Course. World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education, 10 (2). pp. 122-127.
Luka Fürst and Marjan Mernik and Viljan Mahnič (2011) Improving the graph grammar parser of Rekers and Schürr. IET Software, 5 (2). pp. 246-261.


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I've been re-reading one of my favorite books of all time, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and in the second chapter on desire, there is a method called Six Ways to Turn Desires into Gold. As I was reading, I realized that replacing the word money with success made a compelling plan to achieve the goals you set forth. See for yourself:
Fix in your mind the exact amount of success you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say "I want plenty of success." Be definite as to the amount.
Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the success you desire. (There is no such reality as "something for nothing.")
Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the success you desire.
Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of success you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the success, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. As you read – see and feel and believe yourself already in the possession of the success.
These steps are so basic and really are the basis for achieving any goal. Yet, we so often make excuses and claim that we are too busy. Today is the day to define the path that you'd like to take and outline a concrete plan to make it happen.


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The state's plan to close, consolidate mental hospitals
The state will consolidate its 24 mental hospitals into 15 regional centers over three years, the Office of Mental Health announced Wednesday, but officials said they do not expect layoffs.
Adult inpatient psychiatric centers in Binghamton and Elmira are set to close, starting in 2014, while a Rochester hospital will transform to a regional forensic facility, treating mentally ill people in the criminal justice system. Another forensic hospital in New Hampton, Orange County, will shut its doors, as will a children's facility in West Seneca, Erie County.
Along with Rochester, regional centers will be established in Albany, Syracuse, Utica and Rockland County, as well as in New York City and Long Island. The state is expected to save $20 million in the consolidation.
The state hopes to protect jobs by shifting employees to the new regional centers or reassigning inpatient workers to community-based positions. Employees in Binghamton or Elmira, for example, could opt to transfer to regional hospitals in Buffalo, Syracuse or Utica, or they could be placed in outpatient clinics or other vacant mental health positions locally.
There are currently 373 employees at the Binghamton hospital and 363 at Elmira, state records show. The Rochester hospital that's closing has 542 employees. At the New Hampton facility, there are 553 employees, and in West Seneca, there are 169. State officials stressed that the employee counts include inpatient, outpatient, facilities, administration and residential staff, and not all positions would be impacted.
Another change in the consolidation plan will allow patients to choose where to seek treatment, eliminating requirements based on geographical area.
"Working together with communities, we can and will change the outdated and costly way we serve individuals with mental illness," Acting Mental Health Commissioner Kristin Woodlock said in a statement Wednesday. "We are courageous and determined to take the lead in moving our behavioral health system towards excellence."
Here is a breakdown of the major changes:
- Existing mental hospitals in Binghamton, Syracuse and Utica will merge to form the Empire Upstate Regional Center with two inpatient campuses. An adult facility will house 185 beds in Syracuse, and a children's facility will have 75 beds in Utica.
- The adult psychiatric centers currently in Buffalo and Elmira and the children's treatment facility in West Seneca will merge to create the Great Lakes Regional Center in Buffalo. The consolidated facility will house 208 beds by 2017, when the plan is fully implemented.
- Rochester's adult inpatients will be transferred to regional centers in Buffalo or Syracuse. Under the plan, the existing mental hospital in Rochester will transform into the Western New York Regional Forensic Center by 2017, serving 155 people in the criminal justice system, such as those who were deemed mentally unfit to stand trial for a crime.
- The adult and children's psychiatric centers in Rockland County will merge to form the Lower Hudson Regional Center in Orangeburg, which will house 405 beds by 2017. A research-driven regional center will also be located in Rockland County at the Nathan Kline Institute, which collaborates with New York University on psychiatric research.
- Where inpatient hospitals will close, the state will create community-based "hubs," which will provide administrative support for outpatient service providers. "Hubs" will be located in Buffalo, Rochester, Binghamton and Elmira, as well as Westchester County, Poughkeepsie and Middletown, Orange County.
- Several hospitals in New York City, Long Island and the North Country will also close or merge to form regional centers.
Photo: Greater Binghamton Health Center, from OMH website
Read the full plan:


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Road Trip 2011: For more than 20 years, Europeans have been traveling from France to England (and vice versa) through the Eurotunnel, and not just on the Eurostar. Millions of people go through a year. CNET got a rare behind the scenes tour.
CALAIS, France--For many Americans, the idea of taking the train from England to France, or vice versa, means one thing: the Eurostar. But actually, Eurostar is just one customer of a much larger operation: the Eurotunnel, otherwise known as the Chunnel.
Since the 31-mile-long tunnel opened in 1994, more than 265 million passengers, and more than 53 million vehicles--including 16 million heavy goods vehicles--have traveled across its tracks.
Each day, 50 Eurostar trains take passengers between London and either Paris or Brussels, but that's just a fraction of the 450 trains a day that pass through the tunnel carrying trucks, containers, cars, buses, and more. And because it takes trains just 35 minutes to go between the Continent and England, the tunnel has become serious competition for the ferries that used to dominate such transportation.
While the Eurostar is by far the most well-known customer of the Eurotunnel, many companies are customers of the Paris-based organization that runs the tunnel. And it also runs its own trains, selling space to passenger cars, trucks, buses, and other vehicles.
Here, we see one of Eurotunnel's own locomotives emerging from the tunnel, a view that is not available to the public. CNET got a special look behind the scenes as part of Road Trip 2011.
As part of Road Trip 2011, CNET got a ride in the cab of a passenger vehicle train heading through the Eurotunnel. Here, we see the entrance to the tunnel--actually, both tunnels, including the one that carries trains from north to south, and the other, through which trains go south to north, just before entering from the France side.
This is Eurotunnel train driver Tracy, smiling as she makes her way deep into the darkness of the 31-mile-long tunnel between France and England.
Eurotunnel train drivers have their maximum speed dictated by operators in the railway control center, either on the UK side of the tunnel or the France side. Generally, non-Eurostar trains have a maximum speed of 140 kilometers--87 miles--an hour. Eurostar trains are allowed to travel up to 160 kilometers--99 miles--an hour. Here, we see that Tracy's train is going 138 kilometers--86 miles--an hour.
At the Eurotunnel's railway control center (RCC), operators can monitor every train that goes through either of the two tunnels that travel between England and France on the largest real-time optical control board in the world. Here, we see the entire board, known as the TCO, in the RCC on the UK side of the tunnel. There is a second RCC on the France side with an identical TCO.
This is the optical real-time control board that allows operators in the Eurotunnel's railway control center to monitor all train traffic through the side-by-side tunnels between France and England. On this side of the board, we see the section that corresponds with the giant Calais, France-based terminal from which huge numbers of trains carrying everything from passenger cars to buses to cargo trucks depart each day. Each of the main green lines represents a track and the 4- or 5-digit numbers correspond to a specific train. If the number begins with a "7" it means it's a train carrying trucks and cargo. The all-digital board updates in real-time.
In the middle left of this image, we see a yellow line with the number "7365." This corresponds to the length of a truck-carrying train that is heading from France to the UK.
This is a computer-based graph that shows the progress of any train in either of the two tunnels in space and time. The train's time of departure is on the X axis, and its place in the tunnel--designated by a code--is on the Y axis.
Here we see the two tunnels--on the France side--with no trains passing through. Moments later, a truck train emerges having just completed the journey from England.
Having just emerged from the tunnel, this train is carrying trucks and other heavy equipment.
This illustration shows the configuration of the Eurotunnel--its two main tunnels, as well as its service tunnel, ventilation system, and cross passages.
This is a Eurotunnel photograph of the interior of one of the tunnels.
Here, we see two Eurotunnel employees, including Jean-Luc Pochet (left), the manager of the service tunnel infrastructure, walking into the service tunnel from the France side. The service tunnel allows maintenance and other official vehicles to drive through, as well as being the escape route passengers would enter if there was an emergency in either of the train tunnels. An overpressure system built into the infrastructure is designed to pull smoke out of the main tunnels, allowing passengers to escape a fire without the danger of smoke inhalation.
Here, we see one of the fire doors that are located throughout the service tunnel closing. The doors are designed to isolate a fire if one should break out, as well as to maintain the proper pressure in the tunnels.
This is a view of the Eurotunnel service tunnel.
Eurotunnel maintains a fleet of 57 locomotives and more than 900 wagons. The company is in the process of upgrading many of the locomotives from 5.6 megawatts to 7 megawatts because of increased passenger and freight traffic through the tunnels between France and the UK. It is also being done in anticipation of further increases in traffic due to the London Olympics being held in 2012.
This is one of the shuttle vehicles that ferry people through the service tunnel. The vehicles drive along a magnetic line that keeps them on a straight line inside the tunnel. Otherwise, drivers would have trouble staying on a straight line.
Part of the upgrading process for the locomotives involves replacing the complex equipment underneath the train, including air conditioning, ventilation, and more. These systems are entirely unique to Eurotunnel's trains, and are said by the company to be among the most sophisticated installed on any trains anywhere in the world. Here we see one of the locomotives lifted up for its retrofit.
This is a fire door in one of the passageways between the two main tunnels. On the lower left of the door, you can also see hose fittings for fire crews from both the UK and France. This is so the first crew that arrives, whichever country they come from, can attach their hoses--which are different in each country.
This is a look into an empty Eurotunnel passenger car wagon. Each wagon can hold several cars, and during the ride between the Continent and the UK, passengers can get out of the cars and relax in comfort. The wagons can hold buses, RVs, cars, and other passenger vehicles, even those that are taller than normal cars.
Here we see a bus emerging from one of the passenger vehicle wagons on the UK side of the Chunnel.
Eurotunnel maintains what it says is the largest train maintenance shop in Europe. While much of the work that goes on there is done on individual locomotives or wagons, there is a section of the shop that is long enough to hold entire trains, such as the two seen here.
Just outside of the maintenance shop, we see many train axles lined up for various purposes.
Here, we see a close-up view of the interior of one of the passenger-car wagons.
Here we see a train chassis that is being retrofitted. This is at the Eurotunnel maintenance shop in Calais, France.
Here we see a train axle being lifted by a crane and being carried to where it will be worked on or re-attached to a train wagon or locomotive.
Here we see a Eurotunnel wagon lifted off the ground so that crews can work on the complex equipment located underneath.
This is a new wheel attached to a train axle at the Eurotunnel maintenance shop in Calais, France.
This is one of two gigantic shafts at either end of the Eurotunnel that houses piping for ventilation, water for firefighting, and cooling. The equipment is located at the top of the shafts, which on the France side is about 3 kilometers north of the entrance to the tunnel. The shaft is 187 feet wide, and 131 feet tall, big enough, it is said, to fit the entire Arc de Triomphe.
This is an Airedale that is in the back of a car on a Eurotunnel passenger-car wagon. Passengers are able to carry pets back and forth between France and the UK, so long as they acquire a "passport" for their animal.


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New team, who dis? US players form chemistry via group chat
Thrown together from leagues all over the world, the players shook hands and introduced themselves to teammates they'd never met but know well thanks to a bit of technology.
Long before their first practice together Friday, members of the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team connected via a group chat. They talked hockey, logistics and life, and it's already paying dividends.
"When we get in the locker room today, we feel like we've known each other for a while," forward Brian O'Neill said.
The U.S. was among the final teams to get on the ice together as a group, save for many playing at the pre-Olympic Deutschland Cup in November. With just five practices to get up to speed with coach Tony Granato and each other, the group chat and a website to study various systems were essential to bonding and developing camaraderie. Hockey Hall of Famer Cammi Granato told her brother such bonding was key in a short international tournament.
Players got comfortable with each other so quickly it didn't take long for them to start making fun of each other and feeling like a team.
"It kind of builds chemistry," forward John McCarthy said. "You get to know guys, and guys are chirping each other back and forth a little bit."
There are few things hockey players enjoy more than chirping at each other, so naturally much of the conversation came with sarcasm and revolved around ribbing each other. Defenseman Matt Gilroy said it helped players grow closer, whether they knew each other or not.
From the oldest player in 39-year-old captain Brian Gionta to the youngest in 20-year-old Troy Terry, differences and the distance gap disappeared among all the messages from players at all hours of the day.
"Guys are all over the world playing and certain guys are playing against each other in different leagues, so stuff happens in a game and you get to hear from it and guys are always just checking in," Gilroy said. "You wake up (to) guys in America texting different stories. It's just been a lot of fun because we don't get a lot of time together, but it's amazing with technology you feel like you know these guys now, so it's been a lot of fun."
Gilroy put O'Neill, a teammate with Jokerit in the Kontinental Hockey League, in charge of organizing the group chat on WhatsApp and called it "our first challenge as a team." Gilroy apparently wanted an outlet to give other players a hard time, so he was active on the chirping front.
Group chats weren't a thing when Granato played at the 1988 Olympics, though he loved the idea to go along with his planning. Granato and assistant Ron Rolston tried to get players digitally prepared by giving them some homework to study before getting the whiteboard out for some more hands-on teaching at Gangneung Hockey Centre.
"We've been able to post some video and some different things for them to read and kind of get a little head start," Granato said. "You kind of feel even though we haven't been together, we still feel like we've been able to do a lot of coaching and getting to know the players a lot better over the past month and a half."
After a few players experienced travel delays, the U.S. will have its first practice with full attendance Saturday ahead of the tournament opener Feb. 14 against Slovenia. Granato waited for all his players to arrive before convening his first meeting to talk about late general manager Jim Johannson, who died unexpectedly last month at 53. He will be honored with his own locker stall and be thought of during the Olympics.
"We addressed the fact that we're all in this room is the person that's not here with us," Granato said. "We got through that, and we got through the fact that there's plenty of ways that we will honor him with how we act, how we play. We're going to do everything we can that he saw in us to give us this opportunity."
Getting this opportunity because the NHL isn't participating in the Olympics for the first time since 1994 is something Granato believes helped grow a brotherhood among his 25 players.
"They all realize they have a unique opportunity and they're very similar in lots of different ways," he said.
Follow Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
More AP Olympics: https://wintergames.ap.org
This story has been updated to correct Gionta's age.


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Have you ever wondered what, if anything at all, Amway has to do with the Order of Charlemagne? Or how they are both connected to the modern business of public opinion research?? All this, and more, will be revealed in what follows.
This is a somewhat longish post, the bulk of which is divided up into four parts:
Part One focuses on George Gallup Jr, who has been, at times, very up front about how he uses the family business as a way to promulgate his own religious agenda.
Part Two discusses the strange idea of "Spiritual Capital", and also focuses on connections between the Gallups and the Templetons.
Part Three concerns the Cliftons, who bought The Gallup Organization in 1988.
Part Four focuses on the Christian "philanthropy" of the Pew Trusts, with special attention to Luis Lugo, Director of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
There is also a very brief Conclusion.
While there is nothing new here, information-wise, I think there is some value in assembling this material in one place and attempting to provide a narrative tying things together. I hope that if you actually bother to read through all this, it will convince you to not look to outfits like Gallup, Templeton, Pew, etc, as sources of "objective research" on the subject of religion, but rather as purveyors of Christian propaganda, and rather crude propaganda at that, once you know what to look for.
Part One: George Gallup, Jr.
George Gallup Jr. (named for his father, the founder of The Gallup Organization) was a religion major at Princeton and almost became an Episcopal priest. For most of his long professional career, though, Gallup Jr has been somewhat circumspect about his intensely religious views. But he provided a glimpse of his inner life to Michael McManus in an interview for McManus' syndicated "Religion and Ethics" newspaper column in 1986 (for the youngsters out there, a "newspaper column" is basically a blog that is "printed" on material made from dead trees).
The headline of McManus' column for the last week of August, 1986, was The Powerful Religious Work of George Gallup Jr. The article is a mish-mash of Gallup poll statistics (about alcohol abuse, divorce, abortion, illegitimate births, and other signs of the decline and fall of western civilization) and homespun advice from George Gallup Jr. about how Churches "need to learn to think small", and how individual Christians need to form "small groups who meet regularly for fellowship, Bible study and prayer for each others needs." McManus refers to such small groups as "extended families", and says that "All readers of this column and every member of your church" should be in such an "extended family."
(Prior to 2005, McManus was primarily known for his column and also for the organization he founded called Marriage Savers: "a proven way to increase the success of marriage, reduce divorce rates, and provide a better environment for children to thrive." Since 2005, though, he is perhaps more widely known as one of the "journalists" caught taking money from the Bush Administration for "consulting" work, while writing about the very programs they were "consultants" for without revealing the blatant conflict of interest.)
A decade after the McManus column, which attracted little attention at the time, George Gallup Jr. seems to have decided to start talking more openly about his strong religious views, even going so far as to proudly proclaim that as a young man he had intentionally decided to go into the family business as "a form of ministry".
In January of 1996, Gallup Jr delivered a sermon for the program "30 Good Minutes": "a weekly ecumenical and interfaith program" on WTTW 11 (PBS) in Chicago. In his sermon, Gallup talks up his interest in small, home-based bible-study groups which he refers to as "Covenant Groups": "in which we share stories of how God is working in our lives, reflect on Bible passages, and how these apply to our daily lives, and join together in deep prayer."
Gallup also did an interview with one of the hosts of "30 Good Minutes", Floyd Brown. Here is a excerpt:
Brown: I want you to tell me about your cell group. You told us earlier about how you meet each week. What do you do at these meetings?Later that same year, George M. Anderson (a Jesuit priest) interviewed Gallup Jr for America, The National Catholic Weekly. The resulting article, titled "Talking About Religion: An Interview With George H. Gallup Jr." begins like this:
Gallup: Well I'm very, very excited about it. It's been the most important thing in my faith journey and my wife's faith journey. Basically we come together to share our lives and we come together to reflect upon the Bible, what it means to us in our daily lives. It's not really a head trip, it's a heart trip. And also these groups empower us for service to others. So it's really a transformational process. It's not a discussion group; it's an enriching group.
"The light of Christ is shining through in a number of ways. The presence of the saints among us, ordinary people leading exceptionally good lives, is a sign of that light."Then there came a puff piece in the Dallas Morning News (May 2, 1998) that positively gushes with Gallop Jr's missionary zeal. That article was later reprinted in Christian Ethics Today, with a note from the Editor that states "My own acquaintance with and appreciation for George Gallup, Jr. tracks closely with that of the author of this piece." The author, Diane Winston (who is now a professor at USC and a frequent contributor to religiondispatches.com), makes her own feelings quite clear when she praises Gallup as a "Spirit-filled layman". Here, Gallup once again talks about his "Covenant-Groups":
Mr. Gallup is keenly aware of his flaws. To stay honest and in touch with his "brokenness," he participates in small groups for prayer and fellowship. He also "practices the presence of God."Kingsley Gallup, wife of George Gallup Jr, was also active in and enthusiastic about the bible study groups at their home, and, along with her husband, she often spoke at churches around the country encouraging the formation of similar home-based "Covenant Groups" (she died in 2007). Kingsley was also a member of the Board of Directors of "VirtueOnline": "The Voice for Global Orthodox Anglicanism", and she, along with other members of the Gallup family, had formed the George Gallup International Institute in 1988, in honor of the family patriarch, George Sr. The Institute is a non-profit with the mission to "discover, test, and implement new ideas for society". George and Kingsley's son, George Gallup III, now sits on the Board of Directors of the Trinity School for Ministry, which describes itself as "An evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition," and whose motto is "Forming Christian Leaders for Mission." George Gallup III is also Chairman of the Gallup Institute.
"If you believe God is here at any point, then God is here all the time," said Mr. Gallup, who notes God's presence by praying throughout the day. "The pieces fit together when you try to submit your life to God."
While many Americans would voice similar sentiments, Mr. Gallup's polls suggest that few really know what they believe, much less how to put it into practice.
"People's faith is broad but not deep," he said. "There's a lack of charity, and spiritual disciplines—such as fasting, prayer, and meditation—have been ignored. The one good sign is the growth of the small-group movement. That's where people can find a place to be vulnerable and honest."
Obviously George Gallup Jr and his immediate family are "free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion" as Thomas Jefferson put it so eloquently. But the question is raised: what, exactly, is The Gallup Organization really up to? Jefferson had in mind citizens who openly and directly "profess" and "maintain" their beliefs in an honest and forthright manner, not those who deceitfully seek to influence the public without disclosing their true intentions. It is interesting to recall that Jefferson's proposed Act for Establishing Religious Freedom was strongly opposed by Christians who threw their support behind a counterproposal titled A Bill establishing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion (which was backed by Patrick Henry among others). Jefferson's bill was written in 1779, and was not finally passed until 1786, over the strong objections of Christians who wanted to have public subsidies for the promulgation of their religion.
In fact, both Congregationalists and Anglicans (the Gallups tend to be devout, and self-described "orthodox", Anglicans) in the colonies enjoyed public financial support from the Crown up until 1776. After the Declaration of Independence both denominations sought to convince the individual states to continue this subsidy, although they were now willing, in the spirit of democracy, to allow individual taxpayers a say in which Christian denomination their tax dollars would support. Such "Assessments" were actually approved by the state legislatures in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maryland and Georgia.
Part Two: Spiritual Capital
In January 2007 the Gallup organization and the Spiritual Enterprise Institute jointly released their "Spiritual State of the Union" report. The report was commissioned and paid for by the Spiritual Enterprise Institute, but the actual research and the writing of the report were done by Gallup. Although the press-release makes the claim that: "This is the first comprehensive survey of its kind since 1999," in fact Gallup had actually done another "Spiritual State of the Union" study in 2003, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania.
The Spiritual Enterprise Institute (SEI, with offices in New York, Washington DC, and Palm Beach) turns out to be quite an interesting organization in its own right. The only thing at the SEI website main page other than glowing references to their (now almost three years old) Spiritual State of the Union report, is a link to a video featuring Michael Novak, a prominent Catholic writer and philosopher who publicly supported Mitt Romney in the 2008 Republican primaries (although Novak also claims to be a "life-long Democrat"). In the video, Novak drones on about something that he calls "Spiritual Capital".
What, pray tell, is Spiritual Capital? Fortunately there is a Spiritual Capital Research Program that has been established to answer just such questions. Interestingly, this Program is "generously supported by funding from the John Templeton Foundation", which, in turn, also provided "the initial funding needed to organize and launch the Spiritual Enterprise Institute"! It all sounds very cozy. But it's even cozier than that: the Templeton Foundation also funded a 2000 Gallup survey to find out how many people, broken down by age group, "say they believe in God or a universal spirit", and Templeton also funded a "Biblical Literacy Report" conducted in 2005 by Gallup.
But I digress. Here is an extended excerpt from the Spiritual Capital Research Program website:
But now let's return to the Spiritual Enterprise Institute for a moment. The SEI is the brainchild of Theodore Roosevelt
The concept of spiritual capital builds on recent research on social capital, which shows that religion is a major factor in the formation of social networks and trust. In addition, the impetus for focusing specifically on spiritual capital draws on the growing recognition in economics and other social sciences that religion is not epiphenomenal, nor is it fading from public significance in the 21 st century, and the importance to social/economic dynamics of human economic intangibles. Recent developments in the social sciences suggest a growing openness to nonmaterial factors, such as the radius of trust, behavioral norms, and religion as having profound economic, political, and social consequences.
Scholars have already made important advances in the areas of human capital and social capital. Both concepts are associated with the pioneering work of the economist Gary Becker (University of Chicago and 1992 Nobel Laureate in Economics). The specific term "spiritual capital" has been used variously over the past decade by scholars such as Robert Fogel, an economist from the University of Chicago and 1993 Nobel Laureate in Economics, and University of Pennsylvania political scientist John DiIulio. Broadly, spiritual capital may be construed to refer to that aspect of social capital linked with religion and/or spirituality. In one sense, then, spiritual capital might be a subset of social capital. Given that Robert Putnam's influential work on social capital found that religion is by far the largest generator of social capital in the United States, contributing to more than half of the social capital in the country, this is a major subset and thus an area of worthy study on its own.
Although the concept of spiritual capital remains relatively broad at the outset of this initiative, it will be important for the researchers' to define the concept in a clear and compelling way that draws on existing research, can be measured, and points the way toward new findings. As a first step toward this greater conceptual clarity, Metanexus organized a strategic planning meeting on October 9 & 10, 2003 to assess the potential for a spiritual capital initiative The focus of this meeting was to identify key questions for research and assess the potential for interdisciplinary research on the positive "externalities" of religious and spiritual commitments. The working definition of spiritual capital developed for that meeting was:The effects of spiritual and religious practices, beliefs, networks and institutions that have a measurable impact on individuals, communities and societies.
We have provided several papers and the beginnings of a literature review generated from that meeting, which discuss different conceptions and understandings of spiritual capital. We not only acknowledge the existence of different understandings of spiritual capital, but also seek proposals that reflect diverse methodologies in studying the topic. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are necessary to gain a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of spiritual capital.
"Ted" Malloch is a well connected and well-traveled fellow. He has worked for the UN, the Aspen Institute, the World Economic Development Congress, and the World Economic Forum. Malloch also claims to be a "Research Professor" at Yale, although he's a little vague on the details of this faculty position. And, not surprisingly, he is also on the Board of Directors of the Spiritual Capital Research Program, as well being on the Boards of the Templeton Foundation and Yale Divinity School. He is listed as a "Key Christian Business Leader" by the group Business By The Book, which is dedicated to providing a platform for "amazing leaders" from the "business world" to "share their life experiences but most importantly about their faith in God and its positive impact in their business and personal life."
Gee, that name Templeton keeps coming up, doesn't it? What would happen if someone were to do a google search just on the names Templeton and Gallup? Why, you would discover that Annette Templeton is the "Global Chief of Principals" for The Gallup Organization. And that John M. Templeton Jr. is on the Board of the Gallup Instiute. Templeton was on the Friends of Guiliani Exploratory Committee and is a member of some outfit called The Order of Charlegmagne (whose mission is to "bring into one group the descendants of his successors and heirs")! One also finds out that the Templeton Foundation funds the annual Seligman Award, part of which is a subsidy to help pay for the lucky winner to attend the annual Gallup International Positive Psychology Summit.
The Seligman Award, referred to above, is named for Martin P. Seligman, who, among many other accomplishments, is a past President of the American Psychological Association. In her 2008 book, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals Jane Mayer writes
In the spring of 2002, the period during which the CIA was probing what it could do to Zubaydya, Seligman was invited by the CIA to speak at the Navy's SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) school in San Diego. Among the organizers was Kirk Hubbard, Director of Behavioral Sciences Research at the CIA until 2005. Neither Hubbard nor Seligman would comment on the special briefing. But in an email Seligman acknowledged that he spoke for three hours. Seligman emphasized that his talk was aimed at helping American soldiers "resist torture," not inflict it. But whether Seligman wanted his discoveries applied as they were or not, Mithcell [James Mitchell, a psychologist who works for the SERE Program] cited the uses of Learned Helplessness in handling human detainees. According to Steve Kleinman, a reserve Air Force colonel and an experience interrogator who has known Mitchell professionally for years. "Learned Helplessness was his whole paradigm." Mitchell, he said, "draws diagrams showing what he says is the whole cycle. It starts with isolation. Then they eliminate the prisoner's ability to forecast the future -- when their next meal is -- when they can go to the bathroom. It creates dread and dependency. It was the KGB model.Did I mention that the annual Seligman Award is part of the Templeton Foundation's efforts to promote "Authentic Happiness" and it "seeks to recognize talent and promise among young researchers exploring topics in the emerging field of positive psychology"?? Don't you feel more positive already?
Another thing that popped up when I did that google search mentioned above was a March 2009 article from religiondispatches.org, by Nathan Schneider entitled Seeing What They Wanna See: Religion Surveys Reflect Surveyors. I would encourage everyone reading this blog entry to follow that link and read Schneider's article for yourself. For now I will just provide this excerpt:
Thanks to Public Law 94-521, passed by Congress in 1976, the national census is prohibited from collecting information about religion. Keeping score in the American religious marketplace, therefore, has become a free-for-all among privately-funded polls and studies, and sectarian concerns have always hovered nearby. America's best known pollster, George Gallup, was a devoted Christian, as is George Barna, whose Barna Group specializes in religion polls. In recent years, large foundations with religious roots have entered the field, bankrolling surveys and publicizing the results, notably the Lilly Endowment, which "exists to support the causes of religion, education and community development," and the Pew Charitable Trusts.Way back in 1997 Slate Magazine's David Plotz did a piece on Sir John Marks Templeton, titled "God's Venture Capitalist". Plotz describes Templeton as "the defining philanthropist of our time ... [a] religious philanthropist, investment wizard, amateur philosopher, and full-bore crank." I'll have more to say about Sir John, with more excerpts from Plotz' profile, in a future installment in this series.
One notable example is the John Templeton Foundation, founded in 1987 by the Presbyterian investor whose name it bears. It gave away $70 million in grants last year and boasts an annual Templeton Prize with a larger payout than the Nobel. Among fields as diverse as economics, theology, history, education, physics, neuroscience, and medicine, Templeton has become a force to be reckoned with in the sociology of religion. Some believe that Templeton's syncretist approach to religion and reason is too weighted toward the theological.
"This is a really awkward time in the sociology of religion," says Darren Sherkat, a sociologist at Southern Illinois University. He has noticed a "huge influx" of conservative Christians into positions of leadership in the field, editing journals and founding centers. According to his Web site, "I tend to focus on features of religion that are not necessarily so wholesome, with a particular focus on contemporary American conservative Christianity." This, he believes, has made it harder to get his articles published. "Serious research which questions the Templeton line that religion makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise is unlikely to get a fair review at most journals," said Sherkat in an interview.
Part Three: Meet the Cliftons
In 1988 The Gallup Organization was purchased by Selection Research, Inc (SRI). SRI had been founded in 1969 by Donald O. Clifton as a one-man operation that he ran out of his basement. Clifton was a decorated (Distinguished Flying Cross) WWII vet who went to school on the GI Bill after the war, and received a PhD in Educational Psychology. In addition to building one company from the ground up and purchasing another company (Gallup) Clifton has also authored multiple books on "positivie psychology" and was awarded a Presidential Commendation by the American Psychological Association in 2002.
After the acquisition, Don Clifton became Chair of Gallup's Board, while his son, Jim, became CEO. George Gallup Jr. told the New York Times that "his company 'was not in the black' when it was sold." That changed, big time, under the Cliftons' stewardship. According to Jim Clifton's bio at the Gallup website since the change of ownership, "Gallup has enjoyed a fifteenfold increase in its billing volume and has expanded from a predominantly U.S.-based company to a global organization with more than 40 offices in 20 countries." (article by Lisa Belkin in the March 6, 1990 NYT issue)
On top of everything else, Don Clifton also founded his own degree granting educational institution, the Clifton Stengths School, offering Masters Degrees and Professional Development for educators, managers and other "performance leaders". There is also an annual "Don Clifton Strengths Excellence Award" which is "presented by Gallup and the Clifton Strengths Institute". For 2009 there were four finalists for the award, two of them self-described Christian institutions. The winner of the award for 2009 was Lee University, "A Christ-Centered Liberal Arts Campus".
Lee University's president, Paul Conn, is also a prolific author. For example, he has written no less than three books on one of his favorite subjects, Amway:
The Possible Dream (1987) tells the story of Rich Devos and Jay Van Andel, founders of Amway:
two young and aggressive entrepreneurs, fast friends and fellow adventurers who turned a basement business into a billion-dollar-plus-direct-sales empire.The Dream That Will Not Die (1996) tells "the rest of the Amway story."
Rich Devos and Jay Van Andel had a dream big enough to embrace anyone seeking to change his life and willing to work to do it. Make it happen, they challenged. Write your own rags-to-riches story, build your own future within the framework of Amway. Hundreds of thousands of people have, spurred on by incentives like freedom, recognition, accomplishment, friendship and, above all, money.
[from the back cover]
Promises To Keep (2008) appears to be simply a rehash with maybe some updating of the first two books. The subtitle is "The Amway phenomenon and how it works."
Azusa Pacific University was one of the finalists for the coveted Don Clifton Strengths Excellence Award. Like Lee University, Azusa Pacific University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, which awarded the John Templeton Foundation its annual Philanthropy Award in 2006, in recognition of the Foundation's "leadership in expanding research, scholarship, teaching and public awareness in several areas which are critical to the work of Christian higher education-most notably in character education, spirituality and spiritual formation and the interface between science and Christianity."
Azusa Pacific University has a very interesting "What We Believe" section on their website, containing a number of "documents" outlining "where APU stands as a faith community". Below are some excerpts:
Christian World ViewPart Four: "The Wider Vocation of the Christian Political Scientist"
The Statement of Faith, Mission Statement, Statement of Essence, Cornerstones, and the Motto of Azusa Pacific University provide a solid foundation on which to build positional statements of the institution as an evangelical Christian university. These documents evidence a strong Christian commitment and form the core of the increasingly far-reaching nature and scope of the APU community. They give expression to a strong, clear, unswervingly evangelical Christian worldview that permeates the university and guides its activity. As its guiding center, the university is able to grow more effectively in the confidence that its Christian nature will flourish.
Statement of Faith
We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative word of God.
We believe that there is one God, creator of heaven and earth, eternally existent in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, and in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return to power and glory.
Human Sexuality
As an evangelical community of disciples and scholars who embrace the historic Christian understanding of Scripture, Azusa Pacific University holds that sexuality is a gift from God and basic to human identity as well as a matter of behavioral expression. We hold that the full behavioral expression of sexuality is to take place within the context of a marriage covenant between a man and a woman and that individuals remain celibate outside of the bond of marriage.
In 1999 Luis Lugo was asked to give an address to the biennial meeting of Christians in Political Science. The title of his talk was "The Wider Vocation of a Christian Political Scientist" (click here to go to the archives section of the CPS website, where you can download a pdf of the Fall 1999 issue of their newsletter, containing Dr. Lugo's remarks). Lugo has held a variety of positions at the Pew Charitable Trusts, he is currently the Director of the Pew Forum on Religion in Public Life. Below are some excerpts from Lugo's talk to the 1999 Christians in Political Science gathering (held at Calvin College, where Lugo had formerly been on the Political Science faculty):
I'm afraid I have to begin with a rather formal sounding disclaimer: "The opinoins expressed here are those of the speaker adn do not necessarily reflect the views of the Pew Charitable Trusts." Actually, at times, I will be speaking as the Director of the Religion program at the Trusts. So please attribute to the Trusts any part of my talk that you happen to like, and the rest blame on me personally....Interestingly, Lugo's brief bio at the Pew website does not mention his faculty position at Calvin College, his membership in Christian Political Scientists, or his stint as Associate Director of the Center for Public Justice, the last job he held before coming to Pew. The CPJ website has this to say concerning "Homosexuality":
I'm delighted to be here with you and to share some of my thoughts from the vantage point of my current professional perch. I've been out of the classroom now for almost four years (I was on leave from Calving working in Washington for a year before I took the position at Pew.) But since the focus of the Religion program at PCT is on religion and the public square, I continue to deal every day with religion and politics issues, just as I did in my former life. The difference is that now I do so not only as an analyst but also as an activist, helping to make things happen on the ground. I should add that it's precisely that combination -- analyst and activist -- that makes my job at the Trusts so professionally rewarding. As those of you who have dealt with us lately know, our approach to grantmaking increasingly is more strategic and results-oriented, and not all in conformity with the old model of foundations as glorified ATM's....
For CPS ... its mission needs to be framed in terms of the vocation of the Christian political scientist and its relation to issues beyond our strictly disciplinary concerns. In that regard, I would argue that the larger social reality with which we in the first instance must reckon is not the world of politics and policy, but of the community of faith. For the Christian scholarly vocation, as is true of other vocations, emerges "from the heart of the church" (Ex Corde Ecclesia).
As with everything else in our lives, then, our starting point as Christian scholars is the communion of saints. For it is there that we find our most basic identity. That means that Christian political scientists are, before anything else, at the service of God's people, providing intellectual leadership to help them as they seek faithfully to carry out their temporal calling as citizens. Now, to do that credibly, I would argue, we must be formed in our intellectual lives by the church's wrestling throughout its long history with political questions. As you know these range rather widely: from the foundational questions concerning the nature and limits of political authority, and how government should properly relate to the family and other institutions of civil society, to specific issues of war and pease and the provision of social services to the poor. These are matters which the church correctly has approached, not as something extraneous to the life of faith, but as a natural expression of its calling before the Lord. So as we do our political science and stay fully abreast of developments ithin the discipline, we must also join that other conversation, and enter fully into the church's long tradition of political reflection on these and other matters.
Paradoxically though it may seem, if we are going to make a distinctive and lasting contribution to the larger public conversation, we must make the Christian tradition our primary intellectual community. Might CPS have an important role to play in briddging these two conversations? I leave that for you to ponder. Let me quickly add, though, lest I be misunderstood, that what I am talking about here is something much more basic that the subfield we call political philosophy. In Catholic circles, it is often referred to as the social teachings or the social doctrine of the church. This teaching bears on the whole range of questions with which the discipline concerns itself. So this is not something simply for politcial philosophers, but for all of us. We all need a thorough immersion in the tradition.
We in the Trust are taking some steps along those lines through our Civitas Program in Faith and Public Affairs. In that program, which involves an intensive summer seminar followed by an internship in one of the major Washington think taks such as Brookings or AEI, we are targeting a select group of doctoral-level students who are working in policy-related fields. The point of the program is to build bridges: bridges between the students' academic work and the tradition of Christian political reflection, on the one hand; and between their life as scholars and their broader responsibility as public intellectuals, on the other. The goal is train, over the next few years, at least 120 of these promising young Christian scholars who will be equipped to provide that kind of leadership to church and society.
.... Through a major initiative which we are calling Religious Communities and the American Public Square, we are seeking to engage seven of the largest religious groups in this country -- from Catholics and Mainline and Evangelical Protestants, to Muslims and Jews, to African Americans and Latinos -- in a serious conversation regarding the current state of their own civic health and their future potential to make a significant contribution to the renewal of American democracy. Incidentally, this first inventory phase of that initiative entails rigorous survey work and case studies, and involves literally dozens of political scientists. I have also called upon numerous members of this craft, including Allen Hertzke, who is serving as our chief outside consultant, in crafting a strategy paper on religion and civic engagement that will lay out how we plan to build on the Religious Communities initiative. That paper is scheduled to go before the board in March.
We realize, of course, that if the larger American public is to be more informed on the role of religion in civic life, the gatekeepers of information -- the press, particularly political reporters -- must do a better job of covering this emerging story. That is why the second prong of our work focuses on Religion and the Media. The board just approved our strategy paper in that area (now posted on our Web site), and we will be ready to roll out the full educational program in 2000. I must say, even at this early juncture, and based on a couple of exploratory grants, that I have been very pleasantly surprised with how receptive journalists are to our efforts.
Marriage is one of the most important institutions of any society and should be recognized as a life-long covenant between a man and a woman that includes and legitimately bounds sexual intercourse (coitus). Sexual intercourse holds the potential for life-generation and should therefore be contained within marriage. From marriage may emerge children and the parental responsibility of spouses, who with their children constitute a nuclear family.Lugo described his work at CPJ as follows: "At CPJ I studied how to legally incorporate religiously-based organizations into the welfare system," (from the Fall 1996 issue of Spark, the Calvin College Alumni newsletter).
Homosexual relationships do not entail coitus and do not have the potential for life-generation. Consequently, such relationships neither constitute marriages nor, through procreative capability, can become families. The attempt to attain for a homosexual partnership the legal identification of marriage is thus a legal error based on an empirical mistake.
Public law does not create marriage or the family, which originate outside the political bond. But the law should recognize these two institutions and may, for purposes of public health and social wellbeing, support and regulate them. The primary aim of public recognition, support, and regulation should be to protect and encourage these institutions and the parental care of children. This is essential for a healthy and stable society.
If "domestic partnerships" are given legal recognition for the purpose of opening certain health care and death benefits to homosexual partners, the same privileges should be made available to non-homosexual non-marital partners and friendships. It would be discriminatory to single out one kind of non-marital relationship for a privilege usually granted to marriage partners while denying that privilege to other kinds of enduring partnerships and committed friends.
One of the areas that Lugo has a strong interest in is Pentecostalism. He is, for example, listed as "principle investigator" for the 2006 "Global Pentecostalism Survey Project", which was bankrolled by a half million dollar grant from the Templeton Foundation. Here are some excerpts from the Executive Summary of that Survey:
In all 10 countries surveyed, large majorities of pentecostals (ranging from 56% in South Korea to 87% in Kenya) say that they have personally experienced or witnessed the divine healing of an illness or injury. In eight of the countries (India and South Korea are the exceptions) majorities of pentecostals say that they have received a direct revelation from God.It is interesting to note that when Pew recently published a global assessment of "restrictions on religion", the report specifically cites the existence of a "movement in India which seeks to define India as a Hindu nation" as evidence of "social restrictions" on religion in India. No mention is made anywhere in that report of the fact that one in four American Christians "say that the government should take special steps to make the U.S. a Christian country"!!!
Pentecostals around the world also are quite familiar with exorcisms; majorities in seven of the 10 countries say that they personally have experienced or witnessed the devil or evil spirits being driven out of a person. Generally, fewer charismatics, and even fewer other Christians, report witnessing these types of experiences....
In addition to their distinctive religious experiences, renewalists also stand out for the intensity of their belief in traditional Christian doctrines and practices. For instance, in eight of the 10 countries surveyed (all except the U.S. and Chile), majorities of nonrenewalist Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word; but this view is even more common among pentecostals than among non-renewalist Christians. Similarly, large majorities of all Christians, renewalists and nonrenewalists alike, believe that miracles still occur today as in ancient times. But this belief tends to be even more intense among pentecostals and, to a lesser extent, charismatics than among nonrenewalist Christians....
Pentecostals' frequent attempts to spread the faith are consistent with their widespread belief that faith in Jesus Christ represents the exclusive path to eternal salvation; in every country surveyed except South Korea, at least 70% of pentecostals completely agree that belief in Jesus is the only way to be saved from eternal damnation.....
U.S. renewalists, like renewalists around the world, also often stand out for their moral conservatism. Eight-in-ten U.S. pentecostals say that homosexuality is never justified, for instance, and nearly six-in-ten charismatics share this view. Among the public as a whole, by contrast, roughly half say homosexuality can never be justified. Renewalists in the U.S. also are more likely than others to oppose drinking alcohol.
And just as renewalists around the world favor a role for religion in public life, the same holds true for renewalists in the U.S. For instance, nearly eight-in-ten American pentecostals (79%) say that religious groups should express their views on day-to-day social and political questions, compared with 61% of the public as a whole. And more than half (52%) of American pentecostals say that the government should take special steps to make the U.S. a Christian country, compared with only 25% among Christians overall.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with rich people (or anyone else) spending their money to support ideas they hold dear. But the organizations discussed above -- Gallup, Templeton and Pew -- all claim to be non-partisan and dedicated only to educating the public on the basis of objective, scientific research. The reality, and this becomes immediately apparent as soon as one bothers to look below the surface, is that all three are engaged in the promotion of Christianity. In the case of the recent Pew report on "religious restrictions" mere promotion of Christianity is not the end of it, as the report goes out of it's way to smear the nation of India and it's Hindu majority as among the very worst enemies of religious freedom in the world.
Here are some other online sources (these are all cited in the post above):
Will the Vitality of the Churches Be the Surprise of the Next Century 1996 sermon by George Gallup Jr.
A Measure of Faith Diane Winston's 1998 profile of George Gallup Jr.
God's Venture Capitalist 1997 Slate article by Marc Slotz on Sir John Marks Templeton
Seeing What They Wanna See: Religion Surveys Reflect Surveyors 2009 article by Nathan Schneider about how "Religion surveys have become a battleground for the American religious marketplace—and a magnet for big money."
And here are the previous three posts in the series "Push Polling for Jesus":
Comparing Apples and Bad Apples (on the Pew Report on "Religious Restrictions")
Baseless India Bashing in Pew's Latest Report (self-explanatory)
How Gallup and Pew Proselytize in the Guise of "Research" (mostly quotes from George Gallup, Jr, including the original "form of ministry" quote)


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Love for Karachi
A volunteer-led nonprofit project to write a freely licensed travel guide book on the grand South Asian metropolitan city of Karachi http://loveforkarachi.org/
CJ takes notice of threat to Karachi temple
Supreme Court Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani took notice on Monday of a potential threat to an old Hindu temple posed by construction of underpasses and flyovers in Karachi's Clifton area.
Source : www.dawn.com/news/1095399/
Karachi travel guide
For latest info related to Karachi travel you can visit Wiki Voyage
Voting Process for Election 2013
VICE Guide to Karachi : Pakistan's Most Violent City
" VICE explores the seedy underbelly of this ultra-violent metropolis of more than eighteen million people, and meet the players who make Karachi one of the craziest cities on earth "
Part 2/5: http://youtu.be/27CnlYGlFL0
Part 3/5: http://youtu.be/kkQ32S-urjQ
Part 4/5: http://youtu.be/yLfrK8irjtU
Part 5/5: http://youtu.be/YtIT3uUEgzE
website : www.vice.com
Number Plate
KMB reader shared this.
"I took it from my cellphone speically to share with the people at metblog . Acually i took the picture of number plate of the bike which was at my university"
Accident on Main Gizri Road
Content May Not Suitable For All Viewers


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About this download
This program will update Wireless LAN Driver (Intel) to version 220.127.116.11 and will have the followings:
- Improved driver performance
- Improved Wi-Fi Direct connection quality
Available Downloads:
Wireless LAN Driver (Intel) Update version 184.108.40.206
File name: EP0000600934.exe
File size: 84.31 MB (88405072 bytes)
File Info
File Name
- Wireless LAN Driver (Intel) Update version 220.127.116.11
File Version
- 22.214.171.124
File Size
Release Date
- 2013-11-09
System Requirements
- Windows 8 64bit
1. Download the file to a temporary or download directory (Please note this directory for reference later).
2. Go to the directory where the file was downloaded and double-click EP0000600934.exe.
3. Follow the instructions displayed in the installation wizard.
4. After installation is completed, please restart the computer.
To check if installation is successful:
1. Go to C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFiDrivers\Drivers\NETwew00.sys
2. Version should indicate 18.104.22.168.


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A few weeks ago I hosted Lea Bronsen and her Evernight Publishing release, The Perfect Shoot. If you missed that post, you can find it here. I'd had the privilege to review of love scene in that story prior to publication and it was scorching hot, so I'm well aware of the fact that Lea can burn up the pages. That is why I'm thrilled to help her promote her newest erotica release, High-Risk Fever, from Decadent Publishing. I've got it uploaded on my Nook as I write this and am eager to dive into it… as you should be too. Without further ado, please welcome Lea back!
Thank you so much for hosting me! I'm incredibly happy to share this new release. I started it in response to an erotica anthology call in the spring of 2013. The antho didn't happen, but I continued writing, broadening my genre spectrum from hetero erotica to GLBT and ménage. Though I'd already told the story of a gay boy in my debut novel, describing full-on gay acts and choreographing steamy foursome scenes so long they spanned over several chapters was a new experience and quite the challenge! *laughs* I hope you enjoy this wild ride of mine as well J
Two young and indecently handsome bicyclists visit a village in the French Alps during the summer holidays. Forced by a raging storm to spend the night at the local bed & breakfast, they invade the quiet lives of hostess Anne and her husband, Brian.
A power outage plunges the foursome into darkness, encouraging new liaisons to form, life-long secrets to be unveiled, and steamy lessons to be learned. But once the storm moves on, can the four find a balance and resume their normal lives?
Breathing deeply to calm her nerves, she approached the unfortunate bicyclist and bent to grab his handlebar.
Surely by pure coincidence, one of his gloved hands landed on hers, curling strong fingers around her small ones and helping her pull until the bike stood upright between them.
Still, even as he stood on his feet, his hand lingered, holding hers firmly on the hard-plastic handle.
Anne looked up into his face, seeing him for the first time. How in the world had she missed such a jewel earlier? Among tanned, Latin features, a pair of black diamonds sparkling with mischief stared back without shame. His long, black locks were swept back in a ponytail, revealing a single golden earring in his left lobe. Large chest muscles heaved beneath a tight, pink spandex shirt, begging to be caressed by a woman's hand, and black chest hairs peeked from the open collar.
Unable to believe the seductive intensity he exuded, she sucked in a breath and held it while the world narrowed. Her head buzzed. "What?"
"What?" The beautiful bicyclist used the same low tone, his full lips forming a teasing grin inches from her face. He was so near she could smell his hot breath. Intoxicating.
How had he come so close? And how long before her husband noticed?
Thankfully, Brian's calm, indifferent voice rose behind her, addressing the blond bicyclist. "So you're looking for a place to stay?"
"Yeah. We've already asked in several different villages on our way here."
Anne tugged at her trapped hand and took a demonstrative step back. "Please."
"Oh." Feigning surprise, the dark beauty lifted an eyebrow and removed his hand, allowing her to retrieve hers. "Sorry," he added, rolling a thick R with his tongue, keeping his lips parted a second too long. A move so deliberately naughty, her stomach knotted with need.
As she retreated, he studied her face with a grin, arrogance and amusement gleaming in his dark eyes, before turning his attention to the two other men.
Blood pulsing in her temples, she copied his movement.
BUY LINKS: Decadent | Amazon.com | Amazon.uk | Kobo
Add it to your Goodreads list!
High-Risk Fever will tour the book blog sphere with Bridging the Gap Promotions December 8 – 19. Look out for guest posts, interviews, and giveaways!
Lea has always had a vivid imagination and written since an early age. Now juggling life as a mother, full-time worker, and thriving author, she struggles to find any reading time – but when she opens a book, she wants it fast, hot, and edgy! Striving to give her own stories the same intensity, she currently divides her writing time between psychological thriller, erotic contemporary romance, and dripping erotica.
She loves to interact with her readers, so send a mail to email@example.com or come visit her on Website | Facebook profile | Facebook page | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Smashwords


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The Curricular Technology team has organized training sessions on the Course Hub and WordPress, a popular platform that has been in use at Middlebury for a number of years now. Below is more information on these sessions:
- 11:00 am -12:00 pm, Wednesday, August 31, Library 105
- 11:00 am -12:00 pm, Thursday, Sept 1, MBH 161 (Armstrong Library, Bi Hall)
- 4:00-5:00 pm, Tuesday, Sept 6, Library 105
- 3:00-4:00 pm, Wednesday, Sept 7, Library 105
These sessions have been scheduled before or after similar sessions on Moodle, Middlebury's new learning management system (LMS). Both of these platforms can be used for course sites. To learn more about how they differ, see: Curricular Technologies Platform Overview
To attend one of these sessions, please fill out our sign up form, see:
WordPress / Course Hub Workshop Sign Up


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As the Hispanic American population of the U.S. increases, with influences ranging from Mexico to Central America and the Caribbean, so does interest in literature inspired by those cultures.
Award-winning author Mayra Calvani has now edited a collection of interviews with 40 Latina authors living in the U.S. and writing in English. Latina Authors and Their Muses is an inspirational and informative book focusing on the craft of writing and the business of publishing, one that provides aspiring writers with the nuts and bolts of the business.
Purchase the ebook NOW on Amazon or B&N
Pre-order the paperback NOW on Amazon or B&N
Official paperback release date: December 15, 2015
About the Editor
Award-winning author Mayra Calvani has penned more than ten books for children and adults in genres ranging from picture books to nonfiction to paranormal fantasy novels. She's had over 300 articles, short stories, interviews and reviews published in magazines such as The Writer, Writer's Journal and Bloomsbury Review, among others. A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, she now resides in Brussels, Belgium