text:
Russian version of the article is available down the link
Each taxi company has rush hours when demand exceeds supply. Allowing one service type to receive orders of another helps to pass such situations smoothly. That is why we developed this option for our customers.
How to set up
To allow service type A to receive orders of the service type B you need to proceed to the company management >> service types >> service type B >> scroll down in "General settings" tab >> Press "Show additional settings" >> Move slider of Service type A to the right side.
So if you want for Business service type to receive orders of the Economy, go to the Economy service type and allow Business to work on the rate.
How it works
Let's allow business service type to receive jobs on the Economy rate. Once customer orders Economy cab, first of all the system checks if the there are any available taxis on this rate in the area. As we can see on the picture, two Economy cars are busy and one is available. So the order goes first to the Economy (green car on the map). In case the Economy driver does not take the job and no other taxis on this service are available in the area, the closest free(green) Business car will get the job.
How much the client will pay
Customer always pays for the service type ordered, not the one he/she finally received. Once a Business driver accepts the order, the system will introduce him to the client as an Economy driver. The customer will pay for this ride according to the economy fares. We do not advise to enable the option "Allow next vehicle types to receive jobs on this rate" for the services with higher level.
if a Business driver accepts the order of Economy, the client will see him as an Economy driver
Can my driver reject offer of another service type?
Yes, definitely. Once the the system offers an order to the driver, on the top of the screen it will show a name of the service the client asked. So if the driver accepts the order, he agrees with its fares as well.


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CNI Wellness Training Center helps to enable new students to utilize formal education along with their similar work experiences
Professional Massage Therapy Diploma Program
Associate of Occupational Science Massage Therapy/ Holistic Health Practitioner Degree Program
A strong, vital commitment to a diversified culture & the pursuit of evergreen learning towards personal & professional growth
Career Planning and Job Placement Assistance
Physical surroundings that aid the learning experience
The Professional Massage Therapy Program was created with the goal of preparing adults to meet requirements for entry level employment. The program is designed to prepare you for work in offices of chiropractors or in your own private practice. Health spas, physical therapists, and acupuncturists are other offices you should be prepared to work at upon graduating the program.
Dentists & Massage Therapists for Optimal Overall Health
Finding a massage therapy school is so important so more people can rid themselves of back problems and pain. But we also wanted to make sure our readers and future students in Santa Ana find a place to get their teeth cleaned and maintain healthy teeth and gums during their schooling. So we created our "
Santa Ana Dentist Finder
" page! Check it out!
Here's What You Can Expect at a Massage Therapy School in Santa Ana or Orange County
There's nothing scarier than the first day of school when you are a kid. However, if you're an adult and you want to become a massage therapist, you can find yourself just as scared. If you are ready to make massage therapy your career, then massage therapy school is for you.
The process involved with becoming a massage therapist is streamlined. There are many schools that offer courses and they offer various class schedules. You can even
take massage classes online
, which means it doesn't matter how hectic your schedule is, you should have no problems finding a school that fits into it.
Nonetheless, some people find that the process of becoming a massage therapist is daunting. At least at first. With that said, we will go over some of the basics, such as:
Choosing a school
Becoming certified
Choosing your specific field
Massage therapy schools operate on a for-profit basis, which isn't the case with many other educational institutions. The good news is there are many excellent schools out there. Many are staffed with professionals that can help you become certified, as well as provide you with career guidance.
Just remember, choosing a school to attend is very similar to choosing a graduate school program, which means you want to have a good idea of why you want to go to massage therapy school. You also want a clear idea of what kind of job you are hoping to land upon becoming certified. It is wise to choose a school that offers a class schedule that fits in with your schedule, which means you need to consider how many months it will take to complete a program you are thinking of enrolling into.
Also, if you plan on living in Santa Ana, CA, then attending a local Santa Ana massage school like the
NHI Santa Ana | Orange County massage therapy school campus
may make the most sense for your needs.
Choosing Your Field
The first step you need to take is deciding whether or not you want to go for massage or bodywork. Bodywork courses emphasize more on alternative medicine, more so than massage therapy courses do. This is a spiritual touch and it's one of the main reasons students enroll into a bodywork course. If you're not interested in bodywork, then the best route to take is to attend traditional massage therapy school.
The main thing you want to keep in mind when choosing your field is what kind of job you're hoping to land. If you want to work at a spa downtown that is trendy, then massage is the way to go. If you want to be involved with alternative medicine, then bodywork is for you. Compare the two before you make a decision.
Becoming Certified
Before you graduate, you have to become certified from a governing body in the field. If you engaged in classes, then passing the test shouldn't be difficult. Simply pay close attention to what you are being taught.
The best massage therapy schools are designed to help you get certified. Just make sure you have an idea of the certification you need and choose a program that will help you achieve that type of certification. After you graduate and once you have a certificate, you will be able to take the next step. That step is to embark on your career as a massage therapist.
We offer career planning and job assistance placement, as well as a professional diploma program. We also offer a holistic health practitioner degree program and we are committed to providing students with a place of cultural diversity and we provide them with related work experience in our training center. Our students have everything they need to succeed and to achieve certification.

subset: commoncrawl


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Liechtenstein Sex Guide advises where to find sex, prostitution, hookers, brothels, erotic massage parlors and escorts in Liechtenstein.
The Principality of Liechtenstein (German: Fürstentum Liechtenstein) is a small, alpine German-speaking country doubly landlocked by Switzerland and Austria.
- 1 Sex Scene and Prostitution
- 2 Where to Get Sex Now
- 3 Red Light Districts
- 4 Prostitutes and Sex Workers
- 5 Street hookers
- 6 Strip clubs
- 7 Brothels
- 8 Erotic massage parlors
- 9 Transsexuals
- 10 Gay and Lesbian
- 11 Sexual Services for Women
- 12 Sex Shops and Adult Stores
- 13 Escort services, agencies, escorts
- 14 Sleeping
- 15 Stay safe
- 16 See also
Sex Scene and Prostitution
In Liechtenstein prostitution is forbidden, but the prostitution will be tolerated by the police, but not the street prostitution, so you can find clubs and brothels in Liechtenstein, but nearly no sex worker girls in the street.
Where to Get Sex Now
It is easy to get sex online in Liechtenstein. You just need to find the best available girls. See Girls Online Here!
Red Light Districts
- Rossbodenstrasse prostitute zone located in Chur, Switzerland is very close to Vaduz, Liechtenstein. It takes only 30 minutes to drive there and it is definitely worth of trip. Some of the politicians want to ban the street prostitution in Chur, but if this happens, there are still many brothels for sex tourists.
Prostitutes and Sex Workers
Prostitution scene in Liechtenstein is nowhere near as good as it is in neighbouring countries Switzerland and Austria. If you go towards east to Switzerland there are many options to choose from like brothels and other sex venues. Sex prices in Switzerland are a little bit more expensive than what they are in Austria in the east.
Street hookers
In Liechtenstein prostitution is forbidden, but the prostitution will be tolerated by the police, but not the street prostitution. It is very rare to see any sex workers on the streets in Vaduz or any other areas of Liechtenstein. It is recommended to take a short drive to the Chur in Switzerland where you can find working girls from the street.
Strip clubs
- Coco Loco, Egerta 54, LI - 9496 Baizers (00423 399 34 11) - Table Dance Bar
Best whore houses are located just a short drive away in German and Swiss cities across the border.
Erotic massage parlors
There are no good erotic massage parlours in Liechtenstein where you could get a Happy Ending. Most of these type of sensual massage services can be received in Germany and Switzerland which are both a short drive away from Vaduz.
There are no trans-girl escorts in Liechtenstein, but most TS/TG/TV and CD girls can be found from Germany and Netherlands. These escorts like to also travel to Liechtenstein if you pay them enough. Price to have sex with a t-girl escort is about 200 to 300€ an hour, and it costs about 100€ more for them to travel to Liechtenstein.
Gay and Lesbian
Gay modeling in internet is getting more popular all the time and it's a big market alongside with gay porn. You can watch gay live sex also in Liechtenstein as long as you are connected to internet. Check it out: Gay Live Sex Video Chat
A domestic partnership proposal by the Freie Liste party (and supported by the gay group FLay) was adopted by the Liechtenstein parliament in October 2007. The Minister of Justice Aurelia Frick presented the draft of the registered partnership bill in April 2010 and on 16 December 2010. It was approved by the parliament in the first and second readings in 2011. A referendum was held in June 2011 and 68.8 percent of voters approved the law, which went into effect on September 1, 2011. A gay and lesbian organization, FLay, was founded in 1998, and organizes social activities for LGBT people in the triangular area between Liechtenstein, Vorarlberg (Austria) and the Swiss Rhine Valley.
Gays should check out the "Cruising World Erotik Markt" in Wels. You can see the location below in the "Sex Shops" section.
Sexual Services for Women
Ladies can find male escorts in Liechtenstein and nearby cities across the border. These type of services cost 100 to 200€, but if you wish not to pay it is quite easy to find sex partners from the local nightclubs and cafes.
Sex Shops and Adult Stores
If you don't feel like visiting or cannot find any local sex shops in Liechtenstein, you can easily order adult products from Online Sex Shop.
There are no adult shops in Vaduz, Liechtenstein and the closest ones are in Mels in Switzerland side.
- Erotic Markt - Cruising World Mels, (Riet Center) Wolfrietstrasse 4, 8887 Mels, Switzerland +41 81 723 93 00 http://www.cruisingworld.ch
- Magic X, Grossfeldstrasse 63, Mels, Switzerland +41 81 710 62 22
Escort services, agencies, escorts
Most escorts who work at the nearby German and Swiss cities do out-calls to Liechtenstein. The quality of the escorts is same in each country, but girls are cheaper in Germany, so it is recommended to order a girl from a German city.
It is recommended to rent a private flats instead of hotel if you are planning to bring prostitutes to your room in Liechtenstein as most hotels are quite small and they do know who is staying at their premises.
Stay safe
Liechtenstein is easily one of the safest countries in the world, though it is not without its problems. The most common crime in Liechtenstein is of a non-violent nature, though the Principality maintains a well-equipped police force which maintains a presence on the streets. In the late 1990s, the Liechtenstein Landespolizei launched a crackdown on prostitution in Vaduz. Considering the largest cities nearby are Innsbruck and Zürich, outside of Schaan and Vaduz, the whole place can seem very rural. Drunk drivers and winter road conditions may be your only "realistic" concern. Speed limits are strictly enforced by speed cameras which will be very pricey. Don't speed, enjoy the scenery instead!
The country's beautiful scenery is also very dangerous. Cases of hikers finding themselves in difficulty are very common, and extreme care should be taken when leaving the well-marked trails. Follow local advice, read local weather forecasts (newspapers in the Principality print individual forecasts for the different cities in Liechtenstein, which is beneficial because the difference in altitude often cause different weather conditions), and ensure that you have the correct equipment before setting out.
See also
- Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France, Austria
- Brothel, Escort agency, Call girl, Erotic massage
- Prostitution, Street prostitution, Sex worker,Prostitution Prices
- Red-light district, List of red-light districts all over the world
- Sex industry, Sex tourism
- Age of consent


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Circuit Court
Jury Duty
Adult Treatment Court
Family Law
Circuit Court
Interpreters & Accommodations
The Maryland Judiciary provides court interpreters for hearings and proceedings conducted in court, as well as certain court-related services and events, at no cost, for individuals who are parties or witnesses in civil, criminal, and juvenile proceedings.
Maryland Court Interpreter Program
The Maryland Court Interpreter Program created the following brochures to assist limited English proficient (LEP) individuals and their representatives:
Do You Need a Court Interpreter? (PDF)
How to Work Effectively with Interpreters (PDF)
Spoken Language
To request a spoken language interpreter for a court appearance, please submit a
Request for Spoken Language Interpreter (Form CC-DC-041) (PDF)
to the Clerk's Office for the Circuit Court of Calvert County. The request for an interpreter for your hearing should be submitted to the court 30 days prior to the court date, if possible.
Sign Language
If requesting a sign language interpreter, complete the
Request for Accommodation for Person with Disability (Form CC-DC-049) (PDF)
. Please submit the completed form to the Clerk's Office for the Circuit Court of Calvert County not less than 30 days before the proceeding for which the accommodation is requested.
Please see the
Maryland Court Interpreter Program website
for additional information.
Civil Differentiated Case Management Plan (PDF)
Criminal Differentiated Case Management Plan (PDF)
Family Differentiated Case Management Plan (PDF)
Juvenile Differentiated Case Management Plan (PDF)
Directions & Parking
Emergency Closures
Law Library
Request for Copy of Audio Recording
Telephone Directory
Visiting the Courthouse
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March 28, 2006, AFX News Limited
Schering worker representatives on supervisory board abstain on Bayer bid vote
FRANKFURT (AFX) - Schering AG's worker representatives on the supervisory board abstained from voting on the takeover offer from Bayer AG, head of the works council Norbert Deutschmann told the Financial Times Deutschland.
Yesterday, the Berlin-based pharmaceutical company said the supervisory board had voted in favour of the bid and that it would recommend shareholders to accept it, but representatives of the workers declined to vote.
'We didn't want to give them carte blanche,' Deutschmann said. 'As long as the effects on jobs and structures of the takeover are unclear, we decided against actively supporting the offer,' he added. Bayer has said it wants to cut some 6,000 jobs from the merged company's worldwide workforce. (firstname.lastname@example.com)
AFX News Limited
Bayer plans no further disposals to fund Schering bid; to cut 6000 jobs
Bayer AG plans no further disposals to finance its 16.3 bln eur acquisition of Schering AG and aims to cut around 6,000 jobs from the enlarged company, chief executive officer Werner Wenning said during an analyst conference call this morning.
Earlier today, Bayer said that to part-finance the acquisition it will sell two subsidiaries of its MaterialScience unit -- HC Starck and Wolff Walsrode -- as they no longer fit the core business. MaterialScience will in the future focus on polycarbonate and isocyanate chemistries.
In terms of job reductions, the merged company will cut some 6,000 jobs, or 10 pct of the total Schering/Bayer Pharma workforce, the CEO said.
How this will pan out within the two different organisations is still undecided, but a company spokesman said after the conference call that an 'integration-team' will be established to evaluate job cuts and other integration issues in the combined company. Bayer wants to achieve synergies of 700 mln eur annually within three years of the completion of the transaction.
Friday, March 24, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com
Bayer AG, Germany's biggest drug company, plans to eliminate 6,000 jobs after its 16.3 billion-euro ($19.5 billion) purchase of rival Schering AG. The job cuts represent 5 percent of the enlarged company's workforce. Chief Executive Officer Werner Wenning would eliminate mostly office jobs, he said on a conference call. Bayer yesterday trumped a 14.6 billion-euro bid by Merck KGaA. The Schering purchase would almost double Bayer's drug sales, easing concern that the pharmaceutical unit is too small to compete in the world market. Schering shares rose as much as 5.3 percent today, exceeding the Bayer offer price on speculation Merck or another suitor may bid more for the maker of Yasmin contraceptives.


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What stands unique to this year's elections is a mayoral candidate, of South Asian descent, presenting a serious challenge to be the first South Asian mayor that Metro Vancouver has seen – four-term City Councillor, Tom Gill.
The humble recipient of over 25 awards around the world has bigger dreams for those he's helping.
Heartbroken after seeing the Versova beach near his house filled with garbage and all kinds of trash, Afroz decided to take matters into his own hands – literally. He along with a senior neighbour started picking up garbage from the beach everyday.
Satyarthi realized child labour was a violation of fundamental human rights and so he decided to begin the fight himself. The fight was against the mafia and organized criminals.
Today, Vidya is counted among the top YouTubers in the world. Her mesmerizing voice is like magic that attracts viewers all age groups and nationalities, regardless of the language or genre the video is in.
The President/CEO of Superior Mortgage Force in Surrey has been nominated as the finalist for Mortgage Broker of Year for the 2018 Canadian Mortgage Awards (CMA).


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Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions of Demographic Determinants and Academic Success
Date of Award
Summer 8-2013
Degree Type
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Educational Leadership and School Counseling
Committee Chair
David E. Lee
Committee Chair Department
Educational Leadership and School Counseling
Committee Member 2
Daniel Eadens
Committee Member 2 Department
Educational Leadership and School Counseling
Committee Member 3
Rose McNeese
Committee Member 3 Department
Educational Leadership and School Counseling
Committee Member 4
J.T. Johnson
The purpose of this study was to examine kindergarten and prekindergarten teachers' perceptions of academic success for children based on the type of care children received prior to beginning kindergarten, as well as other demographics, which could cause variations in academic success. The researcher used a seven section multi-method survey instrument, which included teacher demographic questions, Likert-scale perception questions, and one open-ended question. Sections of inquiry included: Common Core, general academic risk factors for students, barriers to overall academic success, student demographics, and promotion of academic success for students. The survey instrument was distributed to prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers in south Mississippi.
Overall analysis of data suggested that teachers believed preschool education did have an effect on the future academic success of children, while contrary to previous literature teachers did not believe that demographics were a true predictor of academic success. Specifically, quantitative analysis revealed significant differences in preschool teachers' perceptions for the best facilities in which to educate their preschool students, and ideas of preparedness of children upon entrance to kindergarten. Descriptive analysis also suggested that both preschool and kindergarten teachers believed kindergarten entrance should be based not only on age alone, but also social, emotional, and intellectual preparedness. Individual scrutiny of each section offered additional data to support prior research and newly published literature.
Qualitative analysis supported quantitative results. With regard to academic teachers overall perceptions of early childhood education, teachers noted there were gaps in children's knowledge upon entrance into kindergarten. Teachers also believed kindergarten should be mandatory, along with funding for preschool, which correlated with recent literature. Falling in line with federal and state officials, south Mississippi teachers believed teacher education and certification is a must. Teachers' perceptions of demographic identifiers contradicted much of prior literature because teachers believed identifiers such as parental marital status, race/ethnicity, and gender were suggestive based on individual households. However, teachers' qualitative responses agreed with literature with regard to teachers needing to be more involved in their children's educational endeavors, and more educated. Also similar to quantitative data, teachers noted that children's education succession should be based on the whole child and not just age.
2013, Melanie Boyle
Recommended Citation
Boyle, Melanie Ellen, "Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions of Demographic Determinants and Academic Success" (2013). Dissertations. 76.
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons


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Home > About MRMC > News > 2016 > Milford Regional Welcomes General Surgeon to Medical Staff
Published on September 08, 2016
Nora Fullington, MD has been recently appointed to Milford Regional's active medical staff. She has joined the surgeons at UMass Memorial Medical Group at 91 Water St. in Milford.
Dr. Fullington graduated from New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY with a degree in medicine in 2009. She performed a surgical residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, where she was chief resident. Dr. Fullington completed additional training as a research fellow in pediatric surgery at Boston Children's Hospital.
"We welcome Dr. Nora Fullington to our medical staff," states Edward J. Kelly, president and CEO, Milford Regional. "We are very pleased to have such a highly trained physician join our surgery team."
An appointment may be scheduled with Dr. Fullington by calling UMass Memorial Medical Group in Milford at 508-458-4250.
14 Prospect StreetMilford, MA 01757


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Adding product to your cart
Sit or stand in your meeting area with this white meeting table. It's small enough to fit in a variety of spaces, and can be used for meeting or entertainment. It has a square table top and a concealed lever for easy adjustment.
Its dimensions are 36" W x 36" D x 27" - 42" H.


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Creative lunches the new HN-900, a full-size active noise noise-canceling headphones that can reduce ambient noise by up to 85%. The headphones is equipped with 40nm neodynium magnet drivers to deliver superior audio and the "concealed microphones in the ear-cups pick up surrounding noises and these are electronically negated, effectively reducing the noise by up to 85%". It comes with a detachable cable with in-line omni-directional microphone and switch for a convenient one-click call function for voice calls on the iPhone and other smartphones.
The HN-900 supports dual-mode operation, serving as active noise-canceling function for up to 40 hours by a single AAA alkaline battery or in passive mode without power. Creative's new headphones has a compact flat-fold design for easy carrying. It has gold-plated plugs and comes with airplane adapter for in-flight entertainment.
The Creative HN-900 can be purchased for $99.99.
[Creative 1|2]


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Preached in Bedford Chapel, Charlotte A Voice from St. Peter's and St. Paul's, Street, Bloomsbury, for the Benefit of being a few plain Words to the Members the Society for the Improvement of Priof both Houses, on some late Accusations son Discipline, &c. May 25, 1823. By against the Church. By a Member of G. H. Law, D. D. F. R. and A S. Lord the University of Oxford. Bro. 28. 6d. Bishop of Chester. 4to. Is. 6d.
By L.
Communications have been received from Messrs. Manning, W. Evans, and John Johnston, and from M., and Aliquis.
We admire Grapho's zeal, but he seems to overlook the virtues of candour and prudence. There is " a time for all things," and surely vothing would be more injurious to the cause of Unitarianism than to take advantage of a public meeting convened on the principle of agreeing to differ, to obtrude that system upon the unwilling ears of Trinitarians. Not a little appears to us to be gained on behalf of truth, when the discourses of Unitarian ministers on the common salvation, are heard by a mixed audience with approbation.
Monthly Reposttory.
No. CCXIII.)
[Vol. XVIII.
Mr. S. Freeman on the Prophecies of Isaiah, ch. vii.
Enfield, Of the latter, Pekah, son of Remaliah, SIR,
June, 1823. was now king; and, in the 17th year IN IN the year 1788, at which time I of his reign, Ahaz, son of Jotham, suc
was settled with a congregation ceeded his father as king of Judah. of Protestant Dissenters at Honiton, This latter had for some time past in Devonshire, as their minister, a been governed by kings who, in the discourse by the late Dr. Blayney, the main, did that which was right in the learned translator of Jeremiah, on the sight of the Lord; but who, neverthesign given to Ahaz, Isaiah vii. 14-16, Jess, did not exert themselves to defell into my hands. I was just about stroy the high places on which the that tiine, or had just before been, people use contrary to their law, engaged in drawing up for my own (as being nearer in their apprehension use a chronology of the Old Testa- to heaven, the habitation of their diviment history, so far as that alone nities,) to offer sacrifice and burn inwould carry me.
In the prosecution cense to the hosts of heaven. It inay of this design I had been minutely be reasonably supposed that, on this comparing many passages of the pro- account, towards the close of the reign phets with others in the direct histo- of Jotham, (see 2 Kings xv. 37,) the rical books. My mind being then Lord began to send against Judah, full of the subject, I was dissatisfied Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, with several things which were ad- Remaliah's son, king of Israel. Such vanced in the Doctor's discourse, and was the situation of affairs when Abaz penned for my own satisfaction the came to the throne of Judah. following piece, containing observa- Not alarmed at this appearance of tions on those parts of the Doctor's things, nor incited by it to turn unto sermon to which I felt objections. I the Lord and serve him wholly, he was, as will be seen, not pleased with did worse than his fathers; he walked the double sense of prophecy, and in in the ways of the kings of Israel, and relation to that had prefixed to my made molten images for Baalim (2 essay a quotation from Cicero, "Veri. Chron. xxviii. 24). Then Rezin tatis cultores, fraudis inimici;" think- and Pekah having made all necessary ing that the double sense savoured too preparations, came up to Jerusalem much of the ambiguity of the old hea- to make war against it. They besieged then oracles, and tended but too plainly it, and routed the army of Abaz more to sink the dignity of the former to a than once; but they could not overlevel with the baseness and duplicity of come him so as to bring him into the latter. If a performance that has subjection, or render him tributary to lain by me unnoticed for 35 years is them (2 Kings xvi. 5, 6, &c. 2 Chron. worthy of your attention, and suitable xxviii. 5-15, and Isaiah vii. 1). That to the purposes of your instructive Judah might be brought very low, miscellany, it is at your service. because of Ahaz the king, who trans
STEPHEN FREEMAN. gressed sore against the Lord, other On the Prophecies of Isaiah, ch. vii. enemies were brought
up against
this On the Prophecies of Isaiah, ch. vii. people; the Edomites and Philistines
Previous to the immediate conside invaded the country, and carried away ration of the prophecy itself, and as captives (2 Chron. xxviii. 16-19). introductory to it, it may not be use- In the midst of his distress, instead of less to take notice of the state of turning to the God of his fathers and public affairs at this time, and to give seeking succour from him, Ahaz sent a brief historical detail of the events unto the king of Assyria to help him. then taking place in Judah and Israel. And to induce Tiglath-pileser to come
These had now subsisted as separate to his assistance, he humbly calls himkingdoms above two hundred years. self his servant and son, and sends
him a magnificent present of the silver tation of the prophecy, and as to the and gold which he found in the house meaning of what the prophet had deof the Lord, and in the treasures of clared. The variety of opinion and the king's house (2 Kings xvi. 7, 8). difference of interpretation arise from God is always gracious, patient and what follows from the 10th to the long-suffering. He is willing, before 16th verse inclusive. But the chief Ahaz absolutely and entirely, casts difficulty lies in the 14th, 15th and liim off, by trusting in princes instead 16th verses. There is a general agreeof Jehovah, in an arm of flesh instead ment with respect to the explanation of the Most High, to try him, by clear- of the others, except so far as that ly manifesting mercy and love in the interpretation may be affected by the midst of deserved judgmert. Hence, meaning given to the three verses just when Ahaz is alarmed at the tidings mentioned. that Syria and Israel are confederate " Moreover the Lord spake again against him, God sends the prophet unto Ahaz," or as it is in the margin, Isaiah to give him comfort, and con- and literally translated from the Hesole him with the assurance, that brew, And the Lord added to speak though Syria and Israel had taken unto Ahaz; he, at that time, after counsel against him, yet it should not having inentioned what occurs in the stand, neither should it come to pass preceding verses, continued to speak (Isa. vii. 2, 3, 5, 7–9). "The head unto Ahaz, saying, as it there follows; of Syria is Damascus, and the head of or, if it was at another time, it was Damascus is Rezin; the head of nevertheless relating to the same Ephraim (or Israel) is Samaria, and things on which he had already spoken the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son to hin, or to such as were in some (Pekah). Within threescore and five way immediately connected with them years shall Ephraim be broken, that it "Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy be not a people." Such are the tidings God," which it was then usual for of comfort which Isaiah the prophet men to ask and for God to grant, in brought from the Lord to Ahaz the confirmation of what had been deking—tidings which, had he believed clared by the mouth of the prophet; in God, would have allayed his fears ask it either in the depth or in the and filled his heart with confidence height above," you are at liberty to and joy.
choose the sign from any thing on To this it is added, " If ye will not earth, or any thing in heaven, according believe, surely ye shall not be esta- to what you may deem most convincblished"-an intimation this to Ahaz, ing and satisfactory to your own mind. that though such as is mentioned in But Ahaz said, I will not ask for the 16th verse would be the fate of a sign, neither will I tempt the Lord." Samaria and Pekah and Rezin, yet he Not that he hearkened and readily bémust not thence indulge a confidence, lieved, without any such sign, what and rejoice in the expectation that he God had declared, and, therefore, did and his posterity would therefore be not need one for the confirmation of secure in possession of the crown and his faith, did he refuse to choose a kingdom of Judah. For though he sign ; but because he was an idolater, would be saved from the hands of his walking in the ways of the kings of present enemies, yet unless he be- Israel, and his heart being alienated lieved in the Lord, and turned his from Jehovah he hardened himself in heart towards him, neither should he his iniquity, and refused to turn to be established: his security and confi- the Lord, and give ear to his words dence would be then of only short by the mouth of the prophet. duration. In a little tiine the Lord " And he," the Lord, or rather the would bring against him other ene- prophet by the command of the Lord, mies who should woefully harass him, (for it is said, my God," said, and who shall finally bring him into " Hear ye now, O house of David," subjection, reduce his kingdom under of which family was_Ahaz, hearken their dominion, efface all its glory, thou descendant of David unto my and carry aivay the whole strength of words. " Is it a small thing for you the nation captives into a far country. to weary men," by despising what · Thus far Jews and Christians are they say, and ill treating them for all generally agreed in their interpre- speaking the truth ; " but will you
Mr. S. Freeman on the Prophecies of Isaiuh, ch. vii. 499 weary my God also," who has now connexion of the discourse, particuspoken unto you by my mouth, and larly from the striking expression of whose words you will not hear, but knowing "to refuse the evil and choose contemn? "Therefore the Lord him- the good," that the same child is here self shall give you a sign:" though spoken of that was before introduced you are so perverse and obstinate in to our notice. See his Sermon, p. 5, your rebellion against God that you note. will not believe what he says, nor de- 1. If it be asked, in defence of Dr. sire a sign, when he calls on you to K.'s supposition, for what reason do so, for the confirmation of your should Isaiah's son go with him, since faith; yet so gracious and patient is without that supposition his presence he towards you, that he will himself seems to have been quite unnecessary, nevertheless give you a sign, perad- it may be replied, that for aught that venture when you see the fulfilment appears to the contrary, the prophet's of one declaration, you may be induced son knew already to refuse the evil to believe the other also, and thus and to choose the good; and then the shall you save yourself and all your sign could not apply to him or he be house. Behold, a virgin shall con- the sign referred to in the prophecy. cei and bear a son, and shall call And that he was already sufficiently his name Immanuel. Butter and old for this, there is at least as much honey shall he eat, when he shall reason to suppose as the contrary. know to refuse the evil, and shall It is not said that the prophet should choose the good. For before this child take or carry this child with him. But shall know to refuse the evil, and to he and his son are commanded to go choose the good, the land that thou forth to meet Ahaz. And then, if we abhorrest shall be forsaken of both suppose him of such an age as to acher kings. But the Lord shall bring company his father, he might go with upon thee, and upon thy people," &c. hiin, because he was training up to " days that have not come," &c. speak in the name of the Lord.
Before I proceed to state what ap- 2. According to Dr. K.'s suppopears to me the natural and most con- sition again, the sign promised to sistent interpretation of this prophecy, Ahaz could not refer to the birth of it may not be amiss to notice some the child, spoken of in verses 14, other methods which the learned have 15; but to the event mentioned in adopted in explaining it, and to men- the 16th verse, that before Sheartion the objections which appear to lie jashub should know to refuse the evil against them.
and choose the good, the land of It is a commonly received opinion Syria and of Israel which Ahaz abthat this prophecy relates to the birth hórred, should be left desolate of of our Saviour, and this opinion seems both their kings. The question will
o have been much favoured, if it did then return respecting the 14th and not even originate in the application 15th verses, What was the design of made of this prophecy to the birth of introducing the prediction of such an our Saviour, in the beginning of the event at this time? The only plausiEvangelist Matthew. Hence it has ble reason which occurs is this: the met with many and strenuous sup- Deity would hereby intend to place porters, who in various ways have de- the certainty of the event predicted to fended their cause.
Ahaz, on the same evidence or ground 1. It is supposed by Dr. Kennicott of belief with all the predictions and that the 14th and 15th verses contain promises given to the children of a prophecy concerning our Saviour, Israel as a peculiar and favoured and that the child spoken of in the people, and especially with those 16th verse is Shear-jashub, the son of which referred to the Messialı repeatthe prophet, who went with his father edly promised throughout the history by the command of the Lord to meet of this people. Thus he would diAhaz; see ver. 3. *On what Dr. Ken- rect the attention of Ahaz to those nicott founded this opinion I know various prophecies and promises which not, not having had an opportunity of he had given in favour of that people, reading his sermon on this passage. and in relation to those events leading But, as Dr. Blayney observes, it seems on to that most important one of all, poure natural to conclude from the the coming of the Messiah, which


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Episode 100: Listener Feedback, and Mark Twain on Economics
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:18 — 25.6MB)
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Well, I made it all the way to episode 100! If you've been listening, thanks so much. If you haven't, might as well start now.
I start out the show with greetings and feedback from listeners. Yes, there are people out there actually listening to this, and I appreciate it very much.
Then we take a trip back to Camelot, as Mark Twain's character did in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". In that book, there is a short chapter about … economics. No, really. And it's trying to teach a lesson that, over a hundred years later, we're still having to relearn.
Mentioned links:
Hornet Archives (MOD/Tracker music)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, chapter 33 [Project Gutenburg]
10 Nations With the Highest Minimum Wage…and What They Pay For It
This is how the minimum wage is actually hurting workers
Wal-Mart Pay Raise Tops Minimum Wage For Half-Million Employees
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Show transcript
When my kids were younger, I read many books out loud to them. I was hoping to instill in them a love for reading, as well as demonstrating to them how watching the movie that was based on a book was not at all like reading the book. We started with shorter stories, like The Secret Garden, and we eventually worked our way up to The Lord of the Rings, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. One thing about reading out loud is that you need to come up with different voices for the characters, or listeners will get easily confused. I'd use my own voice for the protagonist, since he or she would presumably have the most to say, and thus I wouldn't be reading so much of the book in a made-up voice. Just a hint if you decide to do it.
One of the books we read was by Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In it, the main character, who lived in the year 1879, suddenly finds himself in Camelot in the year 528. One might consider it something of science fiction, on par with Jules Verne. But it's no fluff piece of tachyons and androids. Twain used the past to make commentary on his present; praising the good and criticizing the bad, with Twain's characteristic humor. I found myself explaining some of the vocabulary and concepts to my kids as I read it, but with the explanations, I think – I hope – that they were able to grasp some of what Twain was saying, such as they could at their ages.
The story gets off into such details that a movie would never do it justice. Some of these details and tangents let us understand how, for example, the lack of education had an effect on the peasantry of the day, and how it was used to manipulate them. There is a particularly relevant passage in chapter 33 that I would like to read today. The chapter is titled, "Sixth Century Political Economy". See what I mean? Not exactly the name of a chapter you'd expect to find in a Doctor Who or Star Trek novel. "Star Wars episode 7; The Economy of an Empire!" No, not gonna' happen. Yet Twain, in his entertaining style, manages to make such a discussion both humorous and educational at the same time. In this passage, which I'm abridging slightly, the protagonist is having an economic discussion with a local blacksmith, Dowley, after a nice dinner. Dowley is trying to demonstrate how the economics of the small kingdom he lives in are better than others. I want you to listen to Dowley's points and see if they remind you of something that you hear even to this day. Mark Twain, though speaking to people of his own time, indeed speaks down the centuries.
[Note: In the podcast episode, I cut out some of this text for time (and redundancy). This is the text of the section of chapter 33 that I took my reading from.]
At a first glance, things appeared to be exceeding prosperous in this little tributary kingdom—whose lord was King Bagdemagus—as compared with the state of things in my own region. They had the "protection" system in full force here, whereas we were working along down toward free-trade, by easy stages, and were now about half way. Before long, Dowley and I were doing all the talking, the others hungrily listening. Dowley warmed to his work, snuffed an advantage in the air, and began to put questions which he considered pretty awkward ones for me, and they did have something of that look:
"In your country, brother, what is the wage of a master bailiff, master hind, carter, shepherd, swineherd?"
"Twenty-five milrays a day; that is to say, a quarter of a cent."
The smith's face beamed with joy. He said:
"With us they are allowed the double of it! And what may a mechanic get—carpenter, dauber, mason, painter, blacksmith, wheelwright, and the like?"
"On the average, fifty milrays; half a cent a day."
"Ho-ho! With us they are allowed a hundred! With us any good mechanic is allowed a cent a day! I count out the tailor, but not the others—they are all allowed a cent a day, and in driving times they get more—yes, up to a hundred and ten and even fifteen milrays a day. I've paid a hundred and fifteen myself, within the week. 'Rah for protection—to Sheol with free-trade!"
And his face shone upon the company like a sunburst. But I didn't scare at all. I rigged up my pile-driver, and allowed myself fifteen minutes to drive him into the earth—drive him all in—drive him in till not even the curve of his skull should show above ground. Here is the way I started in on him. I asked:
"What do you pay a pound for salt?"
"A hundred milrays."
"We pay forty. What do you pay for beef and mutton—when you buy it?" That was a neat hit; it made the color come.
"It varieth somewhat, but not much; one may say seventy-five milrays the pound."
"We pay thirty-three. What do you pay for eggs?"
"Fifty milrays the dozen."
"We pay twenty. What do you pay for beer?"
"It costeth us eight and one-half milrays the pint."
"We get it for four; twenty-five bottles for a cent. What do you pay for wheat?"
"At the rate of nine hundred milrays the bushel."
"We pay four hundred. What do you pay for a man's tow-linen suit?"
"Thirteen cents."
"We pay six. What do you pay for a stuff gown for the wife of the laborer or the mechanic?"
"We pay eight cents, four mills."
"Well, observe the difference: you pay eight cents and four mills, we pay only four cents." I prepared now to sock it to him. I said: "Look here, dear friend, what's become of your high wages you were bragging so about a few minutes ago? "—and I looked around on the company with placid satisfaction, for I had slipped up on him gradually and tied him hand and foot, you see, without his ever noticing that he was being tied at all. "What's become of those noble high wages of yours?—I seem to have knocked the stuffing all out of them, it appears to me."
But if you will believe me, he merely looked surprised, that is all! he didn't grasp the situation at all, didn't know he had walked into a trap, didn't discover that he was in a trap. I could have shot him, from sheer vexation. With cloudy eye and a struggling intellect he fetched this out:
"Marry, I seem not to understand. It is proved that our wages be double thine; how then may it be that thou'st knocked therefrom the stuffing?—an miscall not the wonderly word, this being the first time under grace and providence of God it hath been granted me to hear it."
Well, I was stunned; partly with this unlooked-for stupidity on his part, and partly because his fellows so manifestly sided with him and were of his mind—if you might call it mind. My position was simple enough, plain enough; how could it ever be simplified more? However, I must try:
"Why, look here, brother Dowley, don't you see? Your wages are merely higher than ours in name , not in fact ."
"Hear him! They are the double—ye have confessed it yourself."
"Yes-yes, I don't deny that at all. But that's got nothing to do with it; the amount of the wages in mere coins, with meaningless names attached to them to know them by, has got nothing to do with it. The thing is, how much can you buy with your wages?—that's the idea. While it is true that with you a good mechanic is allowed about three dollars and a half a year, and with us only about a dollar and seventy-five—"
"There—ye're confessing it again, ye're confessing it again!"
"Confound it, I've never denied it, I tell you! What I say is this. With us half a dollar buys more than a dollar buys with you—and therefore it stands to reason and the commonest kind of common-sense, that our wages are higher than yours."
He looked dazed, and said, despairingly:
"Verily, I cannot make it out. Ye've just said ours are the higher, and with the same breath ye take it back."
"Oh, great Scott, isn't it possible to get such a simple thing through your head? Now look here—let me illustrate. We pay four cents for a woman's stuff gown, you pay 8.4.0, which is four mills more than double . What do you allow a laboring woman who works on a farm?"
"Two mills a day."
"Very good; we allow but half as much; we pay her only a tenth of a cent a day; and—"
"Again ye're conf—"
"Wait! Now, you see, the thing is very simple; this time you'll understand it. For instance, it takes your woman 42 days to earn her gown, at 2 mills a day—7 weeks' work; but ours earns hers in forty days—two days short of 7 weeks. Your woman has a gown, and her whole seven weeks wages are gone; ours has a gown, and two days' wages left, to buy something else with. There—now you understand it!"
He looked—well, he merely looked dubious, it's the most I can say; so did the others. I waited—to let the thing work. Dowley spoke at last—and betrayed the fact that he actually hadn't gotten away from his rooted and grounded superstitions yet. He said, with a trifle of hesitancy:
"But—but—ye cannot fail to grant that two mills a day is better than one."
Shucks! Well, of course, I hated to give it up. So I chanced another flyer:
"Let us suppose a case. Suppose one of your journeymen goes out and buys the following articles:
"1 pound of salt; 1 dozen eggs; 1 dozen pints of beer; 1 bushel of wheat; 1 tow-linen suit; 5 pounds of beef; 5 pounds of mutton.
"The lot will cost him 32 cents. It takes him 32 working days to earn the money—5 weeks and 2 days. Let him come to us and work 32 days at half the wages; he can buy all those things for a shade under 14 1/2 cents; they will cost him a shade under 29 days' work, and he will have about half a week's wages over. Carry it through the year; he would save nearly a week's wages every two months, your man nothing; thus saving five or six weeks' wages in a year, your man not a cent. Now I reckon you understand that 'high wages' and 'low wages' are phrases that don't mean anything in the world until you find out which of them will buy the most!"
It was a crusher.
But, alas! it didn't crush. No, I had to give it up. What those people valued was high wages ; it didn't seem to be a matter of any consequence to them whether the high wages would buy anything or not. They stood for "protection," and swore by it, which was reasonable enough, because interested parties had gulled them into the notion that it was protection which had created their high wages. I proved to them that in a quarter of a century their wages had advanced but 30 per cent., while the cost of living had gone up 100; and that with us, in a shorter time, wages had advanced 40 per cent. while the cost of living had gone steadily down. But it didn't do any good. Nothing could unseat their strange beliefs.
OK, does any of this sound familiar? What economic debate are we having today that this exchange very closely mirrors?
I have been seeing posts and graphics on Facebook and Twitter about the minimum wages in various countries where it's higher than in the US, sometimes with the admonition to "Like if the US should catch up with the rest of the world". And when I see those posts, I can't help but think that Dowley, were he to be transported 1500 years into the future, would himself shake his head in vigorous agreement, still stuck with his "strange beliefs".
But, while I have a link in the show notes directly to chapter 33 of Connecticut Yankee (and reading the rest of the chapter brings its own humor and education), I have another one that lists the top 10 countries with the highest minimum wage, but brings in more of the rest of the story. Items like income and sales taxation are also listed so that, as Twain's protagonist would point out, the actual purchasing power can be better understood. Maybe the reason the minimum wage is higher in those countries is so that the masses can afford to pay the higher taxes.
And yet I hear some begin their rebuttal with, "But—but—ye cannot fail to grant that ten dollars an hour is better than seven."
The tax situation is not all of the rest of the story, though it is a burden that the Left just can't stop from increasing. However, there are others portions, such as what Twain's character notes; the cost of living in other places. Not just taxes, but the actual cost of goods. Even from one state, or even city, to another right here in the US, the cost of living can be vastly different. And then there's the inflation rates. And then there's the effect of mandated higher wages on small businesses who, in various cities around the country, are cutting jobs, shortening hours, or closing outright. And then there are certain union jobs that are pegged to the minimum wage, such that when the minimum goes up, so do theirs, making labor costs – and hence prices – rise at more than just restaurants and gas stations. The minimum wage number is one data point among a sea of others. The man on the street might not know this, but certainly our politicians do, and thus any politician who whips up his or her constituents with this one number is to blame for a failure in leadership; encouraging and reinforcing ignorance in pursuit of political power.
And let's remember that just recently Wal-Mart announced a program to raise the wages of its lowest-paid workers up to $10 an hour within a year from now. They are paid higher than minimum now, but somehow, without government intervention or union negotiations, they are going to get more money for their jobs. Somehow, someway, the free market – including a company's choice as to what to pay and pressure from the citizens; all a part of the market economy – managed to create the circumstances for higher pay. Wal-Mart, I am certain, has been planning on this for a while, perhaps by working on cutting costs, perhaps by increasing sales, and perhaps by dipping into profits. I don't know, but I do know they have done this on their timetable and introduced the new wages when the company was ready to do it. But when minimum wage legislation forces the issue, it's often not the Wal-Marts of the world that have trouble with it. It's the small business, the mom-and-pop store, those kinds of businesses that don't have the clout and volume of a Wal-Mart, that are hit hardest, either with jobs cut or businesses closing entirely.
Maybe our minimum wage does need to be raised. Perhaps we need a national conversation on it. But the conversation must include all the information necessary to make a good decision. If not, it is nothing less than the King patting Dowley on the back for having so skillfully defended his liege against the nonsense of an outsider.
Filed under: Economics & Taxes • Minimum Wage


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I feel so sorry for avocados. They have such a short life. Really, only one perfect day to be enjoyed at its best. And once you cut in, there is no going back. It's only downhill for the little lady from there.
My beautiful little Hass Avoacodo had been sitting on my windowsill for a couple days now, just waiting to ripen to perfection under the sun light. This morning, I reached up to give her a little squeeze and she waaaaaaas perfect!
Now my favorite part of being a chef begins… coming up with something delicious and creative with a few given ingredients.
My culinary wheels did a little spin that went something like this:
Basil on it's last leg of life, why not pesto (my recipe made with brazil nuts),
Marinated feta I'm currently obsessed obviously must be smothered on top (recipe)
A big hearty slice of bread, because what's better than crostini?
And all put under the sizzlin broiler to let the flavors really melt together!
Oh, and of course finished with fresh ground black pepper, sea salt and a drizzle of extra aged balsamic!
I was not planning on having an entire avocado for lunch today, but honestly, I didn't feel I had a choice :o)


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Ross now has four CD's under his belt, produced at the beautiful state of the art Escarpment Studio in Belwood, Ontario.
A purely Canadian talent, Ross now has songs charting in Europe. SEND HER ALL MY ANGELS recently reached #1, and before that BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE also reached #1. NOW AND THEN is currently at #7. As of this week, NOW AND THEN is at the #1 position on the European charts!
We expect more #1's in the future!
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Farewell to Nova Scotia
This of course is a song I didn't write but is an old Nova Scotia folk song which thru the ages I'm not sure if anybody knows who wrote it so it is branded author unknown.
It is a song that I like and that I can relate to being born in Nova Scotia. "Farewell to Nova Scotia" is something that a lot of Nova Scotian's have had to say…..some have returned and some never will but will always stay in our hearts in the same way as the old saying goes….you can take the boy out of the country but you can never take the country out of the boy….
My story is that I was born there, but left when I was 2 because my dad left because he had to find work in Ontario. So I left when I was 2 and I was raised in an awesome Ontario farmland community of Crown Hill which is between Barrie and Orillia.
When in my early 20's I went for a visit in Nova Scotia and stayed there many years and all my kids were born there except Doug who was born in Alberta. So all my ancestors come from Nova Scotia from the Tatamagouche/ Truro area and I am thankful for all the time I spent in Nova Scotia and the communities I lived in Tatamagouche, Truro, Bible Hill and North River.
I still have family there. One of my sons (William) lives in the Truro area.My daughter lives in the Tatamagouche area. My uncle Jim and cousins Sharon and Ross live in Stewiacke and my uncle Victor and Aunt Geraldine and cousins Marty, Cathy, John and Heather who live in the Wolfville area.
Also thankful for the many friends I have there too numerous to mention who I played on sports teams with or sang songs around summer campfires with or who I worked with on many building projects. So gratiful for all the lessons you have taught me and helped mould me into the person that I am today.
I guess when I'm singing this song, I think of "the mountains dark and dreary be" and the many times I've driven over Mt Thom on my way to Pictou, New Glasgow or Antigonish and the many many many hours I have spent skiing at Wentworth Mountains enjoying the sun and snow and wind on my face and all the sights, sounds and smells that go with it.
So Farewell to Nova Scotia is something a lot of us have to say for various reasons….. Career changes, we join the military or RCMP, company transfers, job situations, poor economy etc. Used to hear this old fella say some people back in the day would have some family who had moved to Boston and sent word back that there was work there and whole families left the small houses with all the furniture and all the beds made, the table set, all their possessions, moved to Boston and never returned to Nova Scotia.
Yes Farewell to Nova Scotia is something a lot of us have had to say. As the songwriter in this song said and was inspired to write about….he didn't really WANT to go, but he HAD to….because it was war time and the captain called.
Still the guy wondered if Nova Scotia would think of him when he was tossed and driven on the briny deep blue sea. Even though we all miss where we come from sometimes this songwriter was wondering if Nova Scotia would miss him and I think it is that thought which gives this song its appeal.
We all wonder that and we never forget about our roots and the good memories that shape us.


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When disasters occur, SBP helps state and local recovery leaders navigate the complexities of disaster recovery, set clear goals, and implement recovery plans that reduce the time between disaster and recovery. By setting a clear and aggressive path to recovery, community leaders can prevent human suffering and reduce the negative impact on the economy and the community caused by delay and lack of predictability.
The quickest way to finish a recovery is to start. Deliberate and informed policy decisions have a significant effect on the tail end of the recovery. SBP shares our insight and experience with decision-makers to help avoid common pitfalls in disaster recovery from strategy through execution.
SBP is committed to helping community leaders, elected officials, and decision-makers at every level serve the most vulnerable survivors.
- SBP partners with local rebuilding organizations and nonprofitsincluding community foundations and the local/regional affiliates of The United Way, Habitat for Humanity and others, in order to expand rebuilding capacity and jumpstart recovery.
- SBP's advocacy and policy recommendations aim to improve speed, predictability, and access to recovery resources for impacted communities.
Disaster recovery in America is complicated. For state and local leaders, especially those responding to and recovering from a disaster for the first time - the learning curve is steep.
These leaders must respond to their community's immediate needs while simultaneously accessing federal funds and designing long-term recovery programs that will effectively deliver millions, or billions, of dollars to meet survivors' needs.
We help guide municipal leaders, sharing lessons learned and best practices from SBP's work in previous disasters. We understand that community needs and resources available often vary from state-to-state and community-to-community. To that end, SBP listens to the concerns of officials and helps design programs that are tailored to each community.
If you have questions, or would like to discuss how SBP might be able to advise disaster recovery in your state or community, please contact us. We are here to help.


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Berwyn, PA
Vertex Inc., today announced that the latest issue of The Tax Adviser features Chief Tax Officer, Bill Brennan's article on the implications of country-by-country reporting (CbCR).
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development recently released its final version of a recommended reporting template and guidance for implementation of CbCR under Action 13 as part of its Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).
Planning for and complying with BEPS CbCR reporting and dealing with additional audit activity will place new, significant resource demands on multinational corporations.
Brennan writes about why CbCR is one of the most critical elements of BEPS and outlines the impact on corporate tax in the June issue of AICPA's The Tax Adviser.
About Vertex
Since 1978, Vertex, Inc., has been a leading provider of tax technology and services, enabling companies of all sizes to realize the full strategic potential of the tax function by automating and integrating tax processes, while leveraging advanced and predictive analytics of tax data. Vertex provides cloud-based and on-premise solutions that can be tailored to specific industries for every major line of tax, including income, sales and consumer use, value added and payroll. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, and with offices worldwide, Vertex is a privately held company that employs over 900 professionals and serves companies across the globe.
For more information about Vertex, explore Our Company or follow Vertex on Twitter @vertexinc.
Company Contact
Tricia Schafer-Petrecz, Vertex Inc.
Get the latest tax & technology insights from Vertex.


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What's next for Apple? Podcast
LOS ANGELES - This week Apple intensified it's battle against the government with court filings and public statements.
What's next for the company's fight against a court order calling for new software to open an encrypted iPhone? We discuss the tale of the iPhone used by a shooter of the San Bernardino massacre on this week's #TalkingTech Roundtable podcast, and look towards the big court date of March 22nd, when Apple and the FBI will meet before a judge in Riverside, California, which is near San Bernardino.
We also recap the announcements from Mobile World Congress, a huge wireless trade show in Barcelona, talk about the future of the Fitbit wearable tracker, which had a terrible week on Wall Street, learn about Masterclass, a fascinating new online learning platform that offers instruction from superstars, and look at how businesses are turning to sponsored text messages.
Our guests:
--Aaron Rasmussen is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of MasterClass, which offers online education taught by the likes of actors Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Spacey, singer Christina Aguilera, author James Patterson and photographer Annie Liebowitz.
--Matt Joseph is CEO of Locent, which provides text messaging services for businesses.
--Matt Krantz is USA TODAY's markets columnist and the author of the popular Ask Matt column.
Be sure to listen for Krantz's tips on how to surf online safely while in the air and our take on Facebook Reactions and the new super-emojis that go beyond the like.
Follow USA TODAY tech columnist and #Talking Tech host Jefferson Graham and USA TODAY markets reporter Matt Krantz on Twitter, @jeffersongraham, @mattkrantz.


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One of the most exceptional ways to healing the body and its soft tissues is through Microcurrent Therapy. This therapy is effective in relieving pain within the body. The therapy uses tiny amounts of current that produce specific signals that directly replicate those naturally occurring in the body. Because the current is so minute, it can often times go unnoticed to the patient. If you are suffering spasms in your neck or back muscles, this therapy is a great way to solve the issues. This therapy is designed to relax the muscle and allow it to rapidly return to its natural state. Sessions are short and do an excellent job healing at healing acute and chronic pain.
Schedule an appointment today.
I've been seeing Dr. Cahn for over 3 years now and love that he is relaxed, genuine, and personal. He has helped resolve issues with my neck, low back, and hip. I go in for the treatment, but it's probably the great conversations we have that keep me coming back!
Dr. Guzik is awesome. He's knowledgeable, affable, and passionate about wellness. He has a natural, easygoing way with patients that will put you right at ease. I have only great things to say about this practice and Dr. Guzik!
Both Dr. Cahn and Dr. Guzik are highly knowledgeable and skilled in providing excellent care to their patients. They were instrumental in getting me through an injury to be able to compete competitively in triathlon this season. I would highly recommend them to anyone needing high level chiropractic care!


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Do you know that the 2nd leading cause of death for 10-24 year olds in Missouri is suicide? Have you been asking yourself why there are so many youth suicides in the news of late? Do you want your schools to be a reactive school or a proactive school? Start by finding out if your state has passed the Jason Flatt's Act. This act requires all teachers in your state to complete 2 hours of youth suicide and prevention training each year. Not just high school and middle school teachers…all teachers. 19 states have passed the act so far, but Missouri is not one of them. Some districts do not implement or require any kind of training for their teachers on prevention. You might be thinking that suicide will never and has never touched your family, but maybe..just maybe down the line your child will grow up and marry the love of their life to only find their beloved dead in their garage one Wednesday evening with a suicide bag wrapped around their head…and be traumatized for the rest of their life. It can happen. I saw every single warning sign in my late husband, but only in hindsight. He didn't tell his family..he didn't tell his friends..and he sure didn't tell me. It is a "silent epidemic." I highly encourage you to visit http://jasonfoundation.com. Click on the menu option How to Get Involved on the website and fill out the contact form letting the The Jason Foundation, Inc. -Youth Suicide Prevention and Awareness know that you need your state to pass the Jason Flatt's Act.
January 28, 2018
Published by abovetherug
After my husband ended his life I was completely devastated and felt as if I was torn into pieces that could never be put back together. How could life go on? The emotional pain he ended was unknowingly passed onto me. I knew I needed help quickly. I joined a support group called SASS (Suicide Awareness Survivor Support) who supports the ones left behind after a loved one's suicide and also helps raise mental health awareness. I will never get over my husband's death, but I now know that I can get through it, thanks to SASS. I sweep nothing under the rug. By starting an open and honest conversation I hope to help break down the stigmas and start raising mental health awareness. Together we can stay above the rug! View all posts by abovetherug


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Two Way Radios
Lowrance Link-2 DSC VHF/GPS$199.99Link-2 is a feature-rich, floating handheld VHF radio that is Class D DSC compliant and features Man Over Board functionality and storage for up to 300 waypoints. It is ideal for everyday use or convenient storage in an emergency kit.
The Link-2 is full Class-D DSC enabled VHF. This marine radio has digital selective calling (DSC) capacity that meets the United States Coast Guard standard for all recreational vessels. You'll never miss a DSC call. Learn More
Motorola Talk About MJ270R$69.99Up to 27 mile range.
22 channels each with 121 privacy codes.
27 hr. alkaline (3AA) or 9 hr. NiMH battery life. Includes rechargable battery pack.
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Emergency Alert button and 11 weather channels (7NOAA) with alert feature. Also Built in Flashlight. Learn More
Motorola Talk About MR350R$79.99Range (Optimum Conditions): up to approx. 35 miles
Hands-Free Communication: iVOX without accessory
Weather Channels: 11 channels (7 NOAA) with alert feature
Channels: 22
Push-to-talk (PTT) power boost Learn More
Motorola Talk About MR355R$89.99Pair of two-way radios with up to 35 mile range and camouflage finish
22 channels each with 121 privacy codes for superior interference protection
iVOX hands-free communication without the need for an audio accessory
11 weather channels (7 NOAA) with alert features
10 different call tones including five animal sounds Learn More


text:
Your Journey
Step-by-Step Series
Optional? (Amarantine Issue 1)
Written by:
Barbara J. Cormack
Personal and Professional Development are inextricably linked. Whether you are learning something new for a personal reason or as part of your career and professional life, the core to the learning journey is YOU!
Purchase your copy to read the full article.
Awaken and Empower your Sixth Sense for great success in all things.
Eugene N. Nwosu (Ireland)
Personal Development saved my Life.
Curly Martin (England)
Burden/Chore or? Continuous Personal Development
Bettina Pickering (England)
An Option? or a Must?
Dr. Charuni Senanayake (Sri Lanka)
Personal Growth – Pleasure or Pain
Jenny Schmal (South Africa)
Is Personal Development Optional?
Steve Rogers (South Africa)
Your Journey
Step-by-Step Series
Barbara J. Cormack (France)
Denny Portier-Terpstra (The Netherlands)
Thought Provoking Quotes
Recommended Reading
Newest Trends
The Learning Style Controversy
Newest Trends
Take Action!
Accelerate your learning …
Tips and Tricks
Alternative Purchase Options


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Happy died last week, leaving my husband Jason and me to contemplate whether our preschooler was ready for the big truth.
What our dear three-and-a-half year old daughter, Molly, doesn't know is that her goldfish was actually Happy number two — the original kicked the bucket last summer and was flushed straight to fishy Heaven.
"Distract Molly and I'll run out to Petland and get another fish," said Jason as we watched our baby's lifeless pet go round and round the toilet bowl and disappear into the dark abyss.
"Honey, I think it's time to tell her," I objected, already knowing his response.
"Why upset her if we don't have to? She's too young to understand," he said.
Truth be told, I had another agenda.
With my 91-year-old grandfather in the hospital — a man who both Molly and her two-and-a-half-year old sister, Zoe, have become quite fond of — I figured it was an opportunity to prepare her for one of life's inevitable hard lessons.
At 31, it's still one l find impossible to swallow.
I may have taken him for granted growing up, but lately I've been soaking up every fleeting moment we have left together.
My grandfather, Leonard — a dapper Englishman who stands at 6'3" with a soft British accent, kind eyes and a cheeky sense of humour — has told me he's ready to go.
Recently, he suffered yet another big fall, resulting in a shattered disc in his back — just a few weeks earlier he had taken a terrible tumble and broke his jaw — his frail body black and blue from head-to-toe.
I know I'm lucky to have had him around for this long, but losing him will be like losing my own dad, again.
What I lacked in a father figure growing up, my grandpa made up for tenfold.
From taking me to one of my very first job interviews back when I was a teen to walking me down the aisle and helping me with the purchase of my first home, he has always been an important figure in my life.
While grandpa has been fortunate to escape the wrath of a terminal illness like cancer — a disease that robbed him of his wife and subsequently his girlfriend — his body is slowly failing him, limb-by-limb, so is his will to go on.
It's heartbreaking to watch grandpa, who used to be so able bodied in the garden and a wiz in his workshop, struggle to eat, breathe or even hug his great grandchildren.
Despite a generation gap of almost an entire century, Molly and Zoe get on quite well with their great grandpa — they look at him with the same adoration and respect that I do.
Unlike Happy, daddy won't be able to replace their great grandpa when he his gone, nor will he be able to fill the giant void it will create for his wife.
Knowing that one day soon we could be grappling with his loss, we decided to use Happy's death as an opportunity to teach Molly about life.
"Why did my Happy have to die?," wailed my little pint-sized princess as tears streamed down her face.
"I want her to come back, please bring her back to me!"
It wasn't the most comfortable talk, but as I'm learning in my 30s, life is full of heartache — situations that can't always be mended by a proverbial Band-Aid.
And while we recently welcomed a new addition to our family — a beautiful goldfish named Sophie — our Molls has survived her first big goodbye. I can only pray it's a lesson that doesn't come in handy any anytime soon. But if it does, our family is a bit more prepared.
Kristyl Clark is a stay-at-home mom who writes monthly for the Langley Times and is a co-founder of the women's lifestyle blog, Sex and the Suburb (www.sexandthesuburb.com).


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Courbes d'étoiles II - "Etoiles Doubles"
for solo piano
from the cycle Courbes d'Etoiles I - VI (a work in progress)
Paths of shooting stars. Dreamy attitude of the spectator facing the fragmentary decomposition of the molten material. Particles falling into the infinity of the human thought. One day, a friend, physicist, told me about the cosmic vibrations in relation with the sound world. The analogy thus took shape. The atomic fragmentation expresses the mirror of the spectral decomposition. Ears replace the eyes, the time drift our imagination. Calculations and poetry. With a vague question in my mind : could it be possible that the logarithms punctuate the musical waves according to their progressive numbers, creating the rhythm of a spectral harmony ? I believe it. Then, the most complicated was to imagine a relationship between virtuoso piano techniques and the fantasies created by the distortions of musical material. Thus poetry is born from virtuosity.
Courbes d'étoiles II, "Etoiles Doubles" (double stars) : According to a certain degree of remotness or proximity, the duality is playing with its appearance, either fusional or (in)harmonically sublimated in the transparency of stellar winds. In that maner, our musical "double stars" are dancing in a whirlwind of garlands of notes. But they also want to be metaphor of our human psyche. Unique with the oher, with a common vibration creating a new emergence. Maybe a vestige of the romantic Doppelganger ?
This second piece of the cycle "Courbes d'Etoiles" is defined as a tribute to Claude Vivier. Its premiere was given by Marie-Dominique Gilles, at the "Théâtre de la Balsamine" 1998.
Courbes d'Etoiles II
Courbes d'étoiles II - Marie-Dominique Gilles (Balsamine-2003)


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Journal of Lie Theory
Information for Authors
Articles must be written in English, French, or German. The preferred language is English.
Articles may be submitted to any editor by e-mail. Submission to more than one editor
will result in automatic rejection of the article irrespective of its merits. The issues of
the Journal of Lie Theory are directly produced from final TeX source files prepared by
the authors in a prescribed format which they achieve by using the JOLT-macro-packages.
These packages contain all necessary instructions.
Only unpublished material can be accepted, and authors may not republish their paper in
the same or similar form. With the acceptance of a paper for publicaton all rights related
to the reproduction pass to Heldermann Verlag. As a rule, Journal of Lie Theory does
not publish more than one paper of the same author in two years.
No page charge is made. Authors receive the pdf-file of the final version of their
article from the publisher upon request.


text: When God Talks Back Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship With God By T.M. Luhrmann (Alfred A. Knopf; 434 pages; $28.95) Anthropologist T.M . Luhrmann came to notice almost a quarter-century ago with her bright, groundbreaking 1989 study of Western neo-paganism, "Persuasions of the Witch's Craft." Her second book examined modern Zoroastrians; her third, modern psychiatry. In "When God Talks Back," the Stanford professor has come full circle, once again casting a friendly, discerning eye on a movement that is, if anything, more of a pariah, at least among secular intellectuals, than Wicca: American neo-fundamentalist evangelicalism. The form of Christianity we call evangelicalism, with its emphasis on personal holiness and conversion (being "born again"), thrives despite its controversial status. In fact, it has taken America by storm. Ninety-nine percent of Americans believe in God or a "higher power," and of these believers, 40 percent - easily more than 100 million - identify themselves as evangelical. Evangelicalism is, of course, a very big tent. In recent years evangelical thinkers like Alvin Plantinga, Mark Noll, George Marsden, Thomas Oden and Nicholas Wolterstorff have made cutting-edge contributions in biblical scholarship, philosophy of religion, systematic theology, American religious history and cultural criticism; these intellectual achievements find little or no mention in Luhrmann's book. Instead she focuses on a less-known, less-studied and generally less-respected corner of the tent, represented here by the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, a nationwide, middle-class, middle-brow, largely white church that adds to the typical conservative formula a rejection of scriptural scholarship and an insistence on the inerrancy, or nearly so, of the Bible. This is just the kind of group that gives liberal intellectuals conniptions: a church that displays few of the hallmarks - liturgy, sacraments, formalized prayer, an institutional hierarchy - of most of the great world religions, a church that is studiedly indifferent to patristics, scholasticism and other historical highlights of Christian thought; a church whose members draw most of their learning from pop best-sellers like "The Purpose Driven Life." What in the world, we may wonder, can such a church teach us? Quite a lot, as it happens. Luhrmann's goal is ambitious, even audacious: "to understand how God becomes real for modern people." By "modern people," she means evangelicals of the Vineyard stripe; by God, she means the Vineyard's particularized God, a personal being who invites our friendship, who intervenes in daily life, who can be talked to and who talks back. Luhrmann carried out her study with admirable thoroughness. For several years she joined in Vineyard worship in Chicago and California, attending weekly services at which she prayed, sang and cried along with the congregation; she participated in smaller "house groups" devoted to Bible reading and discussion; she interviewed hundreds of church members; she gauged the effects on Vineyard followers of such practices as centering prayer and guided imagery. This industrious undertaking produced fascinating results. Vineyard evangelicals, Luhrmann found, have evolved - although they have not yet successfully articulated - what she terms a new "theory of mind" or, put less grandly, a new way of exercising the mind, in which quotidian practices, and especially prayer, alter "the process of mind itself," so that believers "experience part of their mind as the presence of God," allowing them to live in the light of God's abiding guidance and love. This transformation, which can take years to complete, entails learning to detect and interpret God's activity in and through personal thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations; taking note of coincidences that may be laden with significance; discerning God's will in the Bible; and, occasionally, drawing lessons from visions or other paranormal events. These last episodes, Luhrmann insists, have nothing to do with psychosis. Such manifestations have been a hallmark of Christian mystical experience ever since a blinding light and disembodied voice knocked St. Paul off his horse on the way to Damascus. Luhrmann calls them "sensory overrides" and insists, convincingly, that Vineyard followers are as normal as you or I. Nonetheless, these evangelicals engage in behavioral patterns that will elevate skeptical eyebrows. One is their penchant for make-believe, which occupies an important place in their spiritual arsenal. Church members, for example, might set an extra plate for God at the family dinner, or pull out a chair so that God can settle down beside them for an intimate chat. Women talk of going on "dates" with the Lord; men prefer more of a buddy session. One source for this make-believe, Luhrmann suggests, is C.S. Lewis's advice in "Mere Christianity" that people "pretend in order to make the pretence into a reality." Lewis is not suggesting that believers deliberately lie to themselves or twist reality to conform to their desires. Rather, his counsel is akin to St. Augustine's observation, "I believe that I may understand." One believes in order to receive impressions that skepticism blocks. Vineyard members learn to perceive God just as a painter learns to see a landscape, by discerning lines, colors and patterns that remain, to an untrained observer, invisible. Eventually, make-believe matures into a faculty that Luhrmann calls "absorption," permitting "the Christian to experience that which is not materially present." The result, let it be noted, must fit prescribed limits. The God of the Vineyard is a benevolent purveyor of unconditional love. Nowhere is there mention of a punishing God or of hell, and heaven gets barely a nod. God is all-powerful but strangely earthbound. What the Vineyard offers, as Luhrmann points out, is a form of psychotherapy, in which members undergo a specialized mental and emotional training that leads the believer into new ways of knowing the world. These are important claims. They tell us much about the courage, discipline and devotion of Vineyard members in particular and of popular evangelicalism in general. Luhrmann's findings can also be usefully applied to the experiences of other religious believers. Catholic, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu: All proceed, one suspects, by a similar cognitive reordering of the mind, which to skeptics may be no more than an elaborate form of self-delusion, but to believers - which means to the vast majority of human beings - is a means of making the invisible visible, an arduous but infinitely rewarding technique for prying loose the secrets of the cosmos. We may regret the theological limitations and willful historical ignorance of the Vineyard church, which is surely a hamper on its efforts (how much more readily members might attain their goal by studying the classical evangelical theologians!). At the same time, we can thank Luhrmann for describing evangelicalism as it has always been: a potent means for awakening a personal sense of the reality, power and mercy of God. Philip Zaleski is editor of the annual "Best Spiritual Writing" series and author of a forthcoming intellectual history of C.S. Lewis and the Inklings (with Carol Zaleski). firstname.lastname@example.com


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The true meaning of Christmas and the holidays seems to becoming lost, being swept away by the overload of to-do lists and what seems like too many holiday obligations. While media & even some family members want to encourage you to buy more gifts while attending every community celebration, you just need to concentrate on the spirit of faith, giving with love, and inspiring hope in others. Create holiday traditions with your family to focus on what's really important to you, not consumerism. Find new and unique ways to celebrate Christmas without spending vast sums of money or heading to the brink of exhaustion in the process.
What matters most to you? Family, community, helping those less fortunate, and honouring our planet? If giving gifts to the people in your life is important to you, then consider items which encourage mindful living or those which impact will continue to be felt long after the Christmas holidays have passed. Alternatively donate time to making someone else's life better spending time with seniors or volunteering at your local homeless shelter, making charitable donations or planting a tree in someone's name instead of material items.
Christmas and the surrounding holidays reminds us all of the true spirit of the season…… taking the time for a blessing before a meal, savouring a meal with loved without rush and hurry, and spending time in nature with a walk under the stars helps you reestablish your connect with this amazing time of year. With generosity, goodwill and kindness towards other in your heart will make the next few weeks extraordinary.