text:
I was honored last night to be invited to a small showing of the movie Budrus, a documentary about one town in the West Bank that successfully and non-violently resisted Israeli efforts in 2003 to build the separation barrier in a way that would have encircled the town, cutting the residents off from their land and uprooting precious olive trees.
I went to the screening knowing that I would have to write about it, and when thinking about it after seeing the movie I immediately became uneasy. I thought about broad issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the constant arguing, and the seemingly inescapable cycle of rhetoric and violence, provocation and response, and no longer wanted to write this review.
When I told a friend at the screening about my dread of writing about the movie because I didn't want to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his response was, "well then don't write about the conflict. Write about the land."
And that is the heart of the movie, the land. Budrus mostly follows one man, Ayed Arrar, a Palestinian nationalist and activist who organized the protests over 10-months that lead to Israel's eventual decision to build the wall close to the 1967 border, allowing the town of Budrus to keep 95% of its land. The movie follows others through filmed scenes and extensive interviews, including with Arrar's wife and daughter, a Hamas activist, an Israeli Army spokesman, an Israeli border patrol officer, and Israeli activists who protested with the residents of Budrus.
The movie has a clear purpose, to show the injustice of Israeli construction that would have cut off the town from its fields and livelihood, and even cut the town's cemetery in half. But regardless of the justifications or arguments against the security barrier, the thing that struck me most about the movie was that there seems to have been simply no reason for the decision to draw the fence line around Budrus – instead of simply hewing to or close to the green line, the army chose to pursue a more complicated route, one that involved turning the area around a town into a closed military zone, deploying border police day after day to push back protesters, all for no gain. After all, no Israelis were set to move into the land, no one would make use of Budrus' olive groves, they were simply upended, to be replaced with concrete and concertina wire.
And so I have to ask, what makes more sense for Israel? Two states with defensible borders, or constant haggling over land, incremental change, and soldiers permanently deployed in town after town, forced to fight back a hostile majority for little foreseeable gain.
No matter how you feel about Israelis or Palestinians, Budrus is a beautiful piece of work that tells a stirring story and will make you look at this issue with fresh eyes. In Washington you can see Budrus at the Silverdocs film festival June 24 and 26, for other cities check the film's website for information.
— Andrew Lebovich


text:
On another lovely summer day, 16 teams came down to Hartpury to compete for the 4th Hartpury Corporate Challenge Cup. The annual corporate touch tournament offers teams a great opportunity to enjoy a day out of office, team bonding and networking.
Title defenders Rolls Royce managed to make it to the Cup final once again, however this year it was their opponents Deloitte, which had the last word in an exciting and very tight contest which ended 4:3. Hosts Hartpury lost to Deloitte in the semi-finals while Rolls Royce beat Safran Landing System in the other Cup semi-final.
In the Plate Final Cheltenham-based Kohler Mira Showers beat HCR Law 6:4 while Super Dry went home with the Shield trophy after beating Business West 4:5.
This year, the teams didn't just enjoy plenty of action on the rugby pitch but also had the opportunity to show their skill set in a milking contest and horse riding competition off the field. Thanks to representatives from the equine and agriculture departments, racehorse Trigger and cow Daisy, were onsite to determine the milking and horse riding champion.
Quick Links

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Call for Compositions | European Forum Alpbach
February 3, 2015 in All Opportunities, Composers by newmusicscotland
The European Forum Alpbach invites in cooperation with the Vienna City Administration composers to contribute to this call for composition. On the occasion of the 70th Anniversary of the European Forum Alpbach 1945, 3 compositions will be selected and given the opportunity to develop their pieces in a workshop with HK Gruber and musicians from the "Klangforum Wien".
The final piece will be performed on August 25th, 2015 in Alpbach. The European Forum Alpbach 2015 stands under the overarching theme of "(In)Equality".
1.) Participating composers must not be born earlier than 1980 and must be fluent in English. Composers living in Vienna are especially encouraged to join the compositon.
2.) Your contribution must be new and original and should not exceed 10 minutes for 8 wind instruments (0/1/2/2-2/1/0/0).
3.) The call is open from October, 15th 2014 until February, 28th 2015.
4.) Composed of Heinz Karl Gruber, Frank Harders-Wuthenow (Boosey & Hawkes) as well as one representative of "Klangforum Wien" and the European Forum Alpbach, the Jury will select 3 compositions from all contributions. Travel and accommodation costs for the workshop in Alpbach (Seminar Week, 19.-25.8.2014) will be covered by the European Forum Alpbach. The jury will announce the 3 winners mid March 2015. The awards will be published on the homepage of the European Forum Alpbach. Winners whose main place of residence is in Austria are encouraged to apply for an additional scholarship by the Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria until the April 15, 2015.
5.) In form of a workshop (seminar week), the 3 winners will prepare their pieces with Heinz Karl Gruber and musicians from "Klangforum Wien". If desired, composers can conduct their compositions during rehearsals. EFA Scholarship holders, members of the Alpbach orchestra and other interested persons are invited to join the workshop in order to observe and learn about the production and rehearsal of musical compositions.
6.) The 3 compositions will be premiered on August, 25th 2015 on the occasion of the closing ceremony of the Seminar Week. In addition, Gottfried von Einem's "Alpbacher Tanzserenade. Glück, Tod und Traum" op.17 will be performed, a piece he wrote in honour of the 10th anniversary of the European Forum Alpbach. A collaboration with the Austrian Broadcasting Agency (ORF) is currently under review.
7.) The European Forum Alpbach will not cover any expenses in relation to submissions made my participants.
8.) The decision of the jury is final and no appeal is possible. Due to the large number of submissions, the jury cannot provide information regarding then selection process to participants.
9.) With your submission, you agree to the terms set forth in this call for compositions. The applicant agrees that Austrian law shall apply. In case one provision loses its validity, the remaining provisions do not automatically lose effect. Any legal action is precluded.
10.) All contributions must be complete and contain the following: the full score of the composition; a detailed CV; three references with full coordinates: a letter of motivation
All contributions must be submitted in English. Please follow this link: www.alpbach.org/en/efa15_en/organisation_en/call-for-compositions/


text:
The smaller version of the Imperfection Hoops. But still a wide and rough earring with a soft, organic & uneven surface. The process of making the surface is very free, therefore you will always end up with a unique piece of jewellery. These hoops are perfect for both everyday use or when you want to dress up.
Handcrafted in Copenhagen from 925 sterling silver. Sold as a pair. Width: 0,6cm Ø: 2,5cm


text:
JOURNALING: At Grandma & Grandpas things are different. There are places to go and be and do and there are wondrous treasures everywhere. For a child, it presents a world of possibilities.
Katie Pertiet, Star Chasers Kit (paper, ripped corrugated)
Katie Pertiet, Lil Red Wagon (alphas, play ribbon, stitching)
Katie Pertiet, Little Indians (rub-on)
Katie Pertiet, Vintage Frames 5
Katie Pertiet, Assorted Tapes
Lynn Grieveson, Journaling spots & strips
Lynn Grieveson, In Distress (paper)
Katie Pertiet, Ledger Grids Brushes
Pattie Knox, Totally Strung Out (button, felt circle, staple)
Katie Pertiet, Photo Wraps 9 (red dot ribbon)
Klee Caps Script, 1942 Report, Pea Marcie fonts.


text:
Will You Marry Me?
Without doubt, as February 29th arrives, that one day that only happens every four years, the news will feature at least one heart-warming story about a woman proposing to a man, unfairly apparently the only time this reversal of customary roles can ever be done. The news story will always report a happy ending and we never catch the end of our local news bulletin to hear about a man storming out of a restaurant in a fit of rage as his girlfriend is left inside on her knees, hurt and confused.
Yet in 2012, living in an era where the traditions of marriage are already blurred and questioned, how do we really feel about women proposing to men and is it right that there is only one day every four years that is dedicated to this?
If there is a happy, loving moment at the end of our favourite romantic movies and chick lit (and there usually is), it predominantly involves the male who sweeps the female off her feet, providing us with that Prince Charming moment. And speaking of this lothario, he has dominated our culture and been proposing to women since long before the tale of Sleeping Beauty. We watch these films and read these books as an escape from our real, mundane lives, like a fantasy. So the idea of being proposed to is possibly an extension of this, allowing us to feel like we are in our very own fairy tale, and if it is us that does the proposing, then it does not quite feel this way. Then there is the issue of unconfidently never knowing if that is what he truly wanted as he was not the one who asked, not to mention the judging comments from all his friends and family thinking that he didn't step up to and fulfil his 'traditional' role.
Yet, do we really care about this anymore? How important is the proposal? Some girls have it all figured out in their heads with the ideal setting, the dream ring and even the conversation scripted in their minds, whereas other girls are rather hoping that they never have to go through this awkward, pressure filled situation and would rather walk the streets with no clothes on than have a man spring a ring on her. Perhaps instead of there being only one specific day for the woman to propose to the man, getting engaged should be a mutual agreement and the question asked from both sides.


text:
The SPPARC designed scheme will bring a retail-led "Covent Garden style" to the area
SPPARC-designed plans for a £300m "Covent Garden style" scheme next to London's famous Borough Market have been approved by Southwark Council.
The area immediately west of Borough Market, including the site formerly occupied by wine and whisky attraction Vinopolis, are to be redeveloped by a joint venture between developer Sherwood Street and investment fund manager Meyer Bergman.
The site also incorporates several rail arches, a car park and an old warehouse.
Tom Sherwood, owner of Sherwood Street, previously told Building the site was "one of the last locations" left in London for a scheme "of this size".
The JV had submitted plans for approval in August last year with a view to starting on site earlier this year to create the retail and office scheme. However, revised plans were submitted towards the end of May to address comments made by planning officers, consultees and residents.
The revised plans include lowering the height of the proposed six-storey office building by 0.5m and the introduction of a set-back to reduce the buildings impact of light into 20-26 Park Street. An east-west retail arcade and a gallery have been introduced to the scheme and more space within the site has been provided for servicing.
The development comprises five buildings or elements totalling 18,375m2, including 10,369m2 of retail and 5,761m2 of office space and a cinema. The scheme also proposes to revive railway arches and create new routes through the hitherto unacccessbile spot as well as reviving the original Elizabethan street names to the area, such as Dirty Lane.
The joint venture has agreed to "prevent" high street supermarkets from occupying any of the retail spots and to ensure that at least 60% of the retail floorspace is kept for smaller companies –those with no more than three retail outlets – to stop the space being dominated by high street brands "to protect the special character" of the area.
The report from Southwark Council's director of planning Simon Bevan admitted that the redevelopment process of the site will be "challenging" due to a limited amount of space for construction vehicles, but said materials could be stored onsite. The redevelopment programme therefore is to be done in three phases - demolition and piling, excavation and then construction.
The proposals overall design is considered appropriate and believed to achieve a high enough quality, other than the brick motif street names which have the sense of a permanent advertisement and their size appears disproportionate to other features.
SPPARC principal Trevor Morris said the designs for the new buildings have been "influenced by the surrounding architecture".
Morris adds the designs aim to reinstate "lost medieval north/south pedestrian links through the site," as well as create a public yard.


text:
In the late 1980s Dance Umbrella was host to a veritable wave of French companies, most previously unknown in the UK. This year's Umbrella again featured a strong contingent of largely new French companies, and (as in the 80s) there were mutterings that financial support from French cultural organisations was behind their presence. Well, that may have been a factor, but I don't think it was the motive – and besides, the important question is not who funded the performances, but whether they were worth seeing.
Back in the 1980s, the French were both loved and loathed – but they certainly made an impact with their fresh, ironic theatricality. This year's Umbrella featured some established companies – Lyon Opera Ballet in a work by Umbrella favourite Philippe Decouflé, Paris Opera Ballet with Le Parc by Angelin Preljocaj (an Umbrella regular in the late 80s). But – with the exception of Maguy Marin's bold, uncompromising Umwelt – it was the smaller companies that proved the freshest and most distinctive.
If the 1980s companies seemed distinctively 'French' (I remember the sudden appearance of chic dresses and high heels – very un-British), so too do the current crop, but in a very different way. How so? Two words (okay, three): semiotics and Jacques Tati.
with no performers on stage, it is a representation of a dance rather than a dance as such
Let's start with the first. France is the country that gave us la sémiologie – the study of signs and representations. Take Christian Rizzo's 15-minute installation 100% Polyester: with no performers on stage, it is a representation of a dance rather than a dance as such. Two diaphanous dresses, arms linked, are suspended from the ceiling in front of a row of electric fans. To a crackly soundtrack that gradually resolves into a beat, the 'couple' slowly drift across the stage. This ethereal waltz is actually rather beautiful, and the absence of real people is keenly felt and strangely haunting. And, unlike most art installations, it has the big advantage of a start and a finish – so you don't have to worry about how long you should be lost in contemplation before leaving (though applauding the 'performers' at the end feels decidedly odd).
he doesn't so much act out scenes of death as obliterate his physical presence with representations
Rachid Ouramdane's Les Morts Pudiques also has the feel of an installation, and though it features a live performer, Ouramdane's presence is curiously self-effacing. Which is apt for a performance about death. Ouramdane had searched the internet for connections between youth and death, and in Les Morts Pudiques he doesn't so much act out scenes of death as obliterate his physical presence with representations. At the beginning he lets the image of his own face, projected onto panels and plastered with deathly white makeup, dominate our attention. Elsewhere, he frequently covers his own face, whether with a silvery mask, a swathe of bandages, or his own shirt. Donning a leather jacket, he brings out a tiny model of a motorbiker, an inanimate stand-in for his living self. He tries out poses – a soldier, a woman holding a handbag – but they too are simply representations with which he masks himself. Often, he simply lies on the floor, and lets the environment take over – a grille of transparent tubing that flows with red liquid like arteries; the slow wash of light that suggests the passing of days; the sounds of radio bulletins, gothic pop music, or isolated bedsit blues. In less skilful hands, Les Morts Pudiques could have deteriorated into generic adolescent angst; in Ouramdane's, the angst is palpably, disquietingly real.
Josef Nadj's Les Philosophes begins with an installation, moves on to a film, and ends with a performance. The installation is a circle of screens showing five middle-aged men in black suits and hats. Then there's a film of the same men wandering through a forest, projected onto a trapezoid tent-like screen on stage, and finally the screen opens to release a trio of jazz musicians, and the five men themselves. It's as if we're being led from portrait, to moving image to actual physical subjects – from representation to reality. Except the reality is mighty weird, even surreal. One man makes a model boat from a folded napkin, and wears it for a hat. A group wriggle out of the hole in centre stage, their arms trussed into their suits so that their flapping hands make them look like beached seals. There's a walking stick inscribed with arcane writing. There's a strange ceremony around a white tablecloth which ends with drawing water from a stone. A conductor opens his music stand, and places a little model of a conductor onto his hat. It's all delivered in a quirky, bemused but matter-of-fact style. Imagine a cross between Magritte and Jacques Tati and you get a flavour of this unique and captivating piece.
Tati's straight-faced, understated clowning was a mix of light humour with serious pathos, of artfulness with gaucheness, and you can see that influence again in La Bonté Divine by Pascale Houbin and Dominique Boivin. This takes a serious theme – the tragic mediaeval love story of Abelard and Heloise – and treats it with a Gallic lightness of touch. Boivin's courtship is gently slapstick, the consummation of their love is a pastoral picnic, surrounded by tiny model animals. When they separate to join the monastery and convent, there's no big drama, just a resigned drawing apart, to prayer and to isolation. The set is splendidly low-tech – a screen onto which are projected shadows of figurines, toy trees and feathers from an overhead projector. Abelard's correspondence is shown by a jumble of letters, their isolated souls by a live goldfish in a glass cage. The whole show, in fact, is stuffed with such poignant little symbols. With its delightfully anachronistic assortment of music (encompassing anything from Baroque church music to gravel-voiced Tom Waits), and its simple, low-key drama, La Bonté Divine is enchanting at the same time as being heartbreakingly sad – like a children's story.
The passers-by in the film seem as bemused as we are. And then they just walk on by, getting on with their lives. I felt much the same.
A bras le corps by Boris Charmatz and Dimitri Chamblas is the least theatrical of all these works, concentrating on dance as movement. But they don't play it straight. Their barefoot duet, in the round, is chock full of ironic stances – artfulness overlaid with clumsiness again – as if they were taking the piss out of postmodern minimalism. They flap and flounder through effortful lifts and rolls, and in the midst of it all they'll whip off a casual pirouette or skilful somersault. It too is enchanting, but ultimately not very engaging: the deadpan irony keeps you at a distance. A film by Charmatz, Les Disparates, continues the theme, cutting between scenes of Charmatz's awkward-elegant moves in various locations: city streets, docks, beach promenades. The passers-by in the film seem as bemused by Charmatz as we are. And then they just walk on by, getting on with their lives. I felt much the same.
And finally, there was Herman Diephuis's D'après JC, in which Julien Gallé-Ferré plays Jesus and Claire Haenni the Virgin Mary, both dressed in tracksuits with the brand 'Misercordia' splashed across their backs. They take their poses from religious paintings – signs and representations, you see? – and animate them with a, yes, oddball mimic style. I was born an atheist (well, weren't we all) and was neither offended nor engaged by the religious imagery. Mostly, it made me think about the physical effort that must have been involved in hoicking artists' models into position for, say, a Pietà or a Passion of Christ. By far the best moment was when a sackful of bread rolls fell from the sky, closely followed by an enormous plastic fish – a sight-gag worthy of Monty Python, and somehow very British.


text:
NEIPU, TAIWAN: Researchers from the Department of Land Manage-ment, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) participated in a Two-way Research programme at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST), Taiwan, which is also the Secretariat for University Network for Tropical Agriculture (UNTA), recently.
The short-term research aimed at providing exposure to lecturers in the field of agriculture on land development methods, and management of waste and organic materials in Taiwan, particularly in suburban areas such as Neipu.
Lecturer at the Land Management Department, Faculty of Agriculture, UPM, Dr. Daljit Singh, said that water and soil conservation model by NPUST is interesting as it also takes into account water flow in road constructions.
He said that in some locations where the slopes were not too steep, drains were used as vehicle routes due to a relatively narrow area at these locations.
"Drains were built in an 'L' shape to prevent rainwater from overflowing onto the roads. At locations with high and steep slopes, holes with a depth ranging between 1 and 3 meters were built to slow down water flow," he said.
He added that greenhouses in the area were not built on flat land. Instead, they were built according to topographic suitability, and rainwater was collected in a buffer pool which also served as a recreational area for students.
Among the lecturers who participated in the research expedition were Dr Samsuri Abd Wahid, Dr Susilawati Kasim and Dr Arina Shukor.
A lecturer at the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, NPUST, Dr Jie-Lun Chiang, said that settlements in Neipu were mostly built on flat land.
"Monitoring water flow is very important because although the area receives short rainfall, the high distribution causes low-lying areas to flood," he said.
He said the district of Pingtung experienced a fairly warm rainy season while the dry season is highly humid with annual temperatures ranging between 15-33 °C.
"In our outdoor laboratory, we developed the best module to control water flow from the highlands to the lowlands.
"At high-gradient areas, we build rather deep drains to reduce the speed of rainwater coming from higher ground. This technique also reduces the impact of soil erosion
and erosion in low-lying areas," he said.
UNTA was established to establish cooperation in strengthening the fields of education and research among tropical agricultural countries through staff placement. A total of 26 universities from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Australia, Pakistan,
Spain and Germany are UNTA's members. – UPM


text:
Posted by phineasgray in Shopping | Comments Off on Enjoy the comfort of a therapeutic pillow when travelling
Enjoy the comfort of a therapeutic pillow when travelling
When you are travelling on a long journey, whether as a passenger in a car, on a coach, by rail, or on a plane, you may suffer from discomfort and tiredness. Being cooped up in a restricted space for so long is bad enough, but many people find it very difficult to get comfortable or try and get some sleep while they travel, which means you arrive at your destination aching and tired.
One way to combat this tiredness and discomfort is to invest in a therapeutic pillow, which will enable you to travel in far greater comfort and more importantly will enable you to get some sleep while travelling. This means that you will get to your destination feeling far more refreshed and relaxed.
Buying a therapeutic pillow for your travels
Given the above benefits, it is a good idea to prioritize on buying a good pillow with therapeutic qualities before you travel. When you are purchasing a pillow, there are a number of things you should look at. This includes:
* The cost of the pillow: Most people have a budget to work to when making any sort of purchase, so make sure you take your maximum budget into account and look for competitive pricing. However, make sure you do not compromise on quality or comfort in order to cut prices.
* Innovative design: By finding a pillow with an innovative design that has been created with comfort in mind, you can boost the chances of enjoying the benefits of a high quality pillow that is relaxing and therapeutic.
* Comfort: Make sure you invest in a pillow that is known for its high levels of comfort, as the last thing you want is to be stuck with a product that leave you aching at the end of your journey.
* Compact: If you are going to be taking your pillow on your travels, you need to make sure it is compact and easily portable. Therefore, make sure you consider the size and portability of the pillow that you buy.
With the right pillow choice, you will no longer have to dread the aches, pains, and tiredness of long trips, as you will have something to help you to combat these problems.
To find out more about innovative therapeutic pillows, you can speak to the specialists at SpaceSleeper.


text:
Om Alone Sweater
This cushy cashmere pullover sweater is about as cute and giftable as they come—it has a cheeky "om alone" saying hand-stitched in a festive holiday-red, made exclusively for the goop-shop.
Made exclusively for goop.
- 100% cashmere
- Hand wash or dry clean only
- Model is 5'9" with 32.5" bust, 24" waist, 35" hips and wearing a size S


text: John Yarbrough Linear Park linearpark http://www.leegov.com/parks/PublishingImages/Facility-Header-Images/linearpark.jpgJohn Yarbrough Linear Park AddressSix Mile Cypress to Crystal DriveFort Myers, FL. 33912 Google Map/DirectionsContact InformationKorina Covaci(239) email@example.com StaffActivities/EventsPrograms and Classes ››Special Events Calendar ››Hours7 a.m. to DuskClosuresInformationJohn Yarbrough Linear Park Trail is a six mile paved multiple-use north-to-south linear park trail that can be used for walking, hiking, jogging, rollerblading, bicycling, on-leash dog walking, fishing, birding, wildlife viewing, and picnicking.The trail is well shaded on the southern-most section. The trail can be accessed by sidewalk or paths at: Six Mile Cypress Parkway, Daniels Parkway, Crystal Drive, and Colonial Boulevard.Public parking is available at several nearby recreational facilities (parking fees may apply): Lakes Regional Park (1.5 mi.), the Lee County Sports Complex (1 mi.) and the City of Fort Myers Neighborhood Trailhead Park (2.1 mi.). View JY Linear location map here.John Yarbrough Linear Park is a dog friendly facility where dogs must remain on leash. Pet Waste that is left uncollected degrades water quality. With an estimated 134,000 dogs and 154,000 cats in Lee County, this results in a lot of waste that washes into our waterways increasing bacteria and nutrients. Join us in our Do your Duty campaign and pick up the waste! To learn more visit DoYourDuty.org and stop the Slime Monster.HistoryPhase I (from Six Mile Cypress to Daniels Parkway) was completed in November 2005 and included 1 1/4 mile of paved path and sidewalks, two shade shelters with picnic tables. Phase II (from Daniels Parkway to Crystal Drive) opened in October 2006 and includes two shade shelters with picnic tables and 1.5 miles of paved trails. Phase III (from Crystal drive to Colonial Ave) opened late April 2008. On Sept. 9, 2008 Lee County Commissioners, renamed the park from Ten Mile Linear Park to John Yarbrough Linear Park in honor of longtime retiring Lee County Parks & Recreation Director John Yarbrough.AmenitiesADA Accessible AmenitiesDog Walking (On-Leash); Bicycling/Bike Trails; Fishing; Picnic SheltersGallery Programs and Classes Loading... 0257 36 Facility Staff Last Name First Name Title Email DEBACKER JOSEPH Senior Supervisor, Parks & Rec firstname.lastname@example.com COVACI KORINA L. Supervisor Parks & Recreation firstname.lastname@example.com MOROLES III FAUSTINO Supervisor Parks & Recreation firstname.lastname@example.com BARBOUR DAVID Maintenance Specialist LIMIERO WILLIAM A. Maintenance Specialist email@example.com PADILLA ANGEL L. Maintenance Specialist email@example.com PARKER LATASHA Maintenance Specialist WHEELER BRADLEY A. Maintenance Specialist firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Newly elected state senator JD Ford and incumbent Mike DelphCarmel, IN- Openly gay Democrat JD Ford beat Mike Delph in a contentious race for state senator for Indiana's 29th district. In 2014 Delph supported an amendment to the Indiana constitution defining marriage between one man and one woman. This is the second time Ford had ran against Senator Delph narrowly losing to the hard line conservative four years ago.
Ford made history becoming Indiana's first openly gay law maker elected to Indiana's General Assembly. In his victory speech from the downtown Indianapolis Hyatt Ford said, "I just want to pause for a second to appreciate the historical significance that has happened tonight. Tonight, I become Indiana's first openly gay lawmaker. Ladies and gentlemen, we just made history and no one can take that from us." Ford ran what some people would call an unapologetic progressive campaign that advocated raising the minimum wage, environmental protections, fighting the opioid crisis, and passing hate crimes legislation that protects gender identity and sexual orientation. Senator Delph has long opposed hate crimes legislation. Indiana is one of five states without a hate crime law on the books.
Ford's promised to give and amplify the voices of every marginalized group of people in the state of Indiana which includes "people of color, women, Muslims, Jewish Hoosiers, seniors, LBTQ+ Hoosiers just to name a few." Local Indianapolis LGBT rights advocate Annette Gross praises Ford for his hard fought victory, "As a resident of State Senate District 29, I am thrilled that we finally have representation for ALL Hoosiers in this district. I watched first-hand as Mike Delph strove to deny same-sex couples the ability to share their lives together legally. In particular, he supports passage of Hate Crime Bill which will offer protections for all marginalized groups. We are finally living under a rainbow in Indiana." Delph, a hard line social conservative often was perceived as a polarizing figure even among members of his own party. At one point Delph was disciplined by Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore David Long for public criticism of the Indiana General Assembly failing to pass the amendment to the Indiana constitution, known as HJR-3 which would have made marriage equality illegal in the state.
This time around Ford had the endorsement of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and a much bigger 'war chest' then he had four years ago beating Delph with 53% of the vote. District 29 includes parts of Carmel, Indianapolis and Zionsville.
Drag Event as Political Fundraiser Causes Controversy in Fort Wayne
FORT WAYNE, IN-On Saturday September 2, 2018 After Dark Nightclub hosted a fundraiser billed on Facebook as "The Queens's Court: Campaigning is a DRAG," for Courtney Tritch who is running for US Representative of Indiana's 3rd District. Ms. Tritch joined drag queen Della Licious on stage and gave a brief speech. During her time in the spotlight Ms. Tritch accepted cash donations from audience members and danced with Ms. Licious as she performed. Now "The Journal Gazette" is reporting that Ms. Tritch's Republican opponent Rep. Jim Banks is now threating to report his Democratic rival for violating FEC (Federal Election Commission) rules.
A video of the event posted on YouTube clearly shows Ms. Tritch accepting tips as campaign donations. (You can see when Ms. Tritch takes the stage at the 21:30 mark). Incumbent Jim Banks' campaign is now demanding Ms. Tritch, who is a staunch supporter of LGBTQ rights in Indiana, issue an apology to families of Indiana's 3rd district and is insisting that Ms. Tritch violated FEC rules by not reporting the 'tips' that she accepted as campaign donations. According to a statement issued by Mr. Bank's campaign manager, "Not only is this video deeply disturbing and offensive but it clearly shows Democrat Courtney Tritch illegally accepting undocumented cash campaign donations while she dances on stage with a drag queen. We are exploring FEC violations and looking at filing a complaint. In the meantime, Ms. Tritch may want to consider apologizing for this charade to the northeastern Indiana families she's campaigning to represent." But according to FEC rules only campaign donations from individuals of $50 or more are required to be reported and the Tritch campaign insists no rules were broken and has issued a statement through her campaign manager David Myles, "What is disturbing though is the clear homophobia demonstrated by Rep. Banks. In asking for an apology to the families of the 3rd district, he is stating that the LGBTQ community is excluded from his idea as a family."
Rep. Jim Banks has a history of anti-LGBTQ views which are public record. Rep. Banks campaign website notes that he was awarded the "True Blue" award by the the Family Research Council. The Family Research Council has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Rep. Banks also opposed changing the language in the Indiana Republicans Party's platform that would have made the Indiana's Republican Party more inclusive to the LGBTQ community and continues to support one man one woman marriage as well as businesses that discriminate against the LGBTQ community by refusing service.
After the LGBTQ news magazine "The Advocate" ran a story of the incident, Ms. Tritch addressed the controversy in a Facebook post, "Thank you to 'The Advocate' magazine for bringing international attention to Rep. Banks' clear homophobia, as well as his unwillingness to actually discuss the issues that matter to all voters in Indiana's 3rd District." After several requests and initially stating that he would, Rep. Banks still refuses to publicly debate Ms. Tritch.
The Teacher in Me
I grew up, quite a many years ago, in an educator's household. My dad was in public education for 40 years. When I was young I was pretty much indifferent to my dad being an educator. I did try my best to take advantage of visiting "his" school when he was the Principal because it usually meant a visit to the office supply room. That was my super store of pencils, folders and notebooks. Just to clarify, my dad would pay for the items. So, my dad being an educator was kind of cool. I never envisioned that one day I, too, would be an educator.
I teach all the time. My "classroom" differs often. Much of the time it isn't even in a school building. In reality, I consider the world as my classroom. This is so because every day I step out of my house I have an opportunity to teach someone something about me. Most times, it is transgender related because I live as an out and proud transgender woman. I am, for the most part, okay with this. I mean, I run a nonprofit organization that specializes in transgender education, so I am kind of destined to teach when I am engaging folks. My educator's DNA comes in handy. But this is far from the only teaching I do.
In my spare time I work as a Substitute Teacher in a public school system. Yes, school systems do hire trans teachers, well, at least my hometown's school system does. Being a Sub is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of patience, empathy, quick thinking, and perseverance. As a trans person in education I have found that I fare well for having thick skin, selective hearing and a sense of humor. You might ask why these would be necessary. Here are some examples of my experiences where this has been required.
Thick Skin: Kindergarten.
Boy: Are you a girl?
Me: Yes
Boy: I don't see it.
Me: Well, I am.
Boy: What about your voice?
Me: I have a deep voice.
Boy: I'm not buying it.
Me: Back to work
Selective Hearing: An Indiana "liberty" organization
Them: This "man" (me) should be spending more time teaching math, English and science instead of spreading their sexual identity to second graders.
My employer: We're good. Thanks
Me from afar: Did someone say something? Lol
Sense of Humor: 2nd Grade
Student: Miss Meghan, can I ask you a question
Me: Sure
Student: Are you a boy or a girl?
Me: A girl
Student: Oh, but why do you have a boy voice?
Me: I don't have a boy voice. I have a deep voice.
Student: Have you tried a cough drop?
Me: I'll have to give that a try. Thanks.
Life as an educator. Thanks, dad.
Roseanne Barr and the Reality of Being "Roseanne"
On March 27th, the groundbreaking sitcom Roseanne comes back t0 television and we get the chance to peer into the lives of the fictional Connor family 30 years after the show premiered on ABC. We have a chance to see how the Connor's have moved on in life, and it may very well mirror so many of our own lives. What made Roseanne so groundbreaking was the fact that Roseanne Barr and John Goodman's Roseanne & Dan Connor were larger than life, both in personality and in their physical appearance. Never before had working class American been portrayed by people who looked like what a lot of middle America looks like. The Connor's three children could be brats. In some cases episodes were not wrapped up neatly after 30 minutes as real life issues were talked about, issues that most sitcoms didn't even come close to touching. You certainly wouldn't find Alan Thicke schooling Mike Seaver on the evils of domestic abuse on Growing Pains or little Vanessa Huxtable approaching Phylicia Rashad on The Cosby Show to inform her that she thinks it's time to start birth control. Roseanne was ground breaking in many ways, especially the way it handled gay characters. In the show, we met Martin Mull as Leon Carp. He was Roseanne's boss then her business partner and frenemy. She threw for him and his partner one of television's first gay weddings. There was Nancy, played by Sandra Bernhard who came out as a lesbian in the show then as bisexual. Then there was the lesbian kiss between Roseanne's character and guest star Mariel Hemingway, a scene that caused a lot of controversy even before the episode aired.
Roseanne Barr unapologetically introduced middle America to gays and lesbians. Roseanne the TV show made working class people in the mid-west come to grips with the fact that they probably knew someone gay or had a gay person in their family. If Roseanne Barr through her character Roseanne Connor brought visibility to the LGBT community then why are a lot of people in that same community not happy the show is coming back? Well as it turns out Roseanne Barr is a supporter of one Donald J. Trump.
Never one to shy away from controversy Roseanne Barr did indeed vote Trump for President and her character Roseanne Connor will be portrayed at a Trump supporter in the new revival of the show. Roseanne, who said in the June 6, 2016 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, "If I were president, a majority of my cabinet would be poor because that's true representational government here in America," Roseanne is many things including a living breathing contradiction, especially since Donald Trump and most of his cabinet are so rich that they can't possibly relate to working class middle American. I'm sure U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin never had to choose between buying food or buying medicine for a sick child. That same article reports that Roseanne is friends with Michael Moore one the biggest anti-Trumpers around. Comedian Whitney Cummings, also not a fan of the current occupant of The White House is acting as one of the show runners of the revival.
Long before the 'Me Too' movement Roseanne talked in public about difficult subjects and fought everyone from network executives to her own writers and producers to bring to life an accurate representation of working class America. Why would a strong independent woman like Roseanne Barr vote for someone who has the reputation of treating women the way Trump does? From bragging about grabbing women by the pussy to paying them off to keep silent about alleged affairs. Or the way he treats women who disagree with his policies, calling them ugly or pigs, comedian Rosie O'Donnell comes to mind.
In Roseanne Barr's mind the explanation is simple, "4 Those who wonder-back in the day when I was called a 'liberal by journalists, I used to answer-I'm not a Liberal, I'm a radical' & I still am- voted Trump 2 shake up the status quo & the staid establishment," in a Tweet reported by The Washington Post on January 11 of this year. In the same article Roseanne goes on to state that her show is about a working-class family and "it was working-class people who elected Trump." Show runner Whitney Cummings thinks the show will give families on the opposite side of the political spectrum a chance to heal and warns against those who only expose themselves to one sided political beliefs instead of trying to see the opposite point of view. "If we aren't disagreeing with someone, that probably means we've only surrounded ourselves with people we agree with. Although I'm the first to admit that's a comfortable place to be, from what I understand about how societies work, it's also a very dangerous place to be," Cumming's told Vulture. But where does the "healing" come in? Cumming's observes that as it "turns out, many Americans never get to know or even meet people who aren't like them, so putting them on a flickering box in their living room-full of vulnerabilities, problems, jokes, and dreams-is a great way to develop empathy toward a type of person they may normally not cross paths with. This show is not about Trump- it's about the circumstances that made people think Trump was a good idea." Maybe a good year after the general election some of us can start to mend fences with family or friends, maybe it's time for forgiveness.
There are some people in the LGBT community that loved the original run of Roseanne because the show brought an awareness and an exposure that our community didn't have in a time when it was not fashionable to do so, and many of those same people in our community won't watch the revival of the show because they can't forgive Roseanne Barr for voting into office Donald Trump. Is forgiveness even possible, not just for Roseanne Barr but for the people we know and love who voted the same way. Honestly, I don't know but maybe it's time to start trying or even better yet maybe it's time we start listening to each other because not listening is probably what got us into this mess in the first place.
And that is my view from the other side of the lake.
Rosanne airs on Tuesdays on ABC starting March 27, 2018 at 8:00 p.m.
Growing Older, Will and Gracefully
Last Thursday four old friends dropped by our place. We haven't seen each other in over a decade, and as with true friends who grow out of touch for a long period of time we managed to pick up right where we left off. They stayed for about 20 minutes more or less not counting commercial interruptions.
In the late 1990's I had discovered a little TV show called Will & Grace very much by accident. I was channel surfing and stopped on the show because I thought Sean Hayes, who plays the character Jack McFarland was cute. Within five minutes I realized I was watching a sitcom that featured gay leading characters. This apparently was on purpose, color me impressed. At that time in my life I was in my 20's. I knew I was gay but I didn't know how to come out and live openly. As Jack said to Will when he was struggling to "come out" on the show, "You bought the short shorts but you're afraid to wear them." I not only bought the short shorts I bought the glittery disco ball shirt and matching jock strap, the hard part was putting them on. Eventually I put them on, then I changed into something more sensible.
To encourage people to vote in the 2016 general election the creators of Will & Grace Max Mutchnick and David Kohan brought the original cast back together for a YouTube election special simply titled "Vote Honey." That 10 minute video with over seven million views proved so successful that NBC ordered a ninth season of the show after it had been off the air for 11 years. On September 14, 2017, Brooks Barnes wrote for the The New York Times " Will & Grace Is Back. Will It's Portrait of Gay Life Hold Up?" Barnes addresses the pros and cons of bringing back this often, at times, politically incorrect sit-com in what he calls "the age of hate." Eric Marcus, a historian who helms the podcast "Making Gay History," said of the revival that the "world had moved on" and goes on to say, "I'm left wondering what story lines these characters can possibly explore as middle-aged people that will seem as fresh as the original series."
Let me answer that question by saying that there are lot's of story lines that these characters can explore that are fresh and exciting. As a gay man in my 40's my life is different then it was in my 20's & 30's but my life is still exciting and fun and as gay men who are aging with grace (one hopes) we have a whole new set of problems to explore. From the fears that some of us have about growing older to breaking up and finding oneself single and in mid-life. Then there's the subject of dating much younger guys, that in itself is comedy gold. Or two gay men living in a actual marriage, something that's either very comforting or very terrifying depending on the couple.
We find with being older and being married that it's not so easy to break up with someone for shallow reasons or when they annoy us. Just because someone did something annoying like leaving their clipped toe nails in the bathroom sink or if you want to get it on with that twink you met while cruising him in the produce department of Meijer. You remember the one, you thought if you pretended to be vegan you might somehow magically end up back at his place and without your husband finding out. There is actual divorce now and real consequences for being an idiot in a relationship (believe me I know) like the splitting of assets. It's terrifying to think who would get custody of the iTunes account. Would one of the ex-husbands have to re-purchase everything in it? These are just some of the ridiculous scenarios that we face as older gay men and are perfect fodder for a sitcom.
In the late 1990's and early 2000's Will & Grace showed those of us living in the mid-west that it was okay to be who and what we were, and they did it in prime-time on the night of the week when America was watching TV the most. I mean lets face it, Thursday's were called "Must see TV" for a reason. They showed us we can be fun, flamboyant, laid back, and outrageous. Now 11 years later Will, Grace, Jack and Karen are still showing us that we can be all of those things no matter how old we are.
That my friends is my view from the other side of the lake, October 5th, 2017.
New episodes of 'Will & Grace' can be seen Thursday nights starting at 9 Eastern/8 Central Time on NBC.
Being Seen
We spend all, or most, of our waking hours looking around at all of the wonderful sights in our view. We look at our phones, at the TV, at the level of our beverage to determine if we need a refill. We look at a lot of things each and every day. But, how much do we really see?
As an out and proud transgender person I go about my business each day because that is what is needed to complete the to-do list. I go to the grocery store, the post office, the doctor, to wherever my list tells me to go. Most times I don't think twice about it but every now and again I am reminded that my going places is really an opportunity to be seen. A chance to be seen by others. A moment to be seen as, well, just another person trying to figure out which avocado is sufficiently ripened. My reminder that it sometimes different is when I catch someone staring at me. I don't spend a lot of time thinking if this happens to cisgender people or not. Doing that comparison doesn't weigh on my goals of the day. What I do wonder, though, is what aspect of my being is so intriguing. I ponder.
I am secure in my understanding of who I am. If people take a second glance at me it doesn't register on my "am I me enough today" radar. I usually default to "is my hair messed up?" or "is there food in my teeth?". But never, "Am I Meghan enough for the world today?" I smile when I am the subject of extended glances. You know, just to let the gawker know that I see them. This usually ends the stare. Well, in most cases. I had a 4th grade student get caught staring at me and it ended up in a staring contest in which the rest of the 4th grade class was cheering the student on to "beat Miss Meghan". It was fun and took a potentially embarrassing moment and made it into something altogether unrelated. The student won, by the way. They were applauded by their classmates. The moral of the story for me? Don't be offended by the stares of others. Look them right back in the eyes and say I am visible and I SEE YOU.
Thank you.
Meghan (visible since 2009)
Transgender Soldiers File Lawsuit Against Trump
Washington D. C. – The National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLAD has
named President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in a law suit arguing against banning transgender military personal from serving in the armed forces after.
On July 26, 2017 Mr. Trump Tweeted, "After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our Military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail." Despite what was said on the Presidents social media account there is currently no transgender ban in the military and according to the Pentagon "no modifications" in the policy towards transgender soldiers will be made until further guidance from the White House.
The lawsuit known as Doe vs. Trump was filed by Five active duty transgender service members in U.S. District Court claims that the ban "upset the reasonable expectations of plaintiffs and thousands of other transgender service members and the men and women with whom they serve and fight" the law suit goes on to state that "Execution of the president's directive will result in an end to service by openly transgender service members and has already resulted in immediate, concrete injury to plaintiffs by unsettling and destabilizing plaintiffs' reasonable expectation of continued service." One of the plaintiff's listed as "Jane Doe" on the complaint said in a statement, "I am married and have three children, and the military has been my life. But now, I'm worried about my family's future." Currently more lawsuits are being planned by advocates for transgender soldiers such as the one pending filing from OutServe-SLDN and Lamda Legal.
The identities of the five plaintiffs in the lawsuit are being kept anonymous for fear retribution.
The lawsuit against the Trump administration can be seen here. Doe vs. Trump
I've Never Been a Rainbow Guy…Seriously.
To be clear I've never been a "rainbow guy." You know the guy I'm talking about the "rainbow guy," we've all seen him. The older middle aged guy, he was in his 20's or 30's in the 1970's or '80s. They have the rainbow bumper sticker on their Honda Accord or the "ball chain" necklace with the five rings in the PRIDE colors hanging from it. Or maybe the polo shirt with the PRIDE flag embroidered on it in the place where an alligator should go. Some of us including yours truly have given those guys a sideways glance or an eye roll. I can hear one of my more judgmental friends saying, "Look at that old poof with the rainbow bumpersticker, like she needs to advertise." So you can imagine the good natured ribbing I've been taking from my friends because I purchased a pair of limited addition Dr. Marten rainbow colored eight eye boots released for PRIDE 2017. My husband was appalled. "Rainbow Dr. Marten's, those are hideous." he said with disgust. Dr. Marten's are to me what Manolo Blahniks were to "Sex and the City's" Carrie Bradshaw always in style and always fabulous. Yet when I got the e-mail urging me to buy them even my first thought was these might be too much, even for me.
The Rainbow flag, designed by Gilbert Baker who passed away eariler this year was meant to be a symbol of not only the diversity of the LGBT community but of our strength and our beauty and it still is. You go into any "gayborhood" around the country and there's the PRIDE flag in its various forms. From the rainbow pylons that line North Halsted in Boystown to simple PRIDE flags that adorn proud LGBT owned businesses in Indianapolis. There are even some PRIDE flags hanging from homes right here in Michigan City and Northwest Indiana. So when did it become a joke to show your PRIDE or even wear the rainbow? I mean I bought a pair of rainbow colored Dr. Marten's because I'm proud of who I am, my marriage and my community. It's not like I wore a t-shirt with a silhouette of a baseball player that says "catcher" to a child's birthday party. Don't laugh I've seen it happen. Then there's the haters. Years ago when I was a bartender one of the wait staff who worked with me told me that she used to love the rainbow, until the gays "stole it." For the record we stole the rainbow about as much as Neil Armstrong stole the moon after he planted the American flag on it. The moon as well as the rainbow still belongs to everyone, we were just the ones that got to it first.
As much as President Donald Trump is attempting to dismantle Presidents Obama's legacy piece by piece he is also trying to limit our visibility and silence us. A man with five children (that we know of) from three different marriages who said that he prefers "traditional" marriage is trying to put us back in the closet and he's doing it by cutting funding to HIV/AIDS treatment programs. He's doing it when he tweeted that the military will no longer allow transgender soldiers to serve in any capacity in the military and he's doing it when he caters to the Evangelical base. Evangelical's who would rip our marriages and families away from us without a thought for our happiness, our rights or the rights of our children. The same Evangelicals who would expose LGBT youth to harmful conversion therapy and claim pro-life but turn a blind eye to the high amount of gay and transgender teenagers and young adults who commit suicide or deny services homeless LGBT youth in their "Christian" shelters. These are Donald Trump's supporters and these are the same people that would like to see us go away yet they don't seem to mind when the chief executive grabs the occasional pussy.
I refuse to let the Trump administration erase our legacy and I refuse be invisible so I bought the damn boots. Wearing them is just one of the little things I can do to fight back against the hypocrisy of this administration. Maybe in the end I became the middle age "rainbow guy" who I used to roll my eyes at. In retrospect maybe the "rainbow guy" had a point, maybe that rainbow bumpersticker or the ball chain necklace was just his way of not being invisible. Come to think of it we would not have the legacy that we have now if it was not for "the rainbow guy."
And that my friends is my view from the other side of the lake, August 7, 2017.
A portion of the proceeds from the rainbow Dr. Marten's go to The Trevor Project to stop bullying. You can get your own pair at drmartens.com
POZiversary, Yeah It's a Thing
POZiversary is the act of celebrating the anniversary of one's HIV diagnosis. Despite all the progress that has been made in the treatment of HIV and despite the fact that HIV is completely manageable for most people, receiving a positive diagnosis remains a challenge. HIV is not the death sentence it once was in the 80's and 90's but the sigma is still there and those newly diagnosed can get scared and that's okay. Still, why would anyone want to celebrate or even acknowledge the day that they received a positive diagnoses?
It's been 9 years since I found out that I was HIV Positive. When I found out I was positive there were so many fears. There was the fear of telling my boyfriend, there was the fear of the stigma of HIV/AIDS and there was the fear of the unknown. Later on after telling my then boyfriend about my diagnosis he was tested. We found out that his CD4 counts were lower and that he had HIV longer than me and in fact infected me. I was lulled into a false sense of security because we were in a monogamous relationship.
When I was infected in college all I knew about HIV/AIDS or thought I knew was that it can be transmitted sexually and that gay men were at a higher risk for infection. It's a common misconception that gay men in relationships are at less risk of HIV and they tend to get tested less frequently then single gay men. There is also a high frequency of gay men in relationships or with their main sexual partner(s) that do not use condoms.
HIV can be transmitted between sexual partners and if condoms are not used there maybe a false sense of security. It's assumed that everyone in the relationship or the sexual encounter knows his own HIV status and everyone should know their HIV status whether they are in a relationship or not. I recommend getting tested every three months.
After a positive diagnosis the health department will show up at your door and it can be a very scary thing to have a person from the government come knocking on your door asking a great many personal questions that you may not feel like anwsering. I mean who really wants to talk with complete strangers about their sex life? "How many sex partners have you had?" "How many times have you been tested for HIV and when was it?" "Do you have a phone number for any of the people you have had sex with?" It's the Health Departments job to contact the people that have had sexual contact with a person that is HIV positive and it's their job to get those people tested, but the health department will not disclose how they received that contact information. This is so you keep your privacy and there is no telling how someone may react so it keeps you safe as well.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the estimated Lifetime Risk of HIV Diagnosis in Indiana is 1 in 183. Overall, an American has a 1 in 99 chance of being diagnosed with HIV at some point in his or her life. But that lifetime risk is greater for people living in the South than in other regions of the country. Linking people to care within 3 months after an HIV diagnosis improves their health and reduces the risk of transmission. In 2014, the majority of states with the lowest levels of linkage to care were in the South. According to the CDC in 2015, 39,513 people were diagnosed with HIV infection in the United States. More than 1.2 million people are living with HIV, and about 1 in 8 don't know it. Make the informed decisions about your health and get tested.
I'm not proud to be HIV positive but I'm proud that I can be open about my status and stand up to the faces of adversity. There are many reasons why a person cannot be open about their status, yet I am one of those people who can and that is why I celebrate my "POZiversary." It's like celebrating LGBT PRIDE every year. You are not only celebrating who you are you are celebrating your life and the lives of the people in your community, you are also educating and living by example. You are showing someone else the way out of darkness and ignorance you are shining the light on misconception and sigma. You are showing people who might be afraid, whether they are afraid of their sexuality or their HIV status that there is still light and life at the end of the tunnel, least that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to educate and maybe if I do it right I can give that young kid in college who was just like me, who just got told that he was HIV positive hope, maybe I can let them know that it will be okay. Life will be different but it will be okay. So that's why I celebrate my POZiversary.
Matthew 25 AIDS Services, INC. is a non-profit healthcare clinic that specializes in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. They are only one of two comprehensive HIV/AIDS Service clinics in Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky.
They Can Turn Off the Lights but They Can't Turn Off Our PRIDE
It's June and it's Gay PRIDE month and more then ever we need our PRIDE. For the first time in eight years there will be no PRIDE celebrations in the White House, don't expect the people's house to be lit up in rainbow colors or Vice President Mike Pence to be running the halls carrying a PRIDE Flag the way former Vice President Joe Biden did. The only things that are running in The White House this year are the PRIDE Colors, running like they were hit with bleach spray and all we are left with is bland and angry white. Transgender protections have been rolled back. HIV/AIDS funding is being cut. Violence and harassment of all marginalized communities is on the rise. Even on a local level I experienced a disrespect from my employer in regards to my sexuality and my marriage. That disrespect from someone I trusted led me to leave my job, a final straw that not just broke the camels back but left him paralyzed and angry.
This blog was originally going to be the story of what happened to me and what led up to me leaving the employ of a well known local attorney. After two weeks of writer's bloc and apathy, after two weeks of not knowing what to do with my newly unemployed self and not knowing where to start I'm continuing with the work I'm most proud of, this web-site and our own LGBT Community right here in Michigan City and Northwest Indiana. "The Beacon" and our sister page OUT in Michigan City & NWIN on Facebook have been a little lite on content these last few weeks, for that I am sorry, I was licking my wounds so to speak. I had put my all into a job and a boss that who was so disorganized, so socially awkward that I thought I could "fix" him. I just thought that maybe he didn't have the right kind of help in the past, maybe I wasn't the right kind of help. Who knows? I do know this, there are just some things that can't be fixed. The end came when he not only insulted me, a proud gay man but worse he insulted the integrity of my marriage and made light of my husband.
So I'm done moping, I'm done morning for a job I liked but the baggage that came with it made it not even worth it, especially at the end. It's PRIDE month and it's time for us to shout, fight, and let Northwest Indiana, the Statehouse, the Governor's Mansion and the nation, especially the Trump administration know that we are still here.
President Trump can keep the colored lights turned off, he can refuse to acknowledge PRIDE month. He can refuse to issue the LGBT PRIDE proclamations that have been issued in the month of June for the last eight years, and he can cow tow to Mike Pence and the religious right all we wants but WE ARE STILL HERE. OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD and WE WILL BE RESPECTED and WE WILL NOT BE IGNORED and WE WILL RISE again and again so long as our lives, our marriages, and our families are being disrespected by an administration that lives in darkness and lies. I encourage you all to go to PRIDE events. Little ones, big ones. Hold them in your back yard or your living room. Invite friends over. Go to the PRIDE events in the park or in the streets of Chicago or Indianapolis. BE PROUD and BE LOUD because the fight is not over and it's not going to be over until we say it is.
That my friends is my view from the other side of the lake on this June 1, 2017 Gay PRIDE month. Be Proud.


text:
Black-footed ferrets are the only ferret species native to North America, but they were nearly extinct in the 1970s. Since then, efforts have been made to breed the ferrets in captivity and reintroduce them to the wild. The function f represents the current total population of black-footed ferrets in North America t years after 1991.
To the nearest year, how many years did (or will) it take for the population to be 10 times larger than it was in 1991?
A.4 years
B.21 years
C.51 years
D.63 years


text:
BE IT REMEMBERED, that the White County Drainage Board held a regular meeting on Monday, March 6, 2017. The meeting was held at the White County Building, 2nd floor, Commissioners' conference room beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Drainage Board members present were: President Steve Burton, Vice President John Heimlich and Board Member David Diener. Also, present were the White County Surveyor Bradley E. Ward and Board Secretary Jennifer Hill.
Absent was White County Attorney George W. Loy.
Others present were:
Mike Kyburz – White County Highway Dept. J.D. Smith- White County Highway Dept.
Mark Wright - White County Soil and Water Conservation District
President Burton called the meeting to order.
• Vice President Heimlich made a motion to approve the minutes as presented for the regular meeting held on February 21, 2017, seconded by Board Member Diener.
Vote: Unanimous
Surveyor Ward explained that the office solicited bids from four contractors. Two bids/quotes were received.
In Attorney Loy's absence, Board Member Diener opened and announced the two bids received.
The Daltons INC. - $32,116.05
Right of Way Mgmt. - $43,487.40
There was a motion by Board Member Diener to accept the low bid of $32,116.05 from The Daltons INC., with a second from Vice President Heimlich. (3- Favor, 0 – Against) Vote: Unanimous
Surveyor Ward presented information on the M.C. Pettit Open Drain #570. Surveyor Ward explained the M.C. Pettit is located in Honey Creek Township, it's all open drain (approximately 6,800 feet in length). Surveyor Ward explained that he's had a couple of requests for it to be cleaned. There are 387.533 acres benefitted, 21 parcels (with 7 minimums) and 15 landowners. The current rate is $1.00/ acre with a $5.00 minimum, making the one year assessment $408.97. To clean the entire open drain would cost approximately $10,200.00. The proposed rate was $4.00/acre with a $10.00 minimum. The board suggested to advertise rates at $8.00/acre with a $10.00 minimum, after 4 years the rate could then be dropped back to $2.00/acre.
There was short discussion on the Hoosier lift and that Commissioner Burton had a pump delivered.
There was also short discussion on the new Monticello Fire Department and water issues.
There being no further business to come before the board, their meeting was adjourned.
____________________ _________________________ ___________________
Steve Burton, President John C. Heimlich, Vice President David Diener, Member
@page { margin: 0.79in } p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120% }
@page { margin: 0.79in } p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120% } @page { margin: 0.79in } p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120% }


text:
Six Back-to-School Lunchbox Ideas
It's time for your child to head back to school. You roll your eyes, because that means coming up with a new lunch five times a week, for the rest of the school year. What's a parent to do? Here are some ideas for creative and healthy lunchbox ideas that you can send to school with your child. 1. Bento Boxes Bento boxes are originally from Japan, and they are a very creative way to serve your child food. There are containers especially made for this purpose, […]More info


text:
Staff Member: Heather Smith
Heather Smith
1st Grade Teacher
Phone: 262-728-6211
Email: Click Here to Email
Mrs. Smith teaches first grade. She has taught at St. Andrew since 1996 and graduated from UW-Whitewater with a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood and Elementary Education.
Back to Top Share this page on


text:
Posted by watchingcyfswatchnewzealand on March 1, 2007
As posted on CYFSWATCH New Zealand
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Where has www.cyfswatchnz.wordpress.com gone?
CYFSWATCH NZ are currently in a none too subtle game of "whack-a-mole" with the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry responsible for CYFS. It seems as if there are some very motivated Government individuals who are determined to remain unaccountable to the NZ public about their gross abuses of children and families in New Zealand.
We have posted this page here to advise our readers that:
1/ The entire blog content has been saved, and so can be re-published, anywhere, at any time.
2/ We are at this stage unsure of what transpired over at wordpress. We did not delete the blog. We have contacted wordpress and asked if they can advise us as to what did happen.
3/ If it wasn't wordpress who deleted the site, then we have to surmise that an external party was responsible for the act.
4/ This message is posted on blogger for convenience. We do not intend re-launching the blog on Google.
Contact us at email@example.com if you have any more questions.
From: CYFSWATCH
CYFSWATCH emailed wordpress in order to ascertain what had happened to the CYFSWATCH blog. What follows is what we believe is a somewhat chilling and eerie reply: it looks as if someone in the NZ Government leaned very, very heavily on wordpress – we have asked for a more detailed explanation, as it does not appear that we breached any of the TOS.
The power and influence the NZ Government is exercising in the jurisdiction of other countries regarding the cyfswatch blog seems truly frightening – we are starting to feel as if we are residents of North Korea.
From wordpress:
Hi,I'm sorry but we were advised that we had to remove the blog.
There was no room to move on that.
We do believe in free speech but in this case we had no options. Sorry….-Mark
Now, compare the above response with our previous correspondence with Mark at wordpress:
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your prompt reply.
The guideline we are using for confidentiality is the question "is this information already available within the public domain?" eg electoral roles, public websites, phone books, directories, etc that a reasonable person could access with reasonable ease. If we ascertain that the information is not in the public domain, or could not be sourced in the public domain, then we would not publish said information to the blog.
Does this apprpoach keep us within the TOS of WordPress?
If you guys do receive any complaints about information on CYFSWATCH, would you be able to let us know, so that we can respond responsibly to the complaint, and amend / delete information as required to by the TOS?
Our site has a lot of media attention in New Zealand, and we want to be seen to be doing the right thing. We were originally hosted by Google, however our site was closed down by Google as they thought we had posted an illegal comment – the NZ police came out in the public media 2 hours after we were shut down and said that no illegality had occurred – so we guess that Google just ended up looking stupid, because they then said in the media that we were welcome to re-post our blog on Google!
We chose WordPress instead.
Please advise.
From: "Mark @ WordPress.com" firstname.lastname@example.com
Reply-To: email@example.com
To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Subject: [WordPress #PSN-167138]:
Enquiry regards blog management and terms of service>Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:00:51 +0000
Thanks for the note.
Confidentiality and Copyright are the two areas you need to be most careful about.
If you can be sure that your email address in the blog is correct too in case we need to contact you that would be good.
Thanks Mark.
>From: "Mark @ WordPress.com" firstname.lastname@example.com
Reply-To: email@example.com
To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Subject: [WordPress #PSN-167138]:
Enquiry regards blog management and terms of service
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 08:24:40 +0000
"The guideline we are using for confidentiality is the question "is this information already available within the public domain?" eg electoral roles, public websites, phone books, directories, etc that a reasonable person could access with reasonable ease."
That is okay.
If you can link to the source in the post that would be even better.
Otherwise they say you broke it, we ask you, you tell us, we tell them and that can take time.
But speech is free, opinion is free and we take the view that blogs are there to speak 🙂
So CYFSWATCH asks – who put the acid on wordpress?
We have received an open letter which the author has requested be published:
Open Letter To WORDPRESS, Google and the NZ Government:
To whom it may concern;
Firstly, to wordpress, you claim you "had no option" but to close down the CYFSwatch blog.
You are wrong, you always have options. The fact that you caved in so easily to the NZ Government does you no favours for the future.
You will now, along with Google, will always be seen as easy meat to blackmail by corrupt Governments.
Google knows this only too well, after the Chinese Government forced them to hand over details of Chinese bloggers critical of the communist state.
The fact that these people thought Google would never sell them out is a matter of deep shame to Google, these bloggers are now in prison thanks to them putting money ahead of free speech.
WORDPRESS had the option of holding firm and not caving in. At least Google lasted longer and in the end, was lied to by our Ministry of Social Development. (the death threat which wasn't, at least our Police said no laws had been broken)
To WORDPRESS, GOOGLE and The NZ GOVERNMENT, I say this.
The CYFSwatch blog was naming and shaming social workers. SO WHAT! The fact is that people were posting on the blog saying that not all social workers are bad, and that CYFS isn't all bad… we agree!
Its not all bad and there are good social workers. Had CYFSwatch *NOT* named the bad social workers, then suspicion would have fallen on ALL social workers. By naming the bad social workers means that the NZ Government has a basis to conduct an investigation into those who are named as being bad, the blog detailed the crimes and that's a whole lot better than not having the names of those accused of corruption or the crimes listed.
The fact is, the NZ Government can close this blog down simply by investigating the details as published by CYFSwatch, its that simple. The NZ Government would say that there are avenues for people, who feel they have been wronged, to go down as far as laying complaints goes. WRONG.
You see, the NZ Government also has a choice, they can continue to cover up these abuses of power and pretend its not happening, or it can take action, not against the blog, but in representing its people and giving them a system that works.
At present, all complaints are dealt with "in house" meaning its social workers investigating social workers, and because of that, not one social worker has ever been reprimanded let alone sacked from the position they hold. In fact, this Blogs stand has been to demand an INDEPENDENT complaints authority for the Child, Youth and Families service.
To date, that has been ignored. The fact also is that politicians are ignoring the cries of justice from the parents, because if the number of abuses came to light, this would be highly embarrassing for the Government.
The fact that 83% of the people who, voted on a Television NZ website poll in FAVOUR of allowing the blog to stay open is indication of the need in NZ for this to be aired. Its also an indication that the Ministry of Social Development doesn't represent the people of New Zealand on its endeavors to close the blog.
Is there a need for this blog? YES. I said recently in a message on the blog that Australia was recently shamed to the world for its actions in the 1960's and 70's where it removed children for no good reason from Aborigine families and placed them with white families. It was, as reported, a form of genocide.
That has been called "the stolen generation" by the authors of history. We face a similar situation in New Zealand today. had the Australians had the Internet back then, and had there been a blog dedicated to shaming the Australian Government, then they would be called HEROES today, while the Government, Google and wordpress would be shamed. Only history will be able to lay blame and guilt over this latest episode.
What we need is an internet company to have the courage to stand up to the bullying NZ Government. Worse yet, is that many authors who had pieces posted on the CFSwatch blog who never once named and shamed anyone, are also affected by this censorship. You have denied my right to be heard, I for one was a voice of calm who posted what they thought (the whole idea of a blog) but all my posts have also been affected by the blog being deleted.
This is not fair, and it sets an unwelcome precedent for bloggers all over the world, and yes, I for one will make sure the world knows the facts behind this, because I will tell them as often as I can. The fact is, I gave the people on that blog my Email, and after Google closed it (based on lies) I was told by many people that they had deleted their Google search bar, deleted their Google Gmail accounts, and deleted their adsense accounts. I also know many that will now boycott the Google website, they will use Yahoo from now on.
Theres a few wordpress blogs that will also move in protest when they find out how free speech was stomped on. My personal website will now be anti Google and anti wordpress in protest.
3 Responses to "CYFSWATCH EXPLAINS"
March 1, 2007 at 5:50 pm
CYFSWATCH now has an independent dedicated server and URL offshore.
We will re-launch the site by the end of the week.
Stay tuned for the URL
March 1, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I will follow you,google get stuffed,wordpress 2.I want the freedom of speech, the help we need.Yes cyf broke the law,im gonna have my say…come hell or high..the knowledge we have gained from the site, gave us the power to fight, we now know our RIGHTS.
May 18, 2007 at 5:37 am
Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!
I have a http://www.evodown.com/vb
Come and check it out if you get time


text:
Take a look at some of our more recent cleaning assignments. You can get a wide range of cleaning services from window cleaning, power washing, post construction clean up and so much more. Call us now and schedule an appointment.
Don't trust anyone else with your cleaning requirements. Get in touch with the professionals today
Get your property looking as good as ever with our cleaning services. We specialize in both residential and commercial properties, so why wait? Pick up the phone and call Trustworthy NW Cleaning Solutions.


text:
During the festive season Teodora is turned into a Christmas wonderland, with lights and decorations. This delights personnel and workers as well as the surrounding neighbourhood (consisting mainly of old age homes) and everybody who drives by.
We thank all our sponsors, donators and visitors to our markets for their support. Thanks to management and personnel for their dedicated service and love. May the next year be even more blessed!


text:
Entrance Canopies for Schools & Businesses
At Miko Engineering, all of our entrance canopies are bespoke to each client. During our 25 years within the street furniture design and manufacturing industry, our entrance canopies have been one of our best selling products alongside bike shelters, and we pride ourselves on customer service, quality and attention to detail. We provide a range of stylish and well-designed entrance canopies for businesses of all sizes and we deliver a complete service at very competitive prices.


text:
Employee profile
Charlotte Louise Jensen
Institut for Planlægning / AAU-Cph
A. C. Meyersvænge 15, A2
2450 København SV
Mobil: +45 2681 5010
Email: email@example.com
VBN: Publikationer mm.
My PhD research is carried out in relation to a research alliance on Governing and Enabling Transitions Towards a Low Carbon Society. Through my research I am investigating social practices connected to domestic light in Denmark and how these practices' (mis)match related European policies that enforces energy efficient lighting mainly through technological optimization. I futher look into how visions for LED light as the 'light of the future' are carried out, and what that implies for/ how it interelates with systemic changes within the energy (and building) sector.
Keywords for my research interests are: social practices, transitions, everyday life, energy consumption, and relations between production and consumption.


text:
This is an index to the Portland Death Certificates 1881-1917, on microfilm at the GFO library. There are a small number of birth records included on the film; also removal and transportation documents which accompany the certificates. A number in brackets to the left of the roll# indicates multiple documents. The dates covered are primarily from 1889-1902, but there are earlier and later ones. As with all death records, the quality of information given depends on who provided the details.
Links below point to the first name on each of 24 index pages.
- Digital images may be ordered for $5 per record.
- These will be emailed.
- Printed hard copies are $7 per record.
- These copies are letter-size, folded in thirds and mailed in a letter envelope.
These copies are not certified.
Please place orders by completing this form.
You can also order a copy of an individual's certificate(s) by sending your return address, index information, and $5.00 per request to:
Genealogical Forum of Oregon, Inc.
ATTN: Portland Death Certificate
2505 S.E. 11th Ave., Suite B-18
Portland, OR 97202-1061


text:
Bette's Oceanview Diner is a bright, clean, retro-looking diner with retro fixtures. While waiting for your food, things to look for include "Bette's First Dollar", a Seeburg Wall-O-Matic, and free postcards.
It's a very popular place -- I was there 7:30 AM on a Friday morning and it was already almost at capacity. They are also dangerously close to smelling like a tourist trap with their cookbooks and souvenir mugs. Even so, prices are not bad. Special breakfasts come in at more than $10, but there's lots under $10. House blend coffee $2.75 in a rather thick mug (so there's less than you think) but it's apparently endless so the possibly long wait for your breakfast isn't completely boring. Bring a newspaper or something and sip on your coffee.
I had been recommended their Tuna Melt by friends who used to live in San Francisco, but my schedule on my 2015-April trip to San Francisco / Berkeley didn't let me linger till 11 AM to order it, so instead I went with their supposedly famous potato cakes.
Bette's Potato Pancakes ($11.95) Our famous German-style pancakes, grated to order and served with house-made applesauce and sour cream
- Two large and flat pan fried potato cakes, probably amounting to just one big potato. A medium breakfast for a premium price, considering it's shredded potato held together by a bit of egg.
- Strangely weak applesauce and sour cream that didn't taste sour. Hmm.
- Can't see why this is "famous" as it is not particularly tasty and the price hardly appealing.
I've had this experience at dinner as well, and not just in San Francisco / Berkeley. Whatever the reason, it still feels like rushing the customer (and it probably is) and that always bugs me, especially as the end result is the same if the customer does insist on lingering: Either the restaurant can't do anything, or has to have an uncomfortable chat with them about making room for the people waiting in line.
And precisely because the end result is the same, why not allow the customer to make the considerate move first (e.g., by promptly asking for the bill)? I often ask for my bill right away when the busser comes to clear my dishes, if I know I am definitely not ordering anything else. I even hand them my credit card so they can start processing it right away.
The two best ways to experience Bette's are probably:
- Order an under-$10 breakfast and their coffee.
- Order an over-$12 special breakfast to see what they can do.


text:
"The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country…." -from an order from the Grand Army of the Republic
Dear friends,
150 Memorial Days later, where are we? Today, we spend more on military around the world than all the other nations combined. Despite our demands to other nations, we continue to amass and test nuclear weapons capable of destroying the world as we know it. We choose to police, occupy and wage war in many nations while we neglect the critical human needs in our country. There is an effort currently underway to re-imagine the 1968 Poor People's Campaign that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr imagined just before his death to highlight the plight of this nation's poor. In 1968, Dr. King argued that we would "never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube". And yet here we are, still not able to learn that lesson. Today it is not Vietnam — it is Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Palestine, Afghanistan, Korea and so many other places where we spend money that could be better spent solving human crises at home. Instead, families in this country and around the world mourn loved ones and young people face life wounded and challenged. 150 years ago, the people who set about to decorate graves of soldiers did so to heal the wounds of war. Today, it is becoming a way to celebrate war and wave the flags of nationalism.
Healing the wounds of war has become far more urgent and far more complicated than simply putting flags and flowers on graves. This weekend must be a call to stay in conversation however difficult it is — to keep talking and listening about immigration; about racism and the plight of our nation's poor; about allocating our planet"s scarce resources; about our preoccupation with military solutions to complicated problems; and about guaranteeing basic human rights to all people. These are the conversations that will help us truly heal and give honor to all who have died in the search for those ideals…


text:
County Kerry based EuroGuard have been serving the South West of Ireland in providing security systems to the domestic and commercial market for over two decades.
Personal security and peace of mind is an invaluable feature of life today and we place great emphasis on addressing these concerns on an individual basis. Working on a one-to-one basis, we would be delighted to offer you a personalised tailored service.
As an installer licensed by The Private Security Authority (License Number PSA 00064) – our work is audited regularly, ensuring that the quality of the systems we install comply with the highest standards. This ensures that our intruder alarms, CCTV and Access Control systems deliver quality as well as peace of mind.
Our security expertise earned over the past 15 plus years means we are very well positioned to give the most appropriate and beneficial advice that surpass your specific needs. At the very best cost too, so why not Contact Us or try our Free Instant Quote.
What We Do
As a modern licensed security systems company, we can provide you with an excellent service in:
Top level, hi-tech monitoring via our dedicated control room and modern phone apps.
Contact Us
We are a County Kerry based company and are proud to offer our dedicated services across The Kingdom and throughout the South West of Ireland.
Thanks to our membership of the nationwide Alarm Watch Security Group, we can also assist in queries from across Republic of Ireland and can offer you the very best price for your complete alarm and security system.
Feel free to contact us to arrange a non obligation site survey visit.


text:
On Demand/Online Change Assessment Certification
This certification includes both the Change Style Indicator and Change Navigator. The Change Style Indicator is a leadership assessment designed to measure an individual's preferred style in approaching and addressing change. It provides leaders of all levels with insights on personal preferences for managing through change and provides context for how those around them might perceive and respond to their preferred style.
After completing a 3-5 minute questionnaire, the Change Style Indicator places the respondent on a continuum between:
Conserver: prefers the known to the unknown
Pragmatist: prefers to explore the current situation in an objective manner
Originator: prefers a faster and more radical approach to change
Certification for Change Style Indicator and Change Navigator comprises self-paced learning, receiving your own report and a coaching call. Price includes the licensing fee required by MHS. It's easy and only takes 3 hours! How does it work?
STEP 1: Register through Eventbrite - select the first day available on the list. Or contact Janice at email@example.com if an invoice is required.
STEP 2: We facilitate registration with MHS to obtain your license and have your online portal established.
STEP 3: You will receive a Welcome E-mail! Review the e-learning modules for the Change Style Indicator and Chane Navigator. Issue your own report!
STEP 4: Schedule your 1:1 coaching call using our convenient online scheduler.
STEP 5: Complete the MHS survey and generate your certificate!
Access to the Change Style Indicator and Change Navigator
The ability to take the assessment yourself and receive feedback on your results with an accredited executive coach
Facilitator guide, slide presentation, and other resources that enable you to run your own workshop
A free online account where you can use the product with your clients
Our complimentary 1-hour online CSI/CN video. Hayley and Janice review the training materials with you. A great reference!
Access to our monthly newsletter with tips on building resiliency, enhancing emotional intelligence and managing change
Invitations to our complimentary webinars.
Sample download reports:


text:
With the crap weather we had been having in the new year, getting out on the hill was doubtful and to say the least low down on the agenda od things to do !
On the last day of the holidays there was a window not to be missed so alarms were set and plans for an early start made !
Alarms did not go off and early starts drifted off like spindrift in a gale !
With time constraints in mind we stopped off at the Ice Factor for a coffee and to consider options.
Plans made we tried to claw back time by driving the single track road up to the Mamore Lodge.
It was all going great till a steep section and some ice stopped us and the only option was to retreat backwards down the road to a suitable turning or parking spot.
As breaks were applied gravity and friction (or lack off) took over and the only option for traction was the grass verge.
This was short-lived as the verge grew into a ditch, the car decided it did not want to roll along the nice top off the ridge and opted for the deep groove to the side, this reduced the clearance between verge and car to about 1cm !
After a bit of thought and hacking with the ice axe we had clearance and after carefull placements of boulders to raise the car we were out and finally parked in a safe place, PTC's relief was evident !
Striding up the hill we had just spent the last 45 minutes reversing down we soon broke through the tree line and onto the hill-side.
A thick blanket of powder snow covered everything making the going interesting, even on the track.
In the corrie some of it had slipped leaving very evident avalanche tracks.
With the sun shining it felt really mild as we followed the track further up the hill, I was suffering already feeling the effects of 3 weeks of non activity.
We cut off the path heading further up the hill, the sun was already getting low in the sky, the snow carpeting across the heather made the going tough and picking a route was not easy.
We finally stopped just off the ridge to have a cuppa and some food, the wind had picked up so we ducked behind a large drift of snow for some shelter.
Lots of layers were thrown on and we had a brew as the temp and the sun dropped rapidly.
We moved off again for the last wee bit of the ridge, it would be a shame to come this far and not have a look into the next corrie.
The slope was steep, the air cold and the drifts deep !
By the time the two of us reached the ridge we were breathing hard like we had just negotiated the last step on Everest without oxygen, it's not supposed to be this hard !
Cutting our losses and both agreeing that where we were standing would be a great spot for pitching tents we started off back down the hill.
It feels so long ago that I camped on a high top !
I guess a lot of people have an issue with being on the hills after the sunset, I think sunrise and sunset can the best times to be on the mountains.
My headtorch is great for descending in the dark so whats the rush ?
Back on the track we plodded on, looking down onto Kinlochleven like it was some alpine village in Norway.
No tops, no big distances just a good time in the hills !
The A82 was a mixture of black ice and drifts of snow as we carefully made our way around crashes and other speedy drivers driving at a crazy pace for the conditions.


text:
Read an article on the Google's huge online digitization of books project and how Librarians fight against it.
The main problem.
" The library community recalls with horror the pricing fiasco that occurred when industry consolidation left academic journals in the hands of five publishing companies. The firms hiked subscription prices 227% over a 14-year period, between 1986 and 2002, forcing cash-strapped libraries to drop many subscriptions, according to Van Orsdel. "The chance of the price being driven up in a similar way (in the Google deal) is really very real," he says.
Read the full article on Time written by By Janet Morrissey