text:
DECATUR, Ill. — Archer Daniels Midland Co. said it is launching a tender offer to buy the rest of Australia's GrainCorp, after other bidders failed to submit better offers.
ADM last month offered 12.20 Australian dollars ($12.63) a share in cash for the remaining 80 percent of GrainCorp Ltd. that it doesn't already own, giving all of the Australian grain handler a value of 3.4 billion Australian dollars.
The agribusiness company based in Decatur, Ill., said late Sunday that GrainCorp's board has agreed to recommend the latest offer to shareholders for approval in the absence of a superior offer. Its two previous offers for GrainCorp had initially been rejected as too low.
GrainCorp offers grain storing, collection and transport. Archer Daniels said the deal will expand its agriculture offerings in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
ADM has been looking to invest in overseas suppliers and Australia is a major exporter of commodities, including iron ore and wheat.
Its offer is scheduled to close on Aug. 31, unless extended, and is subject to conditions including regulatory approval.
ADM shares closed at $33.09 on Friday. They have ranged from $24.38 to $35.04 over the past year.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
We can find a large number of iframe-autoresize scripts on the Internet. But I found no script that meets both of the following requirements:
- the 'seamless iframe' must be dynamically insertable; that is, it must not be 'already there' when the page opens;
- resizing must be animated.
So I wrote a tutorial on how to produce dynamic/animated auto-resizing iframes.
The link to the tutorial is HERE.
Arie Molendijk.


text:
Facebook suggests Nasdaq glitches led to decline
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is suggesting that trading problems at the Nasdaq Stock Market contributed to a sharp drop in the company's stock price after its initial public offering.
In laying out a defense against dozens of lawsuits from disgruntled shareholders, Facebook and the banks overseeing the IPO also insist that nothing about its IPO process was illegal or even out of the ordinary.
The defense came in a court filing in which Facebook and the banks, led by Morgan Stanley, are seeking to combine the more than 40 federal and state lawsuits around the country into one federal case in New York.
The highly anticipated IPO was marred by technical glitches that delayed trading when Facebook went public on May 18.
Facebook said those glitches at Nasdaq hurt its stock for days. Seven of the lawsuits claim that Nasdaq errors created market uncertainty and caused shareholders to lose money. Nasdaq has admitted that there were technical problems. Nasdaq spokesman Joe Christinat declined to comment Friday.
The bulk of the shareholder lawsuits — 28 — center on Facebook's May 9 disclosure that the number of mobile users it has was growing faster than revenue. The lawsuits claim that analysts at those banks had discussions with Facebook after May 9 and had lowered their forecasts as a result, but disclosed the changes only to a handful of preferred clients.
In its filing late Thursday, Facebook said the lawsuits "ignore that what Facebook and (the banks) allegedly did both followed customary practices and did not violate any rules."
"As is customary," Facebook said, the May 9 filing "did not include any forward-looking projections." In other words, Facebook did not give a revenue or profit forecast in its amended filing, nor did it do so in any other IPO document. Facebook added that federal regulators do not require companies to give earnings or revenue projections in their IPO documents.
Facebook said it wants to bring the lawsuits to New York in part because that's the home to most of the banks involved in the IPO. It's also where many of the events in dispute took place and where Nasdaq is headquartered.
In separate filings with regulators Friday, Facebook released letters it exchanged with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the months leading up to IPO. That's something companies typically do after a confidentiality period ends.
Among other things, federal regulators had wanted to know more about the revenue it gets from mobile devices, its $1 billion deal to buy Instagram and the control CEO Mark Zuckerberg has over the company. Facebook amended its regulatory documents several times before the IPO, but the communications leading to those changes weren't public until now.
On an upbeat note, Facebook's stock gained value for the week for the first time. The stock climbed $1.72, or 6.1 percent, to close at $30.01 on Friday. That's up nearly 11 percent for the week, though it's still down 21 percent from its IPO price of $38.
Also on Friday, Facebook's chief technology officer, Bret Taylor, announced that he is leaving the company to work on a startup. Taylor said on his Facebook profile that he's "sad to be leaving, but I'm excited to be starting a company with my friend Kevin Gibbs." Taylor joined Facebook in 2009 when the company bought FriendFeed, the Internet company where he was working at the time.
AP Business Writer Christina Rexrode contributed to this story.


text:
Sad But True
Presented with no implication of racism, nor with any other comment.
Presented with no implication of racism, nor with any other comment.
Number of black Americans on the 1946 Dodgers: 0
What's the point?
How many Hispanic players were on the Dodgers 1950 team?
Happy Jackie Robinson Day.
Asian – Kuroda, Huo (dl)
Latino – Montaserios, Ortiz, Padilla, Ortiz, Troncoso, Furcal, Ramirez, Belliard
Martin is black Canadian. most of the Latino players are black, too (Manny – hello?)
L.A. is as much Latino & Asian as it is black; it's also a city of immigrants. the team reps the community pretty well. i know your post was about American-born, but MLB is a game of imports: it's one of the few legal opportunities for poor kids from poor countries to come here & strike it rich. Americans are already here, have many more options – and many of them opt for basketball, football, etc. with 5% of the people in this country here illegally, and a huge percentage of recent arrival (2 generations or less), there's not a lot of point talking about "American-born" — it's not relevant to many fans.
I am struck by the irony.
I always thought that the beauty of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, or any other triumph of racial desegregation was the fact that we were looking past race, and just looking at people as individuals.
Counting up the number of black players on a roster seems completely opposite of what we are supposed to be striving for. It just seems like a very racist point.
"We should have more black people on the team" is a shockingly racist sentiment. But nobody seems to realize that.
So, basically. Ok. There are fewer black American ball players than there used to be. So what? If there's no discrimination taking place, I don't see what the problem is.
As a white male married to a women who is bi-racial (Japanese -American and white) whose first marriage was to a African-American male (which produced two multi racial children) believe me, racial identity is and always will be an issue in this country. My stepson married a white female, and people have no problem asking me about my grand children from this union, "What are they?" So, I tell them the fractions of their their makeup. The best response i have heard is that they are 100% beautiful.
Having said all this, I think the example of the Dodgers as laid out by the previous post omits one pertinent fact: at least 3-5 of the players mentioned are either bi- racial or multi-racial. Trivia: Jackie's 1st "white" team was the 1946 Montreal Royals, also Canadian.


text:
UNCTAD´s Least Developed Countries Report provides a comprehensive and authoritative source of socio-economic analysis and data on the world´s most impoverished countries. The Report is intended for a broad readership of governments, policy makers, researchers and all those involved with LDCs´ development policies. Each Report contains a statistical annex, which provides basic data on the LDCs.
Series Status:
Economic and Social Development


text:
Laws, Regulations and Annotations
Business Taxes Law Guide – Revision 2023
Underground Storage Tank Maintenance Fee Regulations
Title 18 of the California Code of Regulations
Regulation 1220
Regulation 1220. Exemption from Fee.
Reference: Sections 50107 and 50108, Revenue and Taxation Code. Sections 25299.20 and 25299.21, Health and Safety Code.
The fee does not apply to:
(a) The State of California, or any agency or department thereof.
(b) The United States, its unincorporated agencies and instrumentalities.
(c) Any incorporated agency or instrumentality of the United States wholly owned by the United States or by a corporation wholly owned by the United States.
(d) Banks and other financial institutions.
(e) Insurance companies.
(f) Any person of Indian descent who is entitled to receive services as an Indian from the United States Department of the Interior when the underground storage tank is located upon an Indian reservation, including rancherias, or any land held by the United States in trust for any Indian tribe or individual Indian.
History— Adopted October 6, 1999, effective January 8, 2000.


text:
Getting rid of pesky fleas and ticks is only half the battle. Doing it safely is a challenge in itself. Since many pet products contain hazardous chemicals, safety is a concern to both pets and humans. The Natural Resources Defense Council has been arguing to have the most risky chemicals removed from flea-and-tick control products, but two suspect ingredients remain on the market: propoxur and tetrachlorvinphos.
Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, an NRDC scientist, said that children are at the greatest risk of exposure and health complications because they come into close contact with pets and the residue often left behind by flea collars. In laboratories, the chemicals have been linked to health concerns ranging from nervous system and developmental problems to cancer.
Through NRDC's efforts, flea and tick collars containing propoxur now carry warning labels in California, telling pet owners that the ingredient is toxic and may cause cancer. NRDC is petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to ban propoxur from dog and cat flea collars nationwide.
Rotkin-Ellman said that prevention is the best medicine. If you can avoid flea and ticks, you won't need to use retail treatments. She suggests:
More From Good Housekeeping
- Regularly bathe your pet with natural cleaners.
- Vacuum the home once a week. Empty the bag and dispose of its contents.
- Wash pet bedding in hot, soapy water once a week.
- Frequently use a fine-toothed flea comb on your pet.
If you do decide to go with an over-the-counter method, Rotkin-Ellman recommends turning over the box and looking at the active ingredients. "That's the only way of actually knowing what's in these products," Rotkin Ellman said.
Based on research done by the NRDC, these are the safest products for flea and tick control:
Ingestible flea-and-tick control tablets
Tablets cause no exposure to humans and according to Rotkin-Ellman, are safe when prescribed by vets. Ask your pet doctor about:
Capstar Flea Control Tablets ($17.99 at amazon.com)
This digestible tablet is suitable for dogs and cats and contains nitenpyram, which is not a registered pesticide, but a veterinary drug. There is no risk to humans, and veterinary reports do not indicate cause for concern for animals.
Spot-on treatment
Spot-on treatments pose less of a threat than collars, but since they are so concentrated, its important that you apply the right dosage to your pet, based on its size and weight. And remember that cats and dogs respond differently to drugs, so make sure to use cat-safe products on your dog if you also have a cat, and vice versa. Try:
Zodiac Flea & Tick Spray for Dogs, Puppies, Cats and Kittens ($8.15 at amazon.com)
This spray contains s-methoprene, which is an insect growth regulator that halts that growth of chitin, the substance that creates the exoskeleton in insects. These chemicals are effective against developing insects but not adult ones, so this is a preventative treatment. Since mammals do not produce chitin, this chemical should not be a risk to humans or pets.
Flea collars
The chemicals to steer clear from when purchasing flea collars are propoxur and tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP). Instead, try:
Sergeant's Duel-Action Flea and Tick Collar for Dogs ($6.15 at amazon.com)
This collar lacks hazardous chemicals and its active ingredient, Pyriproxyfen, has very little toxic effect on humans.
Zodiac Non Breakaway Flea and Tick Collar for Cats and Kittens ($5.70 at amazon.com)
This collar contains s-methoprene, the insect growth regulator that is thought to be harmless to mammals.
Find more information and additional product listings visit NRDC's pet site, greenpaws.org.


text:
The Dallas Police Department pleaded for the public's help with locating a man it believed to be responsible for a fatal ambush on police officers. The police used Twitter to aid in their manhunt for the sniper by tweeting a photo of a person they identified as a suspect about two hours after the shooting began late Thursday.
Five officers died and seven others were injured in the attack. Two other civilians were also hurt.
The tweet, posted just before 11 p.m. Thursday, depicted a photo of Mark Hughes in a camouflage shirt carrying a rifle amid a crowd of peaceful protesters in downtown Dallas with the caption, "This is one of our suspects. Please help us find him!"
"Gun shots rang out. We ran… It was hours later after I had given up my gun, that I had received a phone call that I was now a suspect," Hughes told Craig Melvin of MSNBC. "I didn't understand how I became a suspect."
Hughes says he was carrying an AR-15 rifle and was "exercising my second amendment right" to bear arms.
Once the shooting started, he gave his gun to police officers and went home. He later received a phone call from a friend who saw his photo on television and so he turned himself in to police. He says he was questioned for about 30 minutes and then cleared as a suspect.
U.S. & World
Twitter users rallied behind Hughes, calling on police to delete the tweet. More than 41,000 users retweeted the tweet and 18,000 liked it.
Minutes after the police tweet, @Mari_Mergerson tweeted, "That pic circulating is not the suspect. He's the brother of co-organizer Corey Hughes. He gave the AR-15 to a cop when shooting started."
Replies to the police department's tweet throughout Friday continued to call for them to delete the tweet. The photo remained on the Dallas Police timeline for at least 16 hours before it was deleted late Friday afternoon.
Hughes says he has not received an apology from Dallas Police. NBC has reached out to the police department for comment.
Attorney Corwyn Davis said the Hughes brothers have received thousands of death threats as a result of the tweeted image, according to The Washington Post.
Authorities said Friday afternoon that the killer was Micah Xavier Johnson, a lone gunman. Sources told NBC 5 Investigates Johnson laughed and sang during the standoff with police.
[NATL-DFW] Dramatic Photos: Deadly Sniper Attack in Downtown Dallas
Johnson, an Army veteran, told police during the standoff that he wanted to see white people, particularly police officers, die. The 25-year-old was wounded by gunfire before being killed by a robot outfitted with a bomb, a source told NBC 5 Investigates.


text:
Arianna Huffington: I've always enjoyed bringing together people from many different parts of my life and facilitating interesting conversations. These conversations have taken place around dinner tables, or at book parties, or on hikes with disparate groups of friends. With The Huffington Post, the idea was to take those conversations — about politics and books and art and music and food and sex — and bring them into cyberspace, creating a one-stop site for news and opinion, with an attitude, in real-time.
O Huffington Post é um fenómeno que ainda espanta muita gente. Os segredos da ascensão meteórica deste blog que se transformou em muito mais do que isso, transformando-se ele mesmo num novo formato, podem ser descobertos nesta entrevista de Jonathan Dube para o Poynter Online.
The Huffington Post is a phenomenon that still amazes many people. The secrets for the rise of this blog that became far more than that, turning itself into a new format, can be found in this interview by Jonathan Dube for Poynter Online.
Huffington: A lot of the discontent with traditional journalism is because too many reporters have forgotten that the highest calling of journalists is to ferret out the truth, consequences be damned.
Continue a ler 'Entrevista | Interview : Arianna Huffington'


text:
11 Used trucks in Haridwar. Find out good condition second hand trucks in Haridwar only on Truck Junction. Here, you can get old trucks for sale in Haridwar at the best price. Used Truck Price in Haridwar Starts from Rs. 2,30,000 only. You can quickly get used tippers in Haridwar, used mini trucks in Haridwar and others. Find out certified dealers to get second hand trucks in Haridwar at market price. All the details and old trucks price in Haridwar is shown below.
Find a Used Truck in Haridwar for Sale
Are you looking for a Second Hand Truck in Haridwar?
If yes, then you are at the right place. Truck Junction Provides 100% certified Used trucks in Haridwar.
Here all old Trucks available at a fair market price in Haridwar with its features and full documents.
How Many Used Trucks Are Available in Haridwar?
Presently, 11 Second hand trucks in Haridwar with pictures, and verified buyer details are available.
Used Truck Price in Haridwar?
Here, The price range of Used trucks in Haridwar region is starting from Rs. 2,30,000 to Rs. 22,50,000. Buy a suitable old truck in Haridwar in your budget.
How can I find an old truck in Haridwar?
Truck Junction comes with a separate segment for used trucks in Haridwar. Here, you can easily get all the categories of second hand trucks in Haridwar. The used trucks categories included used trucks, mini trucks and used pickups in Haridwar. You can also apply filters on price according to your budget range to buy used trucks in Haridwar. All the old trucks are registered here by certified dealers and sellers at market price.
Which Brand old Truck in Haridwar can I get at Truck Junction?
At Truck Junction, you can quickly get almost all brands of used trucks in Haridwar. Here listed Tata, Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Eicher, Bharat Benz used trucks in Haridwar. Along with this, you can also get petrol and diesel, and both fuels type second hand trucks in Haridwar.
At Truck Junction, get Used Trucks for sale in Haridwar at their best suitable prices.
Find Your Right Truck
New Trucks
Used Trucks


text:
Providing you with the best service and the largest selection of in-stock restaurant equipment & restaurant supplies is our number one priority. Our sales professionals are trained to make your buying experience as pleasant and trouble-free as possible. Whether you are in need of restaurant equipment or restaurant supplies, we have an extensive selection of products from which to choose. If for some reason what you are looking for is not in stock, we are prepared to go that extra mile to track down exactly what you want and deliver it when needed. With over 110,000 square feet of warehouse space, we have the widest selection of restaurant equipment & restaurant supplies to satisfy your buying needs. At ZESCO.com, we pride ourselves on the technology we have instituted to guarantee most of the items you need are available for shipment immediately. Items from our stock often ship within 24 hours after your order is received.
Do you have a special project in mind but are not sure how to pull it all together? We can provide a turnkey solution for your project. ZESCO.com is unique because we provide customers with both installation and design services. ZESCO.com provides you with the design, the restaurant equipment & restaurant supplies that you need, along with the knowledgeable installation staff to set your equipment into place. We take pride in our over 39 years of providing value-added services to the restaurant equipment & food service industry.
Our commitment to you does not end once you have received your order. Our customer service staff is here to help you. If you run into problems, we have the solutions to ensure your satisfaction. Our customer service staff can assist you in tracking your order, fulfilling warranty requirements, and resolving damage to your restaurant equipment & restaurant supply purchases resulting from shipment. Feel free to contact us via our Online Chat or call 1-800-901-5051.


text:
Blue should roll dice, take top available talent
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2013 (3614 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
With the CFL draft only six days away, and three of the four prospects I previously listed as the "fantastic four" signed or trying out for NFL deals, should the Winnipeg Blue Bombers now make their first selection (second overall) from the scraps of the NFL draft, or simply take the best player available, existing contract or not?
For proper context, it's important to know that most Tier 1 players in the CFL have had some form of contact with the National Football League at some point in their careers. Whether they went to camp, were previously drafted, played a few games or seasons, or worked out for a couple of clubs, serious skill sets do not often go unrecognized by the super sleuths of the NFL. The talent may have been glossed over and not developed properly (Cameron Wake), or it may be in the wrong place at the wrong time and prematurely dismissed (Brandon Browner), but few standouts north of the border worth their salt haven't at least got a sniff from the Americans.
With that in mind, I think the reaction to a rookie free-agent contract in the NFL by CFL teams is overblown and inappropriate. While it is true that both Matt Sewell and Stefan Charles signed with the Titans, Andy Mulumba with the Packers, and Ben D'Aguilar will be trying out for the Bucs, all we can be sure of is they might be late for the start of 2013 training camp in Canada. In fact, as the statistics about rookie-free-agent signings tell us, many won't even make it to regular training camp, and most will be cut before the NFL season begins.
I would understand the contemplation if any of these players were taken on Day 1 of the draft. Unless you really screw things up and are a non-functioning adult, being drafted anywhere in the first three rounds in the U.S. usually guarantees you at least two or three years in the show to hone your craft.
But that didn't happen.
Not only did none of the top CFL prospects get drafted on Day 1, 2 or 3, but there were 254 other players selected before teams even started to think about them. For every story you hear in the NFL about a player making good and making a career in the league in spite of his non-existent draft status — such as Israel Idonije — there are hundreds of other rookie free agents that never gain a foothold and become exactly what the NFL thought they would.
When it was reported that Stefan Charles received a bonus to sign with the Titans, some of the comments I read opined the up-front cash is an indication the team is serious about him. Trust me when I tell you NFL rookie-free-agent signing bonuses are nothing more than specks of chicken feed general managers find beneath the couch cushions. My first one in 1997 was for a paltry US $2,500. They don't even blink about giving away bonuses of this nature.
While I understand that no one wants a Christmas gift that is on layaway and doesn't have a definitive arrival date, look at the development of former No. 1 pick Henoc Muamba. Henoc only began to make an impact on this roster in his second year of play, and his best years are ahead of him, which is typical of all but the rarest of freshman players. So does it really matter if a CFL team has to wait a few months, or even a year or two before they get a return on their investment? Do you really think any of these draft candidates have the capacity to show up and run amok in the CFL before the moisture dries behind their ears? The day a first-round CFL draft pick turns the tides and fortunes of their football team in their inaugural season is the day I come out of retirement as an offensive tackle. Besides, a season or two of NFL coaching and tutelage will only make that player even more valuable when he does wash out of the league.
In six days, the Bombers have an opportunity to select a player who could make an impact both on the field and to their non-import ratio for more than a decade. If this club is already taking a gamble at quarterback this season to solidify the future of the position, wouldn't it also make sense to roll the dice and draft the best talent available, even if there may be a miniscule risk that he may never land here?
Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays and game days in the Free Press.
Twitter: @DougBrown97
Doug Brown
Doug Brown, always a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.


text:
ViewSonic Touchscreen Monitors are designed to seamlessly integrate into your workflow. With a compact form factor and clean design for easy integration, ViewSonic touchscreen monitors are well-suited for point-of-sale, point-of-information,signage, and hospitality applications.SEE ALL TOUCH TECHNOLOGY
Resistive touchscreens are composed of two electrically conductive layers of thin metal film separated by a tiny air gap. When pressure is applied to the surface of the touchscreen, the two sheets are pressed together, and a circuit is completed.
• Relatively cost efficient to produce and use and are ideal for office check-in counters and kiosks
• Only single-point touchscreens, lack input precision the larger the screen size, overall less clarity compared to other touch technologies.
Optical touchscreens use cameras that continuously scan the touchscreen. When an object comes into contact with the touchscreen, some of the light is blocked and the location of the contact is then calculated by using information from both sensors and mathematical triangulation.
- Optical touchscreens have high transmittance, and because they use optical sensors, can be operated by both conductive and non-conductive materials.
- The size of optical touchscreens is easy to scale, thereby making them well suited for TV news and other television broadcasts.
- Because optical touchscreens calculate touch location via sensor, the number of touchpoints is dependent on the size of the screen
Capacitive touchscreens are coated with a transparent conductive film that, when touched by a fingertip, can use the conductivity of the human body as a means for input. Electrostatic capacitive touchscreens are used in most smartphones and Indoor way finding maps.
• Unlike resistive-type touchscreens, capacitive touchscreens are highly responsive, and can detect multiple points of contact (up to 10 simultaneous).
• Capacitive touchscreens can only react to a conductive material and cannot interact with styluses or gloved hands.
Touch Screen Monitors & Digital Signature SolutionsSEE ALL TOUCH TECHNOLOGY


text:
The IRS' use of correspondence audits to resolve issues with tax returns has mushroomed over the past decade—but taxpayer satisfaction with the program is fairly low. According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), only 48% of those surveyed by the IRS said they were either somewhat or very satisfied with the service related to their audit.
Correspondence audits were the subject of a public hearing Tuesday by the IRS Oversight Board.
The IRS uses correspondence audits to obtain additional information
from taxpayers about a few limited issues on the taxpayer's return.
Correspondence audits are generally narrower than a traditional audit
of a taxpayer's return and are conducted by mail or other written
communications, making it a cheaper and less labor-intensive process
for the IRS.
Among the chief sources of taxpayer dissatisfaction are the excessive time it takes the IRS to resolve cases and difficulties reaching someone to learn the status of a case. Under the IRS' earlier call system, 13% of callers phoned more than eight times before their issue was resolved, and 70% of the calls went to voice mail. The IRS has started to implement a new system called Intelligent Contact Management to provide faster connections to someone who can answer the taxpayer's question.
"AICPA members are very familiar with the difficulties and challenges taxpayers have faced with correspondence examinations," said AICPA Tax Executive Committee Chair Patricia Thompson, one of four panelists at the hearing. Problems identified by members and previously communicated to the IRS are similar to those in the survey. However, she cited informal feedback from CPAs that the IRS is doing a better job at holding off on issuing a deficiency notice (i.e., the 90-day letter) before reviewing correspondence from the taxpayer.
Thompson recommended that the IRS:
- Conduct an internal review to determine if the correct types of returns are being selected for review under the correspondence audit program.
- Expand e-services to alleviate delays related to telephone and mail processing and expedite communications between the IRS and either the preparer or taxpayer.
- Be given adequate resources to effectively and efficiently administer tax laws and collect taxes.
Thompson also stated that taxpayers are often requested to substantiate specific tax deductions such as miscellaneous itemized deductions, state and local income taxes, and real estate taxes. However, the IRS may be making this substantiation request to a large number of taxpayers who happen to be in an alternative minimum tax position, so the deductions would not affect the taxpayer's ultimate tax liability. The net result, Thompson pointed out in her testimony, is a "no-change" audit for the taxpayer and a waste of resources for the IRS. "We suggest that the IRS create an additional 'filter' for its correspondence audit selection process to remove these types of cases from the Service's active case file," she said.
The scope of the current audits was raised by other panelists. Margaret Begg, TIGTA Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Compliance and Enforcement, noted that $68 billion of the tax gap in 2001 was due to the underreporting of income by sole proprietors and suggested that correspondence examiners probe for unreported income, echoing the recommendations of a TIGTA report issued in 2010. That report noted that the procedures for correspondence audits do not require examiners to complete minimum checks for unfiled returns (employment tax and information returns) or to look for unreported income.
Lonnie Gary, representing the National Association of Enrolled Agents, recommended that the IRS avoid using correspondence audits for complex cases, particularly ones related to Schedule C and E returns or Form 2106, Employee Business Expenses. Consultant Andre Re voiced a similar sentiment, saying that it would be hard to do such a probe by correspondence and suggesting that the correspondence audits be limited to adjustments and earned income tax credit disparities. Asked to comment as to whether Schedule Cs should be subject to correspondence audits, Thompson said it would depend on the questions being asked, as some of the questions could be very easily answered through that process.
—Ann Marie Maloney ( email@example.com ) is a communications manager–Tax for the AICPA.
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text:
Horror Prop CREEPY DECAL CLING Halloween Decoration-MUMMY GRAVES
- Item #: HH-RG-G89896-MUMTOMB
- Condition: New
MUMMY TOMBSTONE CEMETERY GRAVEYARD MONSTER-Scary Gothic Horror Prop CREEPY WINDOW CLING Glass Door Decor Mirror Decal Refrigerator Sticker Toilet Tattoo Party Room Haunted House Halloween Decoration Joke Prank Gag Gift
NEW Gothic Halloween Decorations WINDOW CLINGS DECALS STICKERS Grabber Tattoos Party Room Decor Haunted House Prop Joke Prank Gag Gift
Can be used on most smooth surfaces, such as mirrors, refrigerators and windows
*PLEASE NOTE: ***This is a regular window cling... with Non-sticky surface***
NEW Detailed SCARY, SPOOKY and GROSS... Fresh Decor from a Creepy Haunted House! HALLOWEEN Prop Decor Window Cling - Can be used on floors, doors, mirrors and windows.
Size of Sticker Sheet approx 16-inch (40cm) long x 11-inch (27.5cm) wide
Easily peel n place on any clean smooth surface. Perfect decoration or prop for any room! Smooth vinyl-like plastic can be displayed on flat slick non-porous surface. Easy to use - Removable - Peel'n'Place - Will adhere to most smooth surfaces.
•Removable and fully repositionable
•For temporary use only
***WARNING*** MAY DAMAGE CERTAIN SURFACE FINISHES. TEST ON INCONSPICUOUS SURFACE AREA FIRST, BEFORE FULLY APPLYING. Place this decal on mirrors, car and house windows, refrigerators, toilet lid, etc. as a creepy surprise for family and guests!
Reusable Decorations Directions:
1) Clean surface to be decorated. *LEAVE SURFACE DAMP.
2) Remove cling from original backing and apply to surface.
3) Remove air bubbles by smoothing surface from the center outward. Reposition as needed.
*Always be sure to test before applying to surface, may leave a mark.
*Not recommended for use on floors.
***Please Note: Item will be shipped rolled up in a cardboard tube, and may need to be laid flat for a few days to straighten back out.
mpn: HH-RG-G89896-MUMTOMB
upc: 721003898967


text:
How healthcare can work when it is a right, not a privilege
Republican lawmakers are determined to protect the American people from what they call "socialized medicine" and what the rest of the world calls affordable and accessible healthcare.
What seldom comes up in this discussion, though, is what exactly we're talking about. Is it the government owning and running all hospitals? Is it Washington bureaucrats deciding who receives treatment and who doesn't?
Or is it something closer to the experience Oak Park resident Mona Davis had during a recent visit to London?
ASK LAZ: Smart answers to consumer questions
She thought she'd come down with a cold while touring the British capital. As it worsened, she went out in search of a doctor or clinic.
Davis, 72, was directed to St. Thomas' Hospital, which, in one manifestation or another, has been treating people since the 12th century.
Upon arriving at the facility, Davis told me, she was promptly escorted to what hospital staffers called A&E, as in "accident and emergency," not the cable channel. Within minutes, she was shown to an examination area.
"I was there over five hours," Davis recalled. "They took my vitals, took a chest X-ray, did blood tests and gave me an infusion of antibiotics."
The diagnosis: Pneumonia. Davis was given prescriptions for an inhaler, a steroid and an antibiotic. A specialist demonstrated the correct way to use an inhaler.
"Where do I go to pay my bill?" Davis asked.
There would be no charge, she was told. Most treatment provided by the government's National Health Service is free to British citizens.
Davis said she was American.
No worries. St. Thomas' didn't charge anyone for A&E. Ta-ta!
Davis filled her prescriptions at the hospital drugstore. The total bill came to about $37.
There will be some, I'm sure, who will point out that Britain's National Health Service is frequently criticized for long waits and bureaucratic inefficiency. Such criticism may be warranted.
But what's also undeniable is that Britain's medical system, like those of virtually every developed country except our own, is predicated on the notion that healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
Quibble all you want about how other nations' healthcare systems are structured, the core idea is that everyone is entitled to affordable medical treatment.
Compare Davis' experience in London with what undoubtedly would have happened if someone from another country, lacking U.S. coverage, had shown up at an American hospital with pneumonia. The bill almost certainly would run in the thousands of dollars.
Heck, compare Davis' experience with what happened to her husband, Robert, 71, after the couple returned to Southern California from Britain.
It was a weekend and his regular doctor's office was closed. Feeling unwell, and mindful of his wife's diagnosis overseas, he went to the emergency room at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks.
Blood tests were performed and a chest X-ray taken. Two days later, he had to return to the ER to double-check one of his blood tests. A bacterial infection was diagnosed.
The total bill for both hospital visits: nearly $17,000.
"You hear people all the time talking about how bad the British or the Canadian system is," Davis told me. "All I know is that I got great treatment and I didn't have to wait at all."
And she posed this question: "Which would you rather have, my London bill or my husband's California bill?"
Expensive tests
Along these same lines, Debra Wurzel, 57, of Santa Monica had to find a new doctor after her regular physician retired. She settled on a doctor at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
As part of a routine physical, the doctor ordered some blood tests. "She just wanted to get a base reading for me," Wurzel said.
The bill for the blood work arrived a few weeks later. The hospital was charging a total of $1,298, nearly $720 of which would come out of Wurzel's pocket.
When her former physician ran the same tests, she recalled, her out-of-pocket expenses totaled $170.
Wurzel contacted the hospital and asked what was going on. The bill was so high, she was told, because the blood tests were considered outpatient treatment, rather than in-office care.
"Outpatient?" Wurzel said. "I didn't leave the building. I just walked down the hall from my doctor's office to have the blood taken."
Dale Tate, a spokeswoman for UCLA Health Sciences, told me that anyone who isn't hospitalized is considered a recipient of outpatient care.
She also said there's no difference in how much outpatient and hospitalized people are billed for lab tests.
What that means, it seems, is that UCLA Medical Center will happily gouge all patients for routine lab tests.
Ask your doctor if he or she would mind if you had your blood tests done elsewhere. Companies such as LabCorp and Health Testing Centers will perform many tests at a fraction of the cost charged by hospitals.
David Lazarus' column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to firstname.lastname@example.com.
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US House of Representatives passes CISPA cybersecurity bill
The US House of Representatives has passed the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protect Act (CISPA).
Lawmakers in the House voted 288-to-127 Thursday afternoon to accept the bill. Next it will move to the Senate and could then end up on the desk of US President Barack Obama for him to potentially sign the bill into law. Earlier this week, though, senior White House advisers said they would recommend the president veto the bill.
Should CISPA earn the president's autograph, private businesses will be encouraged to voluntarily share cyberthreat information with the US government. The authors of the bill say this is an effort to better combat the reportedly increasing attempts to harm America's critical computer networks and pilfer the systems of private companies for intellectual property and other sensitive trade secrets.
One of the bill's creators, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland), said during a round of debate on Wednesday that $400 billion worth of American trade secrets are being stolen by US companies every year. Passing CISPA, he said, would be a common sense solution to a threat that's growing at an alarming rate.
"If your house is being robbed, you call 911 and the police department comes. That's the same scenario we are looking at here," he said.
Also testifying Wednesday, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Florida) said CISPA could be used to combat the 25 million cybercrime victims she claims are targeted every day.
That same day, CISPA co-author Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) stressed that his bill doesn't extend any extra surveillance powers to the federal government, despite condemnation from critics that say exactly that. "It does something very simple: it allows the government to share zeroes and ones with the private sector," he said. Rather, he called it "a critical bipartisan first step for enabling American's private sector to defend itself" and "improves cybersecurity without compromising our civil liberties."
"We have yet to find a single United States company that opposes this bill," said Rep. Rogers.
But companies do in fact oppose CISPA, including a number of entities that carry a good deal of clout around both Silicon Valley and inside the beltway. Just last month Facebook rescinded their support of the act, according to Cnet's Declan McCullagh, because a spokesperson for the social media site says they prefer a legislative "balance" that ensures "the privacy of our users."
After CISPA was unsuccessfully introduced to Congress last year — only to stall in the Senate — Microsoft endorsed the act only to eventually do an about-face.
"Microsoft believes that any proposed legislation should facilitate the voluntary sharing of cyber threat information in a manner that allows us to honor the privacy and security promises we make to our customers," the company's Scott Charney told McCullagh at the time.
But just last week, TechNet President Rey Ramsey sent a letter to Reps. Rogers and Ruppersberger saying his group thinks CISPA "recognizes the need for effective cybersecurity legislation that encourages voluntary, bi-directional, real time sharing of actionable cyberthreat information to protect networks," but that further work may be needed. TechNet's Executive Council includes Yahoo's Marissa Mayer, Google's Eric Schmidt and Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith.
Web browser makers Mozilla oppose the bill, as does the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union, and last year's attempt to pass CISPA after it was unveiled for a first time prompted the White House to issue a veto warning then. In the months since the bill stalled in the Senate, though, the president has on his own part urged Congress to adopt a new cybersecurity bill.
CISPA 101: Originally introduced in late-2011, CISPA passed the House but never advanced to a full Senate vote after massive public campaigns waged against the bill. It's authors say CISPA will "provide for the sharing of certain cyber threat intelligence and cyber threat information between the intelligence community and cybersecurity entities" by encouraging private companies such as Google, Facebook and others to hand over to the government any data that could be used to combat cyberattacks. Critics of the bill say its language is too broad, though, and allows federal agencies to access too much personal information.
In February, Pres. Obama signed an executive order that urges his administration to begin working towards improving cybersecurity protections until Congress can craft a bill. Hours later, he said during his annual State of the Union address how imperative legislation action is.
"Earlier today, I signed a new executive order that will strengthen our cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing standards to protect our national security, our jobs and our privacy. Now, Congress must act as well, by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks," the president said.
But in the veto threat extended by his office earlier this week, the White House writes, "the Administration still seeks additional improvements and if the bill, as currently crafted, were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) corroborated on that statement during Thursday's pre-vote discussion, vowing to cast her ballot against CISPA because it did not, in her opinion, protect the privacy of Americans to the degree it should.
"I'm disappointed," said the congresswoman, "that we did not address some of the concerns mentioned by the White House about personal information. Unfortunately, it offers no policies and did not allow any amendments or real solution that upholds Americans' right to privacy."
CISPA, added Pelosi, provides "overly broad liability protections and immunity to the businesses that violate our liberties," and fails to strike a "crucial balance between security and liberty."
But elsewhere during Thursday's debate, another elected lawmaker cited national security concerns as paramount to these privacy woes. Speaking before his congressional colleagues, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said this week's deadly terrorist attack in Boston are reason enough to pass a cybersecurity bill, despite lacing evidence that the pair of bombs detonated Monday at the Boston Marathon were acts of cyberterror.
"Recent events in Boston demonstrate that we have to come together as Republicans and Democrats" in order to pass a bill that will strengthen national security, McCaul (R-Texas) said Thursday morning.
"In the case of Boston," said McCaul, "there were real bombs."
"In this case, they are digital bombs — and these digital bombs are on their way."
Another lawmaker, Rep. Dan Maffei (D-New York), said CISPA was necessary to protect the US against "independent groups like WikiLeaks," adding unfounded claims that the whistleblower website is "taking very aggressive measures to hack into" US computer networks.
Other noteworthy statements that came out of this week's CISPA debate include one quip from Rep. Candice Miller (R-Michigan), who said Wednesday that the billl "helps us fulfill every one of the responsibilities mandated on us by the US Constitution."
"I believe strongly that you should have constitutional concerns about not passing this bill," said Rep. Miller.
"By supporting CISPA, we move to fulfill our oath" to protect the American people, added Rep. William Enyart (D-Illinois).
As news broke Thursday afternoon that CISPA cleared the House,
opponents took to social media to sound out. The EFF responded by
saying the House "shamefully" passed, "undermining the
privacy of millions of Internet users."
One popular account associated with the hacktivist group Anonymous wrote:
When they passed an Internet-killer bill #CISPA, they used the logic of #Boston bombing. We all know how fear and terrorism works now.— Anonymous (@CIApressoffice) April 18, 2013
When Rep. Ruppersberger reintroduced CISPA at the start of this congressional season, he evoked the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to suggest that Congress can and will do whatever is necessary in the wake of another tragedy.
"We don't do anything well after a significant emotional event," said Ruppersberger. Should there be a cyberattack on America on par with 9/11, Congress "will get all the bills passed we want," he said.


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Through the generosity of fellow family historian, Doug Kreis, I have the following obituary for my great-great-grandfather, the fiddle-playing man of my grandmother's youth. Amaziah Bradford was the son of John R. and Hannah Geyer Bradford of Highland Township, Muskingum County, Ohio. This life synopsis originally appeared in The Adamsville Register, Adamsville, Ohio.
A. G. Bradford Called By Death Last Thursday
Amaziah Bradford, aged 81, died at his home in West Lafayette, Ohio, Thursday 18 October (1928) of heart trouble and infirmities. He had been in poor health for some time. Several years ago Mr. Bradford had conducted a confectionery store in West Lafayette and was later employed in the enameling plant in that village. Mr. Bradford had been a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge in West Lafayette for several years. He was a member of the M E Church. He had been a resident of West Lafayette for 30 years. He formerly lived near Bloomfield. The deceased was united in marriage with Miss Julia McCall 53 years ago who together with one son and two daughters survive; Charles of Coshocton, Mrs. Samuel Bell of Cincinnati and Mrs. E. A. Robinson of Walhounding. The funeral was held Saturday afternoon at the M E Church in West Lafayette and burial was made in the cemetery at that place. The following nephews and nieces attended the funeral : Mr and Mrs. J. A. Bradford, Harry Bradford, John Kay, Ray Bradford, Isaac Bradford, W. R. Bradford and Mrs. W. D. Brannon of Adamsville and daughter Mrs. Myrville Truax of Zanesville.


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The January 19 edition of The Living Church is available online to registered subscribers. This edition features an interview with theologian Brian E. Daley, SJ, of Notre Dame University by Christopher A. Beeley of Yale Divinity School. "I see what I do in studying the early Church as part of theology, not just social history, Church history, or intellectual history," Fr. Daley says.
"There is a long tradition of reflection on the Christian gospel. I offer it to people in all the churches for their nourishment and continuing reflection. If theology is faith seeking understanding — which is certainly an Augustinian idea — then theology begins in the preaching of the liturgical community, but it also looks carefully at historical, philosophical, and social questions; it aims to enter more deeply into the gospel through them. That makes theology different from history and religious studies, which are important approaches as well. In my life, doing this has been a priority for me."
ERD Helps Children Live Past 5
Animating God's Word
By Christopher A. Beeley
Hanging On with Chalcedon:
Two New Works on Postliberalism
Review by Joseph Mangina
St. Paul and My Brother Peter
By Sarah Marie Gresser
Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ by Patrick Carey
A History of the Popes by John W. O'Malley, SJ
Review by Patrick Hayes
The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity by John McGuckin
The Orthodox Christian World edited by Augustine Casiday
Review by Peter Eaton
Calvinism by D.G. Hart
Review by Leander S. Harding
Catholic Voices
The Strange Future of 'the Ecumenical Movement'
By Robert W. Jenson
Other Departments
People & Places
Sunday's Readings


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Michelle Duggar Calls Abortion 'Baby Holocaust,' Backs Abortion-Regulating Amendment in Tennessee
The Duggar Family from TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" are speaking out against abortion, and standing up for an amendment seeking to place greater restrictions on terminations in Tennessee, which Michelle Duggar called a "baby holocaust."
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar will be the keynote speakers at the "Heartbeats for Life" event on Monday, Nov. 4, one year before the public vote on Amendment 1 takes place, LifeNews reported.
"We are so excited to be coming to help kick off the push to get Amendment 1 passed. Since the extremely liberal state Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the state of Tennessee cannot put any regulations on abortion, Tennessee has become an abortion procedure destination," Michelle Duggar said.
"Veterinarian clinics for animals in Tennessee have higher standards in health and safety laws than there are for the abortion clinics involving human life. We must join together and end the baby holocaust that is taking place right here in Tennessee."
The "Heartbeats for Life" event is being sponsored by Heartbeat Haven pregnancy center, located in Lafayette, TN. The effort is focused on countering a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that increased ease of access to obtaining abortions. The proposed amendment would implement a waiting period for abortions, place greater restrictions on late-term abortions and introduce rules on what doctors are required to tell women seeking an abortion to ensure they are fully aware of the circumstances and options.
Duggar explained that most other states already have rules that state that women must be given vital information about abortion before they make a choice on the matter – while Tennessee does not even require underage girls to obtain parental consent.
Jim Bob Duggar, who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002 as a state legislator, called on Tennessee residents to get behind Amendment 1, so that state representatives can at least establish basic laws for unborn babies that also help protect women.
The Duggar Family, devout Christians, are now in the 12th season of their hit reality show. Michelle and Jim Bob have been married for more than 29 years and have 19 children, as the show's name suggests.
The "Heartbeats for Life" event on Nov. 4 is also poised to include a speech by Dr. Alveda King, niece of the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who has often spoken out in favor of pro-life issues.
Pro-abortion advocates in Tennessee, however, have criticized attempts to regulatethe state's abortion procedures, arguing that the amendments violate women's rights.
"Nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wade we are seeing bill after bill limiting a woman's right to choose. I find it infuriating. The government policies of late threaten to take women of our country and our state backwards. We are going to fight it," said Leah Bray Nichols, a Memphis yoga center owner, at a women's rights rally at the state Capitol in 2012.
According to a May 2012 Vanderbilt Poll of 1,002 Tennessee adults, pro-life views hold a significant majority in the state. While 23 percent of respondents said that they are definitely "pro-choice" and 14 percent were somewhat "pro-choice," 45 percent voted as definitely pro-life, and 10 percent as somewhat pro-life. Seven percent did not know or refused to answer.


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Some people believe the 4 spring holidays (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Feast of Weeks/Pentecost) were fulfilled in Messiah's 1st coming and that the 3 autumn holidays (Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Booths/Tabernacles) will be fulfilled at his 2nd coming.
-from Sunday School study notes
for August 4th, "Leviticus 23, Feasts of Israel: God's Picture of Things to Come"
Addendum, August 8, 2013: Derek Leman wrote an excellent blog post building on my theme called Jesus Did Not Fulfill the Feasts. Have a look.
I first talked about anticipating this lesson last week, and confessed feeling somewhat unsettled about facing the sermon and especially Sunday school. As it turned out, there was a mirror operating between Pastor Randy's sermon and the Sunday School class I attended a few days ago. Both of them provided an image of Jesus "fulfilling" Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits during his first coming, Pentecost between his comings by the giving of the Holy Spirit, and "fulfilling" the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles when he returns (I'm using the more "Christianized" terms for the appointed times recorded in Leviticus 23).
But in Christian parlance, "fulfilling" something is just another way of saying "terminating." I came to church on Sunday with my Christian Bible, my Chumash, my Siddur, and a notebook full of paper. In other words, I was "loaded for bear." I didn't know exactly what to expect from the sermon, but I was a little surprised to find Pastor Randy taking the "fulfilling" route, although he did stop short of saying that "fulfilling" meant "permanently doing away with." I was also surprised, given that Pastor lived in Israel for fifteen years, that he used the term "Yahweh" as a substitute for the Tetragrammaton, the four letters in the Hebrew language that represent the most Holy Name of God (which is usually translated in Christian Bibles as "The Lord.").
Frankly, I'm just stunned that the theology presented by the image I've posted titled "Biblical Holidays" (see the chart below) even exists (the chart in this blog post is almost identical to the one in Pastor's study notes for last Sunday's sermon). No one seems to be able to tell me where this chart and this doctrine comes from but it obviously is common. I don't agree with it at all. It reduces the moedim to a set of bookmarks in the Bible that have no intrinsic value of their own but that simply exist to "point to Jesus," and once they do, they're history.
Actually, Pastor spent most of his sermon focused on Shabbat and only mentioned the rest of the moedim (eight in all if you include Shabbat) to provide some background. He again emphasized the necessity of a Shabbat (he spoke about Shabbat last week, too) but said that it didn't really matter what day of the week it is. His Shabbat happens to be on Monday. He also emphasized that it's the Biblical pattern for providing rest and relaxation, but he didn't mention that at least for non-Jews, it is also a way to acknowledge God as sovereign Creator (Genesis 2:2, Exodus 20:11).
Certainly Jews take an additional meaning from Shabbat as a sign commandment related to their liberation from slavery in Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15). While relative to the Ten Commandments, I don't think Christians are obligated to keep a Saturday Shabbat, there's nothing really preventing us from doing so (and I can see many advantages for us if we did), but I don't think it's just a day of kicking back. Jewish observance of Shabbat emphasizes focus on and devotion to God. While Pastor doesn't believe that Sunday could ever be his day of rest because it's the day when he works the hardest, I have to wonder how Rabbis experience Shabbos, since they too are working but don't have the luxury of assigning Shabbat to a different day of the week.
Don't get me wrong. I think my Pastor is a terrific guy. He's intelligent, well-read, well-educated, and a man of God. However, we do have points of disagreement.
After I was done twisting in my seat during the sermon, I confronted something similar in Sunday school. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to talk with the teacher before class began and to express my concerns. That "defused" me enough to reduce all of my questions and comments to just a few. I discovered that no one in class knew that Jews commemorate Shavuot (Pentecost) as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The linkage between God's revelation to the Jewish people through giving the Torah at Sinai, and then again much later in history, God's revelation through the giving of the Holy Spirit, was really new.
I also managed to ask why Christians don't Count the Omer (Leviticus 23:15-16) and forgot that no one there probably knew anything about it, even though it's right in the text for the section of Leviticus we're studying.
I keep forgetting just how different of a Christian I really am.
But actually the best part of the class happened after class. I got to talking to a few folks who were interested in this line of discussion and all of the pent-up "me" that I'd been holding back was able to be unleashed for twenty minutes or so. We finally had to leave when we realized that the lights in the church were being turned out (the place really empties out once classes are over).
I'm still trying to figure out where this theology of Jesus fulfilling certain "feasts" during his first coming and then fulfilling the rest at his second comes from. I found charts similar to the one I posted above only at three websites, none of which seem to be exactly "Christian kosher:"
Pastor is pretty conservative so I'd expect him to rely on conservative Christian sources for his information and graphics, but this one is throwing me for a loop. Where does it come from, who conjured it up, and how did anyone arrive at this "pattern?"
I thought I heard someone say that we get the list of festivals the first coming fulfilled by what Jesus quoted of Isaiah 61 in Luke 4 and the list of festivals his second coming will fulfill by the portions of Isaiah 61 he didn't recite on that occasion. But does that make sense?
And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
–Luke 4:17-21 (NASB)
I must be mistaken though, because I don't see the mapping between the Luke 4 passages and the three festivals cited in the diagram. Here's the larger section of Isaiah 61:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. But you will be called the priests of the Lord; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them. Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.
–Isaiah 61:1-9 (NASB)
I stopped copying and pasting after nine verses because I can't see the mapping. I wanted to be thorough, but I can't see a connection between this and the various "feasts" that are supposed to be fulfilled.
My Sunday school teacher offered a more simple explanation. Christ was crucified on Passover, was buried during the Unleavened Bread festival (which may not be true since he was buried before sunset…if he died on Pesach, it was still Pesach when he was buried), and rose as First Fruits from the dead. I'm sorry, but that seems like a pretty thin set of connections upon which to build an entire doctrine. Did I mention that the Feast of Trumpets is supposed to symbolize the Rapture, the Day of Atonement is supposed to symbolize the Return and Final Redemption, and Tabernacles is the Millennial Reign of Christ?
I can sort of see how some Christians might make those kinds of associations, but I have never, ever read any Jewish commentary that said the Messiah's coming somehow "fulfills" any of those things. From a Jewish point of view, the Messiah comes, defeats Israel's enemies, returns the exiles to their Land, restores Israel as the head of nations, rebuilds Jerusalem and the Temple, re-institutes the Temple service with Levitical Priests, and rules over Israel and the rest of the nations as King, establishing world-wide peace and tranquility.
It's all pretty straightforward really with no theological hoops to jump through. Messiah does what he was expected to do back in Acts 1:6 and what Jewish people throughout history have been waiting for Messiah to come and do for thousands of years.
This week was the first of an eight-week series of sermons on Leviticus 23 that Pastor will be giving. Sunday school will be taking a different direction during those weeks, but I have a feeling I'll be challenged at church for the next couple of months between how Pastor sees the function of the moedim and how I do. Fortunately, as I mentioned before, this did inspire an interesting conversation after class. I'm hoping that I'll be able to share a little more about who I am and how I see things, not because I think I'm such a big deal, but because I just can't help but believe there is a lot more to the Bible than what many Christians get out of it. I'd like the opportunity to offer a different perspective and ideally, a paradigm shift.
We'll see how things go.


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Where The Ladies At?
The video vixen's stock was sky high and then the bottom suddenly fell out. Why did the music industry staple get bodied?
Remember when video vixens dominated music television? At the turn of the century (not that long ago, people), they sashayed across screens in slow motion and skimpy attire for the sole purpose of showcasing their striking faces and audacious curves. Within hip-hop circles, they were treated like the grandest of stars. Many were addressed by first and surname (Melyssa Ford), some by first only (Ki Toy), others simply by nickname (Buffie The Body). For their extraordinary assets, video models were awarded the glamorous life. They were flown to exotic locales, put up in five-star hotels and paid handsomely to enhance the sexy of a rapper or singer. Those brief seconds of screen time led to lucrative off-camera paper and publicity. Landing the coveted cover of men's magazines like King and Smooth—or the inside of golden publication Maxim—brought "Baddest Chick" status, while party appearances brought in impressive dividends. Most appealing was the opportunity to transition their career from MTV to Hollywood. For some, the hustle paid off. Melyssa Ford moved from a model on BET to a BET host to acting roles on TV (Entourage) and film (Think Like a Man). Liris Crosse (Jay-Z's "Do It Again") appeared on Law & Order: SVU and in The Best Man. Tae Heckard (Busta Rhymes and Mariah Carey's "I Know What You Want") turned heads on BET's The Game. Albeit, the accomplishments of even the most transcendent models were few and far between. Then the recession hit and video budgets were slashed, allowing thirstier women to do more for less pay, ultimately saturating the market. So popular vixens that once demanded five figures for a day's work were suddenly being offered hundreds, or worse, disregarded for a never-seen-before PYT. To paraphrase Chris Rock, the only thing better than a nice ass is a newer nice ass. That was insider information, though. No one outside the industry cared what the women were paid, only their wet dream worth. But then in 2006, Karrine Steffans, a.k.a. Superhead, wrote a book, Confessions of a Video Vixen. Her account of being disrespected on the set and passed around from rapper to rapper read more like a horror story than a fantasy. The following year, the Game released his single "Wouldn't Get Far," which further downgraded the vixen aspiration. Of course, women still modeled in videos, but even twerking in a thong couldn't compete with exceptionally attractive women who were willing to give fantasies full transparency. Kim Kardashian had curves that rivaled Ford's, but she had a whole sex tape. Amber Rose's computer, allegedly, kept getting hacked for pictures of her spread eagle with her fingers jammed inside of her; then Kanye wifed her. Hip-hop then began celebrating strippers, who soon discovered social media. Today, any woman with a vlog or an Instagram account can claim the title of "Video Model"; and anyone who can afford butt injections can be shaped like one. Everyone still looks, of course—because looking never gets old—but when you can scroll through your smartphone and stare at a variety of ample ass on demand, waiting for a glimpse in a video is hardly worth the effort. —Demetria Lucas


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I received an email recently from a good friend of mine who's just started investigating this whole Evolutionary Creationist bit that I've been promoting on this blog for nearly three years now. His email featured great questions indicative of a genuine seeker, and I felt compelled to answer them as best I could within the limitations of the email format and the time available to me. He's probably not the first of my readers to ask those very same questions, and I'm sure some of his questions are ones that my regular readers have asked themselves in regard to what I believe. Thus, I requested permission to post his questions, and he quickly gave me the green light. So, here's the Q&A;, warts and all. (I take personal responsibility for any scientific inaccuracies or over-generalizations.)
One last thing: Toward the end of this post is an offer to purchase the original questioner the books mentioned in the Q&A.; Unfortunately, it's not something I can offer my readers at large. Money doesn't grow on phylogenetic trees, ya know.
Yes. I believe God created the universe for a purpose. I also believe that God created a universe with all of the necessary natural laws to form itself (e.g., planets, stars, etc.), and that those self-same laws worked to form the first "life" on earth, from which I believe all living things on earth are descended. Taking God out of the that particular "event" takes nothing away from His majesty, for not only did He set the cosmos in motion, but He also continues to uphold and sustain it by the word of His power.
The irreducible complexity argument (which fails at its most basic level) requires God to tinker with the cosmos merely because the laws He put into effect weren't sufficient to achieve His purposes. I understand some feel the need to have God's hand directly involved in the creation of life, but wouldn't the creation of the universe itself fulfill the same need?
As for evidence of abiogenesis, the scientific literature is replete with examples (based on lengthy, observed experiments) of how life could have formed on its own. What's in question is the exact method by which it did so. And that is likely an impossible question to answer. It's akin to figuring out how a molecule of air made it from one end of a maze to the other in a maze with more than one possible route.
In the end, my choice to believe in abiogenesis is slightly more a scientific choice rather than a philosophical one. I find it quite plausible.
Considering the manner by which fossils are formed, no one should expect the geologic column to preserve every so-called "transitional form" for our study. (I believe ALL fossil specimens and ALL living beings are transitional in nature to one degree or another.) In fact, even today, the act of fossilization is extremely rare, only occurring in certain environments. We're lucky to have the specimens we have. Highly recommended: The Bible, Rocks and Time: Geological Evidence for the Age of the Earth (Davis A. Young and Ralph F. Stearley, both Evangelicals). I'm half-way through it and it's absolutely fascinating!
Nevertheless, the fossil record records for us, in chronological order as preserved in the geologic column, a wonderful bounty of "transitional forms" (e.g., fish to amphibians, reptiles to mammals, horses, land-dwelling "whales" to seaborn mammals, etc.). These fossils serve as "snapshots" of evolutionary change, in much the same way we observe how our children have grown up by looking at their annual school photos. What's missing are the in-between months. Similarly, as a species continues to evolve, you wouldn't necessary notice the change from generation to generation due to the fact that the changes are, in most cases, small (albeit critical in some cases). Using the previous example of watching your children grow up, you don't necessarily notice the day-to-day changes, although you become quite aware of them when viewing photos separated by a certain measure of time. Highly recommended: Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters (Donald Prothero).
I used to parrot this argument, but it really isn't a very good one. What most people (Christians or otherwise) don't appreciate is how long a million years really is, especially in terms of reproductive life cycles. It's a loooooooooooooong time. So is a billion years. There's more than enough time to account for the diversity of life. In species that have extremely short life cycles (e.g., bacteria, viruses, fruit flies, etc.), scientists have observed massive amounts of evolutionary change. Heck, we observe it every flu season as certain populations of viruses meet their timely demise while others are able to evolve and "dodge" the vaccine, requiring ever-new vaccines. Highly recommended: Why Evolution Is True (Jerry Coyne) and The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (Richard Dawkins). (Just ignore their occasional digs at theism.)
Sure, there's a teleological argument for God, but it has nothing to do with science. It's purely a philosophical argument. Moral purpose cannot be scientifically proven, only philosophically deduced. In fact, I would say that, scientifically speaking, the non-teleological argument carries more scientific weight. However …
Supposing God exists, the heavens declare His glory for the very reasons I mentioned in Answer #1: He set the cosmos in motion, and He continues to uphold and sustain it by the word of His power. Again, one can't scientifically prove that. It is a choice, and one that I make because of my admittedly subjective experience with the being Whom I believe to be the Living God. Highly recommended: Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution (Catholic scientist Kenneth R. Miller).
To a degree. I don't think "punk-eek" applies universally, but rather at certain times and for certain species. But I recommend you read up on the theory (especially the "common misconceptions" section) before passing judgment on it. (It's an easy thing to do if you're not familiar with the 40,000-foot view.) It merely suggests that while evolutionary change is always occurring, it makes its most critical advancements in spurts as a population of species undergoes hyper-evolution under just the right geo-environmental conditions. This is, of course, somewhat misleading, for that self-same "hyper-evolution" still occurs over tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of years.
I think you hit the nail right on the head. Our spirituality, I believe, is an outgrowth of our physicality, an evolutionary development (for the non-teleologically-inclined) or achievement (for those of us who view life in a teleological manner). In this view, our moral conscience is truly inherent, but it wasn't always the case in the evolution of the creaturely branch that led to our species. Of course, there would have been, at some point, a time when we became morally culpable for our actions.
Personally, I believe that God did not interfere in the affairs of our world until such time as a creature (Homo sapiens, in the case of planet Earth) achieved mental and moral characteristics that mirrored God's own. It was because of this very development/achievement that God chose mankind, a creature capable of representing God (i.e., bearing His "image") on Earth.
Of course, this also leaves open the possibility that, at some point in Earth's distant future, another species could achieve moral culpability.
Yes. I believe the statistical odds favor it. Personally, that's a very exciting prospect! (In my new bio-spiritual body, I'd love to take a "star trek" and explore the rest of God's grand universe.) A corollary to this belief is the idea that if a morally culpable species should ever arise elsewhere in the universe, then God would also desire to enter into a covenantal relationship with it, entering its social and religious world (much like He did with the Israelites), and expressing His love to them in a manner relevant to their unique culture, possibly by performing another act of Incarnation and dying in a culturally-relevant manner.
Highly recommended is this one-two punch: Begin with Wheaton College's John Walton and his The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, and then proceed to Denis Lamoureux's Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution and/or I Love Jesus & I Accept Evolution (which is really a less-expensive condensation of Evolutionary Creation), both of whom are Evangelicals.
In fact, if you are willing to read any of these books, let me know and I'll have any (or all!) of them shipped to your house in a matter of days. My treat. As well, I think you'd really enjoy The BioLogos Forum website. Great Q&A;, scholarly essays, and contributions by a few good friends of mine.


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The Navy says it has put a Virginia base on lockdown following a stabbing.
The stabbing occurred Friday at Naval Support Activity Portsmouth Annex, which is home to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
Social media posts by Navy Region Mid-Atlantic say a service member was stabbed. A suspect has not been caught. Traffic in and out of the base has also been halted.
The stabbing victim's condition is not known, nor is a motive for the attack.
Navy public affairs officials said they were still collecting details on the incident and would provide further details later Friday morning.
The annex is home to the nation's first naval medical center.
Source: The AP


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One of the most interesting and allegedly haunted places in America is the Eastern State Penitentiary located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An estimated 75,000 inmates served time here from 1829-1971.
Known as the country's first official penitentiary, Eastern State's wagon wheel design quickly became a model for more than 300 prisons all over the world.
The basic principles behind the prison turned into more of a social experiment inspired by a meeting at Ben Franklin's home. Quakers thought isolation would make rule breakers know God and remorse, but instead, it made inmates in the maximum-security prison go insane. They thought that complete isolation would make you feel quicker remorse and condition you to change your ways indefinitely.
One of the ways that this was carried out was having each inmate in their own solitary confinement cell with two doors. The first was a grid metal door slammed shut, and then a wooden door closed in front of it to keep inmates from communicating.
Eastern State Penitentiary took it even further making sure all inmates wore full face masks when they went out in the yard. Zero communication, immeasurable distress.
Solarity cells had skylights to let in "God's light" a toilet, running water, heat, and a Bible. It wasn't until 1913, that Pennsylvania abandoned the solitary confinement system, recognizing its failed methods. Eastern states adapted and altered the prison cells to accommodate more inmates per cell. With such a drastic change, prison guards updated their corrections methods.
The Eastern State Penitentiary was part of a movement that was considered to be highly controversial at the time. Its purpose and intent were to modify the behaviors of the individuals that served as inmates through solitary confinement and various types of labor.
While it is considered to be the first official penitentiary located throughout the world, this haunted prison was not the only penitentiary of the time.
Eastern State has a few famous inmates during its almost 190 years in operation. Chicago's most famous mob boss, Al Capone, served eight months for carrying a deadly weapon in a concealed manner. Because of his money, he was placed on the "Park Avenue Block" allowing him to furnish his cell with whatever he wanted like rugs, lamps, plants, and two skylights.
William "Slick Willie" Sutton was serving an 11-year sentence as a famous bank robber when he unsuccessfully tried to escape by digging a tunnel with his fellow inmates in the 1940s. They spent a year digging a tunnel 15 feet down and exactly 100 feet long, but by the time they reached the end, they were being pulled out of the mud by officials who took them right back behind the gate.
Experience the claims of paranormal activity in person like the guys did on Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures at your own risk. If you're truly interested in the paranormal, you can get more details about touring the prison on Eastern State's site.
Does anyone out there consider themselves brave enough to enter the prison knowing its dark history? Let's start a conversation in the comments below.
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Retirement? What's that?
Sure, we work hard, but this is one heck of a fun place to work. It really is like family.
We do want to take a moment, though, to thank Macy, who has been a familiar smiling face around Santa Claus Land and Holiday World for 45 years. She's decided to retire after four and a half decades.
That's Macy in the middle; Vanessa, our Director of Retail, is on the left and Erin, our Director of Games, on the right. They're dear friends.
Vanessa and Erin recently presented Macy with a shadow box, filled with memories of her years here at the park, many of them working in our shops.
Don't be surprised if you see Macy here at the park this summer though. Sure, she's stepped down from her full-time gig, but that doesn't mean she isn't planning a fun little retirement job.
When you see her, just be sure to say hello and ask her how she's enjoying retirement.


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Guns, drugs found in home of Pocono Summit burglary suspect
Police say they found a large cache of firearms and ammunition along with other stolen property in the home of a Stillwater Estates man accused of burglarizing a home Wednesday.
Kirson Vasquez-Latigua, 29, was arrested during a burglary at a Stillwater Estates home in Pocono Summit.
After the arrest, police said they executed a search warrant of Vasquez-Latigua's home on Laurel Road and found narcotics, packaging material, scales and other drug paraphernalia along with the weapons, ammo, electronics and jewelry.
The items were taken in other burglaries around the area, according to police.
Pocono Mountain Regional Police were initially dispatched Wednesday afternoon to the Tobyhanna home for a burglary in progress, according to a police report. A witness had seen an unknown male break into the home.
Police sealed off the home and found fresh footprints in the snow leading into the house, but there were no footprints indicating the person had left the house.
A K9 unit arrived and a dog was sent into the residence, but it was unable to locate anyone. Fearing the burglar might be armed, a Pocono Mountain Regional Police SWAT team arrived and located Vasquez-Latigua hiding in a corner of the home's attic, police said.
Vasquez-Latigua is being charged with burglary, criminal trespass and related charges. He was arraigned by Magisterial District Justice John Whitesell, and bail was set at $40,000.
Additional charges are pending against Vasquez-Latigua. The investigation is still ongoing.


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Environment Variables
This is the traditional variable type in PDI. You define an environment variable through the Set Environment Variables dialogue in the Edit menu, or by hand by passing it as an option to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) with the -D flag.
Environment variables are an easy way to specify the location of temporary files in a platform-independent way; for example, the
${java.io.tmpdir} variable points to the
/tmp/ directory on Unix/Linux/OS X and to the
C:\Documents and Settings\<username\Local Settings\Temp\ directory on Windows.
The only problem with using environment variables is that they cannot be used dynamically. For example, if you run two or more transformations or jobs at the same time on the same application server, you may get conflicts. Changes to the environment variables are visible to all software running on the virtual machine.