HELP: The 2% Land Fund Has Been Proposed as a Charter Amendment.

The Charter commission has reduced it to ½%, so we now have the not less than Half % Land Fund.  This will take the funding out of the yearly budget wrangling, because the funding could only be suspended with the approval of voters. Maui, Kaua’i and O’ahu have charter amendments to fund open space purchases.

We will need your help to get the 2% amount reinstated and to have it  passed through the charter commission, to let the people decide  one more time, because then it will be placed on the ballot for voter’s approval. Please get in touch with Debbie for more information 989-3222.

There are so many ways to feel like I’m not good enough and blog world is the perfect breeding ground for feelings of inadequacy.

In an effort to banish my preoccupation with the size and shape of my body, I have deleted all my weight loss blogs and subscriptions. Instead I am reading healthy lifestyle blogs. You would think that would be so much more positive and helpful but today it is making me feel totally inadequate. How do I compare myself to all those women out there in cyberspace?

I am not healthy enough

Some health and fitness bloggers post beautiful photos of their every meal and snack. I realise that my food choices are not good enough. I eat too much artificial sweetener, processed food, dairy, sugar, meat and diet products. I need clean up my diet so it is raw, organic, and vegan. I am very unhealthy.

I am not pretty enough

I don’t have shiny long hair, flawless skin, sparkling white teeth, perfectly manicured nails and designer workout clothes. I am obviously not make enough of an effort. I need to visit the hairdresser, beautician, dentist, manicurist and nearest boutique ASAP.

I am not popular enough

My blog doesn’t have thousands of subscribers, thousands of page views and hundreds of comments. My blog is tiny and insignificant, I may as well be talking to myself. I need to get my own domain name, web designer and graphic artist to give my blog an overhaul and then I need to guest post on those mega blogs to get some much needed traffic.

I am not fit enough

I’ve never participated in a marathon, triathlon, bikram yoga, power lifting meet, cross-fit or rock-climbing and I’ve never even placed in a single thing I have done. My leisurely walks, beginner level yoga and sporadic weight lifting is obviously not making me fit enough. I need to get a trainer, a competition goal and move way outside my comfort zone in order to be as fit as I should be.

I am not unique enough

I am not a yummy mummy, a health food blogger, a ‘health at any size’ activist, a life coach or hilariously funny. I am not even the poster girl for intuitive eating because I bigger now than when I started. I don’t stand out from the crowd. I need to re-create my persona so that my daily posts are so intriguing, humorous, controversial, informative and memorable that people are drawn to me like moths to a flame.

I am not changing the world enough

I don’t have a book deal, I’ve never volunteered for anything, I am not a respected expert in my field and I’m not inspiring millions of women to take action. I need to do more to make this world a better place.

I am not rich enough

No one gives me free samples to give away as competition prizes, no one pays for me to visit their manufacturing plan or speak at their conference. I have no sponsorship for my blog, for my supplements (if I even took any), or for my clothing. I don’t rake in thousands a day from advertising. My all time ‘passive’ blog generated income to date  is $33.40. I need to get more readers so I can attract sponsors and write a best-selling ebook that sells copy after copy until the end of my days.

I should probably just give up

On consideration of all the above data, I should give up, go eat some chocolate and go back to what I’m good at ~ dieting deprivation and obsessive exercise ~ oh crap, I just remembered that I wasn’t any good at that either.

I could say that I don’t care but that would be lying. I do feel inadequate today.

But guess what? I may not be healthy, pretty, popular, fit, unique, inspiring or rich compared to some, but even if I was ~ that is not who I am. I am more than those accomplishments, I am more than a feeling of being better or worse than someone else, I am who I am.

I am part of the divine wisdom of the Universe, I was created for the sole reason that no one else can do what I was put on this earth to do. Without me, this world would fall apart because I am an intrinsic part of this reality.

My husband loves me, my friends love me, people at work love me and my cat loves me. But best of all I love myself. I am perfect just the way I am, I don’t need to do anything and there is nothing I should become.

• Does reading other people’s blogs inspire you or make you feel inadequate? Do you  judge yourself harshly when you see others who already have everything you dream of or does it motivate you to keep going?

→ photo : Elven*Nicky

Original Photo: Flikr user Mira (on the wall) from Columbia University.  Used under Creative Commons license.

South San Francisco is a city of many diverse cultures with a large Mexican and Latino population in particular. There are few festivals in South San Francisco but today I saw the Fiestas Patrias at S.S.F. City Hall. There was some great singing, musicians, and colorful Folklorico dancers. They were so good they reminded me of the renowned Folklorico dancers I had seen many years ago in Ghadalahara, but I found out they were a South San Francisco troop of high school performers. This colorful enjoyable performance on the City Hall steps, brought pride to a poorer culture that works hard to succeed in their new country. It brought acceptance and admiration from people of other cultures. It brought some money to the vendors, and enjoyment to brighten up the community. The performance itself I thought was quite exceptional.

Their intent was to broaden it to other South American countries, and this is a very good idea. Let’s create festivals for different countries to celebrate our cultural diversity and our differences. Lets enjoy the dance, music, art, and entertainment and the different ethnic food, and drinks. Lets promote cultural tolerance, pride in different cultures at an early age, and more harmony in our community.  There could be multiple venues for the different cultures along Grand Ave and other sites.  One particularly successful example of this kind of multi cultural celebration is the 40 year old two week Folklorama festival in Winnipeg, Canada.  Whether it is a large festival with many venues such as this, or a smaller localized one, everybody benefits, economically, and by promoting understanding and tolerance of different cultural values.  It would certainly be well suited and benefit the multi cultural community of South San Francisco.

– Z Corda

Originally posted in Under The Hood: Implementing Community

I believe that, although there are many commonalities between Social Media Marketing and building online communities, they are very different. First, a few of the commonalities: execution of either is almost bound to fail if there isn’t transparency and employees aren’t empowered to communicate to each other and with other stakeholders, not to mention that if there’s no strategy behind either, they’re destined to fail. The difference can seem subtle at first, but really, it takes a different skillset to manage each and generally, the purpose and goals are different. More on differences in another post.

I read a lot of blogs and a few books on both Social Media Marketing as well as Online Communities. I also follow folks on twitter so that I can learn from others and find out what the latest buzz is about. I’ve found that there are lots and lots of people writing blogs and books and tweeting about Social Media Marketing but not nearly enough on building and managing communities. Simply put, Marketers (Social Media Marketers) have a lot more to gain from blogging about their industry than do community managers. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that getting a list of community management resources together was difficult. That is one of the main reasons Dawn started [Under The Hood: Implementing Community] and why I am happy to contribute. Aside from this blog, I recommend the following resources to teach you and keep you updated on Online Communities:

Blogs:
The Community Roundtable blog
Bill Johnston’s Online Community Strategy
Martin Reed’s Community Spark
Richard Millington’s Fever Bee
Rachel Happe’s The Social Organization

I also read a couple that cover both online community and Social Media Marketing:
Social Media Musings by Tom Humbarger (Talks more about Social Media lately but knows about community)
Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang (Talks a lot about industry trends and posts Case Studies and stats)

Twitter follows:
Take a look at the folks The Community Roundtable has listed on their Social Media list

Books:
Groundswell
The Cluetrain Manifesto
The Wisdom of Crowds

Organization:
The Community Roundtable is a private peer network for community managers and social media practitioners.

Events:
Forum One brings great Community Managers together

I am sure I’ve missed a few great reads/follows. If you have recommendations, I’d love to hear them.

saturday while the clay co a.i.r.s were working it at craft art, b.d. and i headed over to gulfport for “eclectic and then some”.  a much smaller sale with only 20 artists in the fellowship hall of a church.  the sale was small but with a bit of a following.  i did pretty well with a little help from my friends.  i was trying to stay focused and not get temped to buy or trade too much with other artists.  i’ve got to say that left to my own devices i would trade away everything i make.  there were so many talented artists there.  one of the organizers makes one of a kind dolls and there was a felter that had some amazing scarves and wrist bands.

though i’ve helped out with sales in the past, group efforts with all the other artists in the clay co, this was my first sale with a bulk of my own work.  exciting.

i took a couple of pics before forgetting about my camera all together.

my display, with bonnie in the backround

bonnie bravo's work

Thoughts on Symbolic Action: Part One

“WOULD ANY SANE PERSON think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday, or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, or that dancing naked around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Then why now, with all the world at stake, do so many people retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”?”

So begins Derrick Jensen’s provocative article on personal versus political action in a recent issue of Orion Magazine.

Maybe Jensen’s call to large-scale action is actually filled with subliminal messages that inspire personal change, because since I read it and began a mental argument with it I’ve taken the plunge into actively reducing my footprint. Have I ever for a minute thought that my efforts, so enormous to me yet impossibly miniscule to the planet, would actually make a difference beyond the walls of my home? Not really. But the funny thing is, they do.

Our decision might be symbolic in that it is a mere drop in the churning ocean of politics, economics, and social inequalities that contribute to the systematic destruction of the planet. But like the oak groves that can’t be blown over because of their intertwined roots, our small action is strong because it is linked to all the actions that came before, and all that will come after. It has its origins in the work of the thousands of individuals – be they peacemakers, defenders of nature, fighters for social justice, or parents and teachers - whose convictions changed their own lives and grew outward from there.

No matter how insignificant I might feel some days, I am not alone. You’re here with me, too, after all. And countless others, across the planet and stretching back into history, when so many other great struggles were triumphed over. I agree wholeheartedly that we all need to do much, much more than we are. For me, though, the challenge isn’t to transform “the system” but our smallness in the face of it. Despair and isolation are what we really need to rise up against. Hope and imagination, and faith in their power to overcome the most powerful odds, those are the seeds of symbolic action. Once that seed begins growing in our hearts we are well on the way to changing our lives, and the world we inhabit.

What we then feel led to do, in our communities and beyond, well, we can take that path when our feet reach it. For now I’m like so many others, just walking. I’ve left the land of my complacency, and set out with no other aim but to find the way to my own truth, and maybe even a better world. And from there, who knows. Total system overhaul, we can hope.

So, Mr. Jensen. Good points but here’s your major mistake (to paraphrase Margaret Mead): Doubting that a small group of ass-kickers can change the world. Haven’t you heard that that’s the only thing that ever has?

And how dare you underestimate the power of composting.

Today I rose with purpose. I did not want to miss my third and last visit to the Toronto Quaker Meeting after noticing last week how much it lifted my spirits to go there, how it fed me enough energy to stave off my regular homestay funk for the rest of the day–and into the next day, as well.

The concentric circles of chairs are set up in a room that is all glass from floor to ceiling on one whole side. It’s almost like worshiping out of doors.

Before dropping in on this Meeting, I had experienced two other monthly meetings. I was a regular attender in Little Rock for about three years and for a little while in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. I have also visited the Fayetteville, Arkansas Monthly Meeting, and have been on weekend retreats or Quarterly Meetings where members of monthly meetings from surrounding states come together for three days, sleeping in cabins in a state park. The normal practice for involving children in Meeting–at least in each of these meetings that I have experienced–is for a First Day School to be offered at least one First Day (Sunday) per month. Before the parent or First Day School teacher takes the little ones off to another room, however, the children are encouraged to sit in silence with the group for as long as they want. In other words, until they start to squirm. In this way, children are allowed to start with perhaps 5 minutes of Meeting for Worship, which gradually lengthens as they grow older. By the time the child is twelve or thirteen, she may be joining Meeting for the full hour.

This morning one worshiper was accompanied by his two children. The younger of the two was delighted to recently have become very mobile in an upright way and was exercising this new ability in a state of sheer glee. Father sat in silence, older sibling sat in silence. Toddler ran full tilt toward the plate glass window separating us from the back garden, giggled as she slammed palms first against the window, then turned and ran back to her dad.

Dad allowed her to do this. When she put her arms up to be held, he held her on his lap. She was able to “do” the silent sitting for about 10 seconds at a time. Then she would squirm back down and repeat her rush at the glass doors, occasionally punctuating her voyage with “gah” or “daaaah!”  She seemed quite pleased with herself and not the least bit bothered by the fact that she was the only moving being in the room, the only being in the room emitting any noise whatsoever.

I wondered what she thought of this strange room full of people who all sat perfectly still and quiet. Mustn’t that have struck her as odd, since the world was normally full of people smiling at her, cooing at her, clapping and laughing at her antics and achievements?

After about seven minutes of this, dad decided it was time for her and older sibling to go to the children’s room. This inspired the first spoken ministry of the hour. A silver-haired woman to my left stood to say, “before the little one goes…” and expressed how wonderful it had been to watch her. It brings us all back to the basics, to where we all started, she said. Thank you for that, she added, sitting back down.

The silence was pierced three or four more times during the hour, each bit of spontaneous spoken ministry sandwiched between stretches of silence.

After Meeting, we all congregated in the sitting room with its beautiful, recently recovered old sofas and armchairs with tea and cookies. One woman about my mother’s age said to the toddler’s dad what I wish I’d been able to articulate as well: she expressed thanks for the child’s ministry.

Ministry.

That is exactly what it had been. Not a distraction. Not something to be squelched or reigned in. Not a reason to chastise the child or hush her.

Ministry.

I will miss my Sunday morning outings to be among people who think like that.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post on a news article about neighbors in Flint, Michigan who transformed a parcel of vacant lots into a vegetable garden and fruit orchard.

Such neighborhood gardens are a popular strategy for improving vacant lots in ‘Shrinking Cities.’ Though in most distressed areas, these are perceived as temporary uses. For instance in this Flint story, the Genesee County Land Bank gave permission for this garden and orchard to be planted, but did not allocate this land for permanent community agriculture use. Because, conceivably, in few years, there will be interest to redevelop the land, and these neighbors will have to hang up their gardening gloves.

Yet there’s a burgeoning consensus that growing food within city limits is always a good thing – in shrinking and growing cities alike – for a number of reasons. In her article Small, Green and Good, Catherine Tumber synthesizes these arguments for local food production. She writes,

As Michael Pollan demonstrates in his best-selling The Omnivore’s Dilemma, agribusiness puts down an enormous carbon footprint. Sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry not only produce more nutritious food and less cruelty to animals, they are also far less dependent on petroleum for long-distance transportation, fertilizer, and neurotoxic pesticides (not to mention antibiotics). Building on the work of organic farmers and environmental activists since the ’70s, Pollan’s call for relocalizing agriculture coincides with rising alarm about the perils of climate change and dependence on foreign oil. Even the United Nations, which has long embraced agribusiness as the key to famine prevention, is beginning to recognize the role of sustainable, localized practices in food security.

So I think this Flint neighborhood has the right idea – pairing the garden and orchard. The garden is a great short-term greening tool and has helped to bring community together. And the fruit orchard is a more lasting approach to urban greening. If planted around the perimeter of these lots or in small clusters, these trees (or at least most of them) can remain even if the lot is redeveloped.

Mature fruit trees add character to any use, provide healthy food and shade, and are relatively easy to maintain. Communities around the country are realizing the benefits of urban fruit trees. In Berkeley, California “urban gleaners” (or fruit philanthropists) pick fruit from neighbors’ yards to donate to local food banks. And around the country, community fruit exchanges are being established where neighbors can share their figs, lemons, and persimmons with each other.

I hope that the pairing of a garden and orchard becomes an increasingly popular strategy for dealing with vacant properties in other ‘Shrinking Cities.’ So even in instances where the garden is seen as a temporary use, the trees can feed and shade the community for many years to come.

“I’m going to run before I can walk.”

Hello world, could you fuck right off please?

I’ve been getting angry lately, mostly with the homophobic people in my community. Why? Because besides their homophobic ways the still want to know about my love-life, despite the fact that I don’t have one.

But, a couple of weeks ago I did have a love-life. The fact that the relationship is now over isn’t detering these people from breaking down the barriers of privacy, and it’s all with the help of social networking sites.

I can immediately recall the way they all reacted when I came out. Gasps and “Fucking dyke!” were my social life for a couple of months, but then things died down. Besides the fact that majority of the people I had grown up with and gone to school with could no longer look me in the eye, it seems their curiousity had a hunger all it’s own.

You see, a couple of months after coming out I got into contact with an old friend. Imagine my surprise when she triumphantly declared that she was gay as well. Then imagine my further surprise when this tomboy-turned-butch suddenly admitted to having a huge crush on me. I was shocked, and so damn relieved.

It quickly became a relationship, a shaky one at that, but we saw each other ever second weekend and did all the normal things a couple did. The only difference, whenever we walked down the streets all the eyes suddenly caught the image of us holding hands before diverting just as quickly. Then, it all started again.

The relationship only lasted four and a half months but by the end of the that at least 53 of my so-called ‘friends’ (I think Facebook needs to re-evaluate that word) had added her to their friends list, just so they could see the progression of the relationship.

It was also in that time that I was berated by people for putting ‘personal information’ on Facebook about a relationship that they found repulsive.

“Excuse me?! You were the one who added her to your friends list instead of having the common decency to talk to me about it! If you don’t want to read that stuff, then remove both of us from your friends list!”

I was met with the typical response: nothing.

I got over it for awhile. I let it go like people told me to. But then that little number changed to 58.

I couldn’t help it, and I think I was completely right in getting angry. I had no right to ever talk about their relationships, hell they wouldn’t even say hello, so what in their minds gave them the idea that they could sit there discussing and talking to my ex about our break-up?

I admit, this is me venting here but I just can’t wrap my head around the immaturity of these people. They’re so greedy and gossip-y and they find it amusing when I get angry about it. If I invaded their privacy I’d practically be burnt at the stake for it. But do I have rights? No.

I’ve recently come to wonder where common decency has disappeared to. I’m respectful to people, I don’t force my company on anyone who doesn’t want it and I sure as hell don’t enter into private affairs.

So this is my own declaration that I have no idea how I could be classed with such unjustified discrimination, indecency and lack of privacy.

But this also sadly throws into light how different I feel from my age group.

I guess we can’t all fit in, can we?

- Cal.

My words…

A misprint.

Can’t find;

Comprehension?

No, my words.

The Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #169 for the week of November 15th – November 21st, 2009 is now available here.

In this Issue:

* Lucid Ubuntu Developer Summit Videos
* New LoCo Council Members
* America’s Membership Board Meeting: November 18th, 2009
* Developer Membership Board public meeting
* Ubuntu Stats
* LoCo Contact Change: Wisconsin LoCo Team
* Doctor Mo: Ice Skating at UDS
* Matthew Helmke: Heading Home from UDS-L
* Joe Baker: An Interview with Richard Johnson (nixternal)
* Martin Pitt: Nicer Launchpad upstream releases with lp-project-upload
* In the Press & Blogosphere
* Upcoming Meetings & Events
* Updates & Security

And much, much more!

This issue of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is brought to you by:

* John Crawford
* Craig A. Eddy
* Dave Bush
* Kenny McHenry
* Liraz Siri
* Amber Graner
* And many others

If you have a story idea for the Weekly News, join the Ubuntu News Team mailing list and submit it. Ideas can also be added to the wiki!

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License BY SA Creative Commons License.

Smell memories are the most powerful of all memories. They’re the memories you don’t expect to come wooshing back with the rush of air into your nostrils, but when they do, they find the express lane into your mind and erect images, sounds and feelings long forgotten. Their unexpected arrival is like a slap in the face, burning your skin a bit but leaving you hopeful and aware, as if having just downed a shot of expresso. No sugar. No milk.

I open the door to the storage closet just as I have the past three weeks, sliding the key in with ease and padding the light on with the slap of several flattened fingers. I always enjoy how little amount of trouble I have with this door. It shuts behind me. I search the shelves for bottled beverages and hot coffee sleeves, mindful that customers might be out in the cafe, anxiously peaking over the counter to see if I might be crouching there, hiding from them.

The smell memory is one I don’t expect, one that I couldn’t anticipate – especially because I have spent a good few hours in this space in the last few weeks, smelling the air and breathing in the dust. But still, the air enters my nose and my memory flies back to four years ago, working in a storage closet in Seattle, rummaging through sports gear and Christmas decorations under industrial lights.

The smell in this Manhattan storage closet is that of the one in Seattle, but nothing spectacular or unique. I think of Andrew, the young, determined CPA that I was a personal assistant for who suddenly and tragically died a few months after I stood in his storage closet, sorting through lights and plastic branching in order to prepare his condo for the holidays. We were friends first, boss-employee second, and I took pride in making sure that the tree looked as perfect as a fake tree can, Oprah’s voice in the background as I put the star atop on a rainy, cold Seattle afternoon.

The memory fills my mind like a perfume, swaying the emotions in me as I think of Andrew’s tenacity, attention to detail, carefree spirit. I laugh to myself about how I cooked pot roast and casseroles in the afternoon, never having spent a moment preparing meals for myself, and Andrew would text me the next day, saying how delicious it was and his friends were raving about my culinary expertise. Thanks a lot, I thought. To “The Joy of Cooking”.

I grab the bottles of Perrier that I’m looking for and push up on to my tippy toes to see if I can find the hot coffee sleeves. I think of spending hours cleaning Andrew’s fish tank, a giant monstrosity in the entryway of his condo that would get frighteningly murky in the matter of a couple of weeks, and I’d eye it with a suspicion reserved for little fishies plotting to make my life a living hell.

I remember that storage closet well; the water skis and winter skis and poles and life jackets and winter jackets. I think of driving through Seattle in Andrew’s oversized truck slightly frightened that I may be taking up three lanes, but the cool voices of NPR consoling me along the way. The memories don’t fade, they only flood my mind more intensely as I organize boxes in the closet: shopping at the QFC for special yogurt brands; eyeing the pantry for something Andrew forgot to put on the list; sorting and alphabetizing CDs numbering the thousands.

I stand back out in the cafe, my hand on my hip, a hot cup of tea stuck in the other palm, and wonder back to why Andrew’s life was cut so drastically short. He took me on as a personal assistant in order to free up more time to build his dream home in Eastern Washington, a place where he could snowshoe in the winter and water ski and swim in the summers.

Four years on I’m unsure of what became of the already-being-built home. I’m not sure if it was finished or if the project was dropped altogether. I wonder about Andrew throughout the day, as I pour coffee, go in and out of the storage closet for more cafe supplies and the smell follows me, wafting in and out of the room as if it is a perfumed cape around my neck. I’m unsure of it all, of what it meant, but I’m positive that Andrew would have loved for the house to completed, storage closet included.

(photo by looney1 via flickr)

Hans Christian Andersen wrote “The Old Bachelor’s Nightcap.” I mangled the words “Hysken Sträde” because they are a nonsense version of Hyskenstræde — which I’m sure I would have mangled also. I should probably just say them in American instead of trying to figure out how to say them “right.” Eisenach is a city just south of the halfway point of a straight-line journey between Berlin and Dusseldorf. Lady Holle might be a Scandinavian goddess or demi-goddess. The Tannhauser legends are pretty interesting. Ah, for the days before science. The tale of Tristram and Iseult has been told many ways. “Walter of the Vogelverde” is probably Walther von der Vogelweide.

The music in this podcast was provided by Mevio.com.

“Die Alone” is by Ingrid Michaelson.

“A Girl Alone” is by Hungry Lucy.

“Coming Home Soon” is by the Adam Woodall Band.

With the new ninja game coming out soon, the CPT is coming out with more and more power cards to use against your opponents! In fact they have a sneak peek of a WOP (Work in Progress) card! I really want it just because it looks cool and it involves my favorite penguin on the island.

The game officially launches November 24th and the island’s heating up!! I wanted to give you guys a sneak peek into what the new ninja fire journey might have in store for you… This is from one of the new power cards:

What do you think? Also, You’ve asked – and along with a lot of ninja toys (including soft Limited Edition Penguins and Mix ‘N Match figures), we’ve got more Card-Jitsu Trading Cards available in stores!

Inside the new tins (including the Card-Jitsu Fire Sensei Collector tin) there’s a sheet so you can check off the Trading Cards that you’ve got!! The cards are available now at a lot of places including Target, Walmart, Toys ‘R’ Us, and Disney Stores. You can also get them online at Disney.com – and the CP Online Shop starting November 24th.

Goodness! That’s an awful lot of power cards! It’s enough to make a collection! Shoot, now I want some. :3

I’m excited for the upcoming game, and I wonder what it’ll be like. Probably like Card-Jitsu, only slightly different. Oh yeah! How do you like my new header? I’m really proud of it because it took a while to finish.

Until next time,
Waddle on and discover new adventures!
Bubblegum423

To make things clear, as some of the material you’ll find here is very light-hearted, this is an actual news report. All quotes are original. I welcome comments below.

Gay Christians Criticise ‘Hate’ Bill

Dan Bloom

Senior gay and transgender Christians have attacked a pro-discrimination law which was defeated four times in the House of Commons and criticised by the European commission.

The clause, which allows “criticism of sexual conduct” on religious grounds, was kept in the Coroners and Justice Bill in the dying hours of the last parliamentary session despite being defeated in the House of Commons. Justice minister Jack Straw retreated after lords voted to keep it for the fourth time on 11 November.

But the comments from within the UK’s gay Christian community put pressure on the mainstream church, after the European commission wrote to the government last week to say its discrimination laws were “broader than permitted”, effectively forcing churches to end bans on homosexual staff.

Pastor Kieren Bourne of the Living Springs church, Bath, had a sex change operation in 1999 and is part of a small minority of gay or transgender Christians in the UK. He said: “I think it’s appalling. It seems to me that the church is being allowed to get away with discrimination when every other section of society is not.”

Brought up in New Zealand, Rev Bourne, 51, moved to Bath 14 years ago but was surprised by what he perceived as a less liberal atmosphere in the mainstream church. He joined Living Springs, a branch of the 95 per cent gay Metropolitan Community Church (MCC).

“Having the opportunity to question the appropriateness of [gay sex] should be open to people, but without being critical of the individuals concerned.”

-Patrick Whitworth, rural dean of Bath

Now living with a woman in Bathford, Avon, he said the pressure put on gay Christians by employment bans and discrimination leaves many feeling forced out of the mainstream church, and into organisations like the MCC.

And although the minority church, which was founded in 1968, holds tri-annual conferences – the next is in Acapulco, Mexico next year – it does not have the same political weight as other organisations. It has fewer than 15 churches in the UK and the Bath branch has only 13 full-time members.

One of these, Bill Fraser, has been a full-time churchwarden in Bath for five years. He first contacted the MCC last year after announcing his sexuality at an annual parish meeting. But he stayed in the mainstream church to “fight from the inside”, following the example of controversial gay American bishop Gene Robinson.

Another, 64-year-old lay delegate Jenny Bailey, was a long-time member of the Church of England when she began attending the MCC. She revealed her sexuality to her vicar in 1997, and said his hostile reception made her feel pressured to leave.

She said: “I did not feel my personal preferences were relevant inside the church. He said they were. He seemed to think I was going to walk in holding hands with another woman.

“Just a few weeks after that I had a serious accident and broke my ankle into about seven or eight pieces. Nobody phoned to check up and see how I was. I thought, ‘Why am I kidding myself?’. They didn’t want me.”

“I did not feel my personal preferences were relevant inside the church. My vicar said they were.”

-Jenny Bailey, lay delegate, Metropolitan Community Church

But Ms Bailey, who was married for more than 22 years before realising she was gay in her 40s, also issued words of caution about restricting free speech. She said: “I want it for myself, so why should I not want it for other people? It’s up to them, and it’s their personal opinion. But they should not be able to impose it on me.”

While the MCC argues anti-homosexual readings of the bible do not reflect its meaning, the mainstream church in Bath is more traditional.

The Church of England rural dean of Bath, Patrick Whitworth, said: “From the church’s point of view it is not God’s view. So having the opportunity to question the appropriateness of it should be open to people, but without being critical of the individuals concerned.”

Meanwhile a group hosted by the MP Clare Short will meet at the Commons this Tuesday to campaign against similar clauses in the Equality Bill drawn up by Harriet Harman, Labour’s deputy leader.

The bill is designed to ensure greater equality between people of different gender, race, religion and social class. But the group argues religious ‘opt-out’ clauses could be added as the bill progresses to the House of Lords.

Psalm 95 is the reading for this first week of Advent—advent—“the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration” of the birth of our LORD Jesus.  A couple of things jump off the page at me this morning.  Reading in New Living. First, the focus on community in verses 1-6: Let us sing, let us shout joyfully, let us come to him with thanksgiving, let us sing psalms of praise, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our God, he is our God, We are the people he watches over. I guess this should not surprise me since God entered into our world to make community possible, fellowship first with the Father, Son and Spirit and then with others who bow in worship before Him.  And then there is the community of all of humanity—all of those created in his image. A confession—community is not something I do well but then again, it is also something without which I cannot live well!  So how will I involve community in my advent?  The fact that I am even thinking about advent is a surprise in itself since advent is almost completely neglected in the church traditions that I have grown up with as a Christian.

Although I also now see the character of the one towards whom and for whom I worship together in community, the second thing I noticed about this Psalm this morning was the latter part beginning at the end of verse 7.  As I read, “If only you would listen to his voice today” my senses become alert to what follows in 7-10.  “Hardened hearts, tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did, hearts turned away from me, refuse to do what I tell them.”  Advent calls me to reflect on my heart condition—and I suppose I need to work out a way to do this also in community?

Aaron Franchi

My name is Aaron Franchi and I’m a Senior Claims Representative for Metro Public Adjustment and an Independent Associate for Univera.

As an Senior Claims Rep I am licensed and bonded through the Department of Insurance by the State of Illinois. In Illinois I work in the Chicagoland area. Metro Public Adjustment was founded in 1993 and in our 16 years of operation we have become the nations largest public adjusting firm in the country. One of our greatest assets is that we provide a free policy evaluation, to determine if you have what you need to protect yourself, as well as a free home inspection to see if there is something that you didn’t know was covered. It can be quite a great feeling to find out something you didn’t know was even covered getting you quite a sizable check, and great to just have someone there to help you out.

With Univera I saw the great impact that was made upon many of my family members, especially my grandparents, my uncle and my father. I recently decided that I would take up some reigns and help spread the word about these great products for the simple reason that if it has helped my family so much, it surely can do the same for others.

Two jobs, one purpose: make money while helping people.

Education

B.S. (Network Administrator), Robert Morris University 2004

License

Public Adjusters License, 2009

AgelessXtra is the flagship product from Univera.   Once I have been on the product longer I will provide my own testimonial for it.

These statements reflect the actual experiences of each individual, are anecdotal only, and may be atypical.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. The products are not intended to diagnose, cure, prevent or treat any disease.

WEDNESDAY nov 25
6:30 - 9:00 AM       (Open) Mysore Ashtanga Yoga
8:45 - 10:30 AM       (Open) Open Studio
11:00 - 12:00 PM       (Open) Mama Moves Post-Natal Pilates
2:00 - 3:15 PM   (Open) Pre-Natal Yoga Flow Cancelled Today
3:30 - 5:30 PM       (Open) Mysore Ashtanga Yoga
7:00 - 8:30 PM       (Basic 2) Iyengar/Rope Wall Yoga
9:30 - 10:30 PM   (Int 1) Late Night Vinyasa Yoga Cancelled Today

THURSDAY nov 26
6:30 - 9:00 AM       (Open) Mysore Ashtanga Yoga
8:45 - 11:30 AM       (Open) Open Studio
3:30 - 5:30 PM   (Open) Mysore Ashtanga Yoga Cancelled Today
5:45 - 7:15 PM   (Open) Yoga Through and After Cancer Cancelled Today
8:00 - 9:15 PM   (Int 1/2) Hatha Vinyasa YogaCancelled Today

FRIDAY nov 27 *holiday sangha boutique sale*
6:30 - 9:00 AM   (Open) Mysore Ashtanga YogaCancelled Today
8:45 - 9:30 AM   (Open) Open StudioCancelled Today
12:30 - 2:00 PM       (Int 2) Led Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga
3:30 - 5:30 PM       (Open) Open Studio
6:30 - 7:45 PM       (Int 1/2) Vinyasa Yoga

SATURDAY nov 28 *holiday sangha boutique sale*

SUNDAY nov 29
10:30 - 11:45 AM       (Int 1/2) Vinyasa Yoga
4:30 - 5:45 PM       (Basic 2) Very Vinyasa
6:00 - 7:30 PM       Workshop / Special Event (Restorative Yoga)

Symphony of Science – ‘We Are All Connected’ (ft. Sagan, Feynman, deGrasse Tyson & Bill Nye)

Carl Sagan – ‘A Glorious Dawn’ ft Stephen Hawking (Cosmos Remixed)

http://www.2010blessings.net
Contact Earl Kohn @ 502-807-3450
Skype: earl.kohn
Yahoo: pplsi502
Email: 2010blessing@gmail.com

The C Shop has opted to sponsor the Blaine 5th/6th Grade Girls Basketball team this season!

Team photo

Click on the photo to get to their team page for schedules, more photos and information. Who knows, maybe one of these smiling faces is a future C Shop employee.