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Dublin Bay offers lovely local diving to the club, highlights including sunken wrecks and fun drift diving! Being Dublin based, we do much of our diving here. Between April and October, we moor the club RIBs in Dun Laoghaire harbour. With the boats in the water, we can arrange dives at short notice, and without having to launch and recover each time. In high summer, we take advantage of the long daylight and dive on weekday evenings as well as at weekends. Check out this video on what a Dublin dive typically looks like!
It is possible to launch at the following sites.
South County Dublin
Dun Laoghaire, Coal Harbour (our usual)
Rush (not accessible 1.5 hours before and after low water due to sand bars)
Skerries (dries out 2 hours either side of low water on springs)
The following charts and maps cover the area.
chart 1415 Dublin Bay
chart 1447 Dublin and Dun Laoghaire
chart 1468 Arklow to the Skerries Islands
Discovery Series Map 50
Outlined below is a selection of the dive sites in and around Dublin Bay, most of which the club has dived.
Dive sites in and around Dublin Bay
Scenic dives – Dublin Bay & South
Sandycove
Up to 6 metres
High Water
This is a small beach where Novices have often had their first taste of the open water. Visibility is usually poor, particularly near the shore, and there isn't much marine life, barring the odd starfish. However, Sandycove has a sheltered beach with a safe 6m depth for training and assessed dives. We mostly dive from the shore, but sometimes use boats when looking for deeper water.
This site is bordered on one side by the forty-foot swimming area. It is very important that divers stay clear of here for two reasons.
Local by-laws prohibit scuba diving in the swimming area
injury can arise if a swimmer jumps in on top of a diver who is oblivious under the water
The Outfall (The Lady's Stairs)
10 – 12m
Approx 1.5 hrs before HW, 1 hr before LW
Just around the corner from Sandycove, the Outfall is reached by a concrete walkway running out to sea. Finning out from here, you can find depths of 10 to 12 metres can be found. The site is quite exposed to currents, so should be dived on slack water only. Instead of the sandy bottom found in Sandycove, the outfall features broken rocks and crevices where crabs and lobsters hide. Some divers have even seen congers lurking amongst the rocks. If you are on spring tides, do not dive this site at low water as entry and access is too difficult.
Close to shore this site features the afore mentioned rocks and boulders. They are mostly overgrown with kelp and sea weed. If one ventures further out (easterly direction) the ground changes to sandy/silty and the rocks and boulders are pretty clean of sea weed. Instead you'll find the ever popular deadman's fingers and amemonies. On the sandy areas pipefish and flat fish can be found. Do remember to turn westwards before surfacing though, otherwise you'll face a rather lengthy fin back to shore.
Scotsman's Bay
6 – 20m
Approx 1.5 hrs before HW, 1.25 hrs before LW
This bay just south of Dun Laoghaire harbour is where we carry out most of our assessment dives for the dive leaders and advanced divers. You can find depths from 6m to 20m at various stages of the tide. For the most part, the seabed is fine sand/silt. Flat fish are fairly common as are common Dublin Bay shrimp and sea pens.
Muglins
10 – 25 metres
Approx 1.5 hrs before HW, 1.25 hrs before LW [See here]
Dalkey Island with the Muglins Rock behind. Photo: Padraig O'Flynn
This is our most dived site in Dublin Bay. It is an oval rock (about 250m long) just north-east of Dalkey Island. As with most Dublin Bay sites, this site is subject to strong currents and best dived at slack water. If the current is strong try and stay close to the rocks and stay shallow. However, just outside slack, it can make for a nice drift dive if the current is not too strong.
The rock drops to about 25m and is full of nooks and crannies containing sponges, anemones, crabs and lobsters (by the dozen), conger eels, gunnels, dogfish, every kind of wrasse, bib, pollack, ling and plenty of seals. At the south end, deeper down, you can find anchors and other remains of shipwrecks. This fabulous dive is often over looked but offers some of the best dving on the east coast – look out for young seals coming to play with divers in late July/August in particular
A rescue sausage is a must for all divers here, as well as at least one delayed surface marker buoy per buddy pair.
Dalkey Island
5 – 30 metres
The south end of the island (on left in above photo) is very similar to the Muglins, and often diveable when it is too rough to dive the Muglins. Boulders hiding crabs, lobsters and ling gradually give way to a sandy bottom close to thirty metres where you can find snoozing dogfish. It is a good spot for new sports divers to increase their depth range gradually.
Dalkey Sound
Off slack/mid-tidal range
Dalkey Sound, seen from Dalkey Island. Photo: DUSAC
Dalkey Sound is the best choice when it is not possible to dive on or near slack. The tide can fly down between Dalkey Island and the mainland giving a really exciting drift dive. The bottom ranges in depth from around 10 to 20 metres and is mostly sand, with the odd rocky outcrop. You'll see lots of crabs and dogfish, and in the summer the bottom is often covered in a seething mass of brittlestars.
Killiney Beach
Up to 6 metres or so
As an alternative to Sandycove, we sometimes do assessment shore dives from Killiney Beach. It's only really possible if there's no swell, as the beach is very exposed to waves rolling in.
Wreck diving from Dun Laoghaire
Dublin Bay has long been a busy seaway, and hundreds of ships have been wrecked over the centuries. Some of the more recent ones are still fairly intact, shallow enough for air diving, and outside the shipping lanes. Some we dive often; others we've not visited in many a year.
Best dived 1.5hr before high water, 1hr before low water
M.V. Bolivar wrecked on the Kish Bank, 1947
The Bolivar was a Norwegian cargo and passenger motor vessel built in 1940. En route from Uruguay to Oslo via Dublin, she was caught in a snowstorm and hit the Kish sandbank. The ship was evacuated and later broke in two. The wreck was subsequently dispersed with explosives, though parts are still reasonably intact.
The Bolivar sits on a sandy seabed in about 12m. The area around the engines still stands quite high, but the rest of the wreck consists of scattered beams, masts and plates half sunk in the sand. The wreck is home to many fish species: shoals of large pollack often hover nearby, and there are lots of holes for congers to hide in.
Due to its scattered nature and lack of distinguishing features it can be very difficult to orient yourself. Either use a distance line to return to the shot or else be sure to have, and be able to deploy, a delayed SMB. Because the wreck is on such a shallow bank it is very susceptible to swells and the currents can be quite strong around it.
At night, conger eels come out all around the wreck. Jump in if that's your cup of tea!
The Glenorchy was an iron sailing ship of 1300 tons, lost in 1869 while carrying a cargo of iron, coal and spirits (the cargo was salvaged). Due to a navigational error (the captain applied the compass deviation in the wrong direction when tacking) she struck the Kish Bank on New Year's Day.
Although reasonably broken up there is a very distinct funnel, a good section of her hull intact, and a line of bollards very recognisable. The life seen there included several congers, a lobster, tompot blennies (including a pair of large ones fighting), a number of butterfish, and some very large pollack, as well as schools of smaller fish. The sands seem to have shifted to reveal a great deal more wreckage this year (2010) than in 2008 when the club dived it previously.
The wreck is not so broken up that a distance line should be required to return to the shot. However each buddy pair should have and be able to deploy, a delayed SMB. Because the wreck is on such a shallow bank it is very susceptible to swells and the currents can be quite strong around it.
Sir Charles Napier
~ 10 metres
The Sir Charles Napier was a full-rigged sailing ship, wrecked on the Kish Bank in 1855. Apparently some large pieces of machinery are visible, though little else remains to be seen.
RMS Leinster
Same as Bolivar
The Leinster was one of a quartet of fast steamships named after Ireland's four provinces. Built in 1897 by Cammel Laird of Birkenhead for the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, she was used to carry mail and passengers between Britain and Ireland. She grossed 2,646 tons and measured 115m x 23m x 13m. Her twin screws were powered by an 8 cylinder triple expansion steam engine, and she could reach 24 knots.
On her final voyage, The Leinster was bound for Holyhead from Dun Laoghaire just three weeks before the end of the First World War. On board were hundreds of passengers and crew, including many soldiers. Some way short of the Kish Bank, she was hit by two torpedoes fired by U-boat UB-123. The first struck in the mail room, killing most of the postal workers. The second torpedo hit in the engine room amidships, and the Leinster then sank rapidly. Most passengers escaped from the wreck, though many drowned whilst waiting to be rescued. In all, an estimated 527 lives were lost.
The Leinster lies about 22 km west of Dun Laoghaire (40 minutes to over an hour, depending on the weather) with her bow pointing south. The bow stands proud of the seabed, a little apart from the rest of the wreck, which is largely collapsed and settling into the sands. When the visibility is good, there is plenty of marine life to see – shoals of fish, congers, etc. This is a very substantial wreck and, if uncovered by the sand, is a superb dive.
The wreck is subject to strong tidal currents outside of slack water, so best dived on a neap tide. In poor visibility (especially on springs) it can be hard to navigate, so a distance line is useful. A further consideration is that it lies in the path of the HSS ferry. The site is permanently shotted but these shots are submerged at HW slack. Prudent to always bring a shot out to the site in case bouys are submerged or have been swept off.
Permission to dive the wreck should be obtained from the owner, Desmond Brannigan, who can be contacted via the Irish Underwater Council.
RMS Leinster official site
RMS Leinster Wikipedia page
SS Guide Me II
Experienced Sports Diver
1.5 hrs before HW, 1 hour before LW
The Guide Me II is our most-dived wreck. It's near to Dun Laoghaire (20-30 min), deep enough for a challenge yet diveable on Nitrox, handy-sized, and full of marine life.
The Guide Me II was a steel-hulled drift net fishing boat built in Aberdeen in 1907. In 1915, she was hired by the British Admiralty, fitted with a six-pound gun, and put to use as an anti-submarine coastal patrol boat. She sank in 1918 after a collision off the Muglins, and now lies about 1.4 km east-south-east. She was rediscovered in 1990. The wreck falls under the 100 year rule, and permission is needed to dive on it.
The wreck sits on a coarse sandy seabed and is upright and very intact. At 26m long, it's easy to do a couple of circuits without building up too much decompression. The impact site is clearly visible as a large hole on the port side. The gun has been raised and is in the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire, but the holds, gun platform and wheelhouse are all still intact. There are lobsters and crabs and plenty of fish, with shoals of whiting and bib hovering around the wheelhouse, and many congers – especially in the scour pit.
32-50 metres
The Vanguard is a wonderful shipwreck. She is a mid-Victorian iron battleship, built at a time of great innovation and experimentation in warship design. She lies shallow enough for experienced air divers to explore, and is remarkably intact. All in all, we're very lucky to have her on our doorstep.
The Vanguard now has her own page in the dive guide.
The Marlay
1 – 1.5 hrs before HW/ LW
The Marlay was an 800 ton 61m-long steel collier built in Belfast in 1890. She sank in December 1902 in a storm that breached the hatches on her coal holds, swamping the ship. Only one crewman of 16 survived. The wreck lies about 5.8km NW of the Baily lighthouse on Howth, and can be reached by boat from Dun Laoghaire (about 14km), taking care crossing the Dublin Port shipping lane. It lies on its side, and the hull is fairly intact. It can be dark and there is often poor visibility, so care must be taken to avoid entering holes in the wreck
2 hrs after HW only
This ship was built by Wilson of Glascow to a very high specification and gave its owners The City Of Dublin Steam Packet Company excellent service. When the Queen Victoria was returning from Liverpool with some general cargo and passengers she miscalculated in a snowstorm and struck Howth Head in the middle of the night. After backing off, she struck again under the Bailey Lighthouse and went down just 100 yds south of the lighthouse. Over 80 people were lost and a subsequent enquiry blamed the captain, first mate and those responsible for the lighthouse. Attempts to raise the vessel failed and she was broken open and salvaged in-situ. The wreck is protected by the National Monuments Act (Historic Wreck) and permission is needed to dive on it. The wreck lies in 20 metress and the remains consist of boilers and engine machinery, paddle wheels, anchors and the hull to just above the bilges. There is extensive shellfish life in the wreck but, due to it's proximity to a sewage outfall, the dive can be quite 'mucky' except in very suitable conditions. The currents here are very strong and go slack 2hrs after high water only. Dived occasionally by local clubs.
HMS Deliverer
The Deliverer was a 24m steel-hulled drift net fishing boat built in Middlesborough in 1910. As with the similar Guide Me II, she was hired by the Admiralty in 1915 and used as a patrol boat. She sank in November 1917 after hitting a German mine off the Baily lighthouse, and now lies 7km east-south-east (13km ENE from Dun Laoghaire). She was found again in 1996.
The Deliverer sits in 22-24m of water and stands 4-5m high. Apparently shifting sands cover and uncover the wreck. She lies bows northwest to stern southeast at a tilt of 30° to starboard. The mine explosion split the ship at the bridge, so the forward hold area and bow lie about 10 metres from the rest of the wreck.
The Deliverer can be hard to find as it is so small. Extreme care must be taken when diving it as the Jonathan Swift ferry can pass overhead. It may be best to dive it only after you have seen the ferry depart.
Dives north of Howth
Finally, here are some sites and wrecks from Howth Head and northwards along the coast including Lambay island. The club has not dived these very often if at all over the past few years.
Members of other clubs have spoken of scenic dives near the Skerries area, including Rockabill lighthouse, that they say surpass anything described above. If you want to find some new scenic dives, the best way is to look at the charts of the area, then take a boat out, sound around, check the tides and have a dive. One important point to note is that Lambay Island is a bird sanctuary protected under Irish and International law. It is therefore illegal to land on the island at any time, except in case of emergency.
Hopefully, the wrecks listed below will be dived by the club and extra information added as we try out more sites. Most of the information here has been taken directly from various websites and rewritten to improve its relevance to our divers.
RMS Tayleur
15 -18 metres
not tidal
The Tayleur was a full rigged iron-hulled clipper built in Britain in 1853 for the White Star Line. At 76m, she was the largest ship of her kind yet built. She left Liverpool on her maiden voyage in January 1854, bound for Australia with around 650 passengers and crew. Soon she ran into fog and stormy weather in the Irish Sea. The compasses had not been adjusted to compensate for the iron hull, and the steering gear was defective. When the shore of Lambay island appeared nearby, the crew dropped anchors, but the cables broke and the ship drifted onto rocks. Later, she slid off and sank, taking hundreds of passengers with her.
The wreck lies 30m off the South-East corner of Lambay Island in a gully. Even without a GPS, it is very easy to find. On the east side of Lambay Island head to the easternmost point ('the Nose'). Come south and west from here and you'll find a small indentation with broken boulders at the western most end. Drop in here and head south-east for the wreck (NB – the wreck is hard to sound as it is flat and largely buried). It can be dived at any state of the tide.
Cargo on the wreck includes blue and white patterned china and unengraved tombstones intended for eventual use by the Australian pioneers aboard. Note that permission to dive must be obtained from Duchas as the wreck falls under the 100 year rule, and any items found should be left in place.
For more information, see the Tayleur wikipedia page.
SS Shamrock II
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The Shamrock was a 70m 815 ton iron-hulled cargo steamer built in Glasgow in 1879. In World War One she was fitted with an anti-submarine gun, and continued on the Dublin to Glasgow service. In May 1918, en route to Dublin with a cargo of munitions and horses, she ran aground in fog on Lambay Island (the second Shamrock to do so). She was partially salvaged before sinking. It's said that one of the horses rescued was Poethlyn, the Grand National winner in the following year.
The wreck is at the north-east corner of Lambay, south-west of Carrickdorish Rocks. Look inshore from these rocks, and just east, and you'll see what looks like a rough landing place, as if concrete has been poured down to the rocks. The wreckage lies just out from it, in about 10m. It can be dived at any state of the tide.
Not much remains of the Shamrock. There are two boilers, parts of the engine and cabin, and scattered plates and ribs. Some 4″ shells can still be found.
Polwell
Dive at high slack only
The Polwell was a 2000 ton 86m steamship built in Sunderland in 1888. She went through several names and owners, and was German-owned when captured off Gibraltar by the British in 1914. On her final voyage, she was carrying coal from Troon to France when torpedoed by U-boat U-96 off the Rockabill lighthouse.
The wreck lies about 3miles north-east of Lambay in 30m. It is owned by Nautilus sub-aqua club, and you must ask their permission to dive it.
SS Strathtay
see admiralty chart
The SS Strathtay was an iron-hulled steamer that struck rocks off Lambay in 1885. It lies in 20 metres at North-East end of Lambay Island and the site is marked by two split rocks. There is a large ring on the stern rail. Another section of wreck lies 100yds to the East. The Strathtay was built in 1883 by Scott & Co., Bowling, and grossed 270 tons and measured 42.67 x 6.73 x 3.20m. She was powered by a 2 cylinder compound steam engine which generated 55h.p. She was owned by J. Hay & Sons of Glasgow, and was under charter to Tedcastles to deliver coal to Dublin from Glasgow. In thick fog she struck the rocks and the 15 crew escaped without injury. The Strathtay is pretty broken up, just boilers and other bits and bobs. She is off the western corner of the northern-most promentory midway along the north coast of the island. Just drop in to one side or the other of that point so you know which way to go and work your way along the base of the rocks and you can't miss it. When you do it with a running tide and crappy vis it can be quite exciting.
Note: Permission to dive must be obtained from Duchas.
Ireland's Eye
The club rarely dives here as it's a long way north from Dun Laoghaire. If the boats are in College, it becomes more practical to launch and retrieve from Howth. The depth ranges from 6 to 20 metres. Diving is not spectacular, but there are lively seabird colonies on the cliffs in summer.
Skerries
6 – 8m
Slack: About 45mins before HW (LW slack unknown but appears to be earlier than Dublin Bay)
This site has quite a bit of life and could be a great opportunity for a night dive. To get there, drive through Skerries towards the harbour. Continue on to the right and keep going to the last car park. There is a bathing area here and the sea can be accessed nearby. Similarly to Scotsman's Bay, by-laws prohibit SCUBA diving at bathing areas.
The club hasn't dived here enough to fully understand the currents, but Ronan Barry and Julian Carroll snorkel here and report slack to be approximately 45mins before HW. A compass is a must for this location.
Rockabill
Slack: 1h20 before HW on springs. (LW slack unknown; possibly non-existent on springs)
Rockabill is approximately 4 miles from Skerries and is home to grey seals, common seals, and terns. Julian Carroll ran a day-trip here on the 1st of August 2011. Here are his observations.
The south side of the island resembles Muglins with a lot of small lobsters, rock cook, and goldsinny wrasse. The HW slack window was very long despite the big tides [see observations from the 1st of August 2011, below].
The north side of the island resembles a site on the west coast of Ireland with lots of anemones (dahlia, plumose, sagartia elegans) and dead-man's fingers. The underwater life is quite different to that found on the south side. We dived this side before LW and could not get any slack. It is worth trying on HW slack to see if it is any better as this really is a very nice site and has much more to offer than Muglins. However, the presence of so many more anemones implies the north side gets stronger currents.
Tidal observations for HW on the 1st of August 2011 (3.5m range, HW at 13h25)
Observed Tidal Movement
HW – 1h35 Moderate
HW – 1h25 Slight
HW – 1h20 Very Slight (Diveable)
HW – 1h00 Dead Slack
HW + 0h05 Very Slight (Diveable)
Most of the historical details of wrecks were obtained from Lloyd's register of shipwrecks. Additional information on the Vanguard was obtained from Chris Thomas's book 'Lamentable Intelligence from the Admiralty: the sinking of HMS Vanguard in 1875'.
You need the usual boat safety equipment: O2, 1st Aid Kit, flares, VHF, GPS. Also make note of the following:
Dublin Coastguard
VHF Channels 83, 16, 10, DSC 70
Dun Laoghaire Marina
VHF Channel 67
Dun Laoghaire Harbour
112 (or 999) on land
Recompression chambers
Dublin (private)
Galway, 091 524222
Weather Dial 1550 123 855
RTE Radio1 (88-89fm) at 0602, 1253, 1655, 2355
VHF 0103, 0403, 0703, 1003, 1303, 1603, 1903, 2203
Warnings on VHF (channel 16) 0033, 0633, 1233, 1833
Flagship scuba, and Great Outdoors do air fills.
53° 19′ 48″ N, 6° 5′ 60″ W


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Thank God I'm just eccentric
A Barry Stevens letter questioning the local Interfaith Group's open mindedness in this week's Examiner (see http://www.iomtoday.co.im/your-letters/Isle-of-Man-Examiner-June.5410522.jp) raises an interesting point. Barry's wrong about the Interfaith Group (I've stood in when the humanist rep was away so I know there's a Spiritualist Church rep) but on the right track.
It was Churches Together in Mann which refused to accept Spiritualists. In fact, it was in finding that out in 1998 that I established they didn't want to talk to other faiths locally either, because as far as the main churches were concerned they didn't exist!
The Spiritualists made a formal application to join the interchurch body, which my sources suggest was greeted with panic. The official line was that the Spiritualists might want to somehow tap into CTIM 'respectability' and government influence, as well as resources such as contact lists for possible financial gain.
But there was another reason, which was that mainstream Manx churches were about to jointly remarket themselves to new age interests, for example by offering what were vaguely labelled 'services of healing'. Rather like spiritualism or clairvoyance doesn't 'promise' results in return for hard cash, advertising for the 'laying on of hands' was padded with small print or legalese about continuing to take the usual medicine.
The next step was that local journalists ( me included) were offered 'background material' and off–record briefings for stories which our sources were sure needed telling to avoid simple souls dabbling in the occult or losing their bingo money. In my case, the material dried up when I asked if the churches would provide an on-record spokesman to explain how their 'responsible' laying on of hands differed from (presumably irresponsible) table-spinners who bring messages via Big Chief Hokum from your dearly departed granny.
They wouldn't, and when I then asked couldn't all this be avoided if CTIM would just 'upgrade', as in the UK, to some sort of interfaith outfit to deal with each other and the government I was told that wasn't necessary because "there are no other faiths on the island".
Funnily enough, it was during the instantly forgettable high profile millennium madness a year or so later that the other faiths who didn't exist got tired of waiting and set the body up themselves. Something like 100 invitations to join in were also sent and continue to be extended to various Christian groups, all unanswered. Maybe they don't exist either.
Meanwhile, the Interfaith group has never turned down prospective members. However baffling the beliefs, the explanation has been met with a collective "Oh, OK then… next item". The only dubious organisation I know of left of their own accord when it saw the group was just an amicable gathering of folk trying to find middle ground, not a source of government grants, influence and/or secretive dealings.
Us minority types leave that kind of thing to real people of faith. Like the unelected Christian politicians who can always square things with sympathisers in the Dept of Home Affairs or Social Services when possible fraud or child abuse enquiries arise.
Labels: church/state collaboration, crime
Preying on the sick
Interesting piece yesterday over at The Freethinker website about godbothering doctors 'defending' the right to pray over (or is that prey on) patients.
Knowing from recent experience how little time most doctors (or health workers in general) have for such twaddle I was puzzled by both this and a Telegraph article on the same theme until discovering an earlier BBC report (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8116497.stm) which makes it clear it is the Christian Medical Fellowship, not the medical profession as a whole, dragging us back to the era of prayers and leeches (or priests, as they prefer to be called).
Having seen how this mob hijack conferences of overworked doctors and manage to pass ludicrous 'motions' (yes, aware of the pun, but the CMF will always be crap without moral fibre to me) things become clearer.
By the way, from the BBC report I also suspect Dr Birtwhistle may well be a 'cancer specialist' in the hospice movement, which revolves around faith, aromatherapy and plastic smiles rather than rational medicine. If you have a rational bone in your body, never EVER allow yourself to be cajoled into dying in one of their hellholes.
In contrast, my experience of hospital doctors is of overworked folk stacking up the hours to keep surgery lists down. When they find a little time to organise outside that it's to lobby government to keep essential public services going, not inessential publically subsidised prayers. In turn this makes me wonder - I'm well aware many CMF members are retired or private sector doctors out of touch with NHS realities, so are the rest just underemployed skivers who need to be cleared out of the public sector?
In my recent troubles I could no longer be bothered arguing with godbothering health workers who offered to pray for me. I just said 'Well, if it makes you feel better...'.
The point is, some folk say it quite innocently and just mean they're thinking of you, which isn't worth winding them up about. The more calculated ones know such 'prayers' are totally for their own benefit, not yours, so I let such professional victims know I realise that without giving them a chance to nail themselves to their silly crosses and whine.
But it doesn't suprise me that, knowing they can't produce solid facts and figures, godbotherers are stirring up pseudo-issues to protect public subsidy of their underemployed clerical chums instead.
But if there ever is talk about making the hospital chaplain part of the 'care plan' I suspect some interesting figures will be revealed. Presumably, to do it properly, they'd have to make 'chaplain's notes' which would become part of the patient's ward records, time, length and content of each visit recorded, and all this would be on the public record in, say, a negligency hearing.
This would make it immediately obvious that they spend little or no time with even the folk they're asked to visit, and that much of a chaplain's work is just consoling grieving relatives and facilitating early release of any body they expect to bury. Undertakers don't get paid to do this, and I'd argue that it's no more than a parish priest's usual job, so why not go the whole hog, stop paying for 'professional' hospital chaplains and tell the churches to sort out their own support services for sick members, like the rest of us already have to do.
Of course, on the Isle of Man this is already the case and the NHS provide a hospital chapel but not funding of chaplains, and that example stands up to scrutiny as 'good practice' for elsewhere.
As I've mentioned here before, I sit on a hospital committee representing 'other faiths and none' along with three full time clergy who are the 'official' (though unpaid) hospital chaplains. In two years my attendance (unpaid in my work lunch hour, any extra hours away from the desk to be made up in unpaid overtime) equals the three of theirs combined - I've only missed one meeting.
So I suspect we will never get this twaddle from Manx clergy and they will never try it as a local campaign. They do little though perfectly effectively in their way for those who request their help. They also know that, if it came to a survey, most hospital staff would reveal they suffer an imposition by outdated cultural custom rather than appreciate any professional input to the patient 'care package'.
As I witnessed last week, it is also not unusual for a vulnerable regular member of a church congregation to lie in hospital near death and unvisited, because nobody thought to ask where he is when his pew was empty for a month. So much for the closeness of Manx churches and the current 'third sector' arguments for more public funding of 'faith based community work'.
Labels: church/state collaboration, hospitals
A Call To Wierdness
Well, I'm back, and I write these words sitting at my keyboard with a chest more full of holes than a tea strainer. Today I am truly holier than thou, so grovel, sinners!
Last Monday morning I had my gall bladder removed. Being a wimp I was all ready to lie about on a hospital ward for a few days, but they kicked me out within one to make room for worthier cases.
Amazing things gallstones, by the way. The surgeon presented mine back to me in a specimen jar. It looks like I've eaten someone's gravel drive.
So, after a few days watching the e-mails mount but truly not knowing or caring what in the world's going on any more it seemed time to re-engage with this madness.
I needed to break myself in with something cheerful but stupid, so I went to Jeremy Clarkson's Sunday column at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/jeremy_clarkson/article6590133.ece and that was just what I needed. As well as agreeing with his central point about the relative merits of hippies and Catholic clergy this article usefully reminded me of other things.
Back in 1992 two fellow Manx reprobates brought off a spectacular practical joke at the Stonehenge Solstice. In those days both police and army presence was stronger at Stonehenge, officially due to English Heritage's need to guard the stones against 'vandalism', but many a stoned cynic thought because a damn great party of broken down vehicles got in the way of massive military exercises, such as playing with Cruise missiles.
My fellow deviants dressed up specially for the solstice, but not in druid costume. Sadly, they never got it filmed, but somewhere on an old police VCR even now I'd guess a few coppers are creasing themselves watching Wiltshire's fattest chasing a pantomime cow round and round the stones like a demented Benny Hill sketch, overseen by several billion quid's worth of spy-in-the-sky military hardware.
Yes folks, it can be done. This world may be run by all-powerful lunatics, but with a fair sprinkling of humour and imagination ordinary folk can hit back. As the late and great Dr Hunter S. Thompson used to say: "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Thinking this through, the tragedy is us Manx oddballs get this stuff together off-island, but when we come home we get serious. A couple of years back I was so shocked by the claims of Liberal Vannin ( a Manx political party named after liberals but so clueless they took advice from a UKIP reject) to be the biggest party here that I proposed a branch of the Monster Raving Loony Party. The idea was sign up more members than Liberal Vannin, so that internationally the island would be on the map because self-confessed lunatics outnumbered people with serious political ambition.
It would have been possible, but once I contacted the OMRLP I lost interest. I knew them in the days when Bradford's Wild Willi Beckett ( roller skating nun, psychosurgeon and all round anarchist muckraker) made enough waves to actually get Yorkshire candidates elected… and even do serious work on issues like homelessness. Sadly, the current OMRLP are more like a Rotary night out than a lunatic fringe.
But then I saw my wife creased double with laughter at a Hungarian news website. Hungary needs laughter, having just allowed fascist throwbacks to get the balance of power due to lack of support for dishonest conventional politicians (sound familiar?). So all power to the Two Tailed Dog Party, who recently organised a 'political demonstration for nothing', where any party line was absent and the ensuing clash of slogans on placards had to be seen to be believed.
I can't find a site where you can get an English language translation of those events, but you can find an English version of some of their antics at http://mkkp.hu/indexangol.html. You can also follow the links to these and other inspiring folk via 'joke political parties' at Wikipedia.
Read, laugh, and then go and do thou likewise unto the huddled masses.
Posted by Stuart H. at 16:53 1 comment:
Labels: hospitals, humour, politics
No faith? No hope, no charity
I was disturbed to read on the Manx government website yesterday that the Isle of Man is soon to host a British Irish Council officers group which is supposed to be 'exploring the role of the 'Third Sector' in promoting social inclusion.' Amongst the local examples the visitors are apparently going to hear about or visit are homelessness and befriending schemes.
According to Andrew Swithinbank, one of two Social Services clowns revealed in a Tynwald question last year to be on £100K + salaries:
"This is not just an opportunity for us to blow the Manx trumpet although we have a great deal to be proud of in how Government and the Third Sector are working together in the interests of vulnerable people. Rather it is an opportunity for mutual learning. We want to share with our colleagues from other jurisdictions the problems we have faced and the solutions we have found and the challenges ahead so that we can all learn how to build even better and stronger partnerships with the voluntary and community sector."
Well Andrew, it will take less than two minutes to explain we've failed miserably. Then what do you do for the rest of the conference?
You can read the pathetic bleatings of this overpaid underachiever and other chumps at http://www.gov.im/lib/news/dhss/officialsfromsix.xml, and I defy Manx readers to get past the first paragraph without laughing or swearing profusely.Seriously, if current Manx examples are being held up as 'best practice' for planned public sector cutbacks in the UK and surrounding islands that is pretty terrifying.
The simple truth is, in the last few years Manx public services (often third rate to start with) have been hacked away to the extent they no longer exist in any practical sense. All this has happened under the pretence of 'partnerships' with churches and other parasitical bodies which might have otherwise quietly died by the end of the 20th century through public disinterest.
Instead of just paying professionals to look after our disadvantaged competently, the government just slipped a few quid to the same faith-biased amateurs who caused the bigotry and general ignorance which held us back so many years in the first place. So now, unless you're what some biblebashing dimwit (armed with digital technology but Dickensian attitudes) considers 'the deserving poor' you get no help. Under cretinous initiatives such as 'befriending schemes' run by evangelical throwbacks in our smaller communities pensioners who don't attend church are now left to die alone and un-noticed.
For example a nonagenarian friend caring for a wife with Alzheimers moved to the UK earlier this year. It was the only way, given the handover of the relevant public services to village ignoramuses from the local chapel, he could be sure she would even get minimal care, such as the odd home help popping in.
Off-island readers – watch out for this nonsense. If such policies are ever adopted in your communities then at some future point the recently revealed Irish church-led abuse scandals are going to look like a model of social good practice compared to the total breakdown of public services you are about to experience.
Labels: fundamentalism, pensioners, public services
Uganda and happy clappy fascism - the saga continues
I've blogged on here before about the effects of Christian 'charity' on Africa and Eastern Europe. I've accepted I may have to revisit the subject often until the Manx government, and in particular the Education Department, stops encouraging locals to underwrite racist, homophobic nonsense that starts wars, destroys lives, and enables Western churches to steal from the poor.
Southern Poverty Law Center is an honourable Martin Luther King era Alabama outfit that keeps an eye on all manner of bigots. They have an interesting piece on Scott Lively, the bonkers US evangelical setting up shop in Uganda along with equally weird characters. Even conservative US Christians are now warning against Lively, author of a ludicrous book, The Pink Swastika, which claims the Third Reich was a gay cult.
To their credit, they're increasingly concerned too at the role US Christian charities are playing in a witch-hunting of Ugandan gays which eerily resembles the build-up of German anti-semitism in the 1930's. See http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2009/06/17/anti-gay-conspiracy-theories-debunked-by-christian-professor/ for more, and be sure to follow up the links to Boxturtlebulletin.com.
That people on the Isle of Man still give money to evangelical 'charities' who stir up such hatred disgusts me. The cluelessness of Manx Christian charities always amuses friends and relatives in countries where they consolidate the island's reputation as a third world backwater and major exporter of village idiocy. Our role in Uganda, though, is in a whole other league, and far more deadly.
Labels: evangelical charities, homophobia
Quacks, prayers and naff art? No thanks!
An invitation on the government website (see http://www.gov.im/lib/news/dhss/rewardingrecogni.xml)
to find out more about hospital volunteering is making me quite ill. Really!
I have nothing particular against hospital volunteers. I've never met anyone they've helped myself - the ones who sit near the Nobles Hospital entrance to act as hospital guides, for example, never know where anything or anyone is.
But I'm sure they do good for somebody.
The thing is, if you skim through the press release straight to the end (where they list the speakers and advertise the inevitable church service) this is nothing but a list of the wrongheaded organisations and ideas that make any hospital visit a nightmare.
For instance, have you SEEN the bland junk they pass off as public art in hospitals?
Even Manx artists, most of whom couldn't flog their tat in an Oxfam closedown sale, see the Healing Arts Programme as a conspiracy against taste and decency. Anyway, as Quentin Crisp always said when asked what had he got against art, 'What have you got against bare walls?'
And don't get me started on the cancer industry, as typified by the Macmillan goons.
After the DHSS included a chapel in the new hospital without bothering to ask anyone if it was needed (or what form a religious room should take if it could be shown it was), and as the Christians wouldn't share their ghetto with anyone else, there was a campaign for a neutral place where anyone could go for a spot of peace and quiet instead. A store room near the entrance then had a sign reading 'quiet room' sellotaped to the door for about a month. That was the full extent of the information campaign, or attempts to meet needs of those of other religions, such as the predominantly Muslim medical staff.
Then a 'management consultant' coincidentally involved with twonks who 'treat' cancer with plastic smiles and aromatherapy intervened. The store room immediately had shedloads of public cash wasted turning it into a Macmillan Care 'Information centre' (read 'begging bowl with carpets').
Yup. Volunteer to make me a nice cuppa when I'm twiddling my thumbs on a hospital ward in the near future and I'll thank you for your kindness. But if I only have one life (which I do) I'll be quite happy if I can lead it totally free of bad art, religion and interference from clueless pseudo-professional parasites such as cancer charities.
Labels: hospitals, voluntary groups
U2 can be a superstitious irrelevance
Recent reports of a commiseration of the first year's disservice to the island by an unelected spook merchant (see for example http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/Celebration-to-mark-the-Bishop39s.5357903.jp) could be a chance for us to snigger at Sentamu's Apprentice yet again. Frankly, what's the point when it's like shooting fish in a barrel? Our politicians are too apathetic to stop the aforementioned spook merchant squatting in Legislative Council, and nobody literate or under 70 on the island seems to vote any more, so Paterson retains his privileges courtesy of a coalition of crooks, crusties and canting cretins.
Instead I'll take aim at a bigger fish – the Archtwit of Cant.
I read in the Torygruff that:
'Christian services that feature DJs, songs of the Irish band U2 and prayers for the chief executives of Google and Wal-Mart are being promoted by the Church of England.'
Read the full report and weep with laughter at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5523904/Church-of-England-attempts-to-broaden-appeal-with-songs-by-U2-and-prayers-for-Google.html .
The Fresh Expressions initiative is apparently 'spawning churches for surfers as well as commissioning priests to work in night clubs and skateboard parks.'
No, I think what they mean is churches sniff new public money being thrown away on fresh excuses for 'community work' spawned by panic stories in right wing rags.
But the book sounds hilarious.
'A psalm is recited in "beat poetry" style to the accompaniment of African Djembe drums, and prayers are said "for the corporate world, for influential CEOs who oversee billion-dollar industries".'
This would be the same CEOs and industries the Archtwit keeps berating for a culture of greed – or was it just not answering begging letters from superstitious halfwits who want their subsidised, untaxed and pointless employment underwritten a while longer?
And also we are told that:
'The prayers continue: "We pray for John Chambers of Cisco Systems, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Dr Eric Schmidt of Google Inc, H Lee Scott Jr of Wal-Mart Stores and others who have already made commitments to justice." '
The only commitment to justice a union-bashing, sweatshop-employing Walmart executive could make, in my humble view, would be to commit suicide. But that's probably against his evangelical beliefs, so it's not going to happen, is it?
I'm also amused to hear that amongst the 'alternative services' in a book co-edited by the Rt Rev Steven Croft, the new Bishop of Sheffield, are so-called 'U2charists'. These are services in which the congregation gets the holy gutrot and biccies while singing U2 songs instead of traditional hymns.
If that doesn't clear a church of young folk in seconds I'm not sure what will.
I also have a feeling all this 'down wiv da kids' stuff doesn't go down well with all the Archtwit's employees either.
For example, the Reverend David Houlding, prebendary at St Paul's Cathedral (where, incidentally, the predecessor to the current Bish of Sod 'n Man now skulks for a living) remarks:
"All this is tosh. It's just a passing fad, irrelevant, shallow and pointless…."
"There's no depth to it and it's embarrassing because it'll make people think that we're eccentric and silly."
No, David, we already knew that. This just proves you are.
Labels: church finances, tax avoidance
Freedom of speech - it's not just for 'proper' writers
There's a story over on Mediawatchwatch that, when you think about it, suggests a slapdash, partial approach to freedom of speech amongst UK liberals.
In brief, Andy Thackwray, a prisoner in Hull, writes a column called 'Angry Andy' for Inside Time, a newspaper by and for prisoners. In his latest he hypothesises that swine flu was the result of a failed plot by Osama Bin Laden to "eradicate every pig in Christendom". The article also has a cartoon of a bearded, sneezing and turbanned pig.
If you want, you can find the whole thing at http://jailhouselawyersblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/muslim-prisoners-are-revolting.html, a blog run by an ex-prisoner who flagged the whole thing up to the world.
OK, not going to challenge Jonathan Swift for the heavyweight satirist world championship, but a bit of light relief if you're banged up on a cold, dark night.
Except that next John Roberts, Operations Director and Company Secretary at Inside Time, is contacted by 'Diversity at Wormwood Scrubs' (whatever that is) who think the article and cartoon "might be offensive to Muslims". So, all 50,000 copies of the magazine get withdrawn and reprinted without Angry Andy's piece and accompanying cartoon (which I'm not sure was by him anyway). This is costing the charity behind Inside Time £15-20,000.
The Jailhouselawyer also reports that Andy has been charged with a Disciplinary Offence, put in the Segregation Unit, and will be transferred out of HMP Hull. For those not familiar with prison affairs, this is a highly unusual punishment, usually reserved for hardcore political prisoners. Try Googling the name 'John Bowden' for an example of both the kind of individual and circumstances under which it has been used recently.
Now at this point, if this was a writer in South America or an Arabic country then PEN, Index on Censorship and others would be going ballistic, probably even Amnesty or Human Rights Watch.
When an Oxbridge inbreed like Martin Amis spouts clueless shite about Muslims in a broadsheet does the print run get stopped? Ditto the admittedly more reasoned writing of Salman Rushdie and his supporters once the Satanic Verses saga kicked off.
Is the quality of Angry Andy's writing any worse than the rhetoric of Geert Wilders, or the cartoon than the infamous Danish 'turban bomb'? Or is it that we don't think there's a principle at stake if the censored writer is 'only' a common English convict?
I would argue that, if anything, assuming that no Muslim prisoner will see the joke and all will riot as one in protest is itself racist and offensive. And I can think of at least two Muslim women stand-up comedians in the UK doing stuff at least as 'offensive' about their fellow Muslims, not to mention chavs, evangelical Christians and Guardianistas.
I would argue that treating some working class white guy in a UK jail in a way the police and courts would not dare treat an Oxbridge professor who expresses the same view, but in more flowery language in a literary mag, is bang out of order.
I would argue that the principle of freedom of speech has to be defended robustly in this country or not at all. You don't pick and choose the nice guys and the eloquent cases. You defend the Rushdies, but also right wing pricks like Geert Wilders and the Danish cartoonists…..and lags like Andy Thackwray, serving time for I know not what and I am not about to ask.
Because it makes no difference, and because if decent folk don't speak up for the Thackwrays of this world as we would for 'proper writers' scum like the BNP will pretend to.
Labels: free speech, prisons, satire
Diplomacy with a baseball bat
From something I've just seen posted by Article 19, it looks like religious knuckledraggers use exactly the same tactics against their critics at UN level as they do in small towns and backwaters throughout the world.
In an open letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council published today, thirty-five human rights organisations from every region of the world warned that recent "extraordinary attacks" by states on United Nations human rights experts at the Human Rights Council are "severely eroding the Council's legitimacy and credibility."
A global group of 35 NGOs, including Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, as well as regional and national NGOs like the Asian Forum for Human Rights (Forum Asia) and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, state delegations at the Council are carrying out "what appears to be a coordinated effort to intimidate" human rights experts, "individually and collectively."
They say attacks at the ongoing 11th session of the Council "have focused in particular on the current Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. These Rapporteurs were subjected to threats of disciplinary action because they offered their expert analysis and recommendations on important human rights issues that they brought to the attention of this Council."
The group of NGOs contend that these "political attacks" are "fundamentally an attack on and threat to the Council itself," and go on to "appeal, in the strongest terms" for states at the HRC to refrain from undermining the independence of UN human rights experts, and "ensure that the long term integrity and credibility of the Human Rights Council itself are not sacrificed to political expedience."
Cut out the polite phrasing, and I think what they're really saying is that countries with a record of strong, religiously based persecution of their own people want all the advantages of 21st century international co-operation, but not the responsibility.
In particular they are so upset at every responsible attempt to bring their thicko thuggishness to world attention that they want such attempts to stop.
Not having evolved to a level where they can discuss alleged grievances calmly with all parties and work out amicable solutions, they're now trying to beat their UN critics over the head with baseball bats.
You can find a full version of the letter with a complete list of all NGO signatories at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/letters/hrc-open-letter-on-mandate-holders.pdf%20
Labels: human rights, religious privilege
It is better to die (laughing) on your feet than to live on your knees
I blogged before about reactions to a proposed small Manx mosque, and in particular the lack of moral fibre from 'people of faith' and some possible reasons (see Lies, more lies and moral cowardice ).
As I said, I never expect Manx biblebashers to show solidarity with folk of another faith, so their silence confirmed all we already know about their bigotry, moral cowardice and grasping attitude to everything.
Risk taking a moral stand and ruin the chance of more public funds? Not likely!
But at least, finally, the letter representing local minority faith views about a proposed mosque got printed (see http://www.iomtoday.co.im/your-letters/Isle-of-Man-Examiner-June.5343489.jp). Sadly, that was a disappointment too.
What does it tell you when a letter, supposedly representing the views of numerous faith groups, appears without a single named signatory? To be credible, it could and should have been signed by people representing all the traditions involved in the group.
If they can't speak 'officially' for their groups, they could have signed as individuals, and any local would recognise the faiths of at least some. I know, from my own experience dealing with them, that some of the groups involved are as riddled with racist white flighters as any other section of the community, but this was pathetic.
It's a bit like the reaction of mainstream political parties to the BNP. 'Deny them the oxygen of publicity' and 'Don't share a platform with racists' are the official line. Just stay silent, don't talk about the issues and it will all go away.
No it pigging won't!
If we're ever to drive racist rats out of their holes and work out the balance between 'respect' for others (however crazed their beliefs) and abolishing the religious privilege which diminishes the quality of all our lives we need a stand-up public row every time an issue like this arises.
We won't find the answer to social issues in the Bible, the Koran, Das Kapital, Mein Kampf – or even The Selfish Gene. We have to be prepared for the fact that we don't get any answers at all except those we work out between ourselves in proper, adult, public debate.
On the Isle of Man all the political or social debate I've experienced for years is sub-kindergarten foot-stamping and 'I'm taking my ball home' nonsense, so ending that could, on particular days, either cause us to despair of humanity or die laughing. But if anyone else is as bored as me of geriatric racist retirees and superstitious halfwits running this place they're welcome to join in.
Labels: debate, racism, religious privilege
Keep Sunday Special - not Christian
There's a fascinating rumour to the effect that the backlog of TT races is down to Christians who think the island stops and starts when they feel like it.
The first races should have begun last Saturday, but were postponed due to slightly damp weather in the morning. Plan B was to run a couple on Mad Sunday – so named because it's traditionally when visitors have their own flat-out spin around the course with key sections kept one way by helpful coppers.
This is where the rumour starts. It's known one favourite is in a team which won't race on Sundays 'on religious grounds'. So did they, along with local biblebashers who have form for complaining that punters at churches on the course are inconvenienced by speeding bikers, strike a deal with organisers who, frankly, seem to have lost all interest in our only internationally known attraction?
Whatever the truth, the effect is that the backlog is so bad that racing has been going on all day today to catch up on the schedule. In turn that's caused a traffic logjam since mid-afternoon which isn't expected to clear until maybe 10 PM. The island workforce (yes, we exist) were asked to either go home early or travel by public transport.
What public transport? On the Isle of Man we have an inadequate bus service and antique trams and trains run (very slowly and unsteadily) for tourists only at prices that average over £1 a mile at peak times.
If we get through today it will be due to the generally good nature of thousands of visiting bikers, plus local commuting drivers. Without widespread good will, you could be stuck at any one of the island's junctions if no-one lets you in. The colour of traffic lights is irrelelevant too. You just follow the vehicle in front in a 5 MPH crawl, stopping every 10 metres as folk ahead wait for a space at road ends or turn-offs.
That we do cope, and folk do help each other through this, has nothing to do with religious morality. If anything, it demonstrates what a lie that is, and one we should bury fast.
So, while biblebashing professional racers see not racing on the very day when most semi-pro bike-racing happens as some new sort of 'Christian witness', can we trust them to behave responsibly the rest of the week?
I suspect not. I am reliably informed that one, having had a minor prang late last week, decided to take his bike out on an open public road to test it out after minor repairs. This godbotherer was clocked at 120 by one of those flashing speed warning thingies placed close to a built up area to warn you to slow down.
That's 120, less than 100 metres from a 30 MPH sign, probably close to a school. Not on the closed TT circuit but on an ordinary road where any car pulling out of a side-road, any pedestrian wandering across to a house or the pub on the other side of the road, would stand no chance.
That deluded spookchaser may well believe the Lord is with him, but even his imaginary friend couldn't stop a race bike that quickly.
Labels: morality, Sabbath, TT races
Bell epoch
Don't know about you, but I automatically assume the US is a place where courts too often defend odd and anti-social religious behaviour. So, it was nice to read a story yesterday about a US court prepared to put a church leader in his place.
It seems a Bishop in Phoenix, Arizona got a suspended 10 day jail sentence for allowing the cathedral bells to be rung every hour on the hour between 8 AM and 8 PM. He's also been told to restrict chimes in future to no more than 60 decibels for two minutes on Sundays and specific religious holidays.
I found the story on the Metro 'weird news' page at http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Bishop_sentenced_over_noisy_bells&in_article_id=679851&in_page_id=2, which is itself weird, because if anything this was an example of rational legal action which I only wish we could emulate over here.
We had a mini version of this row in Peel a decade ago. A couple of recently retired doctors, both keen bellringers, moved there and led a millennium campaign to get a new set of bells and a bellringing team for the cathedral. Nice enough folk in a charming, slightly eccentric way, as I found when I was sent to interview them.
The trouble started when they got their volunteers into serious training. Especially when, instead of just going through the motions, they had full scale early evening weekday bellringing practices.
Like the church authorities, they probably assumed the townspeople were at least passive Christians and would like a 'traditional' English pastime being introduced. Some didn't, and one near neighbour to the cathedral wrote anonymously to Peel Commissioners (town council) to complain.
This got a mention at the monthly Commissioners meeting, and blown out of proportion. I know the complainant wrote politely enough in the hope something could be sorted out. In public the Commissioners were afraid of upsetting the religious lobby, and church leaders got quite uppity, trotting out a Daily Mail 'Christian country' line and refusing to acknowledge the unholy racket might be a public nuisance if you lived in the next street and just wanted to watch Corrie or have a nap.
To their credit, the campanologists were more sympathetic, and found a scheme whereby the cathedral bell ropes were wired up to a computer program. Switched one way on Sundays, pulling the rope rang the bell, switched another for practices the bell ringer pulled just as hard but instead of the real bell it triggered a computer simulation of the sound, complete with effective delay. So the bell ringers got the full experience but the neighbours didn't get deafened.
The funny thing, which I doubt any church leader realised, is that all the computer stuff was installed by some very laid back pagan 'teccies. In fact, I vaguely recall the atmosphere up in the bell tower was so….. relaxed that I forgot to load my camera and damn near broke my neck falling down ladders and steps on the way back from the interview.
I offer all this as a way of proving that, if folk are neighbourly instead of getting uptight about religion and rights, these things can be sorted out quietly and amicably. Or in the case of me and the pagans who led by example, so positively blissfully (ma-a-an) you go round with a silly grin for the rest of the day.
Labels: campanology, community relations
Back-cracking, bible-bashing study options
News on the government website about the Isle of Man Higher Education Conference, which takes place on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th June at Ballakermeen High School, had me sniggering.
It's one of those university fair things, where UK higher education institutions take stalls to persuade our kids to go to their colleges.
The line-up this year includes prestigious institutions such as the Anglo European College of Chiropractic in Bournemouth.
Why am I giggling at that? Read http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/may/13/simon-singh-british-chiropractic-association and you might find out.
I was also amused to read that 'Other bodies attending include the Church of England, representing theological colleges and Christian gap year opportunities'. See http://www.gov.im/lib/news/education/recordnumberofor.xml if you don't believe me.
Oh good, the finance sector is falling apart because nobody local can manage basic maths ( so we have to import accountants from East Europe or the African and Indian subcontinent) but the Education Department still helps our kids to study theology.
Who thought that one through?
Probably the same halfwit who disbanded the elected Board of Education but still requires a local clergyman to sit, unelected and unwanted by most parents, on the board of governors of every island school.
Labels: education, theology
Lies, more lies and moral cowardice
Since the row broke out a few weeks back because local Muslims want to meet in a 'proper' building instead of someone's garage I've followed developments in the local press with interest.
It didn't surprise me when the only Manx BNP member willing to identify himself joined in, or that my good mate Jim Hawkins made an honest and articulate case in opposition to a mosque – though I don't share his opinion or fears.
It doesn't surprise me that another letter was written by someone to timid to give his proper name or any of his address, yet claimed to speak for 'others'. And I found it absolutely hilarious when, in a desperate attempt to boost numbers, there was even a letter (presumably dictated at a seance) from an objector who has been dead for years!
On a more serious note I was intrigued that no-one took up the gauntlet thrown down by veteran journalist Val Cottle, who asked, 'Where is the moral leadership from the Lord Bishop, or other church or humanist groups, where is the rejection of such racist views from other politicians?'
Good question, Val. Wonder why nobody has answered it yet?
I knew some minority faiths had got together and penned a letter to the papers, then let the moment pass without agreeing the final wording. That's a shame.
Churches Together in Mann? Forget it! What can you expect from a body where two 'faith leaders' both ring to check the other won't be there before turning up to meetings where a maximum of four elderly blokes decide major statements on public morality representing 'thousands'…. without daring to consult them?
And you can't expect moral leadership anyway from a political squatter foisted on us by another country's spook merchants, though this is usually the cue for a senior Anglican to try potting us secular types for small minded bigots, so the silence of Sentamu's Apprentice was also curious.
Well, read http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/Unholy-row-erupts-over-St.5321571.jp, and in particular the two additional pages, and all becomes clear. The Anglicans were about to sting the public for cash, so couldn't have that spoiled by a public debate over religious buildings, privilege and the role religion plays, if any, in 21st century life.
On the strength of page 1, where it's explained they're ripping some pews out of the local cathedral to make a more flexible space, it seems fair enough. Yeah…. whatever. Do what you want with your playhouse, just don't ask me to pay for it.
But then Canon Godfrey says, 'These maintenance costs can only be justified if the building is made to work for its living.'That means making it available to more than just the Anglican worshipping community'.
It's when you get to page 2 and they refer to concerts, exhibitions and school visits before going down the rosy heritage and public facility path you realise this means a drain on the public purse, not just begging from local companies with a crap public image. When you think it through you realise there will be bids for cash from the heritage, conservation and education public pots, and that's just for starters.
In fact, given that at the last budget we were told no government departments are being allowed new projects, it looks like the future 'public consultation' referred to on the Cathedral changes is a sham exercise to rubber stamp plans already privately made between the churches, education and heritage bodies. No wonder the government is closing down public scrutiny of or participation in Manx heritage and public education (see http://www.gov.im/lib/news/registries/educationcouncil.xml and http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/reviewoftheconst.xml).
Ah well, bent business as usual with the Manx government and churches then. No wonder they dare not comment on real religious affairs for fear of us laughing.
Labels: church/state collaboration, morality, public funding
Uganda and happy clappy fascism - the saga continu...
Freedom of speech - it's not just for 'proper' wri...
It is better to die (laughing) on your feet than t...

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Into the night - AW/20
Our latest campaign explores the dark allures of winter and femininity, inspired by the Hulder: a beautiful but dangerous seductress from Scandinavian Folklore. Warm knits, overcoats and formal dresses contrast stark Scandinavian winterscapes.
Our feature film tells the story of the Truth and the Lie - an escapist fantasy and a metaphor for the confusion, isolation and desperation of the post-truth world and the anxiety so many have felt this year.
In these turbulent times - we know you value comfort and quality more than ever. To prepare you for winter, our new collection is timeless and modular, offering flexibility to mix and match. A classic colour palette in rich burgundy, beige and black are refreshed with hints of metallic, coral and blue. Leather and tailoring pair with heritage checks, paisley and nightfall prints for a chic bohemian vibe.
Into the night explores the dark allures of winter and femininity, inspired by the Hulder: a beautiful but dangerous seductress from Scandinavian Folklore.
Warm knits, overcoats and formal dresses contrast stark Scandinavian winterscapes.
Design Inspirattion
We designed our AW/20 collection in our London studios. We made every style in Europe with our artisan craftsmen who have been as imaginative and creative as ever these last few months. Our production partners have been flexible and without them, none of this would be possible. Thankfully, we have been able to adapt quickly to the year to build in more flexibility to the collection. After all, it seems that anything is possible in 2020.
We're introducing some new styles for AW20 including small leather goods, boots, trainers, scarves, notebooks and leather jackets and skirts. To prepare you for winter, our new collection is timeless and modular, offering flexibility to mix and match. A classic colour palette in rich burgundy, beige and black are refreshed with hints of metallic, coral and blue. Leather and tailoring pair with heritage checks, paisley and nightfall prints for a chic bohemian vibe. Shearling jackets, cosy knitwear and double-breasted overcoats layer up making outfits ideal for cold walks or laid back lounging.
Campaign Inspirattion
We shot the campaign over 4 days in the Arctic Circle in the far North of Sweden in temperatures between -5 and 0 degrees. We shot on location in Abisko and the forests near Kiruna. All photography and videography were produced by our in-house creative team.
Our feature film explores the story of the truth and the lie, a tragic tale of the post-truth world that has defined 2020.
Into the night is a metaphor for the confusion, isolation and desperation so many have felt this year.
The arctic Circle
We travelled to the far North of Sweden into the Arctic Circle, one of two polar circles at the top of the earth with extremely cold temperatures in Winter that can reach -30 degrees. Only 4 million people live across the Arctic circle with local town populations that can be as few as 20-30 people.
We shot on location in Kiruna and Abisko, on the Swedish/Norway border. We filmed in late October before the darkness falls (there's no daylight between December and January) and before temperatures plunged. The Arctic Circle is also the best place on earth to see the Aurora Borealis of 'Northern lights'.
Comfort comes in all shapes and sizes this season
New for AW/20 is our collection of leather goods including handbags, wallets and purses. We've designed each in our London studios and made them with the softest Italian leather with partners in Italy. We also work with several leather tanneries in India. Our focus has been to introduce wearable, useable small leather goods that will stand the test of time.
Small leather goods meet stark scandinavian landscapes


Ladybug Black Ruffle Chiffon Bloomers Size 9m-3T - $13.75 : 4 Angel Babies, Custom Creations for the Angels in your life!
Let these adorable ladybug red with black dots and black ruffle chiffon bloomers or diaper covers add style to your little ones bum. Adorned with a small satin bow and little rhinestone on one side. Made with soft cotton and ruffles of chiffon, these are sure to be a great addition to any outfit, birthday, costume, photo shoot, or holiday party.
Add a name and large initial applique for $7.


We received the largest number of responses from the 30-39 year old age bracket (31%), which is quite representative of the median age in Boston (31.1 years) and Somerville (39.9). Further, roughly 16% of our study participants were over the age of 65. The percentage of persons over the age of 65 who took our survey was slightly higher than those in both Somerville and Boston.
CALL TO ACTION: While persons over the age of 65 were overrepresented in our survey (in comparison to Census percentages) we would like to dig deeper into the elderly population responses to community noise—especially those who are retired and spend the majority of their time at their homes. Appealing to nursing homes and retirement communities with a paper-based survey will make this goal possible.


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Първата индо-пакистанска война е въоръжен конфликт, воден между Индия и Пакистан в периода октомври 1947 г. – декември 1948 г. за контрол над княжеската държава Джаму и Кашмир. Това е първата от общо четири индо-пакистански войни между двете страни. Пакистан започва войната едва няколко седмици след като става независима държава, предприемайки офанзива с племенни войски от Вазиристан в опит да превземе спорната област Кашмир, бъдещето на която не е ясно. Нерешителният изход от войната засяга геополитиката и в двете държави до ден днешен.

Махараджата на Джаму и Кашмир е изправен пред въстание от страна на мюсюлманските си субекти в района Пунч. Той губи контрол над западните територии на държавата си. На 22 октомври 1947 г. пакистанските пущунски племенни войски преминават границата на Джаму и Кашмир. Към тези племенни войски се присъединяват нередовни пакистански войски и напредват към столицата на страната – Шринагар. Достигайки Барамула, обаче, те започват да плячкосват и настъплението им секва. Междувременно, махараджа Хари Сингх отправя молба към Индия за помощ. Такава е предложена, но при условие, че Хари Сингх подпише договор за присъединяване на територията на Джаму и Кашмир към Индия, което той приема.

Войната първоначално се води между въоръжението сили на Джаму и Кашмир и племенните милиции на Федерално управляемите племенни територии. След като спорната област се присъединява към Индия на 26 октомври 1947 г., индийски войски пристигат по въздух в столицата Шринагар. Британските командири първоначално отказват въвличането на пакистанските войски в конфликта, посочвайки присъединяването на областта към Индия. Въпреки това, към края на 1948 г. те отстъпват от тази си позиция и пакистанската армия се включва във войната. Фронтовите линии се втвърдяват по т. нар. Линия на контрол. Формално примирие е обявено през нощта на 31 декември 1948 г. и влиза в сила на следващия ден. Резултатът от войната е неубедителен. Все пак, голяма част от неутралните оценки считат Индия за победител в нея, тъй като успява да защити около 2/3 от Кашмир, включително Кашмирската долина, Джаму и Ладакх.

Източници

Индо-пакистански конфликт

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This is a structural MRI picture of my brain taken at the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, UCL ("the FIL") on 2004-08-18. Notice all the empty space!
I edited the image here to appear nicely on a white background. More images here or as a PDF.
Thanks to Angela Yu for the scan and providing the images.


The rose, the symbol of love and the queen of the flowers, pampers you with its smell and makes your skin glow. In the heat of the sauna you'll apply a wild rose exfoliating rub and enjoy a cool footbath with luxurious rose petals. Treat yourself and your friends to some stress-free pampering and come and enjoy the soft steam and the intoxicating smell of the roses. A maximum of 10 women can participate in the evening. A minimum of 6 women is needed.
PRICE: €35/person/treatment. Register by email. Registrations are binding.


An environmental restoration project designed to improve the habitat of the Norwalk River surrounding Schenck's Island, was given the thumbs up by the Board of Selectmen.
The town of Wilton, owner of the Schenck's Island public recreation area, has partnered on the project with the Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited, a nonprofit organization made up primarily of anglers dedicated to freshwater stream and river conservation.
At its meeting on Monday, Feb. 4, the board authorized First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice to execute permit applications for the project to the Inland Wetlands Commission, Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and Army Corps of Engineers.
Budgeted for $95,000, the project involves re-building the deep pool habitat of the Norwalk River around Schenck's Island that has been lost to erosion due to flash flooding. "We'll build 20 new pools using large boulders and sections of trees. It will be a permanent fix to allow the river to heal itself over time," said Jeff Yates, conservation chair of the Mianus chapter.
This is the first restoration project in the chapter's master plan to restore 10 miles of the Norwalk River running from the Norwalk line to Georgetown. "Our goal over the next five to 10 years is to complete three more sections to create areas of high-quality habitat to spread throughout the stream," Yates said.
Yates updated the board about another project at the Middlebrook School. Trout Unlimited has received an approximate $90,000 grant from DEEP to study stormwater runoff at the school and come up with engineering solutions.
Polluted stormwater runoff from Middlebrook is going into the Comstock Brook, a tributary of the Norwalk River that flows into Merwin Meadows, Yates said.
The study is being done to identify how much stormwater is draining from surfaces at the school and where it could be directed to so it does not cause flash flooding. "Engineering will begin this summer on that project," Yates said.
Yates also updated the board on the status of three dam removals along the Norwalk River.
The Flock Dam, near Merritt 7 in Norwalk, was removed last summer. The dam's presence caused flooding upstream and prevented migratory fish access to waters they need to reproduce.
A section of the Cannondale Dam in Wilton was also removed last summer in order to create a bypass channel to allow for fish passage.
There is also a plan in the works for dismantling the Dana Dam which is halfway between Merwin Meadows and School Road in Wilton.
The project is in the planning and fundraising phases, Yates said. Some preliminary engineering has been done and the group is working with Save the Sound for final permits and removal.
For more information about the Mianus chapter of Trout Unlimited and its Norwalk River projects, visit mianustu.org.


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This Week in COVID: "Please Do Not Put Us in the Position to Ration Care"
Maricopa County Has Expanded Vaccine Eligibility. Here's What You Need to Know
Racketeering Lawsuit Against Maricopa County by Thomas and Arpaio is Weak Conspiracy Theory
| Maricopa County Craziness |
Ray Stern | December 1, 2009 | 6:35pm
The first reason why the racketeering lawsuit filed today against county leaders is probably going nowhere:
It's being handled by Lisa Aubuchon, the deputy county attorney who has consistently blown politically sensitive cases for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Under Aubuchon's leadership, Thomas lost the criminal cases against: Dan Pochoda, legal director for the Arizona branch of the American Civil Liberties Union; Thomas Lovejoy, the Chandler cop who left his K9 partner in a hot car; Ajo Al's restaurant; and, indirectly, County Supervisor Don Stapley. (Thomas ultimately transferred the Stapley case to Yavapai County, but it could be argued that Aubuchon -- and Thomas, natch -- laid the groundwork for that failure).
Even without our ad hominem argument, this federal lawsuit by Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio has holes you could drive a bus through.
Click herefor the lawsuit.
Taken by themselves, some of the allegations are intriguing. For instance, Barbara Mundell, the presiding judge for Superior Court, hand-picked retired Judge Kenneth Fields for the Stapley case last December. That seemed weird because Fields had criticized Thomas publicly before Mundell's decision. At the least, the selection of Fields creates an appearance of possible bias.
It also seems reasonable to question the relationship of local lawyer Thomas Irvine and the county officials planning to build a $347 million court tower. It's disconcerting to see local county officials enriching their lawyer buddies -- like when Thomas hired his former boss, Dennis Wilenchik, to serve as a special prosecutor in his infamous case against New Times, for example.
The big problem for Thomas in this RICO lawsuit is simply that it doesn't contain enough facts to support claims of a grand conspiracy. The "CO" in RICO stands for Corrupt Organizations, and we're apparently supposed to believe everyone named in the suit is part of a Mafia-like group. The list of syndicate members includes:
*All five County Supervisors.
*Judge Mundell
*County Manager David Smith
*Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson
*Wade Swanson of the General Litigation Office
*Anna Baca, retired Superior Court judge
*Gary Donahoe, criminal presiding judge
*Kenneth Fields, retired Superior Court judge
*Local lawyers Thomas Irvine and Edward Novak
According to the lawsuit, this group -- with unknown accomplices -- worked to provide funding for the court tower "in exchange" for blocking the criminal prosecution of Stapley and the other defendants, and also in exchange for "other illicit services."
This reasoning seems flawed on its premise. The lawsuit states that the Board of Supervisors approved spending the $347 million for the new tower in a series of votes between 2007 and 2009. Yet Stapley wasn't charged until December 2008, and indications that others on the above list were being investigated came after that.
In other words, Thomas' lawsuit acknowledges that court tower funding was being approved a year before anyone's criminal investigation needed hindering. So much for the motive.
Without an obvious conspiracy to tie it together, the lawsuit is a mish-mash of every fight in the last three years between Thomas and Arpaio and the judges and county leaders. In a Freudian slip that speaks to the high emotions in the county feud, Aubuchon notes in her pleading that Irvine and Novak attended a hearing in the Stapley case "and laughed at the prosecutor [Aubuchon] as she was verbally assailed" by Stapley's defense attorney.
Thomas' written "evidence" for a corrupt organization of judges and county officials is heavily biased. For example, he claims that Mundell and Fields conspire routinely to "level false ethical allegations" against Thomas and his employees in an attempt to intimidate them. Clearly, the unfortunate federal judge who ends up handling this case will first be required to determine if the ethical allegations against Thomas are, indeed, false, before deciding that a pattern of false allegations supports the conspiracy.
In fact, the federal judge is being asked by Thomas to re-decide most of the Superior Court decisions that weren't in Thomas' favor, such as the Donahoe decision to kick Thomas and Arpaio off the court tower case because of a conflict of interest. In another example, Thomas claims that county officials tried to extort him by threatening to file a bar complaint unless he disclosed whether his employees were writing anonymous, negative blog posts about the Board of Supervisors. Legal experts contacted by New Times following the disclosure demand by county officials said the county had every right to see writings by employees of the County Attorney's Office, which supposedly still serves as the Board of Supervisors' lawyer on some matters.
It seems overly optimistic of Thomas and Arpaio to expect a federal judge to see everything their way. And if, as they say, they aren't getting love from the judiciary on the local level, why would they think they'd do any better in a federal arena?
Judging by a scathing response e-mailed to New Times and other members of the media, county leaders aren't cowed by this lawsuit:
As reported by the media, the latest federal action filed by the County Attorney is just a "sore losers lawsuit" by Andrew Thomas to attack his clients and waste public resources. The County Attorney has lost every time he has sued the Board of Supervisors, and we expect the result to be no different this time.
Thomas' announcement today is issued on the same day that the Arizona Supreme Court has affirmed a Maricopa County Superior Court ruling that Thomas' prior investigation of the Board of Supervisors had the "appearance of evil." It appears that Thomas' announcement is a disguised attempt to divert attention away from his own unethical conduct and his latest loss on appeal.
The Board intends to vigorously defend against Thomas' latest round of patently false allegations. Indeed, if the past is any predictor of the outcome of actions against the Board of Supervisors and the Superior Court, then the Board and the Court will both prevail, again.
Despite the obvious flaws in what they are attempting, Arpaio and Thomas are taking their claims seriously. In a news conference today at Thomas' office, Arpaio said he'd never seen such problems within the criminal justice system.
"I've been told there's a Good Old Boy Network," the sheriff said. "Right now, you have the 'Good Old Boy Corrupt Network."
Thomas declined our offer to state verbally which parts of the lawsuit he thought were the most damning against the Supervisors and judges.
"The facts speak for themselves," he said. "It's not a pretty picture."
He's right about one thing: this is an ugly mess. It seems like any impartial judge would have to look at the big picture and try to answer tough, chicken-or-the-egg questions like:
*Did the Board fire Thomas as its attorney to protect Stapley or because it had honest concerns about Thomas representing it after the December 2008 indictment of Stapley?
*Of the alleged conflicts of interest on both sides, which is worse?
*Is Fields biased against Thomas, and if so, did that bias influence his decision to dismiss nearly half of the charges against Stapley, resulting in Stapley's victory?
*Did Thomas' employees publish critical essays about their client, the county?
*Do the plans for the court tower really include travertine and marble for building materials? (At this point in the planning, the county says, no marble is included and only a touch of travertine).
One thing's for sure: it will be refreshing to hear an outside opinion.
Maricopa County Craziness
Ducey: 'We Will Be Able To Vaccinate Our Way Out Of This'
Baked Alaska No-Shows Scottsdale Hearing, Warrant Issued
Phoenix Spends $10K to Coach Auditor Who Ignored Women and...


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Stays in Conques
Limbo Workshops
Limbo in their words
Limbo in the media
Songs of the Living
Origin of the project
Songs from the film
Join Limbo
A small group of about ten young survivors decided to take part in this adventure with Limbo. Sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs, with a little help, they wrote the nine songs that punctuate Le Chant des vivants. Each of these songs retraces, one after the other, the stages of the road to exile. Discover below the chapters of the film, the lyrics of the songs written by the participants, and for some of them, the Soundcloud links of the exclusive songs, set to music by Mathias Duplessy.
Nostalgia for the past
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Public Health Rep. 2010 Jul-Aug;125 Suppl 4:34-42.
Tuberculosis and stigmatization: pathways and interventions.
The institutional and community norms that lead to the stigmatization of tuberculosis (TB) are thought to hinder TB control. We performed a systematic review of the literature on TB stigma to identify the causes and evaluate the impact of stigma on TB diagnosis and treatment. Several themes emerged: fear of infection is the most common cause of TB stigma; TB stigma has serious socioeconomic consequences, particularly for women; qualitative approaches to measuring TB stigma are more commonly utilized than quantitative surveys; TB stigma is perceived to increase TB diagnostic delay and treatment noncompliance, although attempts to quantify its impact have produced mixed results; and interventions exist that may reduce TB stigma. Future research should continue to characterize TB stigma in different populations; use validated survey instruments to quantify the impact of TB stigma on TB diagnostic delay, treatment compliance, and morbidity and mortality; and develop additional TB stigma-reduction strategies.
Public Health Rep. 2010;125(Suppl 4):34-42.


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> Collections>Actress>J
Actress Names beginning with the letter J.
J There are no products in this category.
Julia Fiona Roberts, born in Smyrna, Georgia, never dreamed she would become the most popular actress in America. As a child, due to her love of animals, Julia originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but later studied journalism.
Born in Sherman Oaks, California, Jennifer Aniston spent a year of her childhood living in Greece with her family. Her family then relocated to New York City where her parents, actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow, divorced when she was 9. Jennifer was raised by her mother and her father landed a role, as "Victor Kiriakis", on the daytime soap "Days of Our Lives" (1965). Jennifer had her first taste of acting at age 11 when she joined the Rudolf Steiner School's drama club.
She made her official performing debut at age 3 where she sang at a livestock show. At age 5, she was taking tap, jazz, and ballet lessons which led her to joining the Texas Show Team, which toured the Soviet Union and Europe. At age 10, the family moved to L.A. with the encouragement of talent scouts, while Todd stayed behind to finish high school in Texas. Jennifer quickly found commercial work and a role on Disney's "Kids Incorporated" (1984) in 1984. She went through a series of television flops before finally hitting it big on "Party of Five" (1994) in 1995.
amie Lee Curtis was born on November 22, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of legendary actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. She got her big break at acting in 1978 when she won the role of Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978). After that, she became famous for roles in movies like Trading Places (1983), Perfect (1985) and A Fish Called Wanda (1988).
In love with the idea of becoming an actress from the age of five, she was 12 before she took her first acting class. Nine months later, she was signed by an agent. A gifted young actress, Jessica has already played a variety of roles ranging from light comedy to gritty drama since beginning her career. She made her feature film debut in 1993 in Hollywood Pictures' comedy Camp Nowhere (1994).
Jennifer took this determination with her when she enrolled at Denison University as a chemistry major, a decision that was later changed to a drama major when she found that her passions for the stage were stronger than her love of science. New York attracted the young actress after college where she worked as a hostess while pursuing a career in film and television. Her most recent move has been to Los Angeles, a decision that led to a role on the television series "Felicity" (1998), where she met her future husband Scott Foley. The couple divorced in 2004.
Jennifer took singing and dancing lessons from age 5. She attended 12 years of Catholic school, including an all-girl high school. She played softball and tennis in high school and was a gymnast. After high school, she briefly worked in a law office. During this time, she continued dance classes at night. At 18, she left home because her mother was scared by her decision to pursue show business. With casting on "In Living Color" (1990) in 1990, she moved to L.A., but initially hated it. Finally her boy friend, David Cruz, moved to be with her there and she learned to accept her new environment. Her career took off from her "Living Color" stint and reached new peaks with her portrayal of slain Latino singer Selena (1997).
By the time Lucille Fay LeSueur was born -- on March 23, 1905, in San Antonio, Texas -- her parents had separated, and by the time she was a teenager, she'd had three stepfathers.
It wasn't an easy life; Crawford worked a variety of menial jobs. She was a good dancer, though, and -- perhaps seeing dance as her ticket to a career in show business -- she entered several contests, one of which landed her a spot in a chorus line. Before long, she was dancing in big Midwestern and East Coast cities. After almost two years, she packed her bags and moved to Hollywood.


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Amsole High School is a higher secondary school established in 1969 and situated at a village under Karkach gram panchayat of Gazole block of Malda district, West Bengal.

References

External links
 Facebook page

High schools and secondary schools in West Bengal
Schools in Malda district
Educational institutions established in 1969
1969 establishments in West Bengal


where all people can explore and deepen their Christian faith.
If you have questions about our church, how to get involved in our ministries or simply need a place to turn for help, reach out on our Contact Us link.
"Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Fairlawn-West. Whether you're curious about our church or looking for an event or service, we hope you'll find what you're looking for. If you have any questions, I would love to connect with you. I can be contacted by clicking here!"
Join us this Easter season!
Easter Sunday was a glorious celebration of Christ's resurrection! We're continuing to explore this amazing event as the season continues. Join us Sundays at 10 a.m. for enlightening worship. We welcome all to our church!
Young people are welcome to join us Friday, May 13, at 6 p.m. for a fun evening that will include a taco bar. We'll also play Bunco.
Coming soon: Akron Safety Town!
We are once again organizing this fun safety training week for Akron's incoming kindergarteners. We'll be at our neighboring school, Resnik CLC, the week of June 3 and Findley CLC the week of June 10. For more info, call the church at 330-854-2179.
We're working toward a better world through our ministries.
We are a founding congregation of our local chapter of this program that seeks to keep homeless families together as they get back on their feet.
We founded and help organize this annual safety program held throughout the city for children entering kindergarten.
For many years, we have been helping local families live the dream of homeownership.
Our members support students in our neighborhood school by providing backpacks of food for weekends.


Sorry for the giant textblock of DOOM, guys. That's what I get the one time I don't check it before/after posting. :P The weird thing is there was no coding problems, I copied and pasted it and it's turning up fine. BEEZARRE. Anyway, onto the crack!
PHOENIX (second game): DON'T EVER SAY HIS NAME AGAIN. HE'S DEAD TO ME. I... I... I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears. And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave. 'Cause your presence still lingers here and it won't leave me alone!
This pain is just too real!
There's just too much that time cannot erase!
You used to captivate me by your resonating light. Now I'm bound by the life you left behind. Your face, it haunts my once pleasant dreams. Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me.
I just spent $30 on PENS. Seriously. Writing pens. These are the absolute best pens I've ever found. They glide on smoothly, clean lines, never clog, the lines are always solid, and they're comfortable. They're my absolute favorite, but the stores I've checked lately haven't had them, so I finally bought a bunch off the website. They have them in COLORS! I got two of everything, red, blue, black, and purple (YAY PURPLE) and when Bridgie found out I was buying them, she asked for some too. So I bought her two purple. But it's okay, because she ordered me a Phoenix Wright pointing-finger stylus when she ordered one for herself. I GET A POINTING-FINGER STYLUS!
So yeah, $30 worth of pens. Myep.
Damn I'm being random. I must reply to comments tomorrow. Oh, one last thing; I'm probably going to be writing a massive Phoenix Wright fic that Bridgie's thought up the plot for. It'll be huge, it'll be slashy, and it will (HOPEFULLY) be awesome. If I'm up to the challenge, because Bridgie's plot is totally killer, and I am SO EXCITED to be working on it. Just gotta finish the last case. Gonna try to do this one right though, not posting until the whole thing's complete, so I can make changes if needed. We'll see how THAT works out. :P Regardless, I hope to have some short one-shots to post soon. I think Bridgie needs to borrow Franziska's whip to get me 'motivated'.
*THRILLED* Play game now, yes??
I... I... I have to draw fanart!!
I know!! I will have them done by the beginning of next week!! D: I vow to not do any fanart for PW until those sketches are done!


Conflicts are a normal part of our lives, outside work and at work. Potential causes of conflict abound, within a team, between team, with customers, with suppliers …. That is life. How we deal with a conflict individually and as groups can make the difference between success and failure, even fatal outcomes for your business. Is your oganisation conflict resilient?
and Empower people and teams to achieve their goals.
I am regularly called upon to assist in managing discrimination and bullying complaints as well as relational problems. I am asked to build management skills in handling diverse, challenging, conflict-prone workplace issues.
Step 1 : I provide innovative, practical tools and immediately effective solutions.
Step 2 : For a sustainable result across diverse conflict risks, Acadine partners with its clients to lift capabilities and reduce risk.
In addition to training, conflict management coaching is proving to be a powerful way to prevent issues and facilitate team effectiveness.
Through recruitment assignments and HR consulting I focus on proactively building positive and effective teams. Together we build teams who can make the organisation's objectives happen and where individuals thrive.
My clients value the strong combination of my practical experience and qualifications.
The industry sectors in which they operate include the food, mining, retail, print, tourism, energy, manufacturing and distribution industries.
My experience spans across company start ups, operational HR, learning and development, performance management, policy development, employee engagement, risk and compliance and change management.
Member of Australian Human Resources Institute.
Acadine has a specialised network of experienced associates with complementary expertise in fields such as: organisation development, conflict resolution, mediation training, leadership programs, investigations, behavioural profiling and managing change.
This approach has multiple benefits for you: whatever the size of your organisation, you get a tailored solution that is focused on your exact needs, comprehensive, well designed, neatly integrated and smoothly implemented. The time frame and the geography can be as wide or as narrow as needed.
Are You Ready To Resolve Or Prevent A conflict, Empower Your Team?