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Home Locales / Regional Buffalo Disputing a pronoun in The City of Dunkirk, NY
Disputing a pronoun in The City of Dunkirk, NY
By: Richard Morrisroe
During a December council meeting, I received a text from my wife telling me my 80-year-old father was being taken to the hospital with chest pains. Seconds later, Councilman Shaun Heenan asked about the council term change referendum.
Distracted and worried about my father, I used the word "we" in my response when I expressed the referendum sponsors' desire to increase voter participation by moving it to 2019, when all Dunkirk's elected officials except the city judge are on the ballot. I was caught off-guard.
That "we" triggered quite the response. Councilman Heenan picked up on the "we" immediately. A letter to the OBSERVER expressed confusion and alleged lack of city accountability. OBSERVER Publisher John D'Agostino wrote several pieces decrying "dark decisions" and "illegal acts" by councilmembers and city leaders. He accused the leadership of voter suppression. Another recent commentary called for an investigation into the City's alleged wrongdoings, and my alleged illegal acts.
One misplaced pronoun created a perception of wrongdoing. But that's just it. It is a perception. It is wrong. Here is the reality.
All that I said at the council meeting is the truth, albeit with a bit of agitation due to concern over my father's health, not Heenan's question. Council did debate whether to put the referendum on the 2018 or 2019 ballot. I did not. My role as city attorney is to provide legal advice, do the legal research and draft the resolutions requested by council. That is what I did.
Councilmembers Martin Bamonto and Don Williams sponsored the resolution introducing the referendum on changing council terms. A public hearing occurred at the next council meeting, where three citizens stated that the terms should remain two-year terms. More council debate followed, then they voted. A 3-2 majority passed the resolution. Even one of the referendum resolution's sponsors, Bamonto, voted against it, after seeing how unpopular the term change was with citizens.
Next, as Norm Green wrote in his Jan. 8 letter to the OBSERVER, lack of communication between the Board of Elections staff and the city clerk led to a missed deadline to put the referendum on the 2018 ballot. I did not catch the mistake on time. The resolution's council sponsors did not catch it either. The Board of Elections did not catch it until it was too late, as Green admitted. Conspiracy? Far from. It was an honest mistake.
As I stated at that December council meeting, resolutions can be amended, changed, rescinded or modified at any time, by council vote, not by my hand or that of the mayor. Nor can they be amended by "secret, closed-door meetings." We do not have such power. I never meant to give that impression. The city charter is clear on this. We didn't change the date. Miscommunication lead to a missed deadline. So, when the deadline was missed, this January's resolution changing the referendum date to the 2019 general election was not illegal. It was simply late, but ultimately necessary to fix the error.
The Feb. 16 letter notes that the mayor, Commissioner Green, the referendum sponsors and I all conspired via a phone call to make "an illegal change." He is simply wrong. I was never a part of any phone call or closed-door meeting. The mayor had nothing to do with either the error or the referendum. After the deadline was missed, the councilmen did meet with the commissioner and the mayor to discuss options, as Green relates in his letter. After weighing the options, the council members thought it best to change the date to 2019.
My "we" should have been "the council resolution sponsors," or "they." Thus stated, they did nothing illegal or wrong. Nor did I. My involvement ended at drafting the resolution. I was told of the meeting after the fact.
Ask the writer to cite any statutes that were broken. He cannot. There is a reason the district attorney has not investigated this issue. No laws were broken. It was a procedural error, nothing more. As Commissioner Green wrote in his commentary, a lack of communication led to the error. That is the truth. It is also true that the resolution sponsors preferred the referendum be on the 2019 ballot to increase voter turnout, not to suppress it.
Let's now talk about political realities. No one in April and May of 2018 knew the blue wave response to Trump's policies would drive up the 2018 midterm election vote as it did, as did the Trump supporters' strong turnout in support of said policies. And D'Agostino's accusation that this was an intentional move because of the county's strong Republican slate is baseless. The county voted heavily Republican. The city, as usual, voted heavily Democrat. Cuomo and down ballot Democrats lost in much of rural Chautauqua County. But they won in Dunkirk.
Note the irony of accusing modern Democrats with strong ties to labor (which preaches voter turnout) like Williams and Bamonto of voter suppression, when it is the modern Republicans and the Dixiecrat Democrats of the past century that have suppressed the vote for decades. My father nearly lost his life in Alabama in 1965 fighting for African-Americans' right to vote. Google Richard F. Morrisroe for more information. What you find will make it plainly obvious I am not a proponent of voter suppression either. Thus, D'Agostino's accusations of voter suppression and conspiracy theories ring hollow.
With all the fuss, I ask this: did this procedural error harm the citizens of Dunkirk? No. Were they deprived of their right to vote on the issue? No. If a citizen sought a lawyer to sue the city because of the error, the lawyer's first question on any civil lawsuit would be, "What are the damages?" Here, there are no damages, as much as others would like you to believe. No one was harmed. Citizens will still have their vote on the referendum this November.
Motives matter. Why would Heenan, who voted against the referendum being placed on the ballot, raise the issue in December, a month after the election? Rumors abound about a possible run for mayor. True or not, the political season has started in Dunkirk, and a smear campaign is underway against the city administration. This wasn't about illegal council action, or the referendum. It was about scoring political points to create a case against the mayor and the council Democrats. Heenan is quoted as stating, "What happened was they dropped the ball and didn't get it filed. I would have been satisfied with that answer." See "Heenan grills attorney on change in vote" (Dec. 8). That is the political reality.
Thankfully, my father just pulled a chest muscle. It was not a heart attack, as I feared when I received that text message. Thankfully, the fuss over the council term referendum is unfounded. Thankfully, I believe Dunkirk's citizens can see through the attempted smear. Miscommunication led to procedural error, but laws were not broken. Citizens will still have their say this November on the council term issue.
Attempted political smears and criticism aside, Dunkirk is improving, as Mayor Wilfred Rosas and his administration are working hard to continue its resurgence. The administration is not perfect, nor am I. But we do our best, and we achieve results. Don't let this unnecessary, politically motivated drama obscure that reality. As I said to Heenan at that council meeting, time to move on.
Richard J. Morrisroe, Esq., is Dunkirk city attorney.
A Conversation about the Experience of Immigrants in the Region/Un diálogo sobre la experiencia de inmigrantes en la región
Buffalo and Rochester Schools Fail English Language Learners and Bilingual Students


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3: 17. | ever in good stead.
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It's all about becoming smaller, tightening up. You're already small. To want to occupy more space in a personal manner ought to be against human nature. Diet. Exercise. Be modest. Live modestly. Shave your head. Sell your second home. Your third and fourth too. Rent rooms instead. Explore. Live in Europe, in a city in Europe, in Madrid, where the apartments its citizens live in are neat and compact and on the pulse of livelihood and liveliness. Texas isnt better because it's bigger and you're not popular because facebook validates that notion. Expand only inside and take what's given, not what's available.


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2 Samuel Chapter 15
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Go to Bible: 2 Samuel 15
2Sa 15:1 - (top)
2Sa 15:2
"dispute." The Hebrew is rib (#07379 רִיב), and it has a wide range of meanings including strife, controversy, dispute, quarrel, accusation, lawsuit, etc., depending on the context. In this case, "dispute" or "legal dispute" would be good translations because if a person was coming all the way to Jerusalem to the king to get his dispute settled, then it could not be settled by the elders in his hometown, which was usually an easier and quicker way to go.
[For more on rib, see commentary on Hosea 4:1.]
"the road leading to the gate." The Hebrew is "the road of the gate."
"one of the tribes of Israel." In an actual conversation, the person would name the tribe, but this was just an example to show how Absalom was acting. The person may have been saying, "I am from a tribe in Israel and I am still not getting justice."
"but there is no one appointed by the king to listen to you." It seems that for Absalom to make this claim it was likely true. One possibility for that may have been that earlier, when the United Kingdom was less organized and more tribal, David may have been able to hear the cases that came to Jerusalem himself, but as the United Kingdom became more organized and grew in its centralized power, that became more difficult. Or, David may have been able to hear many of the cases but Absalom quietly intervened. There are some other possibilities as well.
We have to wonder why David did not seem to know what Absalom was doing. It may be that, especially as Absalom gained popularity and strength, no one wanted to get involved and tell king David. If someone had informed about Absalom and David did nothing about it, Absalom would have been a formidable enemy. It is also possible that David did hear that Absalom was judging some cases, but he did not see any danger in it. David had a weakness for not seeing trouble when it came to his sons.
It is also worth asking how Absalom could tell someone their grievance was good and right without having witnesses and representatives of both sides present. It is possible that 2 Samuel 15:3 is just giving a kind of summary and there were times when Absalom adjudicated over complicated cases. Another possibility is that Absalom may have only really gotten involved with certain cases—those involving the state—and being able to subtlety speak about the failures of the state would have undermined David while increasing his own popularity. The United Kingdom of Israel was brand new, and no doubt there were a number of unpopular moves being made on the state level: state incursions into what had formerly been tribal matters, issues with taxes, problems with recruiting manpower for state projects, conflicts about who got appointed to which positions in the kingdom, and much more. David's attention had to be focused on building and defending the kingdom, changes that were necessary but that would have offended many people. The various changes affected the whole kingdom and in part explains how Absalom could have followers throughout all the tribes of Israel (2 Sam. 15:10). In contrast to David, Absalom did not actually have to make any of the hard choices and changes in the kingdom. He could simply propagandize and tell people that if he were king then things would be different; and over the four years he quietly undermined David, he stole the hearts of the people of Israel (2 Sam. 15:6-7).
"and kissed him." A kiss is the greeting of a friend, it does not mean love, but friendship.
"four years." The standard Masoretic Hebrew text has "forty," but this has to be a scribal error for "four" because David's entire reign was only 40 years, and this was the preparation time for Absalom's rebellion. Some Hebrew texts read "four years," and there are texts that say "forty days," but the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Latin have "four years." Most modern English versions have "four years."
"fulfill my vow." This would be done by offering a sacrifice, in this case, a large sacrifice with lots of animals and thus lots of food to eat, which explains the invited guests in 2 Samuel 15:11. But how could he do that away from Jerusalem? That question is not answered. This was a ruse, there was no such vow, and the fact that it had supposedly gone so many years without fulfillment should have aroused David's suspicion, but David would not doubt his sons, something that was the cause of much trouble. In this case, his naivete nearly cost him his kingdom and his life.
"to Yahweh." Absalom makes his lie more convincing by adding the name Yahweh.
"Yahweh in Hebron." The text might be better translated "Yahweh-in-Hebron."a It seems like Absalom had made a vow to Yahweh as He was known and worshiped in Hebron, Absalom's hometown, and he had to go there to fulfill his vow. Although some versions move "in Hebron" away from Yahweh, it appears as Yahweh in Hebron in the Hebrew text and seems to go there.
Hebron was a long day's journey south of Jerusalem. Absalom may have chosen Hebron for a number of reasons, but also there may have still been people there who were upset that David moved his capital city away from Hebron to Jerusalem.
See, P. Kyle McCarter, 2 Samuel [AB], 356.
"If Yahweh will bring, yes, bring me back again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh." This is such a godly-sounding vow! "I will serve Yahweh!" But Absalom had no intention of serving Yahweh, at least not as far as keeping God's commands was concerned. So Absalom joins the hordes of people who through the centuries have used religious-sounding statements to fool people. Jesus taught us to not be fooled by what people say, but to look to what they did—their fruit—if we wanted to know who they really were (Matt. 7:15-20). If David had paid attention to Absalom's fruit and to what he was doing, then David would have seen the trouble ahead. Christians should not be fooled like David was; we must obey Christ and look closely at people's fruit so that we can mostly avoid being fooled by what people say.
The phrase "bring, yes, bring" is the figure polyptoton, where the vowel "bring" is repeated twice for emphasis, with the verb "bring" being in different conjugations. Absalom's pretend desire is emphasized by the doubling of the vowel "bring."
[See word study on "polyptoton."]
"Go in peace." We are not told why no one told David of Absalom's behavior, and thus his potential threat to David. Also, it seems that David should have been suspicious of Absalom's request, after all, Absalom had now been in Jerusalem for six years (four at least, if the four years of 2 Sam. 15:7 included the two years Absalom lived in his house in Jerusalem), which was plenty of time to pay a vow in Hebron, a day's journey away.
"So he arose and went to Hebron." The ancient city of Hebron was a good place for Absalom to start his rebellion. It is first mentioned in Genesis 13:18, when Abraham lived there and worshiped Yahweh there. David lived there and was even crowned king there, first over Judah and then over all Israel (2 Sam. 2:4; 5:3). Absalom himself had been born there, and given the fact that he started his rebellion there, it is likely that he had kept up with his contacts there through the years.
It is also very likely that at least some of the people of Hebron were unhappy with the fact that once David became king over all Israel he moved his capital city to Jerusalem. After all, Hebron was a city in the tribal area of Judah, and David was a Judean from Bethlehem. Furthermore, it was the Judeans who supported David in his rebellion against the house of Saul the Benjamite and anointed him king over Judah. Thus it is very likely they felt that David was ungrateful and had abandoned them when he moved his capital city from Hebron to Jerusalem, a city in the tribal area of Benjamin. Between Hebron's ancient roots as a city of Yahweh, Absalom's contacts in Hebron, and a likely dissatisfaction among some of the Hebronites with David, the city of Hebron was the perfect place for Absalom to start a rebellion, and Absalom's rebellion almost succeeded.
2Sa 15:10
"secret messengers." The Hebrew word is ragal (#07270 רָגַל), a word that describes a lot. It can mean to go on foot or walk about on foot; to be a slanderer or gossip; to go as a spy or scout. This range of meanings is the reason for the many different translations in the English versions: BBE (watchers); CJB, JPS, KJV, NASB (spies); HCSB (messengers); ESV, NIV, NLT, RSV (secret messengers); NJB (couriers); TNK (agents); Schocken Bible (spy-runners).
Given the fact that these agents of Absalom were not "spies" in the traditional sense but were actually his agents that in this context were to deliver a message to Absalom's contacts around Israel, "secret messengers" seemed to be a good translation, although the Tanakh's translation "agents" is also very good.
"shofar." The ram's horn trumpet, not the metal trumpet. The shofar can be heard for a mile or more, but for the sound to cover all Israel, Absalom would have had to have had a network of shofar blowers.
"Absalom reigns as king in Hebron." One thing that is conspicuously missing from Absalom's claim to the throne is that David's second son, Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3 but called "Daniel" in 1 Chron. 3:1), would have the claim to the throne over Absalom. This is quite certain evidence that Chileab had died since he is not mentioned in any of the records. In fact, Chileab likely died very young since nothing is ever said about him other than he was David's second son (2 Sam. 3:3).
Absalom was killed in battle and never got to become king. However, his grandson Abijah did become king of Judah. Absalom's wife gave birth to Maacah, who married Rehoboam the son of Solomon, and then the son of Maacah and Rehoboam was Abijah, who became the king of Judah (2 Chron. 11:20; 1 Kings 11:43; 14:31-15:1).
2Sa 15:11 - (top)
"sent for Ahithophel." Ahithophel had been David's counselor, but apparently, he had become angry and bitter against David after David had sex with his granddaughter Bathsheba and arranged for her husband Uriah to be killed. Ahithophel was the father of Eliam (2 Sam. 23:34), and Eliam was the father of Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:3), making Ahithophel the grandfather of Bathsheba. Absalom would have noticed that the relationship between Ahithophel and David had cooled, and likely had spoken with Ahithophel while they were both at the palace, and that is why he was confident enough to send for Ahithophel even though in the past Ahithophel had been very close to David. Now that David had a rival, Ahithophel sided with him. His anger and bitterness was his undoing, because when Absalom rejected his advice and took instead the advice of Hushai the Arkite (2 Sam. 17:1-14) he felt so rejected and dishonored that he took his own life (2 Sam. 17:23).
[For more on Ahithopehl see commentary on 2 Samuel 16:21 and 2 Samuel 17:1.]
"from Giloh." Giloh was close to Bethlehem, to the west of it, and is mentioned in Josh. 15:51.
"and the people increased continually with Absalom." We are not told why so many people chose to side with Absalom against David. No doubt some thought Absalom would make a better king than David. But it is also possible that some of the people who sided with Absalom at this point thought that David, who was getting older, must have appointed Absalom to be king. After all, Absalom was David's third son and the first two were dead, making Absalom the crown prince.
"the mouth of the sword." Used to show great destruction, as if the sword was eating its victims.
[See commentary on Josh. 6:21.]
"and strikes the city with the mouth of the sword." The city was very defensible, so the fact that David leaves it so quickly likely indicates that there were enemies in the city.
"my lord the king." The servants spoke with one voice, hence the word "my" and not "our."
"ten women who were concubines." Although we tend to idealize David and hold him up as the model believer, when we really look deeply into his life we see things that are not good and some things that are even sinful. This should encourage us and help us realize that even the best of God's people are still human, and God loves and works with sinners. The accounts of David's wives and concubines are not David at his best. We learn from 2 Samuel 15:16 that David had quite a few wives and concubines (a concubine was a wife of lesser status, such as a slave girl who is given as a present to the king to curry his favor). The text does not say David left all his concubines, but that he left ten of his concubines, implying that David had more than ten. We also know that he had a number of wives. Early in his rule, while he was still in Hebron, he had six wives: Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah (2 Sam. 3:2-5). Then, when David moved to Jerusalem he took more wives and concubines (2 Sam. 5:13), but the Bible does not say how many more wives and concubines he took. Also, none of those later wives and concubines are named except Bathsheba, so it seems that neither they nor their children played a major role in the Davidic dynasty. In taking all these wives and concubines it seems that David was flirting with breaking the command of Deuteronomy 17:17, that the king of Israel was not to have many wives.
Also, we may well wonder why David left behind any concubines at all in Jerusalem, seeing that they would almost surely become Absalom's sexual property, which they did. That they were left to care for the palace is an empty excuse; if Absalom took the palace, which with all the guards gone was a foregone conclusion, the women would not be allowed to take care of anything, certainly not the palace and perhaps not even themselves. Why leave the women behind when Nathan the prophet had foretold that David's wives would be sexually violated by another man in public, which happened when Absalom had sex with David's wives (concubines) on the palace roof before all Israel (cp. 2 Sam. 12:8, 11-12; 16:21-22)? David's action in leaving the women behind seems quite uncaring for the fate of those women, who disappear from history after Absalom had sex with them. Given the Old Testament culture, we can be sure that after Absalom had sex with them that David would not have sex with them again, nor would those women have been allowed to marry anyone else since they had had sex with the king. If any of them had a child it would be a potential rival for the throne, and so they would have remained isolated as an unwanted concubine of the king for the remainder of their lives.
"the Last House." David had not yet crossed the Kidron Valley, and apparently, there was a house referred to as the "Last House" or "Far House" that was either just inside the east gate of Jerusalem, or just outside the gate. David stopped there, but if he had not crossed the Kidron yet he could only have gone a few hundred yards after leaving the palace before he stopped. He did not stop to spend the night, and perhaps he stopped there to let his group gather or to get an idea of who was with him and following him and who might have stayed and sided with Absalom.
"Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the Gittites." All these are non-Israelites. Most are of Philistine stock, but the Cherethites are from Crete. The scholars are divided as to whether the "and" before "all the Cherethites" is a "that is," or an "also." However, given the fact that the record indicates that some Israelites did go with David, it seems that "also" is the correct meaning.
"the Gittites." The inhabitants of Gath were referred to as "Gittites." Here in 2 Samuel 15:18, we see the Gittites were from Gath (see commentary on Josh. 13:3).
"the king." David here speaks of Absalom as "the king," but the text does not explain why. It has been suggested that Ittai was new enough to Jerusalem that Absalom would not think he was overly connected to David. David may have been trying to keep Ittai out of the fight between David and Absalom.
"yesterday." This could be literal or used idiomatically like we sometimes use it to mean a short time ago.
"and have your brothers return with you." So when Ittai came, he brought people from his family or tribe with him; "brothers" may mean people from the same family or tribe in this context. There were quite a few people with Ittai (2 Sam. 15:22).
"faithfulness and truth be with you." This could also be "faithfulness and truth are with you," meaning that David would not hold Ittai responsible for feigning loyalty to Absalom.
"cross over." Although the statement may be general, the most immediate place to cross over is the Kidron Valley.
"all the land." Seemingly a hyperbole for all the people who were in the country who were aware of David and his followers leaving Jerusalem.
"and Abiathar came up." The apparent meaning, which is disputed by scholars, is that Abiathar came up to where the ark had been set down.
"he will bring me back." The Hebrew is more literally, "cause me to return," but that is awkward in English. David told the priests to "return" the ark of God to Jerusalem, and said that if he found favor in God's eyes then God would cause David to return also.
"let him do to me as is good in his eyes." David is not making an arrogant statement in disguise as a humble statement, he is speaking from his heart. David had good reason to believe that God might not be pleased with him, and so might not deliver him. Things certainly had not gone well for David since he committed adultery with Bathsheba and engineered the murder of her husband Uriah. His son raped his daughter and he did nothing about it (2 Sam. 13:1-21). His third son murdered his first son, the crown prince (2 Sam. 13:23-29), and then went to live with David's father-in-law, Talmai, the king of Geshur (2 Sam. 3:3; 13:37). David was also somehow blind to the subterfuge that his son Absalom was doing in his kingdom that went on for years, and now in 2 Samuel 15 his son Absalom was in open rebellion against him. So David's blindness led to war between the factions along with all the death and destruction that war brings. Also, David had left ten of his concubines in Jerusalem even though Nathan the prophet had foretold that an enemy would arise from his own household and publicly have sex with his wives (2 Sam. 12:11). So now, leaving Jerusalem and fleeing east toward the Jordan River, David had no assurance that God would give him victory against Absalom.
If there is comfort at all in this record for believers, it is that God did support David and did not abandon him because of his sin, even though some of it was grievous. David had many weaknesses, but at no time is there a record of his life where he made excuses for them. Like all of us, he needed God's grace and forgiveness, and despite his sin, God forgave him and blessed him.
"Are you a seer?" It is not clear what David is saying. Two good possibilities are that Zadok was a "seer," a prophet, and could therefore navigate being in the city with Absalom. But it seems that the better possibility is that David meant more like, "Are you able to see" what is happening and then report to David. That is what David says in the next verse, 2 Sam. 15:28.
"your sons with you." Both the "your" and the "you" are plural in the Hebrew.
"fords." The Hebrew text also has the reading "plains," but "fords" fits the record better (cp. 2 Sam. 17:16).
"David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up." King David wept on the Mount of Olives as he climbed it to leave Jerusalem in the hands of his ungodly son Absalom. About 1,000 years later Jesus wept when he saw the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives because he knew they rejected him, which would mean his death and Jerusalem's doom (Luke 19:41).
"Ascent of the Mount of Olives." Apparently the name of a well-traveled path up the west slope of the Mount of Olives.
"the conspirators." The Hebrew text is more concrete: "those banding together" with Absalom.
"where they worshiped God." The Hebrew reads, "where he worshiped God," but the singular form is often used generically, and would mean "they" or "people" here. Scholars are divided on this point, some saying that David did use to worship God at this spot.
The Hebrew verb translated "worshiped" is shachah (#07812 שָׁחָה), and it is the same Hebrew word as "bow down." The common biblical way of bowing down before people or God was to fall to one's knees and bow the upper body to the earth. Shachah is translated as both "bow down" and "worship;" traditionally "worship" if God is involved and "bow down" if people are involved, but the verb and action are the same, the act of bowing down is the worship.
[For more on bowing down, see commentary on 1 Chron. 29:20.]
"Hushai, David's friend, came into the city." It is likely that Hushai, coming from the east, entered Jerusalem through a different gate than Absalom, who was coming from the south.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Fight for Women's Rights
Join Ann Curry as two women search for friends and colleagues who forged a path for equal rights. One of the first female commercial pilots wants to thank her mentor, and an advocate hopes to find the woman who inspired her to join a movement.
Two women search for friends and colleagues who forged a path for equal rights.
Escape from Cuba
Two men search for the people who helped them settle in the U.S. when they fled Cuba.
S2 Ep5 | 55m
Korean War Brothers in Arms
Korean War veterans look for fellow servicemen from nearly 70 years ago.
Great Alaskan Earthquake
Alaskans track down fellow survivors of a catastrophic 1964 earthquake.
Surviving the Holocaust
Holocaust survivors search for those who gave them hope in their darkest days.
Saved in Vietnam
Two Vietnam veterans search for the heroes who saved them five decades ago.
Zoe's Push for Equality
Zoe describes her desire for equality between the sexes.
Lynn's Path to the Sky
Lynn describes her path to becoming a commercial pilot in the 1970s.
Clip: S2 Ep6 | 4m 9s
Episode 6 Preview | The Fight for Women's Rights
Lynn's Passions
Lynn describes her passion for flying and her career ambitions.
Lynn's Search for Records
Lynn's search continues at the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The Moment We Met
Interviews with the participants of We'll Meet Again.
Explore the BlogExplore the Blog


DramaTech Theatre is the longest standing theatre in the southeast and only student run theatre on Georgia Tech's campus. While Georgia Tech had a few attempts at starting a theatre in its earlier days, it wasn't until after World War II that DramaTech was officially founded. The first show, a set of three one acts, was performed in 1947 and from that, DramaTech was born.
In the beginning, DramaTech struggled to find space for its club meetings, rehearsals, and performances, entering a period of time called the "nomadic years". The group traveled to locations such as the Crenshaw Field House, the YMCA, and the Fowler Street School auditorium, and used various eye-catching and entertaining marketing techniques to draw an audience in for their shows.
It wasn't until 1968 when the theatre group finally settled down in its first permanent space, the Hemphill Church of God, affectionately called the Old Church. They practiced and performed there until 1992 when the Center for the Arts was completed on Georgia Tech's campus. At that time, DramaTech moved into the Black Box theatre located in the back of the Ferst Center for the Arts. Dean of Students, James E Dull (1964 – 1991) was very influential in DramaTech securing this space, and DramaTech elected to name the theatre after him in his honor. The Black Box continues to be a home to DramaTech members and they look forward to many more years there.
DramaTech's improv troupe, Let's Try This!, began in 1989 when a group of DramaTech members saw a local improv show and decided to try out some improv at Georgia Tech. They asked local improv legend Robert Lowe to lead a set of workshops and the troupe Let's Try This Players was born. In 1993, the name of the troupe was changed to Let's Try This!. At this time, the troupe also became an official long standing troupe of DramaTech Theatre.
Since its establishment, Let's Try This! has been student run with each generation of players teaching the following generation. With a focus on education and experimentation, the troupe promotes the idea of playing and continuing to learn for years to come.
DramaTech has been impacted by everyone who has stepped into its halls, however, there have been a few people who left a large impact on our theatre.
Mary Nell Santacroce was to Atlanta what Helen Hayes was to New York: the "First Lady" of theatre. Primarily a speech and drama teacher at Georgia Tech and Georgia State until 1972, Santacroce emerged as an award-winning actress at the Alliance Theatre. Mary Nell was DramaTech's first long-lasting artistic director (1949-1966), and she helped establish DramaTech Theatre's place in the Atlanta theatre community. From the first play she directed at DramaTech to her last, she was always called "coach" by the cast. The Mary Nell Santacroce Meritorious Service Award was named in her honor for her extended commitment to the theatre.
Greg Abbott was named Artistic Director of DramaTech in 1984 and taught theatre courses in the School of Literature, Communication and Culture. He continued as a strong and guiding presence in his role as AD for 22 years. On December 1, 2006, Greg passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. He was a father figure to many, and loved by all. He is memorialized in the theatre by a handprint outside the stage door and a plaque in the lobby. A Greg Abbott scholarship was also created in his honor.
Dean James E. Dull was the Dean of Students at Georgia Tech for almost three decades. During that time, he influenced the community in a number of ways from playing a part in GT's racial integration to solidifying the Ramblin' Wreck as one of Tech's official mascots and designing the costume and personality of Buzz. Dean Dull helped DramaTech find its current home in the Blackbox in 1992, and he and his wife, Gay Dull, established a scholarship awarded to one DramaTech member each year. The James E. Dull Service Award was named in his honor for all he did for DramaTech without being an official member of the organization.
Robert Lowe, lovingly termed "the Godfather of Improv", brought improv to Atlanta in the 1980s. He helped form a few improv troupes and after a handful of DramaTech members saw one of their performances, they decided to create their own improv troupe. They requested Robert Lowe's help, and from that, Let's Try This! was born. To this day, he still comes to see shows and do workshops. He can be seen all over the Atlanta Improv community, supporting all of the troupes growth and with his continued support, Atlanta had flourished with better improvisers.
Along with a vast history, DramaTech has a few traditions it continues to promote.
Have you ever seen a DramaTech production and thought to yourself, "who accidentally left a toaster on the set," or "why has Alexander Hamilton's face been replaced with the image of a toaster on that ten dollar bill?" If not, look harder. Since "Toaster Dreams" by Eddie Maise, an art piece featuring several pieces of furniture suspended from the grid including a toaster spotlit in the center, it has become a DramaTech tradition to somehow incorporate a toaster into all DramaTech productions–no exceptions. Over the years, DramaTech members had a lot of fun figuring out how to creatively keep this tradition alive.
When walking through DramaTech, it is apparent that DramaTech members really like to leave behind memories. One of the best ways this is showcased is the stairwell. For every mainstage show and LTT! performed during a season in the Dean James E. Dull Theatre, a brick painted to showcase what the show or season was about. After the painting is done, the brick is signed by the members of DramaTech involved with the production. While the walls fill up fast, the memories last a lifetime.
Every show has its funny moments, every improvathon has its insanity, and every DramaTech member loves a memento of it. That memento is the paper plate. Paper plates are callbacks to things that happened during the run of a show or LTT!'s Improvathons. There are some traditional plates, such as the Improvathon Identity plate, received for completing all 26 hours of continuous improv workshops, and the Purple Heart, for an actor/actress who hurts themselves onstage and carries on despite the pain. There are also some very non-traditional show specific plates. No matter the plate, each DramaTech member has a special place in their heart for every plate they receive.


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Brentwood Scorpions Douse the Oceanside Blaze in Winning the Girls-Under-13 Arch Capital Group Cup
June 16, 2016-In an Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) championship game played between two Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) teams, the Brentwood Scorpions shut out the Oceanside Blaze, 4-0, to bring the Arch Capital Group Cup back to Brentwood. The Girls-Under-13 final was played at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview on June 11.
Cheilis Rodriguez scored two goals and Milena Vasquez and Yarissa Vasquez, who are cousins, each scored one goal for Brentwood. Keeper Kymberli Gonzalez recorded the shutout in goal.
"It was a great game. Our girls never stopped playing against an excellent Oceanside team," said Brentwood coach Hector Santos.
Oceanside received the Howard Rubenstein Sportsmanship Award as determined by the game officials. Now living in Kentucky, Mr. Rubenstein was seemingly involved in every facet of New York soccer for decades and is a member of the Halls of Fame of Eastern New York, the US Amateur Soccer Association and the LIJSL.
"This cup competition is a great event in that it gives young people an opportunity to experience high levels of competition. And you don't have to be the best team in the state to win a championship with the Arch Capital Group Cup," said Brian Hughes, Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary of Arch Capital.


The objective of the intervention process is to enable OSFI and CDIC (where CDIC member institutions are involved) to identify areas of concern at an early stage and intervene effectively so as to minimize losses to depositors for OSFI and to minimize the exposure of CDIC to loss. The financial institutions' statutes1 provide a wide range of discretionary intervention powers that allow OSFI and CDIC to intervene to address concerns that may arise with federally-regulated deposit-taking institutions. All assessments made throughout the intervention process consider the unique circumstances of the financial institution including: nature, scope, complexity and risk profile.
OSFI has primary responsibility for regulating and supervising federally regulated deposit-taking institutions. In exercising this responsibility, OSFI conducts risk-based assessments of the safety and soundness of these institutions. There are no regular supervisory interactions between CDIC and federal member institutions in the normal course of business as CDIC normally works through OSFI to address any concerns it may have about individual institutions. CDIC administers its Act and by-laws as required under its legislated mandate and exercises its discretion in dealing with problem member institutions. CDIC will monitor member institutions and take necessary action depending on the condition of the member institutions as assessed in accordance with CDIC's powers and objects.
The objective of the Guide to Intervention is to promote awareness and enhance transparency of the framework for intervening with federally regulated deposit-taking institutions. The Guide outlines the types of involvement that a federally regulated deposit-taking institution can normally expect from OSFI and CDIC by summarizing the circumstances under which certain intervention measures may be expected and describing the coordination mechanisms in place between OSFI and CDIC. The Guide may be updated in the future to reflect any changes to the intervention process or the roles/responsibilities of OSFI and CDIC in the intervention process.
While the primary purpose of the Guide is to outline the coordination mechanisms that take place between OSFI and CDIC with respect to federally-regulated deposit-taking institutions that are members of CDIC, OSFI also follows the activities outlined in the OSFI column of the Guide when dealing with federally regulated deposit taking institutions that are not CDIC members and CDIC follows similar processes to those outlined in the CDIC column of the Guide when it addresses provincially incorporated member institutions.
The intervention process is not a rigid regime under which every situation is necessarily addressed with a predetermined set of actions. Circumstances may vary significantly from case to case and the Guide should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of action that may be taken by OSFI and/or CDIC in dealing with specific problems or institutions. The Guide aims to communicate at which stage an action/intervention would typically occur. However, interventions described at one stage are also used at later stages and, in some situations certain interventions may also take place at earlier stages than are set out in the Guide. Additionally, OSFI and CDIC may choose to implement their powers at different times and/or stages in different circumstances.
No significant problems/Normal activities – If OSFI determines that the institution's financial condition, policies and procedures are sufficient and that practices, conditions and circumstances do not indicate significant problems or control deficiencies, the institution will not typically be staged.
When an institution is not staged, OSFI has determined that the combination of the institution's overall net risk, capital and earnings makes the institution resilient to most normal adverse business and economic conditions. The institution's performance has been satisfactory to good, with most key indicators comparable or in excess of industry norms. The institution may have access to additional capital and is able to address supervisory concerns that might arise.
Assessing the financial condition and operating performance of the institution.
Reviewing information obtained from statutory filings, financial reporting requirements and management reporting to the board (including minutes of the board and board committee meetings).
Conducting meetings with the institution.
Conducting regular risk-based supervisory reviews of the institution.
In some cases, OSFI officials attending board meetings of the institution to review supervisory review results.
Providing the institution with a supervisory letter.
Providing the chair of the audit committee with copies of the supervisory letter.
Providing composite risk ratings to the institution.
Requesting that the institution's management provide a copy of the supervisory letter to external auditors.
Advising the institution of any corrective measures that the institution will be requested to undertake.
Monitoring any corrective measures which may include requesting additional information and/or conducting follow-up supervisory reviews.
Reporting to the Minister of Finance on an annual basis.
OSFI providing CDIC with copies of the supervisory letter and risk assessment summary.
OSFI and CDIC informing each other of changes in the intervention status of the institution.
OSFI and CDIC holding regular meetings to discuss the institution.
OSFI and CDIC discussing any remedial measures that either agency has requested the institution to undertake.
Ensuring compliance with the CDIC Act and CDIC by-laws.
Stage 1 — Early warning – If an institution is categorized as Stage 1, OSFI has identified deficiencies in the institution's financial condition, policies or procedures or the existence of other practices, conditions and circumstances that could lead to the development of problems described at Stage 2 if they are not promptly addressed.
the combination of the institution's overall net risk and its capital and earnings compromises the institution's resilience.
the institution has issues in its risk management or has control deficiencies that although not serious enough to present a threat to financial viability or solvency could deteriorate into more serious problems if not addressed.
Formally notifying management, board of directors and external auditor of the institution by way of a supervisory letter that the institution is at Stage 1 and that the institution is required to take measures to mitigate or rectify the identified deficiencies.
Meeting with management, board of directors (or a committee of the board) and/or the external auditor of the institution to outline concerns and discuss remedial actions.
Sending a notice of the assessment surcharge to the institution.
Monitoring the institution on an escalating basis by increasing the frequency of reporting requirements and/or expanding the level of detail of information that the institution is required to submit.
Conducting enhanced or more frequent supervisory reviews, or directing the institution's internal specialists to conduct reviews that focus on particular areas of concern such as asset or loan security valuations.
Entering into a prudential agreement with the institution for the purpose of implementing any measure designed to maintain or improve the safety and soundness of the institution.
Requiring the financial institution to increase its capital.
Imposing business restrictions on the financial institution in appropriate circumstances and/or issuing a direction of compliance in appropriate circumstances.
OSFI informing CDIC that it is staging the institution, the reasons for the staging and any action that OSFI is planning to take.
OSFI sending intervention reports to CDIC.
CDIC notifying OSFI if it places the institution on the CDIC Watchlist and/or contemplates that it will apply remedial measures to the institution.
OSFI and CDIC holding frequent meetings to discuss the risk profile of the institution.
OSFI and/or CDIC updating FISC and/or sub-FISC.
CDIC would not normally intervene with a member deposit taking institution at Stage 1.
Requesting additional information from OSFI, if available, or from the member institution if necessary.
Communicating its concerns to the member institution.
Placing the member institution on the CDIC Watchlist and informing the institution that it has been placed on the CDIC Watchlist.
Conducting or commissioning a CDIC special examination to obtain more information on the member institution so as to put CDIC in a position to assess the extent of the member institution's problem and CDIC's exposure if circumstances warrant. Note: CDIC may charge the cost of the CDIC special examination to the institution.
the terms of an undertaking that the member institution provided to CDIC.
Requesting that the member institution or entity that controls the member institution provide an undertaking to rectify areas of concern.
Stage 2 — Risk to financial viability or solvency – At Stage 2, the institution poses material safety and soundness concerns and is vulnerable to adverse business and economic conditions. OSFI has identified problems that could deteriorate into a serious situation if not addressed promptly, although the problems are not serious enough to present an immediate threat to financial viability or solvency.
The combination of the institution's overall net risk, capital and earnings makes it vulnerable to adverse business and economic conditions which may pose a serious threat to its financial viability or solvency unless effective corrective action is implemented.
The institution has issues in its risk management that, although not serious enough to present an immediate threat to financial viability or solvency, could deteriorate into more serious problems if not addressed promptly.
Enhanced monitoring of remedial measures through imposing more frequent reporting requirements.
Conducting follow-up supervisory reviews more frequently and/or enlarging their scope.
Requiring the institution to incorporate in the business plan appropriate remedial measures aimed at rectifying problems within a specified time frame.
Requiring the institution's external auditor to enlarge the scope of the review of the financial statements and/or to perform other procedures and prepare a report thereon. Note – OSFI may assign the cost of the external auditor's work to the institution.
Requiring the institution to conduct a special audit to be performed by an auditor other than the institution's external auditor. Note – OSFI may assign the cost of the auditor's work to the financial institution.
Developing a contingency plan to enable OSFI to be ready to take rapid control of the assets of the institution or the institution itself in case of rapid deterioration.
OSFI informing CDIC of results and data obtained from enhanced supervisory reviews, expanded audits and enhanced monitoring.
OSFI and CDIC commencing contingency planning (although in unusual circumstances, this could occur at Stage 1).
CDIC Act if the member institution is not in compliance with a CDIC by-law or is in breach of its policy of deposit insurance (including the condition requiring that member institutions have appropriate, effective and prudent practices with respect to corporate governance, risk management, liquidity, capital management and controls).
If CDIC is not satisfied with progress made in rectifying the situation that was outlined in the formal report, CDIC must inform the member institution and the Minister. CDIC may, subject to the Minister's advice that it is not in the public interest to do so, terminate the member institution's policy of deposit insurance (with at least 30 days notice).
Conducting a preparatory examination with the approval of the Superintendent if CDIC believes that the making of a payment in respect of deposits held by a member institution is imminent and that it would be in the best interest of both the depositors with the member institution and CDIC that preparations be made to make that payment as soon as possible.
CDIC Act, CDIC's by-laws and/or the policy of deposit insurance.
The combination of the institution's overall net risk, capital and earnings makes it vulnerable to adverse business and economic conditions which poses a serious threat to its financial viability or solvency unless corrective action is promptly undertaken.
The institution has significant issues in risk management or control deficiencies, which present a serious threat to its financial viability or solvency unless effective corrective action is promptly implemented.
Directing external specialists or professionals to assess certain areas such as quality of loan security, asset values, sufficiency of reserves, etc.
Enhancing the scope of business restrictions that have already been imposed on the institution and/or expanding the level of detail of information that the institution is required to submit to OSFI.
OSFI staff being present at the institution to monitor the situation on an ongoing basis.
Communicating to management and the board of directors of the institution the importance of considering resolution options such as restructuring the institution or seeking a prospective purchaser.
CDIC and OSFI conducting more in depth and more frequent discussions regarding the institution.
Holding regular meetings of sub-FISC and FISC as required to discuss the evolving situation and contingency planning.
making or guaranteeing a deposit with the member institution.
the institution has failed to develop and implement an acceptable business plan, resulting in either of the two preceding circumstances becoming inevitable within a short period of time.
At Stage 4, OSFI has determined that the financial institution will become non-viable on an imminent basis.
Assuming temporary control of the assets of the institution and the assets under its administration if the statutory conditions for taking control of assets exist.
Taking control of assets of the institution and the assets under its administration or taking control of the institution if the statutory conditions for taking control exist unless the Minister advises OSFI that it is not in the public interest to do so.
Requesting that the Attorney General of Canada apply for a winding-up order in respect of the institution where the assets of the institution are under the control of the Superintendent or the institution is under the control of the Superintendent.
Holding regular FISC meetings, focusing on coordinated implementation of intervention measures.
The Superintendent, after providing the federal member institution with a reasonable opportunity to make representations, reporting to CDIC in writing.
Cancelling the policy of deposit insurance of a member institution if CDIC is of the opinion that the member institution is or is about to become insolvent, subject to the Minister's advice that it is not in the public interest to do so, and after notifying the Superintendent.
CDIC Act if a restructuring transaction is likely to be expeditiously entered into and is consistent with CDIC's objects.
Winding-up and Restructuring Act where, in the opinion of CDIC, the member institution is or is about to become insolvent, unless the Minister advises that it would not be in the public interest to do so. Note – CDIC may act as a liquidator or receiver of a member if appointed as such.
CDIC giving public notice of the termination or cancellation of the member institution's policy of deposit insurance in the manner and through any news media that it considers appropriate if, in CDIC's opinion, the public interest requires that such notice be given.
Guide to Intervention for Federally Regulated Deposit-Taking Institutions. The items described in the glossary contain information regarding the business or affairs of financial institutions. Please note that all information regarding the business or affairs of institutions that is obtained or produced by OSFI and/or CDIC shall be treated as confidential pursuant to legislation. Institutions are also prohibited from disclosing these documents to the extent that they contain supervisory information as defined in the relevant regulations.
A Special Examination is an examination of the affairs of a member institution conducted by or on behalf of CDIC for a specified purpose at such times as CDIC may require.
CRR is OSFI's overall assessment of an institution's safety and soundness. There are four ratings for composite risk: 'low', 'moderate', 'above average' and 'high'. The determination of CRR is guided by a set of assessment criteria that were developed in consultation with the industry.
A Direction of Compliance is a direction issued to an institution, or a person with respect to an institution, by the Superintendent where in the opinion of the Superintendent, the institution or person is committing, or is about to commit, an act that is an unsafe or unsound practice in conducting the business of the institution or is pursuing or is about to pursue any course of conduct that is an unsafe or unsound practice in conducting the business of the institution. A Direction of Compliance may direct an institution or person to: cease or refrain from committing an act or pursuing a course of conduct; and/or perform such acts as in the opinion of the Superintendent are necessary to reedy the situation.
CDIC Act whereby an order may be made by the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, to vest the shares and subordinated debt of a federal member institution in CDIC and/or appoint CDIC as receiver of the member for purposes of carrying out a transaction or a series of transactions to restructure a substantial part of the business of the member.
Guide to Intervention for Federally Regulated Deposit-Taking Institutions or in accordance with the principles set out in the Guide. The amount of the assessment surcharge is determined by regulation.
A prudential agreement is an agreement between the institution and the Superintendent for the purpose of implementing any measure designed to maintain or improve the safety and soundness of the institution.
The RAS is an executive summary of essential supervisory information about an institution. The RAS sets out the assessment of the risk profile of an institution and presents a high-level overview of the institution that provides the context for the assessment.
A premium surcharge is an additional premium charged to a member institution, where, in the opinion of CDIC, the member is engaging in a practice that is prescribed in the CDIC by-laws as warranting such an additional premium. The amount of the premium surcharge must be fair in the circumstances and in no case can it exceed an amount equal to one sixth of one per cent of the member's insured deposits for the year.
A Preparatory examination is an examination by CDIC or by a person designated by CDIC, of the books, records and accounts of a member institution relating to its deposit liabilities, where CDIC believes that the making of a deposit insurance payment is imminent, and that it would be in the best interest of both the depositors and CDIC that preparations be made to make that payment as soon as possible.
A Supervisory Letter is a letter issued by OSFI to a institution to report the findings and recommendations resulting from OSFI's supervisory work and to communicate its Composite Risk Rating (CRR) and intervention stage rating (if the institution is staged). An institution is issued a supervisory letter at least once a year, and more often if there are changes in the institution's CRR or intervention stage rating.


Download Jaiva Zimnike Izulu MP3 and MP4. The best collections about Jaiva Zimnike Izulu you can download with easy. Available for MP3 with 128kbps, 192kbps dan 256kbps quality and MP4 Videos with HD and best quality.


text:
being an xradiograph of the crystalline interference patterns achieved by a superimposition of Malevich's The Black Square and DaVinci's The Mona Lisa
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Updated blog is now at Interference Patterns. Sorry for the inconvenience.
visitors.art
crested the 1500 mark today, thanks primarily to people looking for "hat pictures", "patriotic umbrella" and "pictures of saddam hussein in a dress."
Alan Sondheim by Lewis LaCook
A month or so ago Alan mentioned to me that he had once written a text editor that was designed to "frustrate" the writing of the user. This editor would transform the user's writing as the user enetered text. I thought it was an ingenious concept for a piece: a work that combined the networking possibilities of user input and transformation...a work that would literally change what the user invested in the object...So I set about making an approximation of what Alan was talking about.
This is the web mix of that idea. A full blown piece of software based on this concept is still in the works (I'm writing THAT one in C++), but this Flash version combines that concept with some multimedia ideas. To use it, simply enter text in the blue box. Every time you press enter, your text will change; sometimes it will be replaced by a line from some of Alan's writing, sometimes it will spatter your text in asemic strings across the box, sometimes your text will simply disappear, and sometimes a combination of these will happen. I doubt that this work is anywhere near as capable as Alan's original program, but it seems to me to be a worthy web amusement.
takes a while to load.....
THE MONA MAILART SHOW
14 4 30: Online and print Journal of experimental/minimal writing
ben.art
ben vautier, French Fluxus artist, once signed my arm.
BARRY GRAY - an interview by Randall D. Larson
CS What is your view of the use of electronic music in the place of, or in addition to, symphonic music in film scores?
Gray Well, I'm afraid that electronic music is mostly suitable only for visuals that are concerned with such things as laboratories, space, very weird and perhaps even strange situations, astral sequences, etcetera. I'm not enamored of writing orchestral music and producing it on synthesizers. Much as I appreciate the use of a synthesizer today, I don't go along with scoring ordinary music for a bundle of synthesizers. An outstanding example of this, for me, is CHARIOTS OF FIRE. A very simple musical theme, but produced on multi-track synthesizers, and although the music was very suitable to the film, because the action of the film was 'round about 1924, I did not really care for the synthesized sound. Although it had a semblance of a large orchestra, you could still tell that it was synthesized sound. Electronic music, I feel, is suitable only for the other situations that I've mentioned.
:::sigh:::
tv.art
TV Turn-off Week at the Jaunt
John Bert & I travelled to Mike Ciul's (pronounced "shool") & Janine Schwab's three-story mansion "The Jaunt" for their Friday evening installment of alternative entertainment the week of TV Turn-off Week. John dressed in drag and moved painted pieces of cardboard from one side of the stage to another, I presented a reading of Egyptian Fax Chamber, John ripped a suit apart whilst wearing it, and many other activities followed. I got several new umbrella hat photos. John's final performance was sleeping in the window overnight.
More details to follow.
Here is a schedule/recap from the outrageous organizers:
Well, TV Turnoff Week Alternative Prime-Time Programming got off to a good start Monday night at Janine and Mike's place. We had a dramatic reading of Jim Speer's original soap opera, "While the World Burns" and afterwards he and Helene Zisook performed folk tunes from the Swiss Jura mountain region.
Tuesday night the former inhabitants of the Jaunt came and performed. Jim Trainer read his neo-beat poetry and Maleka Fruean delighted us by reading poetry she'd written for the house while she lived here. We could relate to the "cat shit" phenomenon. Her brother, Nick, did a freestyle rap that knocked the cat's spots off.
Wednesday Maggie Kruesi and Frank Lamont performed original protest and folk song, including "Saddam's Shame" and "Moving to Canada". The next installment of "As the World Burns" was performed and Jim Speer did his George W. Bush War Room Improvisational Dance accompanied by George Korein on synthesizer.
Thursday Oskar Castro read his excellent political poetry. "GI Joe and Barbie vs. the Taliban," an original screenplay by Iden Rosenthal, ended up not being read due to lack of audience (of course this wasn't a problem for any of the other performers).
Friday the evening began with Toshi Makihara performing free improvised percussion. The Greater Scranton Area Umbrella Hat Performance Art All-Stars and Marching Kazoo Orchestra performed Egyptian Fax Chamber (spoken word with projection) and various and sundry performance art acts of terror. John Bert finished off the evening by sleeping in our window until morning. Here you can see a picture of John waking up with our cat T-Toes, the amazing twelve-toed cat.
On Saturday our new acquaintance, Makeda aka The Brooklyn Bellyrina performed North African belly dance. A woman stopped to watch whose pastor mother had thrown out all of her belly dancing costumes while she was in college. Because the dancing had started late, "Nameless" Mike Benedetti's call-in report from the annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick-Off Party (the first day of the hiking season) had to be interspersed with dances and did not get the attention it deserved. The horny toads he described did, however, cause a stir. Afterwards Charles Cohen who, indeed, provides "beeps and boops for all occasions", played late into the night.
Sunday evening John and Jan Haigis sang lullabies, Groundhog Day carols, hymns, and early American songs. They ended up being our last act.
All in all we were very pleased with TV Turnoff Week. Only two performers bailed out and those who performed were very good sports about a cramped stage and little guarantee of an audience. It was heartening for us to hear from our neighbors how much they liked a performance that we hadn't seen them at. Apparently, people were watching and listening from their windows. Our hearts can only go out to the poor people whose car stalled while they were pulling in to our parking space (we are car-free - www.carbusters.org) at an angle. With their headlights trained on the stage, they were a captive audience for John Bert's antics with spraypainted cardboard. We are sure they will remain haunted by the images they saw.
There will certainly be more TV Turnoff Week performances in the future. If you are interested in performing next year, contact us at:
The Jaunt
1124 So. 47th Street
Phila. PA 19143
jaunt@eyeballsun.org
---Janine and Mike
There is an old Zen analogy that the way to calm, clear and quiet the mind is similar to the way to clear a muddy pool -- not by action, by doing, by stirring it up, but by stillness, by letting it be, by letting it settle itself. The function of TV is to create, maintain and constantly reinforce what -- in the Zen tradition -- is often called "monkey-mind." The question to ask is: What is the good of a jumpy, volatile, scattered and hyper monkey-mind?
- Bernard McGrane
Jobless and Hopeless, Many Quit the Labor Force
Oh, that's just the best darned news I've heard in a long time.
dictator.art
Is Was Saddam Hussein gay?
That's the question that won't seem to go away.... I posted letter from a friend on the topic after he saw a Weekly World News story article.....and then, for some weird reason, I started getting lots (well, several) of web hits from people looking for more info. Seems WWW doesn't put all their stories online... anyway. I tried to do my desperate readers (and you are all desperate, n'est ce pas? or you would be reading something else) a favor and added value with some more links, although the best I could come up with was some guy claiming Muamar Qaddafi was a transvestite personality (not an actual transvestite, mind you).
Then, I today, I found this. Seems raunchy gay porn has surfaced featuring the dictator-everybody-loves-to-hate in his earlier, learner, more loving years.
My, my, my.
In Texas, land of every-execution-is-a-justified-execution, breast-feeding is BAD. Pictures of breastfeeding, particularly. Forget thousands of years of breast-feeding artwork hanging in museums around the globe (with the exception of the looted Iraqi museums). It's a bad, deviant, sexually-charged thing. Whatever you do, if you take photos of your perverted acts (whattsa matta, you never heard of FORMULA before?), DON'T DROP THEM OFF AT ECKERD.
Bottle-fed?
Nope. Not me. All natural.
ebay.art
Yesterday was my birthday.
I got this cool envelope in this mail
Note the 66-cent postage. The sender only had 33-cent stamps.
I was excited to get the envelope (I had been waiting for a week, actually).
But I didn't want to spoil the suspense by opening it too rapidly.
This is MINE!
I bought it at an auction, but the seller said I didn't have to pay.
She was kinda surprised anybody had bid at all.
And she threw in two miniature glowsticks (in the black cardboard-thingy) because I seemed so pathetic.
Well, yeah. I can understand that. It's a used ticket, after all.....
performance.art
Watch More TV On Friday I will be performing with John Bert & others as part of Mike Ciul's 7-day TV-Turn-off-Week alternative.
"The Jaunt" 1124 S. 47th, Philadelphia
Easter Fire Festival in Texas
People here tell their children that on the night before Easter in 1847, the original fires scared German children, who did not understand that the flames signified peace. Legend also has it that German mothers calmed those children by telling them the fires were set by a rabbit who was boiling eggs for an Easter celebration.
The fires may have another root as well. A handbook published by the Texas Historical Society points out that the people of northwestern Germany — ancestors of some of today's Fredericksburg residents — lighted Easter fires on the hills for centuries. The practice might even have started as a pre-Christian celebration of spring.
This town of about 9,000 people, 70 miles west of San Antonio, is teetering on the cusp between an authentic and an unabashedly commercial celebration of its heritage. "The old mom-and-pop stores are turning into tourist attractions," said Troy Ottmers, 47, an oil salesman who has been a participant in the pageant since childhood and a principal organizer since 1980. "We've got a little more corporate, I guess you could say. We've lost a little bit of the hometown flavor."
Bkv Rt. - homepage
The folks who helped me get from here to there when I lived in Budapest.
A really good website (especially for a public transit company). Has music, too!
How bizarre is that. Makes me feel kinda guilty for the time I spent dodging fares (I eventually wised up and bought a year-long pass).
snapshots.art
this marvellous image, and MORE! now available within Make It Snappy.
my birthday is coming
NCC Book Formed in 2000, visual design agency Neasden Control Centre work for anyone bright and daring enough to hire them - art galleries, ad agencies, book publishers, bars, clubs, charities, design agencies, shops, musicians and magazines. Sought after in London and beyond, their commissions have included Esquire, Big Issue, 4AD and MTV. Named after their headquarters, a rented idyll just beyond the green belt, Neasden are a true collective, each member adding a little something to their designs. Easily on par with the likes of Silex, this group of young British illustrators has a sixth sense for space and distribution: with the eye of a child and skill of a master they mix a healthy, irreverent punk spirit with extremely skilful, cutting edge techniques in their risky brew of drawing, graphic design, art and advertising. Split into twelve distinct chapters based on a different part of the body, the book will include a selection of works by all Neasden artists in their distinct, edgy hand-drawn style, through a variety of mediums including photography, writing and found-objects. Check out Übersee 1 and www.neasdencontrolcentre.com for further examples of their work as well a huge A-Z of influences – including yellow Labradors and Swiss girls.
I've always wanted Laurie Anderson's United States pts I-IV. And just look how charming those prices are!
And there's always Godzilla! (the VHS version is muy-cheap!). King Kong vs. Godzilla and Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla! And there always Taschen's All-American Ads of the Fifties!
Buy more stuff--it's the American Way!
Dress Patriotic Patriotically
umbrellahat.art
real performance artists
wear UMBRELLA HATS:
the photo-gallery
Collected photos of REAL performance artists
in their native habitats wearing their fave chapeaus
(with useful links and information!)
NOW! in the NEW! umbrella hat gallery.
DeathWatch update: Little Eva is Dead
Both the homeless woman in Pittsburgh and Eva Narcissus (Boyd) Harris, the singer of "The Locomotion."
Centralia PA
is no longer there. Not really.
In other news, my former-employer's outplacement service contacted me yesterday. I've got a find-a-job-workshop (or whatever it is), next Monday thru Wednesday, 9-4 each day. Hunh.
The Where The Hell Did My Job Go? guy hasn't posted anything since March 16. Does that mean he landed another one? But since he's in London, that won't help....
MSN has some discouraging news for the unemployed, thank you very much.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps watch on it all.
I Had a Dream Last Night
that the FBI finally caught up with me for all those e-bay scams I did a few years back. There was a big stack of photocopies of everything I had sold (comics cut from the sunday funnies; cheap Chinese wrapping-paper passed-off as an expensive print, etc). It was about four-inches thick, and I couldn't remember any of it until leafing through the stack in shock.
This is why that guy down in the hotel lobby said I looked so familiar. Wish I hadn't been so friendly....
The Spawn of Henshin,
or Six Degrees of Separation
Just as Barbie inspired G.I. Joe, which in turn inspired Henshin Cyborg, so too did Henshin Cyborg inspire other toys. While in the midst of the Henshin Cyborg line, Takara decided they needed to make a scaled-down version of Henshin so that they would better be able to design playsets and vehicles for the figures. This was an especially important social and marketing issue for the company because, as you might have noticed, Japan is a series of small islands and space is a commodity.
From this concept was born Microman Zone, the first series of Microman figures ever made. The early figures are almost exact replicas of Henshin Cyborg. Microman took off and ran concurrently with the Henshin Cyborg series for a number of years, outlasting the Henshin series. During this time, Mego licensed a subset of the Microman line and introduced them to the US as Micronauts. The Micronauts became Mego's bread and butter all through the mid to late 70's replacing the waning popularity of Mego's cloth 8" Super Heroes line. From the Micronauts' demise was borne a whole slew of different toy lines, including the Lords of Light, the Inter-Changeables, the Fantauti and the AstroWarriors.
Meanwhile Microman begat New Microman in late 1980 or early 1981. New Microman went on for a number of years until 1985, at which time it was discontinued and part of it's later product line, called Micro Change, was retooled and repackaged as the Transformers. And of course, the Transformers are still with us, currently as Beast Wars.
The Magic Accordion:
a responsible work combining performance art, improv, puppetry, rousing musical numbers, and social critique.
is now online within WROTTINGS.
Written in collaboration with Mike Benedetti for John Bromberg's First Annual Mudball Puppet Festival.
Film Threat reviews The Man Without a Past, by Aki (Leningrad Cowboys Go America) Kaurismaki
UPDATE 10.28.03: I finally saw it myself last month at the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock. It wasn't nearly as "funny" as "Leningrad Cowboys Go America", but then, why would it have to be? The only other Kaurismaki that I've seen is his bit in "Night on Earth", but MWaP did not disappoint me. It was slow, moody, off-kilter at times, and didn't beat you over the head with much of anything. I overheard someone outsidet he theater commenting that it wasn't as good as his previous films (something other reviews said as well), but without having seen the lot of them, I was not disappointed. The film existed on a different temporal plane where very little occurs, and that suited me just find, compared to all the H'wood blockbusters where EVERYTHING occurs.
giant monsters.art
It's Calimari Time!
image vacummed from CNN.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Reuters) -- A rare and dangerous squid with eyes the size of dinner plates and scores of razor-sharp hooks to snag its prey has been caught by fishermen off Antarctica, New Zealand scientists said on Thursday. The half-grown female colossal squid is only the second intact example of the monster cephalopod known to have been found, said marine biologist Steve O'Shea of New Zealand's national museum.
A trawler caught the 150 kg, 330-pound squid in the sub-Antarctic Ross Sea about 3540 kilometers (2,200 miles) south of Wellington. The squid was eating Patagonian Toothfish, which grow to two meters in length, when it was caught. It was dead when it was hawled into the trawler and the remains are now in the New Zealand national museum. The body of the colossal squid is much bigger than the giant squid, which can weigh up to 900 kg, 2,000 pounds when fully grown. A giant squid's tentacles can be up to 13 meters long, compared with five meters on the recovered creature
American marine biologist Kat Bolstad said the colossal squid was a more dangerous animal than the giant squid, the mythical monster of the deep that attacked Captain Nemo's Nautilus in Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." "This is a very aggressive animal and moves quickly. If you fell in the water next to it you would be in big trouble," said Bolstad.
The colossal squid finds food by literally glowing in the dark, deep waters to light up prey for its massive eyes -- the biggest of any animal. But it is the colossal squid's weaponry that marks it out from its giant cousin. Its eight arms and two tentacles have up to 25 teeth-like hooks -- deeply rooted into muscle and able to rotate 360 degrees -- as well as the usual suckers to ensure fish do not escape. The hooks not only hold fish for the squid's two parrot-like beaks, but also are used to fend off attacks from hungry sperm whales, O'Shea said.
The species, whose scientific name is mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, was previously thought to have lurked at least 800 meters down in the freezing waters near Antarctica, but the specimen found a fortnight ago was near the surface. O'Shea said the discovery raised questions about what else was down deep in the ocean. "We know so little about the marine environment in general. If animals like this are turning up, what's going to be at 3,000-meters (10,000-foot) depth. We don't know," O'Shea said.
The BBC story has some good colossal squid photos. Who you gonna trust? TONMO, The Octopus News Magazine Online, has yer octopi & squid--normal, giant & colossal--stories, photos, and a 4.5meg absolutely-amazing Squid fact-sheets stuffed fulla pictures, charts, graphs, &c. A slightly-blurry AP photo on MSNBC. There used to be a Giant Squid Resource Center but all seems gone but the Google-cache.... SlashDot is chattering. A January article from the BBC on a Giant Squid Attack!. 7 or 8 metres long. Dr. Steve answers question on Giant Squid in this 2002 feature from the Discovery Channel's Chasing Giants. Another 2002 Discovery Channel report sez Global Warming is "causing squid to grow abnormally large." We we warned! A 200kg giant squid washed up onto a beach in Hobart, Aus in July 2002, but nobody took any pictures (or put them online, anyway). The LessonPlanLibrary has this Giant Squid pdf to help you break the news of these friendly maurding montsters of the deep. Cool engraving, as well!
It may not have been colossal, but Jules Verne had a giant squid attack the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Karen C. points out the the original English edition had more than 1/4 of it cut out. She provides a lot of links, including to several complete public-domain e-texts.
C.B. Adams brings us some photos and text on the Walt Disney World Nautilus.
TurboSquid.com has absolutely NOTHING to do with real squid. "Founded in early 2000, Turbo Squid is a fully-featured digital media marketplace for 3D assets." What a gyp.
Dr. Squidd isn't a REAL squid with a doctorate, no! He's a "Zine featuring b-movie reviews and articles about low-budget and no-budget movies, actresses, obscurities, sci-fi, comic books and other weird stuff."
SQUIDLY has nothing to do with our colossal friend, other than another nod an article, but (s)he's got a relevant domain name & image at the top o' the page. Tasteful.
God only knows why Google is throwin me up into the top-ten for c.s.p. searches--but you guys have been slamming my site all night! Weirdness. Anyway. Somebody was kind enough to read Egyptian Fax Chamber in the midst of all of this. EFC does not currently have any references to colossal squids OR alien mummies. But it WILL, mark my words, it WILL.....
war.art
Edwin Starr is Dead,
Alas!
CNN article
Motown singer Edwin Starr dies of heart attack
LONDON, England (AP) -- Edwin Starr, the soul singer who produced No. 1 Motown hits such as "War," died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday, his manager said. He was 61. Starr, who lived in England, died at his home near the central city of Nottingham, said manager Lilian Kyle.
Born Charles Hatcher in Nashville, Tennessee, Starr formed his first group, the Future Tones, in 1957, recording one single before his three-year army service. In 1965, he was offered a solo deal following two years of touring with another band.
Early hits included "Agent Double-O Soul" and "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S)." But his biggest success came with "War," a No. 1 hit in 1970 during a time of growing anti-Vietnam War protests. Other top 10 hits included "Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio."
I used Mr. Starr's lyrics to start out my war-links.
Here is his website.
mummy.art
Oldest Mummy Discovered in Egypt
April 1, 2003 — Egyptian archaeologists have brought to light the oldest known evidence of human mummification after opening on Sunday a 5,000-year-old wooden coffin found at Sakkara near Cairo. Discovered amid more than 20 tombs built out of mud brick, the sarcophagi contained human remains covered in linen and resin. "The mummy is considered the first embalming attempt known by ancient Egyptians 5,000 years ago dating back to the era of King Hor-aga," the Egyptian state information service said.
Protecting bodies from decay and preserving them in a recognizable form was extremely important for the ancient Egyptians. They believed no person could enter the afterlife unless the Ka and Ba, the most important parts of the spirit, could return to the body: the reunification of body and spirit was the key to enjoying the afterlife.
Bodies were embalmed as early as 2613 to 2494 B.C., under the pharaohs of the 4th dynasty. However, already in 5000 B.C. bodies were preserved by burying them in the heat and dryness of the desert sand.The most effective techniques were used between 1567-1200 B.C., and substances with the best antibacterial properties were chosen. A recent, systematic analysis of mummification, involving 25 mummies dating from 2600 B.C. to 395 A.D., revealed that the ancient Egyptians used complex recipes.
Plant oils, salts, beeswax , coniferous, Pistacia and balsamic resins were found among the embalming ingredients. Moreover, "drying oils", which would have been liquid when applied and then hardened over time, were applied to provide an impermeable coating against the humidity of underground tombs. Mummification required the removal all internal organs except the heart through a four-inch incision on the body's left side. During a final magical ceremony known as the "Opening of the Mouth," the eyes, mouth and ears were opened so the deceased could see, speak and hear during the afterlife.
"This is certainly one of the earliest attempts at mummification, but only moderately successful as the flesh was not adequately preserved. The discoveries of mummies that can be studied in context will certainly advance our understanding of the history of the mummification process and the technological advances made by the ancient Egyptians in this field," mummy expert Salima Ikram, Egyptologist at American University in Cairo, told Discovery News.
Yeah, but it ain't an ALIEN.
AlterNet: Support Our Tunes!
At least 70 groups spanning the musical spectrum are on the roster of Musicians United to Win Without War, an organization that coalesced in just a few weeks around a shared belief that war is "wrong, absurd and dangerous to all of our futures." Visit the Musicians United website to see who else is on their statement of conscience, and then support these artists by listening to their music, seeing them in concert, purchasing their albums, and spreading the word.
smoking ban hits NYC.
So I suppose I should be sympathetic and murmur something about civil liberties, freedoms, etc.
Except that I'm allergic to smoke and have never appreciated smokers continual invasion of my personal space. Hah! The only thing I'm worried about is that NOW there will be MORE SMOKERS ON THE STREET.


Today, 26-11-2018, mr. D de Graaf of SDS received a cheque following the IOLAN Christmas charity campaign of 2018. SDS, or Stichting Down Syndroom not only provides a lot of information, they also participate in the easier obtaining of help for parents with Down syndroom childern and with the development (program small steps), integration in regular education, etc. They also organize meetings for people with Down and their parents, workshops, lectures, courses etc. Mr. D. de Graaf has been a volunteer for years at the national Down Syndrome Foundation.


text:
New Plymouth in Running To Be Named Best City in The World
Posted on September 23, 2008 by swiggs
New Plymouth is in line to be named the best place in the world to live.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 11 2008 – NEW PLYMOUTH HAS WON THE TOP CITY IN THE WORLD AWARD. Click to view article.
But we up against some solid opposition from standout towns in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, Switzerland, England, Poland and China.
England-headquartered International Awards for Liveable Communities has just announced nine finalists for this year's awards, which will be judged and announced in China in early November.
New Plymouth is the only New Zealand community to be shortlisted for any of the awards, and it is in line for two of them – a Whole City award for communities with populations between 20,000 and 75,000, and the coastal walkway has been shortlisted to win the 2008 title as the world's best environmentally sustainable project.
District Mayor Peter Tennent, chief executive Barbara McKerrow, and general manager of community assets Anthony Wilson are all to travel to the judging event to make presentations on behalf of New Plymouth.
"Just to be a finalist in both these categories means greater awareness of what New Plymouth and New Zealand have to offer in terms of a great lifestyle both now and in the future," Mr Tennent said yesterday.
"If we win either or both of these awards, the benefits through worldwide public awareness could be huge."
The awards, which were launched in 1997, are endorsed by the United Nations and are the world's only awards that focus on best practice regarding management of the local environment.
The objective of the awards is to encourage innovation and leadership in providing a vibrant and environmentally sustainable community that improves the quality of life of the people who live there.
The communities aren't judged against each other, but on how they are performing against criteria that ranges from enhancement of the landscape and management of heritage, to healthy lifestyles and planning for the future.
There are nine communities in line for the Whole City award, and they include Chrudim, in the Czech Republic, which is known as the Athens of eastern Bohemia, the Hungarian wine city of Eger, Switzerland's beautiful lakeside centre of Montreux, the historic English market town of Newark on Trent, Poland's mountain community of Powiat Tatrzanski, and the water town of Zhujiajiao, which is known as the Venice of China.
New Plymouth's hugely popular coastal walkway joins 11 other finalists for the title of the world's best environmentally sustainable project – the judging criteria for this honour is that the projects must demonstrate sustainability and environmental awareness, and encourage the maximum positive impact on the local environment.
There's a variety of projects on the shortlist, including a model sustainable community called UniverCity at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, a city centre redevelopment at Jordan's Greater Irbid Municipality, which aims to preserve the city's cultural identity, the Cosmo City mixed-race housing development in South Africa, and a culture heritage trail in Poland.
Mr Tennent said he was hugely enthusiastic about New Plymouth being named a finalist for the awards.
"Basically this says that out of all the countries in the world, New Plymouth is one of just nine cities that could receive the ultimate accolade as the best place to live," he said.
"The people who live and work here already think this part of New Zealand is pretty special – but now we have an independent panel of international judges who have looked at what we've got, and noticed that something pretty outstanding is happening here."
source: Taranaki Daily News 23/09/2008
Target exec: Mobile is not optional for us – Mobile Commerce Daily …
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our services help ensure continued success.
Every month, our Donor Advised Funds make recommendations to support organizations. Since July 2017, these DAFs have distributed more than $550,000 to over 90 nonprofits.
As a community foundation, the American Muslim Fund recognizes the important work that nonprofits do for the betterment of society in general, and the American Muslim community in particular. Our mission is to strengthen the link between donors and nonprofits. We work with donors to encourage strategic charitable-giving, with the hope to strengthen and diversify funding support for community organizations.
Currently, the American Muslim Fund works with nonprofit organizations in four main ways: Distributions from donor advised funds, grants from endowments, fiscal sponsorship, and hosted endowments.
In the long term, our goal is to provide other forms of non-financial support to nonprofit organizations, such as best practices training, advice to start-up organizations, and cultivating coalition building and collaborations among nonprofits.
AMuslimFund will provide annual grant opportunities based on our strategic initiatives. As we continue to build our endowment, we will invest funds into mutual funds and stocks to create a return to be used for the benefit of nonprofit organizations registered in the United States doing work around the world.
Are you a start-up nonprofit wanting to jump start fundraising or applying for grants but have no tax deductible status? Or are you already a s 501(c)(3) organization but don't have the capacity to handle the bookkeeping? The American Muslim Fund can provide fiscal sponsorship for your organization. For a small fee, we can provide fiduciary oversight or financial management services such as managing your donations and grants and reporting to the IRS. With the administration taken care of, we hope it will free up your time and resources to focus on your important work.


Your children are important to God, they are important to you, and they are important to us! We know that your children are very precious. We count it an honor to have the opportunity to help with your child's early biblical training. The Treehouse kids meet on Sunday mornings during the 11:00am services.
All of our volunteers have completed a national background check and have been approved by our ministry staff. Your children will enjoy a safe, spiritual, and happy environment. At The Treehouse your children will have their own church service to play games, make friends, worship and learn about the word of God!
Rena gave her life to the Lord in 2007 and has been serving at Westcoast Church ever since. She has served in children's ministry, youth ministry, office administration, media teams, worship teams and other various departments throughout the church. Although she came from a broken home she uses her testimony to empower others. Her heart is to reach people for Jesus and to encourage people of all ages that there is hope beyond their circumstances!
There is something so powerful in praying with your children and for them. The greatest thing you can do is to pray for our ministry and to pray for your children. As the parent YOU are the backbone! If your children see you supporting kids church and praying for the ministry then it will encourage them to do the same and seek God for themselves!
Anytime you give financially, whether it be offering or tithes it is a blessing to our ministry. Not only does God reward a giving heart but you get to invest and be apart of the amazing things God is doing in the lives of our Treehouse kids. If you want to give specifically to The Treehouse you can mark your offering envelopes " The Treehouse".
Ask about volunteering! There are so many areas that God would like to use you and your specific gifts! From set up to special events you would be surprised to see all of our different areas that you could help in! Don't be shy! We would love to have you be a part!