Some terrific evangelists and missionaries have actually watched their ministry as rescuing individuals from the sinking ship of the world. The watercraft is dropping and also our work is to save as numerous as we can from going down with it. The world is diing, yet whoever does the will of God follows permanently.
The problem with this image is not exactly just what some doubters believe it is.
Some point out that the watercraft is not going down. They say, the concept that Christian ministry is a rescue operation is ill-conceived. Life on the watercraft, as well as the watercraft itself, are going to be completely reconditioned sooner or later.
A Christian recovery home for men. Long term, affordable and very structured living. In Ft. Lauderdale Florida. Christian; Three Months+; Men; Free/Affordable.
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It's real that the ship of the world will certainly never sink as well as end up being unliveable. Every individual on this ship dies.
Currently, if they have a faith-in-Jesus life jacket when they pass away and overdo it, Jesus occurs and also selects them up in his eternal-life redemption watercraft.
But if they don't have the faith-in-Jesus life vest, then they sink and die. The urgency is not that the watercraft is sinking, but that all the passengers are passing away.
It is likewise real that the ship itself is a vexing mix of lovely craftsmanship from the Ship-Builder, spectacular intelligence in the most gifted crew, motivating tales of heroic tasks of goodness, and also scary human suffering. A few points on the boat job flawlessly. The next day you fear for your life.
It is also true that the Lord Jesus that made the ship, as well as keeps it afloat will one day board the ship in individual as the rightful Captain. When he does, all the skeptics and also mutineers go crazy.


I lived the Scandinavian dream: My wife and I moved to Norway for a year -- where pregnancy is not a "pre-existing condition"
Bernie Sanders unashamedly looks to Scandinavia for a model for healthcare, education and, well, taxes. My wife and I packed up and moved to Norway for a year to experience this supposed Nordic paradise, even if some back home thought I would become "a mush-headed socialist." I had received a Fulbright fellowship to study in Trondheim, but the only catch was that my wife, Katy, was pregnant.
The healthcare insurance for Fulbright is administered through the State Department, the same system that covers our senators and representatives. You've probably heard that this is the "best healthcare coverage in the world," but I checked the small print. It said, "Pregnancy is a pre-existing condition" and not covered under the plan, as if it's some sort of disease.
She seemed convinced, so I asked if she could send us some of the documents. "When you arrive here in July," she continued, "the sun will be out all day. It's been a long, dark winter, so everyone will be at their cabins in the mountains or at the seaside. The government offices don't really open up until September." In other words, we had to just relax and file the documents all in good time.
Once in Trondheim, we went to the trygdekontor, the insurance office, to register Katy for healthcare to cover the birth. The woman at the desk looked over our documents somberly and said she didn't think we qualified. We panicked. "Oh, the government shall pay for the birth," she assured us. "I just don't know if you are eligible for the extra maternity benefit."
If Katy had been working for at least six months in Norway beforehand, she would get 42 weeks off work at full pay, or 52 weeks at 80 percent of her salary — paid for by the government, not her employer. As it turned out, we'd just receive a lump sum of about $5,000 for the baby, the same sum of our deductible back in the U.S. – a $10,000 difference!
Sure, people complained about the high taxes, but my Norwegian friend Knut spoke about the "social contract" they've all made: "We are a small country of just 5 million people, so we pay high taxes but don't have the very poor or the very rich as you do in the United States." What's more, the universities in Norway are essentially free, so students are much more likely to get a higher education and aren't saddled with debt when they leave.
As our year went on, we learned how Norway has a nationalized oil and energy industry, Statoil, so the profits are returned to the people as opposed to executives walking off with millions, as happens in the U.S. This money from the "oil fund" shores up the economy and is invested in socially responsible stocks and heavily in geothermal research, wind power and the primary source of power in Norway: hydroelectric plants. Norway taxes gasoline heavily—nearly three times that of the U.S.—and offers huge incentives for electric cars that now are a regular sight zooming alongside the fjords. Parties in both Denmark and Norway have radical proposals to make their expensive urban public transport absolutely free to wean commuters from their polluting cars and encourage drivers to use the network of electric trams and buses.
Unfortunately, our son born in Norway doesn't automatically get Norwegian citizenship (the Republicans would approve). If he eventually does achieve Norwegian citizenship, he'll have a free college education, healthcare for the rest of his life, and a comfortable pension to live out his days with the Vikings. He may become a mush-headed socialist, but at least he'll be living the Scandinavian dream.
Eric Dregni is the author of "In Cod We Trust: Living the Norwegian Dream" and "Vikings in the Attic."


Meaning and origin of the French baby name Deveral. Meaning of Deveral. What does Deveral mean? Deveral origin. Information about Deveral.
Meaning of Deveral: Surnames derived from place name Deverel.
Meaning of Deveral, Information about First Name Deveral, French Origin Names, Choose babynames from thousunds of names data base from various regions and coutries.


Thread: MacOS Sierra 10.12.5 Xerox Fiery driver will not display any of the Fiery properties.
Hello. I looked into this on my MAC because a customer called me with the issue. Sure enough what had been working flawlessly before is not working now. I've used the Fiery Uninstaller to remove the drivers. Downloaded the latest EX-i (2.0) driver from Xerox first, then Fiery. Installed via the Fiery installer first and then manually via IP: LPD second. No matter what I do I end up with the same result. I've attached some pics.
in the DMG package you will find Fiery Software Uninstaller. Run it and use to uninstall all instances of the OLD Fiery Drivers before adding new one. This removes common files from older instances allowing the NEW driver to install properly using the setup wizzard application in the new driver.
have you installed the mac os certificate patch?


Removes soil; grease and finish buildup.
With upside-down spray feature for hard-to-reach places.
Use on baseboards; floor edges; corners; stairways and ceramic tile.
A heavy-duty aerosol ready-to-use cleaner that removes soil; grease and finish buildup with upside-down spray feature for hard-to-reach places. Use on baseboards; floor edges; corners; stairways and ceramic tile. Designed to remove heavy soils; wax; and floor finish buildup from hard surfaces. No rinsing or neutralizing needed. Non-ammoniated formula. Application: Baseboard Stripper; Applicable Material: Stairwells; Ceramics; Quarry Tile; ? Baseboards; Floor Edges & Corners; ? Showers; ? Fiberglass; ? Terrazzo; Marble; Vinyl & Vinyl Composition Floors; Dirt Types: Floor Finish/Sealant; Scent: Unscented.


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Films // JANUARY 8, 2014
Top 10 Star Wars Moments of 2013
2013 was a very, very big year for Star Wars. From movies to video games, there were milestones, announcements, and revelations galore, all of which made one thing very clear: the future of a galaxy far, far away is very bright. The StarWars.com editorial staff has huddled together and picked the biggest and best moments of the year — check out the list after the jump!
10. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Airs 100th Episode
A very rare milestone in animation, Star Wars: The Clone Wars aired its 100th episode, "Missing in Action," on January 5, 2013. The number is significant, representing the series' longevity, dedication of its fans, and significance to the overall Star Wars saga. At the time of the episode's broadcast, supervising director Dave Filoni said, "From the start, the idea was to show that there were many more Star Wars stories left to tell after the six movies. We all love the Star Wars universe, and we wanted to keep it alive on-screen in a way that had never been done before. We looked at everything that had been created before us, going back to the original film in 1977, and we mined concept art, behind-the-scenes footage, comics, games, novels and brought it together with George [Lucas]' guidance to make a series that jumps to every corner of his galaxy. I'm very proud of my crew, and all of Lucasfilm for being part of this series."
9. Star Wars Instagram and Tumblr Launch
It was the selfie that struck fear in the hearts of Rebels everywhere. Lucasfilm launched its official Star Wars Instagram page with a Darth Vader selfie on December 2, 2013, garnering national media attention. This was followed shortly by the start of an official Tumblr account on December 19, kicked off with brand new Star Wars Rebels concept art. Both channels are updated daily with rare pics of everything from vintage toys to, naturally, German Star Wars peanut butter jars.
8. Star Wars Fans Join Star Wars: Episode VII Team
While the release of the first behind-the-scenes photo from Star Wars: Episode VII on Twitter was big news itself, StarWars.com revealed shortly after some extra, very cool info about the image: the two men pictured with director J.J. Abrams, R2-D2, and Kathleen Kennedy were actually fans, Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples, and members of the R2-D2 Builders Club. They were selected by Kennedy herself to work on the film after a meeting at Star Wars Celebration Europe, and are currently part of the creature effects team building astromech droids for the movie.
7. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Wins Two Emmys
Star Wars: The Clone Wars has become a major part of the tapestry of the Star Wars saga, as well as a classic animated series. It was honored on June 16, 2013, with two Emmys — the first the show has ever won — for its fifth and final season, taking home awards for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program and Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (for David Tennant's turn as ancient droid Huyang). The award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program was presented by Carrie Fisher and accepted by executive producer George Lucas, who said, "This is especially important to me…This is my first Emmy and the second award I've ever won."
6. Spinoff Films Announced
The Star Wars cinematic galaxy is going to get much bigger. In a call to investors on February 5, 2013, Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, announced that spinoff films are in development — standalone stories that exist outside the main saga. Further details on these films have yet to be revealed.
5. John Williams Confirmed to Score Star Wars: Episode VII
The music of Star Wars is some of the most recognizable in film history, from the classic "Main Title" to the iconic "Imperial March." On July 27, 2013, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced on stage at Celebration Europe that John Williams, the legendary composer who scored every Star Wars film, would indeed return to write the music for Episode VII. Fans were delighted, and Williams expressed his excitement in an exclusive interview with StarWars.com.
4. Star Wars: Battlefront Returns
After the announcement that Electronic Arts had secured an exclusive license to create Star Wars console games, fans wondered what titles would come as a result of the agreement. In a pre-E3 press conference on June 10, 2013, EA confirmed the production of a new entry in the fan favorite Star Wars: Battlefront franchise, being developed by DICE. The news was met with much enthusiasm, and an accompanying teaser trailer quickly surpassed 1 million views.
3. Star Wars Celebration Europe
Held in Messe Essen, Germany, from July 26-28, 2013, Star Wars Celebration Europe was a massive party for fans of a galaxy far, far away, and it did not disappoint. There were major announcements (John Williams' return for Episode VII), tons of guests (Kathleen Kennedy, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Dave Filoni, and many more), events, and of course, a tattoo pavilion. Get ready for the next Star Wars Celebration, confirmed for Anaheim, California, April 16-19, 2015!
2. Star Wars Rebels Announced
The next era of Star Wars animation was announced on May 20, 2013, as StarWars.com revealed that Dave Filoni and his team were hard at work on Star Wars Rebels, a new series set between Episode III and IV that shows the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance. In a video interview with Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo, Filoni discussed the influence of original trilogy concept artist Ralph McQuarrie on the look of the show, and other details. The series is set for a fall 2014 debut.
1. J.J. Abrams Named Star Wars: Episode VII Director
On January 25, 2013, after much speculation and many, many rumors, Lucasfilm confirmed that J.J. Abrams is indeed the director of Episode VII. Abrams, who has readily acknowledged his love of Star Wars and its influence on his work, said, "To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honor. I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid."
Honorable Mention:
Yoda wins the first This Is Madness tournament
Star Wars: Episode VII release date is announced
Rancho Obi-Wan recognized by Guinness World Records as housing the largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia
Be sure to let us know your favorite moments of the year in the comments section below.
TAGS: Star Wars
Corruption, Exploitation, and Decay: The Politics of Star Wars
The Cinema Behind Star Wars: Roger Ebert and Citizen Kane
The Cinema Behind Star Wars: War Movies and Westerns
Star Wars Celebration Europe: Your Favorite Memory Photo Book, Part 2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Harry W. Gray House
The Harry W. Gray House is a historic home located in Virginia's city of Arlington. Built in 1881, the home was built by former slave of Robert E. Lee, Harry Gray. On December 3rd, 2003, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on February 11th, 2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The home in 2012 ((By Slowking4 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons))
Around 1852, Harry Gray was born at Arlington House as a slave to George Washington Parke Curtis, and later General Robert E. Lee. Gray and his family were freed from slavery in 1862 and became residents of the Freedman's Village on the grounds of Arlington House. Gray would go on to work several jobs around Arlington and DC, and in 1878, he married Martha Hoard. In 1880, Gray bought nine acres of land along the Arlington Turnpike, and in 1881, he built his own home by hand, brick by brick. Gray and his family would go on to live in the home for some time afterwards, but records indicate they no longer lived at the home around 1910. Gray died on November 3rd of 1910, and Martha followed him almost twenty years later on March 1st of 1930. However, Harry left the property to Martha and their four children, and after Martha's death, the children kept the home in the family.
Up until 1979, the Harry W. Gray House remained in the possession of the Gray family. Records do not specify the passage of ownership of the building it terms of persons or date. Several decades later, on December 3rd, 2003, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on February 11th, 2004, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
National Register of Historic Places. Harry W. Gray House. February 11, 2004. Accessed August 14, 2016. http://www.dhr.Virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Arlington/000-0515_Harry_W.Gray_House_2004_Final_Nomination.pdf
1005 S. Quinn St
Created by Zack Rakes on August 14th 2016, 9:03:49 pm.


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The Foe
lgbdefence
ABC'c BIG Ideas - The Australian Workplace Equality Index and Trans inclusion (part 2)
(https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/the-australian-workplace-equality-index-and-trans-inclusion/14110632 ) ABC edited out a great deal of the University of Melbournes talk on ACON and the impact of its diversity and inclusion audit Australian Workplace Equality Index - essentially a compliance list to gender identity ideology in the workplace. The overseas speakers were removed, the talks were removed. We understand there was a strong angry pushback from ABC queer staff for any of this talk to be released on Big Ideas. And of course ABC loses points for presenting a view that challenges ACON. This is part 2 of what they will share about Linda Gale's contribution. All of this has been heavily edited. Jon Faine: (17:24)
rse the people in the room will agree with you. The ones outside might feel differently, but there we go. I'll come back to you shortly. Linda, you also have lived experience, but of a very different kind. Do you want to give us a very brief summation? I doubt there's anyone in the room not aware, but just in case people who are listening on the radio might need a, a thumbnail sketch of Okay. What your contribution would be.
Linda Gale: (17:48)
So I have, uh, gained inadvertent notoriety, uh, because I, I'm active in the Australian Greens. And, uh, in that capacity, I wrote a discussion paper a couple of years ago, which asked for careful, respectful, nuanced discussion around some of the issues that arose from the Greens policy position, which I think is largely a correct policy position in support of, uh, trans L G B T I Q A plus people. That paper became notorious because I asked some difficult questions in relation to the intersection between effectively self ID policy, which was then under debate in Victoria and what that meant for safety in women's spaces, safety for women, including trans women. And I POed the problem that the majority, the vast majority of violence against women and trans women is committed by men. And that it's a big ask for women to say, just trust that everybody who walks through the door of a women's space and claims to be a woman is making that claim. Honestly. Uh, that, that is, that is a safety risk. And that's the question I asked. I didn't say what I think the answer is because I think it's really complex and that we need to have conversations to work that out. And that ran into the proposition that there must be no debate, uh, that by asking who, who
Jon Faine: (19:43)
Advanced that proposition,
Uh, a number of,
I'm not asking for names,
A number of, of, um, trans rights activists within the greens and outside the greens. So that led to a series of events, which most recently resulted in, uh, when I was elected to the position of state convenor of the Greens in Victoria,
A very senior position within,
It's a, it's, it's the most senior non, you know, public office, non-parliamentary. Yep. Uh, in the greens in Victoria, that election was overturned. Uh, there was considerable controversy about that. But it seems to me that the, the difficulty we have in this, in this arena is just that question of can we have a respectful nuanced debate in the middle ground, or do we have to retreat into and push everyone else into, uh, extremist positions?
Why, why do you describe it as extremist?
I think it's an extremist position to say, I hold the entire truth, and someone who disagrees with me is not worthy of being listened to.
How did you react when you were called transphobic?
I was at, at first, I, I was disbelieving. I just could not comprehend how that label was attached to me. How
That connection was made with your reasoned arguments about being cautious, transferred into, therefore you must be transphobic.
Yes. And the, the proposition that any conversation which suggests that in any context a trans woman is not biologically a woman, that that proposition is transphobic means that the term transphobia has been changed in its meaning. It no longer means a fear or hatred of trans people, a distrust of trans people and unwillingness to engage with or like trans people. It means a failure to accept a complete philosophical analysis that requires a break with science.
So the purpose of the discussion today is about the ranking systems or the rating systems that come with it. Yeah. So leaving that vigorous debate in the background. Yeah. What do you do then when an organization claims a virtuous monopoly on those definitions?
I think that public institutions have to be transparent, have to be accountable, and have to be held to account for their claims of virtue. I think that public institutions have to be scrutinized both by formal structures like the, um, workplace equality agency at the national and at the state levels that are themselves, public institutions established by legislation subject to ministerial scrutiny and themselves required to be transparent in their work. I think that it's al there's also a strong role to be played by the community and lobby and campaign groups in holding public institutions to account for their virtue claims. But what, what the problem we have in with the Australian A W E I, I'm hopeless with acronyms, , the problem we have with
Even for a green g
, especially for a green, the problem we have with the, with aons index, it seems to me is that ACON is not a, is not a public institution itself, it's not subject to scrutiny. It is a self-appointed expert and it has, uh, index of 200 points. I think there's about 60, 65 questions that employers sign up to go through this process of being assessed according to this framework. And a lot of it's okay, like does no harm, right? Doesn't do a lot of good, but does no harm. But some bits of it I think are actually quite problematic. And there is, it's not a transparent or a public process. The assessments are private as between the employer and, and acon. They're not even disclosed to the employees in that workplace. And that secret process of assessment then becomes the basis for which on which employers, uh, get ranked, uh, get the brownie points, get platinum awards, and you know, the,
That's in the positive sense, but in the negative sense, it can also terminate careers and it can ruin organizations if they get a black mark instead of
A tick. Indeed. And I think one of, one of my biggest problems with the model, uh, assuming the model was being conducted, for example, by a transparent, uh, government agency, one of my biggest problems with the model that ACON uses is that it is a one size fits all. It it has ACON has thought through what they think is a good way to achieve diversity in the workplace, and you get points as to how much of their model you comply with. So in fact, it's inhibiting the development of diversity in how we address this issue. Like, it's not let ideas flourish. It's have you got a policy that says this thing? Have you got a committee? Have you got a, a network in your workplace for L G B T I Q workers? Sorry, the network doesn't include intersex, it's just workers. If you do that network, network has to have, as in one of its leadership positions, someone from hr. Now as a trade union official, I go, you what you workers control where, where this worker's network has to have an HR person in a leadership role from management, because that's the model that ACON reckon will get management to take diversity seriously. Now, it might be a way of doing that, but this one size fits all model from an, from an organization that's not open to scrutiny itself is not healthy. What it is is universities and other public institutions outsourcing their conscience.
We're not here to talk about the green's tempted as I am to go down that rabbit
Hole. We're not,
But just before I throw it back to Julian Allen, do you see your way out of this, you've lived this now for how long and it's been, it it for someone who devoted themselves to a political organization that's kicked you out effectively, not as a member, but as a, an office holder. Do you see a way out of it?
The way out of it that I see is continued engagement between people of goodwill. I mean, I, the the first thing that truly said struck such a chord with me, which was that biology shouldn't determine the way you live in the world. And that's a really fundamental proposition that I, I would assume everyone in this room supports The question is how, how we make that manifest and how we do that without letting the fascists in or standing outside conversations shouting at people that there can be no debate.
Alan, we've often talked within universities as in so many other organizations, private sector as well as public sector about the tyranny of the auditor. But it seems where maybe seeing develop something else, not a tyranny, but certainly a, a firm guiding hand from the, in this instance the pride and diversity regulators, or I'm calling them regulators, although Julie's bristled and probably quite rightly Julie to correct me on that. But you, you're getting this kind of, you must do this, you must do that guideline, which again, uh, seems almost unarguable at the moment. How do you see your way out of it, this cul-de-sac?
Alan Davidson: (29:10)
It's interesting, isn it, look, there's a whole, there's a whole issue around outsourcing within academia anyway, and it might be anything from the person that comes in and does the testing and tagging of your computer cables, I think fair enough to the caterers that come in to the people that do the cleaning, there can be all kinds of debates out the merits of that. Uh, whether it's just looking at the, you know, all the blockchain stuff that you can, the, the challenge I have or the challenge I wish to pose is if we outsource anything that makes truth claims, it's not, not just the index and the application of it and how it might manifest. It's, it's the organizational alignment which makes a series of claims that are clearly contestable and can be contested, including by people of good faith. And one of the problems with an advocacy mindset is to characterize people that ask the question and to demonn Islam as as bad people.
So, and the trouble is if that happens, uh, people of goodwill stay silent and it is the people of bad will that get the shouting. So to your point of outsourcing, and we do it, I think, um, the point you made was excellent about, you know, are universities out outsourcing their, uh, their moral, their moral credibility of this? I think there's a lot to learn from the diversity indexes that are being used and applied. The, the concern is the transparency or lack thereof around them and the affiliation that they have. I truly believe, and I still believe that there is the capacity within universities to have intelligent conversations. This is, this one event is proof that it can happen occasionally. So let's take on board all of the good positive things that can contribute to the university workplace and, and looking after our people, but also not allow ourselves to be uncritically aligned to advocacy organizations that make a series of claims.
As I said, that there is no moral monopoly to be had here. These things that to be discussed. And I think there's a lot to be learned. I think there's a very constructive dialogue to be had with a range of advocacy organizations that are generally committed to making a positive difference, uh, in any particular workplace or environment. Where the university has to be particularly, particularly careful is when it involves claims about knowledge, knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination, but also knowledge censorship, uh, directly or by proxy. And that's the debate that needs to be had. You think todays
The first step, you think we've slipped into censorship,
We've slipped into self-censorship? Yes. -----------------------------------------------------
Some comments: Audits like AWEI creates a one-size-all-must-fit policy and embeds every Gender Identity Ideology norm through the Australian Workplace.
It works towards removing the sex-based rights of women e.g. removal of single-sex spaces, men in women's sports etc.
It introduces compelled speech, removes gendered language and prohibits freedom of speech
It grows the spread of the ideology through req.s for Org.s to audit their 3rd party vendors and suppliers so that they too must be compliant. (multi-level marketing)
It requires member organisations to market and proselyte gender identity ideology internally and externally
It creates a special class of LGBQTIA through rewards unavailable to other marginalised categories.
The Commission - a vehicle for the Legal sanctions against non-compliance to Gender Ideology in Victoria:
96% of Australia's drug regulator budget is funded by Pharma...
"Pronouns" neither inclusive, equitable or accommodating to diversity
© 2022 by LGB Defence


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Beijing Wins Bid To Host 2022 Winter Olympic Games
Sara Lynn Hua | August 01, 2015 | | 0 Comments
In a 44-40 vote by the International Olympic Committee, Beijing beat out rival city Almaty to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. This makes Beijing the first city in the world to host both Winter and Summer Olympics.
Former NBA player and TutorGroup spokesperson YaoMing played hockey against a goalie in a video that was played for voters, showcasing the exposure that Beijing could bring to the Winter Olympics.
Other cities in the running to host the Games included Stockholm, Oslo, and Munich, however all three backed out, citing political or financial reasons.
Committee members were torn between giving it Beijing, a city that had hosted the large-scale summer Olympics but has little history with winter sports, and Almaty, a city that has many natural, snowy mountains but is still developing. Ultimately, Beijing was selected for its previous experience and commitment to innovation (such as creating a high-speed rail to the mountains and artificial snow machines.) The city plans to create arenas for ice-sports and have the snow-based competitions take place in Zhangjiakou of Heibei, which is 190km outside of Beijing.
Residents of Beijing gave the decision a rather lukewarm celebration, in comparison to the wave of euphoria and cheers in 2001 when Beijing was selected to host the Summer Olympics. This is likely due to the amount of popularity the Summer Games have over the Winter Games. However with Beijing as the host city, the 2022 Winter Games is sure to generate more interest around winter sports. This is also a great opportunity for lesser-known athletes to shine, such as 500m speed-skater Wang Beixing, who won a bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games. "I am so excited," she said to a CCTV broadcaster, after the announcement. "I am really happy."
Beijing 2022 Ambassador, aerial skier Li Nina, pointed out some cultural traditions that attendees and fans of the Winter Games can experience, "We want to create a truly memorable atmosphere for athletes. They will even have the unique Chinese New Years' experience - with Chinese cuisine, festive traditions and, of course, surprises."
The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, said, "It really is a safe choice. We know China will deliver on its promises."
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Sara Lynn Hua
Sara Lynn Hua is a contributing writer and editor for TutorMing. She grew up in Beijing, before going to the University of Southern California (USC) to get her degree in Social Sciences and Psychology.


Contributor(s): Marmodoro, Anna [Editor] | Prince, Brian D [Editor] .
Written by a group of leading scholars, this unique collection of essays investigates the views of both pagan and Christian philosophers on causation and the creation of the cosmos. Structured in two parts, the volume first looks at divine agency and how late antique thinkers, including the Stoics, Plotinus, Porphyry, Simplicius, Philoponus and Gregory of Nyssa, tackled questions such as: is the cosmos eternal? Did it come from nothing or from something pre-existing? How was it caused to come into existence? Is it material or immaterial? The second part looks at questions concerning human agency and responsibility, including the problem of evil and the nature of will, considering thinkers such as Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus and Augustine. Highlighting some of the most important and interesting aspects of these philosophical debates, the volume will be of great interest to upper-level students and scholars of philosophy, classics, theology and ancient history.


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That's hardly a simple question these days. The Los Angeles open-streets festival, which may gain a monthly spot on the calendar by 2017, isn't just drawing increasingly large crowds and expanding into new territory, including upcoming routes in South Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
CicLAvia is also a Rorschach test, a civic pop quiz that provokes extreme — and telling — reactions.
For cyclists, it offers a chance to ride on streets emptied of car traffic, of course, but also an encouraging sign of growing clout in a city long designed around the automobile.
For pedestrians, who have been pushing for an expansion of bike-free spaces in each CicLAvia, the events have been nearly as liberating.
And for drivers? For some, CicLAvia is one more annoyance, one more obstacle in a region where traffic is already punishing enough. Holding it more often is hardly on their civic wish list.
But to define people solely by mode of transportation — to say that they belong to one and only one of these various camps — is to risk missing what might be CicLAvia's most valuable contribution.
Drivers, when they are not behind the wheel, are also pedestrians. Most cyclists also drive cars. The vast majority of pedestrians know what it's like, as drivers, to feel the soul-crushing frustration of horrible traffic.
CicLAvia's real importance has been to make clear that the divisions that we spend so much time debating — between cyclist and driver, driver and pedestrian, pedestrian and cyclist — are surprisingly malleable.
CicLAvia hasn't only allowed Angelenos to see the city and its architecture with fresh eyes. It has allowed us to see ourselves with fresh eyes.
Drivers who ride bikes along the CicLAvia routes gain a new understanding of how their cars, hulking and hugely powerful, must look to cyclists. Pedestrians who turn cyclist for the day learn both how oblivious those on foot can be but also what it means to be in a position where their own carelessness can seriously injure somebody else.
And the cyclists, finally, who grumble about having to walk their bikes through CicLAvia's ever-expanding pedestrian-only zones, are forced to consider how banning cars and giving bikes extra space on the street sometimes unleashes in them the same recklessness they complain about in motorists.
It's hardly a surprise that CicLAvia — or the expansion of bike lanes around Southern California, for that matter — raises the hackles of some drivers. For more than half a century the very design of the city has supported and emphasized the idea that the roads belong to them and that anybody not using a car is an interloper at best and a threat (to their rights, freedom of movement, even happiness) at worst.
This familiar attitude suggests that every change to the city, whether it's new architecture or new transit lines, should be weighed primarily, if not exclusively, by its impact on motorists and levels of car traffic. It has seeped so deeply into the civic consciousness that it has fundamentally skewed debate on a wide range of crucial issues.
Even former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who gave CicLAvia important early support, pushed for a plan to turn both Olympic and Pico boulevards into one-way streets, a shift that would have expanded traffic lanes at the expense of literal and symbolic space for pedestrians and cyclists.
More recently a pessimistic report about the city from the high-powered L.A. 2020 Commission — "A Time for Truth" was its take-your-cod-liver-oil title — declared in its opening pages that Los Angeles is "strangled by traffic." OK, no real debate there, except maybe with the choice of metaphor.
But when the report later turned to a discussion of mass-transit in Los Angeles, it was still concerned entirely with the rights and privileges of drivers.
"Even if all the transportation projects that were promised to be funded by passage of Measure R are built — light rail, bus service, and subway — the traffic congestion would be virtually unchanged," the report said.
Well, that settles it. Might as well shut down the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
New transit lines may or may not alleviate traffic, depending on how and where they are built; the research on that score is mixed. But the goal of a better light-rail, bus and subway network in Los Angeles is not to make life easier for drivers.
It is to offer new ways to get around a crowded region. And to expand the number of options in a city that has always placed a high value on individual freedom of choice.
And yet the conventional wisdom in Los Angeles, not to mention much of its political and cultural punditry, assumes not just a car-first but a car-only point of view. What good is a Wilshire Boulevard subway, that line of thinking argues, if it does nothing to make life easier for motorists?
The truth is that traffic isn't going to get better. Period. We should stop promising that it will.
Congestion isn't something to reflexively fear, in any case, even in Los Angeles. It is a sign of economic health and a vital urbanism.
In fact, every city Angelenos tend to idolize as a haven for pedestrians and users of mass transit and as a model of vibrant street life — whether it's New York, Shanghai or London — is also "strangled by traffic."
The problem is that drivers continue to think that Los Angeles is somehow special — that we can both pursue the ambitions of a major metropolis and expect politicians to make easing our commutes a top priority.
Maybe it's time to stop measuring new transit initiative and other changes to the city in terms of how they'll affect traffic. And start using traffic to measure how we're doing in other areas.
After all, a Los Angeles with freer-flowing traffic in the future will be a less competitive Los Angeles, a Los Angeles on the losing end of all the economic and education-reform battles the authors of the L.A. 2020 report want us so desperately to win.
The notion that congestion can be a sign of economic well-being is a radical one for many in Los Angeles. It requires turning inside out many of our long-held assumptions about who and what streets are for and how they should be designed.
That's where CicLAvia comes in. At its most basic level it is an opportunity for people to get out of their cars and see the city and its landmarks from a new angle and at a different pace.
But it is also an opportunity to try on a new consciousness for a day — to see how the kingdom of Brobdingnag looks to a Lilliputian, and vice versa.
That kind of basic perspectival shift — changing not just our literal view of the built environment but our intellectual and emotional one — is precisely what L.A. needs at this point in the city's history, as we navigate a slow, difficult transition past car-dominated urbanism.
It promises to pay dividends for Los Angeles that go well beyond the apparent benefits — or delays for drivers — produced by closing a few streets, for a few hours, a few times per year.


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CARLE PLACE, NY – On Monday, April 6th 2015, 1-800-Flowers.com celebrated Take Your Mom to Work Day by inviting a group of 17 Moms of some of our amazing staff members. Their day began with a greeting from CEO and founder, Jim McCann. Moms then joined their children on our "red carpet" for a photo opportunity which our sister brand, Personalization Universe, later turned into a keepsake they can hold on to for years to come.
After they were done striking their best pose, the Moms then participated in a floral arrangement workshop instructed by Floral Designer, Phil Devito. The Moms then helped spread the smiles by donating their handmade floral arrangements to the ER staff ant Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, NY.
After a long morning of learning the flower arranging craft, Moms were treated to a brunch where they were serenaded by some of our staff members with an acoustic guitar and vocal set. The Moms then continued their day by learning a bit more about the company their children work for with a behind-the-scenes look at our product development and growing fruit bouquets business.


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How the next president will maximize metro potential
At MPC's 2008 Annual Luncheon, surrogates for presidential nominees McCain and Obama presented their candidates' plans for addressing metropolitan concerns.
By Kim Grimshaw Bolton
Immediately following the major party nominating conventions, on Monday, Sept. 8, the Metropolitan Planning Council hosted surrogates for the presidential candidates at its 2008 Annual Luncheon. The event featured Illinois State Rep. James Durkin (R-Western Springs), national legislative co-chair and Illinois co-chair for Sen. John McCain; and former San Antonio Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, executive chairman of CityView, for Sen. Barack Obama. Carlos Hernandez Gomez, CLTV political reporter, moderated the forum, Metropolitan Mandate: How the Next President Will Maximize Metro Potential, one of the first substantive policy discussions of the general election campaign.
MPC asked the surrogates to address the same three questions – focusing on economic development, transportation infrastructure, and housing options – to ascertain how the candidates, if elected, would address some of the most urgent issues confronting America's metropolitan regions.
The following are the questions MPC provided in advance to the campaigns and excerpts of the responses from Rep. Durkin and Secy. Cisneros on September 8th. To watch the complete program, Chicago residents can tune into Channel 21 on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 10:30 a.m.; or to Channel 19 on Monday, Oct. 20, at 8 a.m., or Friday, Nov. 7, at 8 a.m.
With escalating gas prices, rising foreclosure rates, growing unemployment, and stagnant economies, metro regions across America are confronting complex, thorny issues that threaten the health and prosperity of their residents. In metropolitan Chicago , for example, decades of uncoordinated development patterns have resulted in an overburdened transportation network that cannot meet current needs, much less anticipated growth, as well as an insufficient supply of workforce housing options near well-paid jobs and quality schools. Like Chicago, many of the nation's oldest cities are experiencing failures in the infrastructure that brings people and resources in and out of their metro areas, including pipes, tunnels, bridges, and rails. Across the U.S. , sprawling land-use patterns inhibit affordable housing options and urban density, while increasing numbers of metro areas are facing the threat of severe water shortages and contaminated water supplies.
Metros are home to 80 percent of the U.S. population, and generate 85 percent of the nation's economy. In the Chicago region, the ratio is comparable: 75 percent of the population and 66 percent of the state's economic activity. However, the federal government currently lacks a cohesive, comprehensive policy agenda for helping America 's metropolitan areas reach their full potential.
How would your candidate's administration change how the White House and key federal departments work with state, regional and local policymakers, such as the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), to provide the tools and resources to build attractive and economically competitive communities -- where the needs of the present are met without compromising the needs of the future – while accelerating climate action plans and expanding access to housing, jobs and transportation?
Secy. Cisneros cited Sen. Obama's plan to create a White House Office on Urban Policy.
"As a resident of Chicago, Senator Obama, as an engaged community leader over many years, and as an elected representative of this area, he understands urban and metropolitan regions well. The Brookings Institution, a much respected think tank, has published a seminal piece of work in the last year on the significance of metropolitan regions in the country. It is really powerful evidence of what a significant role these engines like the Chicago area and others around the country play. In response to the work he did on that report, Senator Obama, this last summer, speaking to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, announced that as president, he would create the first White House Office on Urban Policy to coordinate federal urban initiatives.
This model of a coordinating body within the White House, this one would report directly to the President, and combine the efforts of the Departments of Housing & Urban Development, Transportation, Labor, and Commerce in a White House coordination of urban policy.
This policy entity would, for example, fund innovation clusters to identify, to plan, to provide capital for research parks, for incubators, all in the name of job creation and in the name of creating capital for emerging business developments. This office would also work on reversing the trajectory of cuts of the last few years that have reduced healthcare funding, provided educational mandates without federal support, and failed to adequately address the affordable housing crisis.
Again, it would be a policy body which would conceive and coordinate the federal government's relationship with metropolitan areas, and create a collaboration on critical things that involve multiple departments such as Promise Neighborhoods, neighborhoods that build on the Harlem Children's Zone of focusing on fixed geography in our cities where there are children's needs, smart growth that brings growth into infill areas, scholarships to attract high quality teachers to urban neighborhoods, restoring community oriented policing, community policing, and working on metropolitan emergency communications in a time when this is needed.
Given that this is a White House policy office, and I would expect an economic policy office to also exist, working on issues related to generating savings, reducing taxes in particular areas, generating additional resources in other areas, the coordination between federal resources policy, budget and tax policy within the White House, I think will free up some of the resources to do these kinds of things."
Rep. Durkin stated Sen. McCain's goal is to address job creation and workforce development.
"Cities are the economic engines of our nation, and American cities are the economic engines for the world, and it could be even truer in Chicago . The challenges facing cities in the next administration will be how we increase our global competitiveness and how we assist our businesses and our workforce to maintain an economic preeminence.
We have a deep commitment to economic development, and are committed to bringing business leaders, labor leaders, educators, and policymakers together to retain, attract, and expand business throughout the nation.
One of the greatest ways the federal government can help cities such as Chicago to meet their potential is to allow small businesses to do what they do best, and that's to create jobs. We need to create an environment for those small businesses to thrive. We have experienced increasing government regulations and taxes that stifle small businesses. But if we are to allow the economy to grow and create sustainable employment, we must release that creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that has made American business second to none.
John McCain proposes increasing, as I said earlier, community-based programs like community college access, accessing social service programs to assist under trained workers, and to address areas where we face critical skills shortages.
I think that what John McCain is, truly, is an environmentalist … But John McCain has a record which goes back many years, and he's very considerate and very understanding of how we must ensure that the environmental standards that we have in this country are going to stay in place.
John McCain believes in state rights … But he also understands that there is too much at stake within our major metropolitan areas to let those issues that affect them go to the wayside and allow for state government is going to solve some of the problems that we have in Chicago."
Recent studies, including one from the congressionally mandated National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission, have determined the gas tax will soon be an unsustainable revenue source for our highways, bridges, and transit systems (due to many reasons, including an increase in alternative-fueled vehicles and decreasing vehicle miles traveled). At the same time, the study unequivocally states there is a $100+ billion per year gap between what local, state and federal sources currently generate for surface transportation investments and what is actually needed to maintain and enhance our current transportation network. This shortfall between current funding and needs is readily apparent in metro areas such as Chicago . Road congestion has doubled in 20 years, commuter trains and buses are standing-room-only, and our rail network -- which serves as the hub of North America -- moves freight trains at less than 10 miles per hour due to an antiquated, 19th Century system that is desperately in need of modernization.
How would the administration of your candidate prioritize and fund future transit, road, and freight transportation investments that will be sustainable, environmentally sound, and keep metro regions and the United States competitive in the global marketplace?
Rep. Durkin described the "stranglehold" traffic congestion has on the economy, particularly in the Chicago area, and how Sen. McCain would prioritize federal investments.
"The issues of traffic congestion, the expansion of mass transit and energy independence are clearly interconnected … This congestion is also deteriorating our air quality with the ever-increasing price of fuel, and quite frankly, it's draining our pocketbooks. We're the third most congested region in the nation. Vehicular traffic congestion is not only a quality of life issue for citizens, but also a business and job related issue for people in the state.
If we agree that the solution to congestion and poor air quality is a local, regional, and federal commitment to improved infrastructure and increased public transit, then we have to fulfill that mission … The private sector must play a major role in the renewal of urban infrastructure. Look at the examples from around the world. Public-private partnerships offer some of the most innovative and most promising approaches.
Given the new urban dynamics and the shortfall of current revenue streams, we must overhaul how we plan, finance, and deliver infrastructure projects, and we must move beyond roadway expansion and repair. Our development and environmental future depends on how we improve the infrastructure – schools, bridges, hospitals, so on and so on. The private sector may do a better job – help us to build, operate, and maintain infrastructure improvements at a lesser cost.
Local governments are facing increasing difficulties in making our federal match, but inter-agency and inter-jurisdictional collaboration, planning and communication will advance our development policies and create the quality sustainable growth that our nation needs.
Federal transportation funds are very important for every state, every region. But I want to be perfectly clear. Under John McCain, federal dollars for transportation are going to demand greater accountability and transparency during this appropriation process. John McCain is going to put an end to the earmarking process as we know it … he says that if I see a pork-laden bill come across my desk, one of those traditional earmarks, he's going to veto it and make that congressman famous."
Secy. Cisneros highlighted the importance of improving the Chicago region's infrastructure as well, and outlined two of Sen. Obama's proposed initiatives to do so.
"The answer to both the short-term economic downturn and the need to create jobs and re-stimulate the economy and also the longer-run challenge to the economy, which is to create a competitive economy, is infrastructure, an infrastructure that rivals what our economic rivals in Asia and in Europe are doing … Senator Obama knows the role of regional planning such as the Metropolitan Planning Council so that critical infrastructure dollars are applied to needs.
The transfer of containers from rail to truck, the increase in passenger rail capacity, the freight system here, passenger rail ridership, etc. All of these are critical pieces of what's going to have to be done in the Chicago area. There probably isn't another metropolitan area in the country that needs the infrastructure upgrading more than the Chicago area.
Barack Obama has offered two major initiatives that would prioritize infrastructure. One is an emergency economic plan of $25 billion jobs and growth fund to replenish the Highway Trust Fund. And the other, which he's been talking about now for the last year, is the National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank.
With a President Barack Obama, the opportunity to pass an infrastructure bank, which is long overdue, $60 billion to put into needed infrastructure, is key, over ten years. Leverage private dollars beyond that, and reform the federal transportation funding process so that prioritization is given to metropolitan areas with the collaboration of local leaders, public and private, to identify the needs.
Senator Obama has been on this agenda for a long time. Even when he was in the State Senate in Illinois , he sponsored a bill that created a coordinating mechanism for transportation to get low income workers out to where the jobs are now, out at the airport and in the outer suburbs. So increasing funding for infrastructure with an eye on jobs and people's needs has been a Barack Obama priority for a long time."
Over the past few years, the homeownership market in the U.S. has plummeted. In the first half of 2008, close to 1.5 million – or one in every 530 -- households filed for foreclosure. The nation's rental market is not a safe back up for families, especially as affordable options dwindle across the country. Nearly 43 percent of working families in America cannot afford local fair market rents. Furthermore, where housing is less expensive, jobs and other opportunities are scarce. Add to this the burden of todays as prices and infrastructure deficiencies, and it is no wonder traffic congestion and housing cost burdens continue to plague communities from coast to coast.
Thanks in great part to the increased participation of employers and municipalities, alongside traditional housing professionals. In education and advocacy efforts, Illinois has made strides in confronting these challenges. Business leaders are investing in housing solutions for the local workforce, as well as speaking up about how essential housing is to maintaining a competitive workforce. Similarly, municipal leaders – many working together to explore regional solutions to housing challenges -- are much more vocal about the need for state and federal policies that build community support and enable fresh thinking about zoning ordinances, building codes, and other barriers to affordable housing.
What will your candidate's administration do to revitalize the federal government's approach to housing? How will he reform the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development? What incentives and policies will he introduce to ensure federal housing dollars advance and inspire local housing strategies that support comprehensive planning and regional cooperation?
Secy. Cisneros pointed to the nation's current housing crisis and a top priority for the next president, whoever it is.
"We are here on a historic day, a day in which – I never thought I'd see come, when the federal government would have to step in and take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because this housing crisis has reached the point that it has truly had the potential to damage the entire not only national, but global economy. So the first set of initiatives are going to relate to trying to restimulate the housing markets, deal with the backlog of inventory of foreclosed properties, try to get the credit crunch addressed so that lending can begin again. Hopefully this measure today is part of that process. Senator Obama supports the measure that was taken today by Secretary Paulson because it is so critical.
Beyond dealing with the crisis will be addressing the crises that have been created by federal policy of the last eight years. So, restoring full funding to community development block grant funding … critical in the cities. This [Bush] administration wanted to end the program and send it to another department. Fully funding Section 8 public housing operating subsidies … hugely important in this city. We know how important public housing is in Chicago . And, acting on the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which was created by the recent legislation that was passed ... A whole series of practical things that focus on how HUD works instead of trying to denigrate it, marginalize it, diminish it, would be a part of a Barack Obama focus.
In the final analysis, partnerships to go forward like working with your, MPC's, employer assisted housing initiative, which is, I believe, the best in the country. You have circumstances here where 70 employers are now involved in trying to help their employees become homeowners. You have an experience with that program that has virtually zero foreclosure because it understood the significance of counseling and assistance."
Rep. Durkin outlined his candidates approach to helping America 's homeowners.
"John McCain clearly believes that there's nothing more important than keeping alive the American dream of owning a home … He believes that no taxpayer money should bail out real estate speculators or financial market participants who fail to perform due diligence in assessing credit risk. Assistance for borrowers shall be focused solely on the homeowners, and any government assistance to the banking system should be based on preventing systemic risk.
John McCain has proposed this home plan to help those hurt by the housing crisis, and so that every deserving owner will be afforded the opportunity to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan which reflects the home's market value. Senator McCain does support the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but he also believes that it needs to be stabilized, scaled down, and at some point they should be sent out to the private sector, they should be taken off the taxpayers' backs.
If there is a McCain presidency, one thing that I would ask him to do is to think out of the box. I would ask him to take a look at what other cities have done to promote growth, but also to keep housing affordable … And one thing we should look at is what's happened in the city of Houston. We should draw ideas from the model which they've created many years ago. Houston is considered the freest city in America . There's no major zoning on how property owners use their land. Because of this, Houston is the most affordable major city in America , where housing costs are approximately half of the major urban areas. Cities with zoning and strong planning authority, for example, Portland and San Jose , have the least affordable housing and the fastest growing congestion and the fastest growing taxes and declining services."
In closing, Gomez summarized the surrogates' messages as follows:
"Secretary, your essential thesis here, when it comes to housing, transportation, and economic development, is that Senator Obama has a unique position, being from a large urban area, having worked in an urban area, and that he will bring sort of more of a policy sort of focus on different issues to the White House, along with certain targeted assistance.
Rep. Durkin, the Cliffs Notes version of your answers to these three questions is that part of it involves a more responsible tax policy that supports growth, one that in some areas decreases regulation in terms of housing, and in other areas perhaps has a more watchful eye over lending practices and how federal money is doled out."
affordable housing, economic development, employer-assisted housing, home ownership, Housing, housing policy, public housing, Transportation, transportation planning, Urban development, urban planning
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Q: Nodejs Restify Collection/Array param I am in need to send multiple items over rest web service being developed over Nodejs + Restify. I can send single object e.g. User.
Suppose, my app got 10 - 100 users at once and want to upload on server via Restful web service developed in nodejs/restify. What would be good solution for this?

A: I managed to do that through a jQuery Ajax Request. You can see my post for the solution.
Post jQuery JSON Object to NodeJs Restify

A: You can put you array in a Json, and then send it to your web service in one url parameter using JSON.stringify(your json)

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