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2nd Installment of Booyah Books by Lisa
Booyah Books! A Little Madness In The Month of March
It was a mad, mad, mad, mad month for reading, and I'm so excited to be back to share some fantabulous finds with you. Or what I hope will be finds. Some of these books have been around for a while and I've just been über-slow finding them, so they may not be new to you. If you have already read them, then I hope you loved them as much as I did, because there's nothing else quite like falling in love with a great book.
I'm going to confess that I got a little bit stuck on two particular authors this month, so bear with me because, yeah, I was just blown away and I want to celebrate them. One author you all know quite well; the other, you might not know as well, but we'll see.
Though these authors write in different sub-genres—one writes primarily contemporary romance, while the other writes Alt U/Fantasy—what they both do equally well—no, what they do spectacularly—is to write with the sort of feeling that reaches out from the page and seizes you with its poetry. For someone like me who loves and needs to make an emotional connection to the characters and their struggles and triumphs, these authors deliver in a big way.
So, without further ado, here are my outstanding reads for March:
Amy Lane. What can I say about Ms. Amy that hasn't already been said? Her words speak to me on an entirely different plane than most contemporary romance authors. I knew this from the first few sentences of Talker and it's carried right through to Chase in Shadow, the story of a young man who, through a long and torturous journey of self denial, we watch slowly unravel like high tension wire from a wobbly spool, until he finally snaps and succumbs to the burden of attempting to be someone he's not.
There's a pain in Chase's past that haunts him, and it's all wrapped around an antagonistic relationship with his father that keeps Chase on the razor's edge of sanity throughout the book. Chase is one small step from the abyss that he peers into every time he becomes Chance, the alter ego he adopts that allows him to live the life he's meant to live, even if only for a little while. His story is a painful and beautiful exploration of the shadows we create in the darkest recesses of the heart and soul and mind when we accept the tenets of normalcy and reject who we truly are.
Chase and his lover Tommy exorcise demons and conquer fears and come through it all to find happiness in the end, but the way is littered with the debris of shattered truths and steadfast lies, which exacts a heavy toll from Chase, Tommy, Mercy, and from the reader, who suffers right along with them.
Buy Chase in Shadow http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2780&osCsid=tuugbpd98t46n5qbshtfbaemp5">HERE
My second Amy Lane recommendation is for anyone who loves fairy tales and loves to see them re-imagined, fractured and then reconstructed into something familiar yet wholly new. Truth in the Dark is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and I don't mind telling you that even though I knew what was coming, when it finally happened, it cut to the quick with the precision of an author whose words are as keen as the knives Naef uses to carve his creations.
This story scrambles what is beautiful, what is beastly, and shows that true monsters are often those disguised behind the mask of humanity. Through the ordination of the Fates and the whims of chance, Naef was assigned the burden of physical imperfection upon his birth, though as he grew, he recognized what beauty was and was able to translate it into his art, the perfect masterpieces he created with his imperfect hands. And though his body knew pain from his very first steps, it was his soul that came to know what true pain meant when the cruelty that lies within the hearts of man bled Naef of the gentleness he'd possessed, fracturing his belief in good and crippling his heart to match his body. He becomes "Knife", serrated and steeled, ready to impale the world that has never shown him an ounce of compassion.
But this is a fairy tale, and in every fairy tale there is a hero—in this case there are two heroes—one whose curse was unavoidable, and one whose curse far outweighed the infraction for which he was being punished. Aerie-Smith is a man who made the mistake of stealing a kiss from a faerie, and we all know there is always a price to be paid when dealing with the wee folk. And when dealing with the fae, we also know that that price often includes great sacrifice, and that sometimes that price is paid with blood, even when tears would be enough.
With eyes wide shut, Naef and Aerie-Smith discover the truth in the dark; they navigate with touch, feel with guarded hearts, and find that love and kindness and kinship are all it takes to transform.
Buy Truth in the Dark http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1879">HERE
My next featured author was new to me until just over a week ago, when a friend recommended one of her books to me. Since that moment, I have consumed, with a fierce and burning passion, every single word Carole Cummings has written—or at least has published. And believe me when I tell you that's no small feat, because Carole doesn't just write books; she writes epics, which translates to almost two thousand pages of wonder and drama and action that often left me speechless and in utter awe of her brilliance.
Carole's books are very much character driven, and while the stories take place in fantastical settings of magic and wonder, those worlds are the footnote to the keynote of her characters' lives and the challenges they face and ultimately, their evolution. These books are legend and legendary, lore and lyrical, mythology and mystery, and if there is such a thing as poetic prose, Carole has harnessed it, mastered it, and turned it loose to enchant and entertain.
The Aisling series is, at its most basic, a story of good versus evil, but where Carole's books are concerned, nothing is ever truly basic.
Wil Calder is a man who was dreamt into existence, tethered to the world and its people by what he is, yet is unanchored by his lack of connection to a history or even an identity that he can claim as his own. Wil has been made a tool to propagate the sinister plots of a man who would use him as a means to his own bid for power, against the gods themselves who have their own unique claim to Wil.
Where there is evil, there must be good to balance it, and Constable Dallin Brayden helps to bring that balance to Wil's life, though Dallin is unaware of exactly how he fits into the scheme of the universe and all its complexities. That is, until he meets Wil Calder and the picture is slowly and artfully revealed.
Wil and Dallin serve a grand purpose in the order of the relationship between man and his gods, and eventually, they serve an even grander purpose to each other. Duty, choice, honor, and ultimately, love and sacrifice coalesce until they are bound together by something so much bigger than themselves. Theirs is an evolution—the Heart of the World, the Beloved Son, finds his heart in a beloved son who was saved by a mother's love for a higher calling than he could ever have dreamt of.
Buy the Aisling series http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=57af351ea7cc5c28f3f86ed3c141eba1&keyword=carole+cummings&x=16&y=12">HERE
Wolf's-own, Carole's latest series, is high fantasy at its finest, a world so complex that it's impossible to sum it all up in a few tidy paragraphs. It is a world where war was waged against the race known as the Jin, who possess magic that is now outlawed by the ruling Adan, but where there is oppression, there is also aggression, and there are those who would see the Jin in power again, regardless of the cost.
Fen Jacin-rei and his twin brother Joori were born in the Wolf cycle, one spirit-bound, the other earth-bound. Jacin-rei is the Ghost; he is the conduit through which the spirits of the Ancestors speak. Jacin is the Untouchable, a young man shaped and honed by a pretender to the proverbial throne of power, a maniacal monster, a foe who bartered for Jacin's very soul, owned him, subjugated him to the point of ruin, then betrayed and lost him, set lose upon the world to find the one whose Heart's Blood could be tapped in a grandiose play to usurp the gods so the pretender might become savior and dictator to his race.
Fen Jacin-rei is a pawn in this game of gods and monsters, so broken and so strong, so vulnerable and so impenetrable, so utterly starved for touch and for love that he will deny himself those things to the point of insanity, for no other reason than he doesn't believe he deserves them. He lives with a madness not his own, and he's survived by inflicting pain upon his own body to contain the madness that resides within. Until he finds the Temshiel, that is; Wolf's-own, Malick, the favored child among all of Wolf's children, the man whom Fen has been ordered to deliver to the betrayer as a sacrifice, but it is the betrayer himself who will pay the price for his duplicity. It's difficult to play a game as dangerous as this, when no one plays by the rules and the game is constantly being manipulated in order to serve the purpose of each of its players.
And as is the case in a battle such as this, there are wins and there are losses, and those losses are painfully great and greatly painful. But there is also survival, if for nothing more than to honor the sacrifices of those who paid with their lives for the right to fight on the side of the just.
You can buy the first two books in the Wolf's-own series http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=carole+cummings&osCsid=tuugbpd98t46n5qbshtfbaemp5&x=41&y=16">HERE
And now that I've run the gamut of Amy Lane and Carole Cummings books for this month, how about a couple of honorable mentions as well?
Eden Winters' latest book, Diversion is the story of a career criminal whose conviction is being served in a rather unorthodox way. Lucky Lucklighter is now working on the right side of the law, helping to catch and convict the lawbreakers like he himself had once been. It's not working on the side of justice that brings Lucky redemption, though. No, redemption comes in the form of Bo Schollenberger, and that redemption doesn't come without a price. Check Diversion out http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Diversion.html">HERE.
Jordan Castillo Price's The Starving Years is a contemporary story that offers an alternate take on the present. Science has provided a viable food source called Manna that's both plentiful and easily produced, but where science and big business meet, there's always room for a little duplicity. Where there's money to be made and an unwitting public to be scammed, there are always those who will step up and demand that the truth be told and the offenders be punished.
Nelson, Javier, and Tim, with the help of a couple of strangers who quickly become allies are the Davids who fight to topple the Goliath of industrial deception, but the three men also find a little more along the way.
Check out The Starving Years http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/starving.html">HERE.
And until next month, happy reading!
Posted by Mary Calmes at 4:07 AM
Mika56 March 31, 2012 at 4:20 PM
Hi Mary I love ur books!!!!! They always keep me wanting more. I read The truth in the Dark by Amy Lane & it was really good.
Question Are u planning of doing a 4th book of Jin & Logan ?
Tuesday Update
Rainbow Book Fair
Release Day for Mine


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Crawling out of the dark A former convent in St. Boniface has quickly become an oasis for meth addicts who want their lives back; the force of nature running Morberg House and her staff just 'find a way' By: Melissa Martin, Jessica Botelho-Urbanski, Katie May Posted: 7:00 PM CST Friday, Dec. 21, 2018 Last Modified: 8:01 PM CST Friday, Dec. 21, 2018 Updates
Save to Read Later
Under a beam of morning sun, Ricky Aitken is bent over a table, jotting long lines on a sheet of paper. Lyrics, he explains. He wants to be a rapper. He's seen hip-hop artists from Winnipeg succeed, and that is also his dream.
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/12/2018 (1500 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
At 31, Aitken has the space to dream again, that's the main thing. He has a new foundation, a reassuring solidity under his feet. He knows where he stands now. For years, crystal meth had knocked him down.
He'd used it before, as a teen, though he didn't like it much then. But in December 2015, he met a woman who used meth, and started doing it with her. It started out as a "sex drug," he says, but before long, it wasn't just that anymore.
Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press Ricky Aitken has been in and out of detox many times trying to kick his addiction to meth.
From there, Aitken's life spun out of control, a path familiar to many heavy users. Once an athletic six-foot-one basketball player at Dakota Collegiate, muscle began to melt off his bones. He wasted away, falling deeper into meth's world.
Walking down the street, he heard an endless chorus of offers: "want some ish?" someone would ask, using a slang term for meth that experts say seems to be unique to Manitoba. He shudders now, as he repeats the familiar words.
The terror common to heavy meth users gnawed at him. The crashes got worse. Once, near the end of a long binge, he found himself dashing down the middle of Pembina Highway, trying to escape the shadowy figures close behind.
Another time, he had a hallucination that his family was being kidnapped. Something told him the only way to save them was to smash a cinder block on his leg. He did it right there on the street, to the horror of a cyclist passing by.
Aitken saw things in those months that he still struggles to speak about. Things that left him traumatized.
And yet he could not quit the drug. He tried many times, falling into and out of detox. He slept on friends' couches. When he was on a binge, he'd roam for hours, once marching a full 13 kilometres from St. Boniface to the Grace Hospital.
"Just like it was nothing," he says. "And then walking back."
This is not a story about the depths of addiction, though. It is a story about hope. Because somewhere in that darkness, in the wreckage that meth had made from Aitken's life, a hospital social worker tossed him a lifeline.
A place called Morberg House. A place where he could live and try to stay clean. He got a bed there July 16.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Morberg House, a transitional home for men with addiction. Most of the clients there are meth users. Ricky Aitken walks down the stairs past beautiful hand painted murals in Morberg House. 181211 - Tuesday, December 11, 2018.
Aitken was nervous at first; he didn't know what to expect. But soon after he moved in, taking up a bed in a sprawling old Provencher Boulevard house, he felt the protective walls he'd built around himself start to come down.
"I've got a family now," he thought as he settled in. "I've got a brotherhood."
It felt good then, he says. It feels good now. It feels like the healthiest thing in the world.
Over the last week, the Free Press has explored the story of meth in Manitoba: the damage it wreaks on city streets; the way it strains front-line resources; the people caught in its grip, trying to break free.
Now, at the end, the story takes a sharp turn as it begins to climb out of the darkness towards lights glimmering in the distance. It follows a map left by those who have gone before, leading the way to recovery.
It's easy to feel helpless in the face of a surging epidemic. But those lights grow brighter each day.
Compassion, kindness help stem the meth tide
Courts caught in meth's crosshairs
A desperate mother pleads for someone — anyone — in government to save her meth-addicted son's life
Higher numbers of women, girls seeking treatment for methamphetamine use
City's first responders in nightly battle to find traction on streets dusted with meth
Ice storm: How meth is holding Manitoba hostage
Indigenous-issues columnist, trio who revealed depth of meth crisis among Canada's best
The hope is hard-won. Crystal meth, experts say, can be a notoriously difficult addiction to treat. There is no medication that helps curb the cravings, nothing equivalent to methadone treatment to ease out of opioid addiction.
Meth is a powerful drug. It overwhelms the mind. It floods the brain with dopamine at nearly 1,100 per cent of its baseline levels, nearly four times the effect of cocaine. In time, that inhibits the brain's ability to produce its own.
Brain function scans show it can take up to two years for recovering users' to regain normal dopamine levels.
In the meantime, they may go through months where they are unable to feel pleasure, drifting through life in an oppressive grey fog. Nothing matters. Nothing feels good. For months, a healing meth user will feel no joy at all.
"People don't recover from meth addiction without some sort of support," says Addictions Foundation of Manitoba lead educator Sheri Fandrey. "Other addictions they might be able to do it, but I don't think it's possible with meth.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sheri Fandrey, AFM's lead educator, says those recovering from meth addictions require long-term support.
"You need somebody in your corner, some positive influence. When it takes 12, 15, 18 months before you start to feel pleasure normally again, that's asking a lot… when they know their symptoms will go away if they start using again."
And they must also come face-to-face with their trauma while slogging through the fog of recovery.
That is the root of most addictions, many researchers believe. It is pain, radiating from all the places where communities are broken: poverty, for instance. Or family violence, social dislocation, the child-welfare system.
"Addiction isn't the issue," says Mike Millard, a recovered addict who now helps others via the Crystal Meth Anonymous support group. "Addiction is the solution the person has come up with to solve the trauma they've experienced."
And there is the violence that swirls around crystal meth, along with abuse and sexual exploitation. If users aren't already wrestling with trauma when they first turn to the drug, they almost always are by the time they try to quit.
RYAN THORPE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Recovered meth addict Mike Millard: 'We don't have an addiction problem in Manitoba. We have a living problem in Manitoba.'
That trauma can fester, fermenting into feelings of shame. In time, the drug becomes the one thing making life bearable for heavy users, even when it is also what is tearing their lives apart. So how can they learn to stop?
"We don't have an addiction problem in Manitoba," Millard says. "We have a living problem in Manitoba. And it goes much, much deeper than $10 for a point of crystal meth and that mega-cheap high. It's the 'why' people are using."
All of these factors conspire to make meth a difficult addiction to overcome. It's even harder when poverty and social marginalization keep users trapped in toxic environments, surrounded by unhealthy people, teetering on the edge.
In 2012, Australian researchers found that nearly half the users who went through residential rehab were still clean after three months. But the success rate plummeted quickly: three years later, only 12 per cent of users abstained.
Going only to a short-term detox, meanwhile, showed no effect at all in helping people stay off the drug.
Regular meth users in Manitoba describe the same vicious cycle. They shuttle from the street to detox, then to 28-day treatment facilities, before being released to their usual haunts, where they quickly relapse.
This cycle can confound experts. Dr. James Bolton, medical director for the 24-hour Crisis Response Centre on Bannatyne Avenue, characterizes meth's challenges as being "uncharted waters" for local health-care providers.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dr. Erin Knight (right), medical director for the addictions unit at HSC with Dr. James Bolton, medical director of the 24-hour Crisis Response Centre.
"We need evidence-based strategies to guide us, and there are many evidence-based strategies in addictions," he says. "But meth is something that's really pushed our limits about how we understand this drug and what it's doing to people."
To survive crystal meth — as individuals and communities — it will take more than just funding, or government reports, or changes to our addiction-support systems.
It will take a village. But that's the good news: it means everyone has a little bit of power to help get us through.
"Most people do well once they get to a treatment centre," Marion Willis announces. "It's not really long enough to really dig deep into the underlying root cause of your addiction, or to really identify any mental-health challenges.
"But it is long enough to basically have that period of coming down, and to learn a little bit about yourself. Learn a little bit about addiction. Maybe learn some coping skills so that when you come out, you can make better choices."
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Morberg House executive director Marion Willis says a treatment centre is not the best model to address the meth crisis.
Or at least, Willis adds, that's the hope. That's the idea. The problem is what actually happens after folks leave.
"You're right back in the environment that fed everything for you," she says. "Relapse is almost a guarantee, and I don't think anybody who works in a treatment centre would disagree with me. They've always had revolving doors.
"That suggests to me that maybe that's not the best model. And I can tell you, it's not the best model to address the meth crisis."
Willis is holding court over Morberg House's living room from behind her stout, paper-strewn desk on this Tuesday morning. House staffers and residents amble through on their way from one meeting to the next.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Morberg House offers a transitional home for those with addiction.
Sun streams in through the rambling old house's large south-facing window. Willow, the resident Labrador puppy, scampers around a trio of visiting reporters, chewing an old shoe, claws clattering a ruckus on the hardwood floor.
The room feels friendly and warm. A tinsel-strewn Christmas tree glitters in the corner. Above the stairs leading to Morberg House's second-floor bedrooms there is a jewel-toned mural painted by renowned artist Leonard Bighetty.
He's in palliative care now, with cancer. Before that, he was an artist who struggled with homelessness and often crossed paths with Willis. He lived at Morberg House for a while; they set him up in an art studio on the third floor.
"He created a huge body of work from there," Willis says softly. "It's a wonderful gift to this house."
Willis is both the executive director of Morberg House and, in a way, its spiritual keystone. She's a natural raconteur, effortlessly loquacious and possessed of a certain dramatic flair; she occasionally refers to herself in the third person.
"If you took Marion Willis out of this, could it still survive?" she muses. "I think so, yeah. Who's indispensable in life? Nobody. You just have to find the right kind of people to do this. What am I here? Just somebody here who's older."
Yet there is more to it than that. Willis is unflappable, nothing seems to shock her. Morberg House residents, sensing that, come to trust her; Aitken describes Willis as "the mother (he) never had." It gives his recovery a familial structure.
"When I let her down, it's like, 'I'm such a piece of s–t,'" he says. "But when I do good, I feel so good inside."
Aitken is one of eight men living here now, though with renovations complete, bringing the building up to code, Willis hopes to increase the occupancy to 12. And the number could rise again when the basement is refinished.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Michael Adrian, a practicum student, plays with Willow in the kitchen of Morberg House.
The residents here are diverse, in all ways except one. They range in age from 21 to 67. One was once a successful white-collar professional before he lost everything to his addiction. Others have lived much of their lives on the street.
But all of them wrestle with addiction. For most, it's crystal meth.
It wasn't always like that. When Morberg House opened in August 2016, after the former convent was donated to Willis's St. Boniface Street Links outreach program, most of the first residents were alcoholics.
"Four months in, it would almost be as though somebody flipped a switch," Willis says. "It wasn't alcohol anymore. It wasn't drugs that we were accustomed to. It was meth…. And none of us had any great understanding of the drug."
Morberg House had no budget at the time. It wasn't even a registered non-profit; that designation wasn't approved until earlier this week. Still, Willis was undaunted. She'd do what she always did: figure it out as things went along.
That's always been the mantra of the place, she says with a laugh — "We will find a way." Staff say it all the time.
"We didn't really have a plan," she says. "We certainly didn't have any money. It had been a dream, not necessarily an action plan."
What she did have was a wealth of insight. For three years, she'd spent time with Faron Hall — Winnipeg's "homeless hero," who died in 2014 — and about 30 other people who eked out life on the riverbank.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Morberg House honours Winnipeg's 'homeless hero' Faron Hall on its sign.
Hall, an Indigenous man who rescued two people in the Red River — in separate incidents — was the catalyst for the Street Links organization. In a cruel turn, Hall drowned in the Red River in August 2014.
Willis says the Street Links organization and Morberg House are inextricably linked to Hall and his friends.
Over the years, Willis asked them what they needed. After all, she says breezily, they're the experts. What would it take to get them into housing? What would it take to help them beat their addictions? They were always clear with…
She's interrupted by a knock on the door. A man trundles in, holding something heavy in a plastic shopping bag.
"Pardon," he says with a French accent. "I'm just visiting. I've brought a turkey."
Just like Santa Claus, Willis says brightly, and waves him through to the kitchen. She explains that he's just someone from the community who likes what Morberg House is doing. A week earlier he brought a sack of potatoes weighing more than 20 kilos.
And he's not the only one. Another St. Boniface resident sometimes swings by with cookies. The nearby No Frills donates enough food to keep the house's three big freezers full.
"That is the success of this place, by the way," Willis says. "Everybody has a relationship with the people in this house. They're very much embraced by the larger community."
Sweet coffee and a bitter, relentless foe
By: Katie May
The only way he could drink coffee was if it tasted like a chocolate bar. Progress, it turned out, was extremely sweet and difficult to come by.
A few long months ago, 35-year-old Myron Bateman was flat on his back on a vinyl-covered foam mat on the floor, staring at the ceiling in Main Street Project's Martha Street shelter. He made up his mind, got yet another detox intake form and started all over again that same day.
At three months clean he was still living in the 30-bed detox centre, where the security cameras feed into paranoid conspiracy theories and new residents mumble about all the secrets in this place.
Over that time, he regained about 50 pounds. The sugar cravings were still there — the brain's attempt to rebuild obliterated dopamine receptors. So were flickers of psychosis, flashes of visual hallucinations in which images of people he knew appeared before his eyes. He called them "glitches," leftover from his years as a crystal meth-powered machine.
"I'm coming back piece by piece," he said.
Like so many hit hard by meth, Bateman was rebuilding in baby steps, needing more time to recover than systems are normally set up to allow.
"There is a way out of this. The way out of this is to find a resource," he said in an interview in late November. "But to be coming off crystal meth on your own, it is almost next to impossible. You need supports to help you along the way and it's a 24-hour-a-day thing."
He'd been given extensions of the usual 14-day detox period, and he was eventually able to get his own apartment. He was kicked out of his previous 28-day residential program after he tested positive for amphetamines, and he went back into treatment a day after meeting with a Free Press reporter and photographer.
Bateman said detox was like his "sanctuary" and that more detox beds are needed. Next year's planned expansion of Main Street Project into the former Mitchell Fabrics building around the corner will make way for its entire Martha Street space to be devoted to detox. It's the only program in the city that allows drug users to come in while they're still intoxicated.
"It's a different world we're dealing with today," said Tahl East, Main Street Project's program director of detoxification and stabilization.
"We see numbers increasing, we see more and more of the same people coming back, because it's that difficult."
Bateman had been homeless for 18 years, since his mother died, and that's around the time he started using meth. Back then, he considered it a "delicacy" at $40 a point — four times what it costs today. Not that he very often had to pay. For years, he was the muscle for a criminal organization he says kept him well-supplied with the drug.
"I was easily led by people all my life. I wanted to be somebody that somebody feared, which is completely stupid now, when I think about it," he said.
"I grew up in the suburbs of St. Vital, believe it or not. I got my Grade 12 education, but I always wanted to be a badass. So I went wherever trouble was."
Eventually, he was so strung out and unpredictable that the higher-ups told him not to come back, he said. He'd become too scary even for them. And to himself.
"Crystal meth unlocks your worst fears. That's what it uses against you," he said.
When he showed up at the detox centre in the summer, he was thin, sick and wanted to be left alone. His left eye was badly scratched — a tear to his cornea — from when he believed his tears were made of glass and tried to get them out.
"He couldn't speak English," said Main Street Project peer advocate Phil Goss, grunting wildly in demonstration.
"He scared a lot of people because of his size, but he didn't scare me…. Basically what I was getting was, 'I need help.'
"I knew what he was saying. I used to speak that language."
Goss was addicted to meth in the 1960s and '70s, and he said he never imagined the drug would take hold as forcefully as it has today. He sees potential in each of the users he encounters, including Bateman.
"I hope that one day (Bateman) can carry this on and help someone else," Goss said. "He will. He certainly has the desire."
Bateman has since relapsed, as so many meth users do, and Main Street Project staff say they'll be there when he decides to return.
katie.may@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Anyway, as Willis was saying, what she learned from the men on the riverbank was that their needs weren't difficult to understand. They needed somewhere safe to live. They also needed fewer obstacles on their path to recovery.
No more waiting for treatment. No more struggling to make health-care appointments. For the most vulnerable people trying to heal, those sorts of things can be the biggest barriers.
It's hard to get social support if you can't show ID. It's hard to get ID if you don't have an address. Getting into treatment isn't much help if it takes months to get in, and you're barely cobbling together day-to-day life as it is.
So when Morberg House — the actual house — fell into her lap, Willis filled using those guiding principles. Get everyone a safe place to live. Help them one-on-one to access the various things they need. Go with the flow.
Above all, she thought, the place had to be a home. People needed to feel loved there, not just housed.
"We need to always be very adaptable, very flexible," she says. "Every single person in this house has a different story to tell… you really have to be responsive to that individual and not have everything be so regulated and rigid."
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Main Street Project client, Myron Bateman, is going through the detox program.
It all seems so obvious, when it's put that way. Find out what people need; get them what they need; support them while they heal themselves. So why, amidst endless studies of best practices, does this approach seem so radical?
"We tend to always be looking for very complex solutions to seemingly complex challenges," Willis says. "And sometimes it's just not that complicated. Really, if you think about what goes on out there, people who end up addicted, and they end up losing everything, and they end up on the street, well, you end up in survival mode."
The Morberg House model is what Willis calls "high-support transitional housing." When a new resident moves in, they help build a personalized care plan. Every day, they sit down with staff to see how they're moving through it.
If they need a ride to the doctor, staff will take them. If they just need to talk, there's time for that, too. Each week, there are new goals, new steps they can take, learning how to carry more of the weight of their own, sober lives.
There is no time limit on Morberg House residencies. The men who are there can stay as long as they need to. When they're ready, they can transition into their own sober-living apartment, rented in St. Boniface Street Links' name.
How long that takes varies. Some residents move out within a couple of months; others stay more than a year. Willis has found that four to six months seems to be the sweet spot for most residents to be ready to leave.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS While there's no time limit for residents of Morberg House, Willis says four to six months is generally the sweet spot for many.
If they relapse while out there, that's OK. They can just move back and try again. Relapses are part of the process and staff take them in stride. The only thing that can get someone barred is violence.
"There's no such thing as failure here," Willis says. "It's just, 'OK, maybe there's still some things we need to do.'"
What that means is that at Morberg House, there is a broader definition of success than simply not using. If clients relapse, they don't lose everything. They don't have to start over from scratch, the way they did back on the street.
That approach seems to work. Over time, staff have observed, clients' relapses become shorter and less intense. Each time they climb out of one, the men seem to learn a little bit more about how to exist drug-free in the world.
"I don't want to jinx myself," Aitken says of his sobriety. "I've told (my family) so many times (that) I'm done for good, and I relapsed after I said that. I'm going to do the best that I can. That's what I'm saying now."
Since August 2016, more than 200 men have walked through the doors of Morberg House. At least 80 per cent of them, Willis says, are "doing well." That doesn't mean they never relapsed; it does mean that they are moving forward.
"It's not the relapses," she says, with a little shrug. "It's how you handle them."
Meanwhile, Willis watched as residents built their own Morberg House culture. The men tend to "bro up," she says, forging intimate and supportive bonds that stretch across their demographic gaps. They look out for each other.
Not long ago, one resident returned to the house intoxicated. While a night staffer dealt with the situation, residents gathered to affirm that the house needed to remain sober. They are invested in its success.
That, Willis says, is the key to it all. For many residents, everyone in the home — staff, each other — becomes the "family they never had," she says. A family that understands addiction, that can look at it together, without judging.
"If we could take an approach where, let's join hands as a family and see how we get through this, that's far better than a very institutional approach where you have one model for everybody and very scripted programs," she says.
Plus, it's cheaper than an institution. For each occupied bed, Morberg House receives a little over $700 from social assistance; enough to cover one pay period. The rest of its budget comes through a patchwork of private donations.
To Willis, that funding model means freedom. Government money comes with a lot of paperwork, and various strings attached. Funded on its own, Morberg House is free to evolve, to do what staff think needs to be done.
Still, the house isn't flush with cash. So they find a way. To staff it, for instance, Willis created a partnership with Brandon University, to give practicum space to psychiatric nursing students. Two are scheduled to arrive in February.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Arthur Weldon (from left), occupational therapist with St. Boniface Street Links; Patrick Mandelin, resident; and Robert Lidstone, program co-ordinator at St. Boniface Street Links, in the kitchen of Morberg House.
To think it started with just a free house, some chutzpah and a vision. But if you have a house, Willis says, and can engage the community, then "wonderful things happen." In this way, Morberg House isn't only a place; it is also an invitation.
"It's a really unusual model. I know that," she says. "It's different. And it's very simple, really. We just went out and found ways to make this work. Who would have thought that community partnerships would be so easy to find?"
Which brings her to another point. All around the meth crisis hangs the spectre of money: how much it is costing Manitoba and how much it will take to stem the tide. It seems, sometimes, as though every resource is stretched thin.
Willis sees it differently. There's enough money out there, she thinks; it's just not always spent in the right places.
At the end of the day, it can be simple. Figure out what people with addiction need to survive. Then get them a safe place to live and fill it with love and time — to heal, to try. Time to build a life that can hold them.
"Don't overthink the solutions," Willis says. "We're all human beings. We all have basically the same human needs, even the most fractured person. Can we put them all back together? I don't know. But even the most fractured person who comes through here is much better by the time they leave."
It takes a village to raise a child, as everyone knows. What is less often said is that we still need that village, long after we're grown.
Dane Bourget surveys the room, counting as he looks around. Eight people, him included. It seems too low.
Almost every day, news headlines scream about the rampant rise in meth use in Winnipeg and the random, shocking violence it causes. The mayor and police chief recently joined forces to warn about a dire strain on municipal resources they blamed directly on the drug.
And yet, at this self-help meeting — the weekly gathering that's helped the 36-year-old Bourget stay away from meth for the past four years — there are only eight people present. Where are the rest?
"I just kind of got the feeling that something more needed to be done and I needed to create something different," Bourget says. "If we're kinda sitting back waiting for everybody to come to us, it might never happen."
He'd heard about Toronto's withdrawal management centres and their direct phone lines that connect people to the quickest available treatment. There wasn't anything like that in Winnipeg yet, and he thought it could be a key piece of the puzzle.
So in August, Bourget launched a different method to reach meth users directly.
Along with Robert Lidstone, his former treatment-centre roommate, Bourget set up a Facebook group and founded Jib Stop, a volunteer-run phone line staffed by about 10 Winnipeggers who are all in recovery from meth addiction.
They got some money from a private donor to buy a cellphone they now pass around, returning callers' messages within 24 hours to guide them through the gaps in Manitoba's addiction-treatment and recovery systems.
The phone number is 204-904-7867 (STOP). That's where people can call to be connected to help.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Donald Mestdagh, a resident of Morberg House, with his cat, Fluffy. He's been a resident on and off for two years.
The biggest issue, Bourget says, is the wait. Even since the September opening of new walk-in Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine clinics, users trying to quit can still be left in the lurch.
"It's hard to navigate the system. It's hard to wait. It's probably the biggest cause of people not recovering… is the wait times," he says.
As of Nov. 30, maximum wait times for AFM residential treatment centres in Winnipeg were 46 days for men, 255 days for women. Coed treatment centres had waits ranging from 39 to 90 days, AFM's figures showed.
For youths, there was a four-day waiting period. An AFM spokeswoman said not everyone requires residential treatment, and that waits for non-residential treatment programs are shorter — from a day or two to a few weeks.
Making the most of that time is important — and that's where the phone line comes in. Since it got off the ground a few weeks ago, Jib Stop has mostly received messages from family members of addicts. Volunteers point them toward existing community resources while offering the comfort of a listening ear.
They want to help people stay hopeful even if they face a long wait for treatment, because they both know how important it is to have someone to talk to. Having someone who understands what you're going through is a key.
"We want to be able to help them figure out a strategy," Lidstone says. "We really see all the images of despair and hopelessness, and we know that can de-motivate people. And motivation is so crucial with recovery from this drug."
But their goal is to hear from addicts. On that end, they have plans to expand — in the future, they'd like to set up a buddy program, matching users with Jib Stop volunteers who can go to meth recovery meetings with them.
"There's just kind of a magic to what happens between peers that we think is an important part of the puzzle," Lidstone says.
He credits Bourget with helping him in his recovery — he's about six months sober after using meth on and off for 10 years — and they both want to do what they can to support other Manitobans going through the same thing.
"I know from personal experience the suicidal ideation that goes on after a period of meth using, just the utter self-loathing, the despair. I know how that feels," Lidstone says. "It's made all the difference to me to have people like Dane in my life."
For Bourget's part, he says he feels a need to pay it forward. Just like others did for him when it was his time to struggle out of addiction: a chain of compassion, stretching back and forward, leading the way to a healthier life.
"The only reason why I'm here is because other people who got better spent time on me," he says. "They stuck around to save my life, so it's the minimum I can do, you know?"
It will take a lot more work to heal a province from the meth epidemic. Everyone the Free Press spoke to has something on their wish list — more detox beds, shorter wait-lists for treatment, more long-term rehab options.
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman wants to see a national strategy to deal with illicit drugs, a more secure border to prevent substances from coming into Canada, and more resources.
"It's meth today. It could be another drug (in) years to come," he says. "Unless all governments put greater resources into helping with mental health, addictions and homelessness, we're not going to be adequately addressing the crisis we're seeing right now."
PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dane Bourget (right) and Robert Lidstone are founders of a volunteer hotline called Jib Stop.
Those are the big-ticket items, the ones that need to shift entire complex systems. But the change can also begin closer to the grassroots. It can begin in neighbourhoods and in workplaces. It can begin with outstretched hands.
Take work, for example. Before he was caught in meth addiction, Millard was a successful consultant. The drug took his livelihood and most of everything else. He realized it would take years for people to trust him again.
While he worked to get back on his feet, a local construction company aware of his situation, offered him a job. Millard's eyes glisten as he talks about what it meant; he works hard to prove that faith was well-placed.
A job, an invitation to work, a chance to rebuild pride in one's life. To get out of addiction, he says, a person first has to want it. But they also need someone on the other side, he adds, who is waiting to accept them.
"I started thinking about all the people that have come across my path in recovery, that have just believed in me a little bit, and that little bit was enough to get me to the next stage," he says. "Some of them were paid to do it. A lot of them were volunteers. My current employers took a chance on me when I was living in a sober-living facility.
"How do we make the meth epidemic a human problem?" he continues. "Acknowledge there's a stigma, but help the community understand that there's something that everyone can do."
Now, it seems, that message is sinking in. As the year speeds to its conclusion, the tone of some people on the front lines of the meth epidemic is noticeably changing. Hope is creeping in.
In September, AFM educator Fandrey gave a presentation about meth to a trio of Free Press reporters. At the time, she was frank about Manitoba's systemic progress in stemming the crisis.
"We're in survival mode," she said then.
Just three months later, Fandrey was far more optimistic. The tide seemed to be turning. She was about to testify before the House of Commons' hearings about meth, initiated at the behest of Winnipeg Liberal MP Doug Eyolfson.
At community meth-information meetings and workshops across the city, she'd seen how professionals from different sectors — law enforcement, health care, non-profits — were trading notes. People who can help, forging connections.
Across Manitoba, bridges are being built. Slowly, at first, or at least not entirely visible to the public. But their bones are rising.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mayor Brian Bowman: 'It's meth today. It could be another drug (in) years to come.'
"We are starting to be a bit more proactive," she says. "We still have a ways to go, and I think everybody would acknowledge that. But I don't feel quite as overwhelmed as I did in September."
One by one, changes started to ripple through systems. In September, the first RAAM clinic opened in Winnipeg, couched within the 24-hour Crisis Response Centre on Bannatyne Avenue. Four more locations — another in Winnipeg and three in Selkirk, Brandon and Thompson, respectively — followed in subsequent weeks.
Based off a popular low-barrier model in Ontario, the clinics aim to streamline the process for people seeking help for their addictions. Rather than bounce from emergency department to general practitioner or counsellors, patients get an initial assessment and a nudge in the right direction — to detox, treatment or anywhere else they might need to go.
The clinics are not a perfect solution. Their limited schedules have drawn skepticism from both politicians and the general public. The centre on Bannatyne, for example, is open three afternoons a week for two hours at a time.
One nurse, who spoke to the Free Press on condition of anonymity, says she hesitates to even recommend the RAAM option to meth users.
"Most of these people don't have a phone or a watch. They don't know what time it is. They don't know what day it is," she says. "It seems like such a ridiculous idea, like 'OK, we'll offer you services, but you can only come in for this very tiny, short period of time.'"
Dr. Erin Knight, medical director for the addictions unit at Health Sciences Centre, says RAAM clinics' volume of patients can ebb and flow, along with their hours. The clinics see an average of eight people a day during walk-in hours; about one-third of them cite meth as their primary drug.
"We have clinics sometimes where we do, unfortunately, have to ask people to return to the next clinic, but we also have clinics where we don't fill up," she says, noting they often meet with patients for longer periods of time than scheduled.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Fandrey: 'We are starting to be a bit more proactive.'
It's too early to tell whether the clinics can make a dent in the problem, whether the province will be any better off six months or a year from now because of them, Knight says. But they are a template for changes yet to come.
"I think one of the key things with the RAAM launch was that this is kind of the first step of rapid access in Manitoba," she says. "It's never been intended that this is where it's going to end."
While the province has touted some evidence-based approaches, such as the clinics, it has decried others, such as supervised-consumption sites. A WRHA-led group is studying the effectiveness of the latter option now and its findings are expected by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, other systemic changes are pending. The Manitoba government has issued a request for proposals seeking one or more providers to build 15 more residential beds for mental-health and addictions treatment.
On Tuesday, all three levels of government announced the creation of a new meth task force, something advocates had hoped for. Its first report is due out in six months, though implementation of its recommendations may take longer.
Any amount of time can seem like an eternity to people desperately trying to hang on. Still, it means we're further ahead now than we were.
"There are enough bright lights," Fandrey says. "Enough of them are out there to make me think that we're going to find a way. And I'm hoping that way becomes the standard operating procedure that we will carry on into the future."
In the end, she says, the keys to that evolution are simple. It's not the services people fall through; it's the cracks.
"Always communicate well," she says. "Always transition better. And get better at meeting people where they're at."
Back at Morberg House, the phones keep on ringing. A man calls from prison, hoping he can move in after he gets released on Christmas Eve. There are calls like that every day, referred by hospitals, rehabs or the Main Street Project.
Sometimes, men turn up at the front door, tears on their cheeks, nowhere else to go with detox full, a rehab bed weeks away. Even without an open bed Willis takes them under her wing like a den mother, at least for a meal and a shower.
It's hard to turn people away, she says. But they have to. Morberg House has become a desirable place to be.
The day rolls on, a casual sort of chaos, a dozen individual needs coming together and moving apart. One house staffer gets the donated turkey ready for dinner. A visitor arrives to take one of the residents, a friend, out for lunch.
Willis has good news for Ricky Aitken: he's been accepted into a new baking certification program at Red River College. The only problem is the location in a blighted patch of Main Street that Aitken calls Hell City.
"So even though it's the opportunity for you of a lifetime in terms of schooling, you'll have to think about your recovery, and how vulnerable you are to relapse," Willis says, as she hands Aitken the acceptance letter.
Aitken nods, solemnly. He spreads the letter on the table in front of him and ponders it carefully, as if it were a royal proclamation. Or as though it might simply vanish. When he looks up again, his eyes are guileless and shining.
"No one's ever done this for me before," he says.
Maybe that's it, that's the spark. That's the magic that makes Morberg House work, and not just that house, but all places where people find healing. It's the open hands, the spaces carved out to be held, the words of compassion.
Building this sort of model isn't easy. It takes a lot of love. It takes a lot of patience. It takes a lot of people who are willing to go into the trenches and belay the ropes to help others climb out. Neighbours, advocates, recovered users.
But the cost of not trying is far higher, in both money and hope. The price tag of not trying can be seen in the broken lives struggling daily on Winnipeg's streets. Trauma that digs sharp claws into everything it touches. Fear. Despair.
Winnipeg was not submerged in crystal meth overnight. It will not rise above it overnight, either. But with each day that passes the road out becomes a little wider, built by a multitude of Manitobans who want only to keep trying.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dr. Erin Knight says the RAAM clinics see an average of eight people a day during walk-in hours.
Willis has a meeting this week — when was it again? Her calendar is so full these days — for which she is very hopeful. This could be the one, she thinks, that helps pave the way for her next big vision: an apartment block.
That's the dream, she says. If St. Boniface Street Links could manage an entire building, it could turn several floors into transitional, supported sober housing. Other floors could be used for various programs and staff.
It would be an enormous undertaking, she knows. But it would open up so many more options. They could help so many more people. They could expand their services to include women, now one of Willis' most pressing goals.
"I just think we could do it," she says. "I just need like-minded people. If nothing else, our outcomes speak for themselves. And that's the people who have been through here. You don't have to take my word for it — this works.
"Does everybody leave here fully healed?" she continues, and answers her own rhetorical question. "I don't know if any of us are fully healed, we're all on a journey of some sort. But we leave here much more fully positioned to do better."
With that, she leans forward, narrows her eyes to a hawk-like focus, and raps her fingers on her desk.
"Yeah, I want an apartment building," she says.
In this moment, warm in this house built on a foundation of community and dedication, surrounded by men who call her a surrogate mother, nothing seems more evident. She'll get it; somehow, it's going to happen.
Willis leans back in her chair, and a sly smile dances over her lips. "I wouldn't bet against me," she says.
melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca
jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS 'I don't know if any of us are fully healed, we're all on a journey of some sort. But we leave here much more fully positioned to do better.' says Morberg House executive director Marion Willis.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Meth Feature: Main Street Project. Detox Interviews at the detox centre with Phil Goss, Peer Advocate at Main Street Project. Katie May story. Nov 26th, 2018
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ricky Aitken
Katie May is a general-assignment reporter for the Free Press.
Melissa Martin
Reporter-at-large
Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.
Updated on Friday, December 21, 2018 7:57 PM CST: Fixes misspelled name
Updated on Friday, December 21, 2018 8:01 PM CST: Fixes typo
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We have teamed up with Viktorianz who will provide tailored Tours of India for you. Below we provide information on some of the most interesting places to visit. Also on this page there are links to sample holidays with prices.
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Rajasthan No state in India is as rich in magnificent palaces and forts, colourful festivals and Bazaars as Rajasthan. The western end of Rajasthan has the Thar Desert - the Desert Triangle comprising of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner. The eastern plains has the bustling state capital Jaipur and the Ranthambore National Tiger Park. In the south are fairy like palaces, lakes and forts and spectacular Jain Temples.
Central India offers some of the countries best national parks, such as Bandhavgarh, Pench, Kanha and Tadoba, which provide the chance of seeing India's wildlife up close. The accommodation around the parks is also first rate so if you want to experience true wilderness on your trip a visit to this region is highly recommended.
Assam is in the very top north east corner of India. It straddles the Bramaputra River's and its fertile flood plain. Assam is known for its many tea estates with their acacia trees providing shade for the tea plants. The Assamese people are proud of their own distinct culture and traditions. The ladies wear bright vibrant colours and you will find the people very friendly. The gamosa, a red and white scarf is a subtle mark of national costume worn by the men. Its national parks protect a range of wildlife including the one horned rhino, herds of wild elephant, tiger, leopard, the India bison, wild buffalo and hoards of wonderful birds equal to anywhere in the world.
Delhi is India's third largest city with a population of some 16 million people. Its importance was derived from its location on the main north-south and east-west route.
Agra was the capital of the Mughal empire during the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting artisans from Persia, Central Asia and India during the construction of the vast forts or palaces, mausoleums and gardens. It's most famous building is the Taj Mahal one of the great wonders of the World.
Himachal Pradesh. Popularly known as the Land of the Gods, the state's terrain rises from the foothills of the Shivaliks bordering the plains of the Punjab and extends to the Himalayan heights bordering Jammu & Kashmir and Tibet. The capital Shimla was famous as the summer capital of the British Raj as they escaped the heat of the plains. Also Dharamshala, the home to the Dalai Lama and a vibrant Tibetan community, the home of the Tibetan Government in exile. To the north are lands of rugged grandeur, with Buddhist monasteries clinging to the rock faces.
Lying on the southern slope of the Himalaya range, two of India's mightiest rivers, the Ganga and the Yamuna take birth in the glaciers of Uttarakhand. National Parks include the Jim Corbett National Park famous for its tigers, the Valley of Flowers and Nanda Devi National Park which together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site..The state offers trekking trails to glaciers, skiing slopes, rafting in the Ganges, picturesque hill stations of Mussoorie and Nainital, and yoga retreats in the himalayas.


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Pastoral Letter 2020
Masses Schedule at the Cathedral
COVID -19 Updates
Prayers : COVID -19
Vicariate
Pope Francis in UAE
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Seminar on the upcoming Synod of Bishops 2018 for the Youth
12 November 2017 (Abu Dhabi).
A one-day seminar, organised by the Vicariate Young Adults Ministry (YAM) takes place in the Parish Hall of St. Joseph's Cathedral, Abu Dhabi on Friday 17 November 2017 from 9 am to 4 pm. The seminar is aimed at preparing young people of the Vicariate for the upcoming Synod of Bishops on "Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment" which will take place in October 2018.
Around 50 young people from all the parishes of the Vicariate are expected to take part in the seminar. During the day, the participants will listen to a panel discussion, go through the Preparatory Document of the Synod and take part in group discussions. The seminar will conclude with the Eucharist at 3 pm presided by H.E. Bishop Paul Hinder, the Apostolic Vicar.
In preparation for a synod, it is the usual practice of the Church to consult the people of God. But this is the first time that the Church has put an online survey, seeking direct input from the public. All young people aged 16-29, "regardless of faith or religious belief" are encouraged by the Church to take part in the online survey. The Church seeks to gather the responses and to better understand the lives, attitudes and concerns of 16 to 29 year olds around the world.
Earlier this year, Ms. Caroline Kate Montefrio from Dubai represented the Vicariate at a Seminar held in Rome from 11-15 September in preparation for the Synod. The synod on youth will be looking for ways the church can best and most effectively evangelize young people and help them make life choices corresponding to God's plan and the good of the person.
Official website of the Synod
Preparatory Document
Online questionnaire
Dates to note:
30 November: Online survey closes
19-24 March 2018: Pre-synodal meeting with young people from across the world from 19 to 24 March 2018
© Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, 2020.


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Miami is a very different place to the rest of the United States (or even the rest of the state of Florida). Once a citrus farming region, Miami is now a multicultural tapestry of Latin, Caribbean, and Jewish influences, with a vibrant gay party scene and a higher concentration of celebrities than most premiere red carpets. Miami may be decidedly eccentric, but it's also undeniably beautiful. Make the most of it with Miami car rental.


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 Debemur morti nos nostraque лат. (изговор: дебемур морти нос ностракве). Смрти дугујемо себе и (све) своје. (Хорације)

Поријекло изрека
Изрекао Римски лирски пјесник Хорација у посљедњем вијеку старе ере."

Тумачење
Смрт је једина којој сви дугујемо. Она никоме!

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Q: Can't retrieve object from user cache Google Apps Script I am having a problem retrieving an object from the user cache in Google Apps Script. I don't get null, I just get an empty object. I'm even wondering if the object is being saved properly into the user cache. Any help is really appreciated. Here is what I have so far...
This codes does NOT work:
// global variable to access user cache
var cache = CacheService.getUserCache();

// the function to save to cache for an end-user
function saveToUserCache(dynamicObj) {
  Logger.log(dynamicObj); // the object displays here
  cache.putAll(dynamicObj, 300);
  Logger.log(cache.getAll(['test1', 'test2'])); // the object does not display here
}

This is called from the .html file:
...
// Object being passed dynamically:
var testObj = {'test1': "value1",'test2': "value2"};
google.script.run.withSuccessHandler(onSuccess).saveToUserCache(testObj);
...

This code works:
// global variable to access user cache
var cache = CacheService.getUserCache();

// object to pass into the function
var testObj = {'test1': "value1",'test2': "value2"};

// the function to save to cache for an end-user
function saveToUserCache() {
  Logger.log(testObj); // the object displays here
  cache.putAll(testObj, 300);
  Logger.log(cache.getAll(['test1', 'test2'])); // the object displays here
}

To give some context... The reason I need to use the first block of code is because I am passing an object from the front-end GUI using withSuccessHandler(). And as you can see the object displays fine in the the fist Logger, so the data gets to the saveToUserCache() function, but after that, I can't retrieve it from the cache in the first block of code. What am I doing wrong?

A: I can't reproduce your issue with the following client & server code:
code.gs (server side)
function saveToUserCache(clientObject) {
  const cache = CacheService.getUserCache();
  const clientKeys = Object.keys(clientObject);

  console.log({message: "object from client code", clientObject: clientObject, user: Session.getTemporaryActiveUserKey()});
  cache.putAll(clientObject, 300);
  const values = cache.getAll(clientKeys);
  console.log({message: "Retrieved key values from client object", keys: clientKeys, values: values});
  return {"type": "user", values: values};
}

var testObject = {"script_test1": "script_value1", "script_test2": "script_value2"};
function saveNonParameterToUserCache() {
  const cache = CacheService.getUserCache();
  const scriptKeys = Object.keys(testObject);

  console.log({message: "global var object", testObject: testObject, user: Session.getTemporaryActiveUserKey()});
  cache.putAll(testObject, 300);
  const values = cache.getAll(scriptKeys);
  console.log({message: "Retrieved key values from test object", keys: scriptKeys, values: values});
  return {"type":"fixed", values: values};
}

function showSidebar() {
  const output = HtmlService.createHtmlOutputFromFile("usercachetest.html");
  SpreadsheetApp.getUi().showSidebar(output);
}

usercachetest.html (client side)
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <base target="_top">
  </head>
  <body>
    <button onclick="doit()">Click to run</button>
  </body>
  <script>
    function doit() {
      console.log("running doit");
      var clientObject = {"user_test1": "user_value1", "user_test2": "user_value2"};
      google.script.run.withSuccessHandler(onSuccess).saveToUserCache(clientObject);
      google.script.run.withSuccessHandler(onSuccess).saveNonParameterToUserCache();
    }
    function onSuccess(result) {
      console.log(result);
    }
    </script>
</html>

Run the showSidebar function, switch to the Google Sheets container file, and then open the browser console. Click the sidebar button. Check your Stackdriver logs -- everything seems great.

Note that per the limitations of CacheService, all keys and all values placed into a Cache must be string. A good practice is to use JSON.stringify on the values before caching them, and then JSON.parseing the retrieved items (if any) from the cache before returning them for consumption. For example:
function foo(inputObject) {
  if (!inputObject) return;
  const cacheable = Object.keys(inputObject).reduce(function (obj, key) {
    obj[key] = JSON.stringify(inputObject[key]);
    return obj;
  }, {});
  CacheService.get____Cache().putAll(cacheable, expiryTime);
  ...
}

Take special care also that you do not pass invalid types from client to server - things like Date objects are not allowed, and will result in an undefined / missing function parameter.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
12 Dec High Court Sentencing Case Cited Flimsy Proof
More than 30 years ago, Congress identified what it said was a grave threat to the promise of equal justice for all: Federal judges were giving wildly different punishments to defendants for the same crimes. Some lawmakers feared lenient judges were giving criminals too little...
12 Dec Seminar: If Justice Kennedy believed Colorado was "neither tolerant nor considerate" of a baker's religions, how will he feel about California's attack on pro-life pregnancy centers?
John J. Bursch is the founder of Bursch Law PLLC, a Michigan-based appellate boutique. He submitted an amicus brief in support of the crisis pregnancy centers' cert petition in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra. The Supreme Court is taking an unusually hard...
12 Dec Florida War on Drugs Prejudiced Versus Blacks
Cocaine convictions in Florida are down more than half during the past decade, as violent crime rates plummeted. Now, the crisis is heroin and fentanyl. The dealers are mostly white. So are the tens of thousands of Floridians dying. The policies used to combat the...
12 Dec Indianapolis Mayor Takes Blame for Murder Increase
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett says his city is heading toward a new homicide record for the third consecutive year and outlined how the city could reverse that trend in 2018, reports the Indianapolis Star. Hogsett took the blame for the perpetual rise in homicides during...
12 Dec NY Horror Suspect's Actions Baffle Acquaintances
Akayed Ullah seemed an ordinary member of a Bangladeshi enclave in Brooklyn. He often prayed at a mosque in the Kensington neighborhood, where a few thousand of his countrymen reside. He worked for a car service. On Monday morning, Ullah, 27, strapped a pipe bomb...
12 Dec Mineral Conveyance Warded Off by a Spendthrift Arrangement
To begin, choose from these candidates for the all-world spendthrift hall of fame: Imelda Marcos. Every Congress since you and I were little babies. Any MLB team that would trade for Giancarlo Stanton. All Power Five football schools not named Vanderbilt. The eventual winner of the Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes. Robert Baratheon,...


Estuaries in New Zealand are experiencing sedimentation at higher rates than before humans arrived here: this represents a loss both for land and estuary productivity. We need to better understand what has been happening so that we can predict the future and fight these losses.
Estuaries follow similar evolutionary pathways: they fill with sediment, subtidal areas (areas below low tide) and water depths decrease, and the influence of freshwater runoff and sediment inputs changes over time. Although estuary sedimentation is a natural process, sedimentation rates are now an order of magnitude higher than before human activities – especially deforestation, the subsequent development of agricultural land use and, more recently, urban development – disturbed the natural landscape.
In New Zealand estuaries, rapid environmental changes associated with deforestation have occurred only relatively recently, following the arrival of people from about 700 years ago. Major changes include shifts from sandy to muddy bottom sediment, which are characterised by less diverse plant and animal communities, and which are less able to tolerate the increased deposition of mud. In some estuaries, these changes have occurred gradually over many decades, and they are not necessarily perceived by individual generations.
Accelerated estuary sedimentation represents the loss of tens of millions of tonnes of topsoil annually from the land, and with it the basis of New Zealand's agricultural productivity. Soils have taken thousands of years to form and are not easily replaced. At the same time, the effects in estuaries are felt as the loss of fish and shellfish resources and on-going costs associated with maintenance of navigation channels.
Sediment cores taken from estuaries in environments where this deposition occurs – such as subtidal basins, intertidal flats (the area between low and high tide), tidal creeks and mangrove forests – represent a record through time of natural processes and human activities. We need to unlock this information from cores in order to understand the past, and so help us predict the future.
We use large-diameter (10 cm) Livingston piston corers and gravity corers (Fig 1.) to collect intact sediment cores up to several metres long. Gravity corers are used for surface samples; piston corers can be used to sample in deeper water.
Cores are collected in a diverse range of environments, from mangrove forests in sheltered creeks to the continental shelf (Fig. 1). In the laboratory, physical characteristics including sediment fabric and sediment particle size are measured using digital X-ray imaging and lasers respectively (Fig. 2). Typically, the core reveals layers of sediments, which have been deposited under different conditions and at different times in the past.
To reconstruct the sedimentation history, we need to reliably date sediment cores; from this, we can also estimate the sediment accumulation rate (SAR). Sediments deposited within the last ~150 years are routinely dated based on the activity profiles of the radioisotopes lead-210 (210Pb, half life 22.3 years) and caesium-137 (137Cs, half life 30 years).
210Pb is a naturally occurring radioisotope that is deposited at the earth's surface from the upper atmosphere. A key assumption of the standard constant-rate-of-supply 210Pb dating method is that 210Pb deposition is constant at time scales of years to decades. The results of monitoring of atmospheric 210Pb deposition over the last decade by NIWA support this assumption.
Radiocarbon (14C) dating of marine shell and terrestrial plant remnants preserved in cores is also used to indirectly date sediments many thousands of years old. The short-lived radioisotope beryllium-7 (7Be, half life 53 days) provides information on the depth of the surface-mixed layer which results from sediment being moved by waves and/or currents, and the activities of animals living on and in the seabed sediments.
Once dated, sediment cores can be used to reconstruct the past environment, and to determine how human activities have changed things. For example, cores taken from Pakuranga estuary, Auckland, have shown how urbanisation of the catchment has increased the SAR by a factor of 10–30 since urbanisation (Swales et al. 2002, Fig. 3).
The Compound Specific Stable Isotope (CSSI) sediment-tracing method has been used to identify contemporary sediment sources. By applying the CSSI method to the layers of sediments preserved in cores, we can now determine how sediment sources have changed over time.
NIWA has developed an extensive data set of sediment accumulation rates based on 85 cores collected from North Island estuaries and coastal bays over the last ~15 years. The data are based on consistent dating methods, "comparing apples with apples", and enable valid comparisons to be drawn between habitat types and estuaries.
The results, based on 210Pb dating, show that over the last 150 years estuaries with relatively large catchments and/or small sediment accommodation space (the unfilled volume of an estuary below high tide) have filled with sediment most rapidly, with sediment accumulation rates reaching 25 mm/yr in tidal creeks. Expressed as estuary-average values, Auckland's largely intertidal east-coast estuaries and Kaipara Harbour have accumulation rates averaging ~5 mm/yr, which is substantially higher than in the Bay of Islands and in Pauatahanui Inlet (Porirua), where the average accumulation rate is < 2.5 mm/yr.
Although these numbers might seem small, New Zealand estuaries are now filling with catchment sediments ten times faster than before large-scale deforestation of catchments. For example, annual sediment deposition in the Bay of Islands has averaged ~500,000 tonnes per year over the last century, which compares with less than 50,000 tonnes per year since the bays were formed ten thousand years ago by rising sea levels.
For the first time, CSSI dating of sediment cores provides new insights into how the sources of catchment sediments have shifted from natural to anthropogenic over the last several thousand years.
The environmental record preserved in sediment cores in the Bay of Islands shows that natural disturbance of the landscape occurred thousands of years before humans arrived. This is indicated by the presence of bracken-labelled soils in prehistoric estuarine sediments; bracken typically colonises areas which have been deforested by landslides and/or fire. Over the last hundred years, soils eroded from agricultural and horticultural land have increasingly dominated sedimentation, not only in the estuaries but also in the Bay of Islands and beyond to the inner continental shelf. For example, at a core site in the inner Bay of Islands (water depth 30 m), most of the soil deposited since the early 1960s has been derived from dry-stock (i.e. sheep and beef) pasture.
This new, innovative approach to environmental reconstruction based on sediment cores allows us to measure how various soil sources change over time. This, in turn, will allow resource managers to target catchment management and restoration efforts more effectively in estuaries and coastal waters.
Swales, A., Williamson, B., Van Dam, L.F., Stroud, M. (2002). Reconstruction of urban stormwater contamination of an estuary using catchment history and sediment profile dating. Estuaries 25(1): 43–56.
This work has been funded by Auckland Council, Northland Regional Council, Land Information New Zealand and the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (Effects-Based Protection and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems, C01X0307).
Fig 2: Digital X-ray imaging of dated sediment cores reveals the fine details of the sedimentary record. Higher-density objects such as carbonate shells (20-cm depth) and sand layers appear white in this image; lower-density fluid/fine-grained muds show as darker layers. This core was collected from an intertidal flat and shows fine layers of sediment (made up of muds and sands) below 75-cm depth that were produced by regular changes in sediment transport rate and/or sediment supply.
Fig 3: Record of rapid catchment urbanisation preserved in estuarine sediments, Pakuranga Creek, Auckland. The first appearance of 137Cs at 98 cm depth dates this sediment horizon to the early 1950s (Fig 3a). Average sediment accumulation rates of 26 mm/yr during this urbanisation phase increased ~30 fold over pre-deforestation values of less than 1 mm/yr. The onset of catchment urbanisation in 1960 coincides with the transition from sand to mud (i.e., clay and silt) deposition at 90 cm depth (Fig. 3b). Concentrations of copper, lead and zinc also start to increase above background values at this time (Fig. 3c). These high-resolution sedimentation records are particularly valuable for developing our understanding of how human activities on the land impact estuarine and coastal receiving environments (Source: Swales et al., 2002).


text:
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The Challenges of Adjusting Pipe Breaks and Sewer Back-ups
Publish on November,07 2019
The Challenges of Adjusting Pipe Breaks and Sewer Back-ups By Timothy Engelbrecht, Esq. - Partner Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP In January of this year, we published an article entitled "The Challenges of Adjusting Long-Term Water Losses." That article focused on the "constant or repeated leakage or seepage" exclusion that appears in many insurance policies. The article chronicled three court decisions named Hoey, Price, and Hicks and how they affect coverage determinations. This article continues the discussion on water-related losses by looking at the challenges of adjusting pipe breaks and sewer back-ups. All of these topics (long-term water losses, pipe…
Evaluating Wind Damage to Asphalt Shingles
Publish on July,10 2019
Evaluating Wind Damage to Asphalt Shingles Robert Rutherford Cook Claim Services Asphalt shingles have been utilized as a roofing material for more than a century. Advancements in mat and sealant technology led to asphalt shingles becoming the primary choice for steep slope roofing. It is estimated that four out of five homes are roofed with asphalt shingles. A growing number of smaller commercial buildings also utilize asphalt shingles. Although asphalt shingles can be rated for high wind zones up to 150 miles per hour as a three-second gust, wind damage to asphalt shingles is one of the most common types…
The Ethical Foundation of Customer Service
The Ethical Foundation of Customer Service Terry Sutton, Regional Account Manager Stephens Engineering Consultants, Inc. No matter in which state you serve as an insurance professional, you have a common duty in the exercise of your responsibilities . . . ethical behavior. Each state has varying requirements for continuing education in ethics, but it is, none-the-less, a foundational requirement. The purpose of this brief presentation is to give further insight about ethics and it's number one expression (in my humble view) - customer service. When I first began in the insurance industry in Texas in 2005 I discovered that I…
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Covering the Business of Loss. Go to the Claims Magazine website.
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The Georgia Defense Lawyers Association offers formal avenues for training, networking and communication. GDLA membership benefits include CLE seminars, judicial receptions, a newsletter and annual Law Journal, plus access to an e-mail blast system that allows members to pose questions about experts, points of law, emerging issues, and more. Go to the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association website.
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For more information on this organization, go to the Blue Goose website.
Some complex technological questions explained simply. Go to the How Stuff Works website.
Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)
For more information on the IBHS and FORTIFIED BUILDINGS, visit the IBHS website.
A great source for knowing where you are, and where you are going. Go the Mapquest website.
National Academy of Forensic Engineers (NAFE)
Are you looking for an engineer with proven claims experience? NAFE is your best and only source for Board Certified Forensic Engineers. Go to the National Academy of Forensic Engineers website.
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IAIP (International) serves its members by providing professional education, an environment in which to build business alliances and the opportunity to make connections with people of differing career paths and levels of experience within the insurance industry. Go to the National Association of Insurance Professionals.website.
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Property & Liability Resource Bureau – PLRB
For more information on the PLRB organization, go to the PLRB website.
Risk and Insurance Management Society
The mission of the Atlanta Chapter of the Risk & Insurance Management Society is to advance and promote the risk management profession by: (1) Providing timely and valuable educational programs, (2) Facilitating career development and networking; and (3) Fostering an environment of support for students. Go to the Risk and Insurance Management Society website.
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Ware, Brylie singled through the right side.
Lindsly, Brady doubled to right field.
McKenna, Conor singled to center field; Lindsly, Brady advanced to third.
Harlan, Brady singled up the middle, RBI; McKenna, Conor advanced to second; Lindsly, Brady scored.
Vujovich, Jordan hit by pitch; Harlan, Brady advanced to second.
Cavalli, Cade singled to left field.
Geha,Logan homered to left field, RBI.
Harlan, Brady singled through the left side; McKenna, Conor advanced to second.
Vujovich, Jordan grounded out to 1b unassisted, RBI; Harlan, Brady advanced to third; McKenna, Conor scored.
Hardman, Tyler hit by pitch.
Lindsly, Brady walked; Hardman, Tyler advanced to second.
McKenna, Conor doubled down the lf line, RBI; Lindsly, Brady advanced to third; Hardman, Tyler scored.
Lochner,Jake to p for Wiley,Logan.
Cavalli, Cade homered to left center, 2 RBI; Hardman, Tyler scored.
Tredaway, Tanner to rf for Muniz, Diego.
Matthews, Zack to p for Prater, Levi.
Kotowski,Dakota singled up the middle.
Whetstone,Ben singled through the right side; Kotowski,Dakota advanced to second.
Vujovich, Jordan advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Ware, Brylie doubled down the rf line, RBI; Zaragoza, Brandon scored.
Sechler,Connor to p for Lochner,Jake.
Hardman, Tyler singled through the left side; Ware, Brylie advanced to third.
Millas,Drew doubled to right center.
Fitzpatrick,Jordan pinch hit for Polak,Joey.


text:
The Economist misleads on American Jewish attitudes towards Israel and Iran
By Adam Levick on November 27, 2013 • ( 23 Comments )
The narrative advanced by The Economist in a Nov. 25 story about the American political repercussions of the recent deal in Geneva between Iran and the P5+1 ('Israel heads for a terrifying split') is clear towards the end of the opening paragraph:
APPEARANCES to the contrary, the Israeli government does not have a problem with the terms of the deal that was struck on Iran's nuclear programme on Sunday. Rather, the Israeli government has a problem with the fact that a deal was struck on Iran's nuclear programme on Sunday. Over the course of the negotiations, it has become abundantly clear that Binyamin Netanyahu and the conservative coalition he leads do not want a diplomatic resolution to the standoff over Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons on any terms that Iran would be willing to accept. That puts Israel at loggerheads with the majority of Americans; perhaps more important, it puts Israel at loggerheads with a large fraction of American Jews.
Then, to buttress the argument of an impending erosion of solidarity between Israel and American Jews the (anonymous) author of the story cites two polls.
Here's the first:
Meanwhile, a poll of American Jews by the Anti-Defamation League early this month found that if Israel were to carry out a military strike against Iran, 48% thought America should take a "neutral" position, while just 40% would favour supporting Israel.
However, when you open the link it's clear that the ADL poll gauged the views of all Americans, not specifically American Jews.
So, if the intent was to show that American Jewish support for Israel – in the context of the current crisis – has declined, the poll cited (on the views, again, of ALL Americans) does not demonstrate this.
Now, here's the second poll used in the same paragraph within The Economist report:
That stand-offishness was in line with a broad decrease in support for aggressive anti-Iranian positions that emerged in a poll by the American Jewish Committee in October, which found backing for American military action against Iran had fallen to 52% from 67% in 2012.
Unlike the ADL poll, the AJC poll does indeed gauge the views of American Jews. However, note how the author shifted gears from a question about the reaction to Israeli military action (in the first passage), to the reaction to American military action (in the second passage). Indeed, if the two passages were to be consistent the latter one would have noted results in the same AJC poll cited showing that 67 percent of American Jews would support Israeli military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
AJC poll of American Jews, 2012
Further, results from AJC's two previous polls of American Jews show 72.5 percent supporting Israeli military action in such a scenario in 2012, with 67 percent supporting such action in 2011 – indicating relatively consistent support over the past three years for a potential Israeli attack.
More broadly, a major study by Pew Global released this year demonstrated that about 70 percent American Jews are "emotionally very attached to Israel", findings, Pew noted, which "closely resemble results from the last National Jewish Population Survey conducted in 2000-2001".
So, it seems clear that – despite The Economist's misleading characterizations of the polls cited – American Jewish support for Israel (including support for any future Israeli military action which may be required) shows no signs of wavering.
Does Guardian columnist Michael Cohen regularly follow the hate site, Mondoweiss? (cifwatch.com)
Economist Editors flout their "Editors' code of practice" (CAMERA)
Poll affirms strong American Jewish support for Israel (CAMERA)
Categories: Economist
Tagged as: American Jewish Committee, American Jews, Anti-Defamation League, Benjamin Netanyahu, Economist, Iran, Israel, Nuclear program of Iran, The Economist
CiF Watch prompts correction to extremely misleading Livni quote at 'Comment is Free'
CAMERA sites monitor media coverage of Israel, Nov. 20-26: Guardian, BBC, NYT, Ynet, Europa Press
"APPEARANCES to the contrary, the Israeli government does not have a problem with the terms of the deal that was struck on Iran's nuclear programme on Sunday. Rather, the Israeli government has a problem with the fact that a deal was struck on Iran's nuclear programme on Sunday."
A ludicrous assertion that the Economist backs up with nothing, but, I suppose is necessary to push the rest of the canard. Nothing but b.s. from beginning to end.
TrueToo says:
That was exacltly my take on first reading it. This 'journalist' comes up with an utterly false premise and then builds his house of cards on it. With the simple aim, naturally, of bashing Israel while giving the foul Iranian regime a free pass.
And he actually get paid to write such crap, editors accept it and a gullible public swallows it.
"And he actually get paid to write such crap…"
I never mention it here, but you've touched on one of my pet peeves, that writers get paid handsomely for pushing such dreck.
Be great if they could be sued for it.
OyVaGoy says:
It sounds like a lot of wishful thinking from the Economist
Fritz Wunderlich says:
This tells a lot about the Obama Administration
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/154260/u-s-to-give-jewish-artifacts-back-to-iraq
They will be looted, destroyed and used for propaganda.
What's wrong with taking a neutral position? I'm American, not Israeli. What Israel does is of my interest, and I can support or criticize, but I can't possibly expect to have my perspective listened to.
And, by the way, through gerrymandering, my representative to the US government is some douchebag living more than 200 hundred miles away in a suburb of some other city. He and I, believe it or not, don't see alike.
This is the reality of the All-Powerful Jew.
NobblyStick says:
Mr. Levick. Have you sent a link of this post to the economist? If you haven't, I suggest that you do exactly that.
Here is their 'Contacy Us' email address.
http://www.economist.com/contact-info
Adam Levick says:
Yes, I emailed the Economist yesterday about this error. I'm still waiting to hear back. Thanks.
Household name says:
The article seems to be celebrating war mongering . Yes if the original article is wrong then the Economist must be challenged but if a large proportion of American Jews want a strike on Iran against common sense , world and even US opinion this is shocking and indicative of a dreadful and dangerous situation.
The strength of the Jewish people for thousands of years refusing to be moulded into shape by threats , pogroms or holocaust is one thing but starting WW3 is just too ghastly to contemplate. Jews will be blamed …not Israel …but Jews. How on earth is this going to combat anti Semitism?
"The article seems to be celebrating war mongering "
Where in the article, and how is it 'celebrating war mongering' ?
Let me get this straight:
Most American Jews support a potential Israeli strike – if diplomacy fails – to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. And, you see such support for Israel – to prevent a country which seeks its annihilation (a scenario, I hope you'll agree, is "too ghastly to contemplate") from obtaining the means to do so – as itself a war-like act?
Remarkable inversion.
Nobbly Stick says:
How on earth is this going to combat anti Semitism?
One way of combating antisemitism camouflaged as anti Zionism is simply a matter of outing those obsessed negatively by the 'evil Zionist entity' who are somewhat silent or blind to the abominations of countries and sects who are inherently anti Western.
Ring a bell Houshold name???
Nobbly
" those obsessed negatively by the 'evil Zionist entity' "
I guess this is a poke at my good self and I would love to see where I have used such language. You have used quotation marks and given this is a site which holds writers to account for precise language then this is either a school boy blunder or an attempt to conflate criticism of an Israeli posture with the views of extremist plodders.
Adam Levick
" a country which seeks its annihilation "
Again may I suggest such rhetoric does not fit well in a site purporting to examine precise language . No serious writer would ever say "Israel seeks to attack Iran " given a significant minority of moderate Israelis would blanche at the thought …it would be narrowed down to the actual extremists who are promoting such an attack which could easily lead to WW3.
The question of how a third world country could annihilate the astonishingly powerful Israel is altogether another issue .
"celebrate "
Agreed I withdraw the phrase and instead suggest "meekly accept" war mongering .
"Agreed I withdraw the phrase and instead suggest "meekly accept" war mongering"
So where in the article, and how, does it meekly accept war mongering?
" So where in the article, and how, does it meekly accept war mongering? "
Sorry I should have made it clear .I was referring to this article. A line considering the impact of a unilateral assault sanctioned by US Jews on a poor yet hugely influential Muslim majority country and the certainty that Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan and many other areas would explode might have given the impression that a degree of thought had gone into it.
Didn't know you were a military expert. By the way, just how many rockets, missiles and proxy armies does Israel have on Iran's border?
Of course you see War Mongering with this post. Why wouldn't you? You're boring and stupid and have a one track mind. You are what is commonly known as a Hate Mongering and Pathetic Asswipe.
How does this combat expect to fight anti-Semitism? By removing the sheet ontop of the Klansman, and showing to the crowd the shit stain smeared all over it.
Happy Holidays, Housey. May your roof cave in soon.
koufaxmitzvah it is wrong to refer to 'Household name' as a "Hate Mongering and Pathetic Asswipe"
He lives in the UK, which means he is a "Hate Mongering and Pathetic ARSEwipe."
" Asswipe."
In my country that means someone who cares for a donkey . In the US it means that someone is anally fixated and incapable of expressing themselves with any flourish or panache. You take care
In America, taking care of donkeys is the 19th century equivalent to the junior fry cook, Asswipe.
"but if a large proportion of American Jews want a strike on Iran against common sense , world and even US opinion this is shocking and indicative of a dreadful and dangerous Situation."
"wants", that is. English isn`t your native language either, I suppose.
Besides the idiocy of claiming the US opinion, world and common sense for an Iran with nuclear weapons. Well, Antisemites can live with that, no doubt.
"Binyamin Netanyahu and the conservative coalition he leads"
Conservative coalition?
http://www.pmo.gov.il/ENGLISH/ISRAELGOV/Pages/default.aspx
Yesh Hatid and Hatnua are conservative according to The Economist? Conservative like the Liberal Democrats in Great Britain? Does the LDP know that The Economist considers it as conservative?