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With Hearts On Fire (text & audio)
May 28, 2013 | Sermons
https://uuasheville.org/wp-content/uploads/130526-With-Hearts-On-Fire.mp3
"And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting… Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them."
This is crazy stuff. Even the people who were there "were amazed and perplexed!" They experienced something unbelievable, and wondered what it meant. I'm sure that even as it happened, there were some in the room who did not believe their eyes – or their experience.
You know by now that I was raised in a fairly skeptical family – the idea of God, even in the untraditional sense was something I didn't learn about until much later in life.
And even once I had learned that the word "God" meant so much more than the dude with the big pointy finger painted in the Sistine Chapel, it took me a long time to reconcile the idea of a constantly moving and changing Spirit which infuses all living things with what I had been taught in my early life. But most importantly, I had to accept that experience is not always rational or logical.
Let me give you an example. I don't believe in ghosts. I don't believe that the spirit within us lurks nearby once our body has died. As far as I'm concerned, ghosts don't exist. Except I saw one once. Back when I still worked in the theater, I attended a tribute concert for a much-loved gentleman who had run the box office for decades. I was sitting in the back of the theater with my friend who had worked with Charlie for many, many years, and gradually I became aware of a presence behind me. I turned around to look, and there he was. Sitting in the seat directly behind my friend, with a cigarette in his hand and his beloved dog Ginger, a golden retriever who had also died a few months before, at his feet.
It is a great mystery to me what that was all about – because like I said, I don't believe in ghosts. But as sure as I am standing here before you today, I saw one once.
The story of Pentecost is one of the great mysteries found in the world's scriptures—and like my experience, is open to reflection and interpretation. I learned about Pentecost in my very first class in my very first year of seminary, when I had to run to the bookstore and purchase the last copy of the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms so that I could look it up! It was a class on the History of Ancient Christianity, and the professor had breezed by a reference to Pentecost, assuming that we all would understand. But though I had heard the word before, I didn't understand what it meant.
"Pentecost" was one of those words. The words I thought I knew were part of a special story, one from which I was omitted at best, and more likely, actively excluded. Upon further study, however, I discovered that one of the most important parts of the Pentecost story is that it was the first time that the Spirit had been revealed to more than just a select few.
According to the story, Jesus gave the Spirit to the twelve disciples on the evening before he died. But on Pentecost, "The Spirit, once the exotic possession of a prophetic few, is now offered to all." For me, this biblical story about one aspect of God seemed almost Universalist in nature.
We can use this story as a metaphor—calling on the idea of the power of fire to connect us to the power of the Spirit to transform. It is no coincidence that the Holy Spirit comes down as tongues of fire. "Spirit of Life, come unto me…"
According to theologian Peter Hodgson, "Biblical and classical metaphors of spirit represent it as a fluid, pervasive, intangible energy whose fundamental quality is vitality and freedom and whose fundamental purpose is to create, shape and enliven."
For Unitarian Universalists, the flame symbolizes the light of truth, the warmth of community and the fire of commitment… it symbolizes the refiner's fire, the flame that transforms us, the flame that keeps us warm, the fire that lights our way and draws us home.
In astrology, fire signs are mutable—they are changeable. And just as fire is always changing—just as fire is a dancing light throwing shadows on the wall, the flame that exists at the center of our shared symbol is always changing. It reminds us of our history, illuminates our present, and prepares us for our future.
As Unitarian Universalists, we are constantly evolving, and so are our congregations. UU history is a dance of change and continuity, not a static, fixed doctrinal deposit that must be preserved and passed on unchanged.
My friend Alison puts it this way, "Today, as a minister, I use the flaming chalice to symbolize many things on different occasions. Sometimes it is truth, or love, or hope; sometimes the energy of a life, of one of us, that is gone but not forgotten' sometimes I simply hold the flame up as a reminder of our good intentions…
Some days it is the chalice part we hold up, sometimes it is the flame. But for me, I will always think of the flaming chalice as a vessel of sorts, one that can receive but also one that can share and give of itself. One that contains the past but is open to the future. Most importantly, my chalice is a vessel that holds something significant and powerful to which it is worth paying attention."
Today we are holding up the flame—that dancing, burning heat of the refiner's fire—the flame that tempers steel, making it stronger and more flexible. And that image of the flame is significant and powerful. It is worth paying attention to!
The flame we lift up today reminds us where we came from—it calls to mind people like Thomas Potter, committed to his vision, and John Murray, willing to embrace a miracle.
I particularly think of Michael Servetus, our anti-Trinitarian forbear who was burned at the stake in Geneva, all but three copies of his major written work destroyed.
This is the fire of commitment.
We must also remember the cost of commitment to the light of truth—and be willing to risk our comfort and our assumptions in order to realize our greatest dreams. Hopefully you and I will never find ourselves making such a drastic choice as Servetus did, but nonetheless, I ask, what are we willing to sacrifice for our faith? It is possible to allow this life-changing faith of ours to enter into our hearts and souls. It is possible that in the mystery, we might find a common understanding.
The flame also reminds us of the work it takes to create and sustain a fire: to build a strong foundation, we must begin with lots of kindling, shelter the young flames and then tend the embers. This is the warmth of community: it is work to nurture and tend our families, our communities of faith. And yet, this work does not have to be drudgery—it can be joyous and enlivening, as dancing flames in a warming fire.
It is no coincidence, I would argue, that the first major appearance of the Holy Spirit moving on earth was first revealed in the sounds of wind and the appearance of fire. This is the unpredictable non-rational, mysterious, playful part of the trinity.
My own experience of the divine is exactly that sort of astonishing, pervasive power that lives and moves anywhere and everywhere, most especially where I least expect it. Like the ghost I can't explain, but know that I saw, God is inexplicable and surprising, and over the years I have learned to let my rational mind have a little break and not work too hard to understand.
And that is why I love Pentecost. Pentecost is real, it is immediate and it is miraculous. The inbreaking of the Spirit is troubling, unsettling, even scary, but it is where we find the greatest gifts, if only we allow ourselves to let go of our worries and fears long enough to give it space to move.
When the tongues of fire descended, the writer of Acts reports that the people "…were so on fire with new hope that outsiders who watched them concluded they must have been drunk on new wine…" UU minister John Nichols continues, "So much about the spiritual life is difficult to describe in conventional language. We owe it to our friends and ourselves to pay attention to a vision, dream or a thought that comes to us in a very compelling way. Of course, it could be a delusion, but it could be a much more powerful message."
And we are a spiritual community. We are a Unitarian Universalist spiritual community, steeped in the historically beloved and effective trifecta of freedom, reason and tolerance. These essential historical concepts are deeply important to who we are as a faith community, but I do believe that we sometimes rely on them to our detriment.
According to a sermon by Rev. Bruce Clear, "To be rational does not mean to believe only those things which are proven to be logically true." In order to fully live our faith, we must be open to the unexpected, the non-rational, the unproven. We must look for the mystery. We must make room for Spirit.
Fire is part of many religious traditions: the hearth of Brigid, the angel of the Lord appearing to Moses—it is also an integral part of most any shamanic initiation. Pentecost was an initiation of sorts, but a communal ecstatic initiation experience rather than an individual one.
How do you feel when you think about this? Is it scary? Threatening? Perhaps you are a bit frightened. Perhaps you fear that letting go and embracing the mystery might cause things to spin out of control? Can we trust in the power of the Spirit of Life to light our way as we walk forward into the mystery, out onto the edges of our known world and step into what the future promises to bring?
At Pentecost, it was through the mystery that the people found a common understanding. They were lost and afraid, missing the man who had inspired and led them, worried for the future of this tiny movement that would become Christianity. And yet, they experienced the mystery of the tongues of fire, and they were able to understand one another and move forward.
As Unitarian Universalists, we do not always understand each other's language – we have different theologies, different life experiences. But we are in covenant together, which means that we are committed to walk forward into an unknown future together with compatriots whose language we cannot always understand.
Embracing the mystery, as at Pentecost, changes us. We are not changed so as to be unrecognizable, but transformed, transmuted, through the fire of Spirit and the light of truth into something more. As the small gathering of disciples was transformed into something more. Not changed into something different so much as propelled into a new stage in their development, with new energy, vision and purpose.
We have a powerful image here in the chalice, and the story of Pentecost is a powerful reminder of the importance of paying attention to the things we do not understand.
May we find our way to welcoming the unknown.
May we embrace the mystery together.
May our shared history and our commitment to the light of truth and the fire of commitment bring us to new and unimagined places.
May it be so.
What Needs Saying (text & audio)
https://uuasheville.org/wp-content/uploads/130519-What-Needs-Saying.mp3
In February I told you about Randy Pausch, the computer scientist who became an Internet sensation and best-selling author for his "last lecture," a talk he gave at Carnegie Mellon University, where he taught, while he was dying of pancreatic cancer. You remember he talked about how important it is for us to find the passions in our lives that bring out the best in us. None of us knows how long we have. Indeed, Randy ended up living only into his 40s. But he was happy with a life in which he gave himself to those he loved and the work that filled him.
It's an inspirational story, but you know the world may never have even learned about Randy's story but for the work of someone else, the writer Jeffrey Zaslow. So, today I'd like to begin today by telling you a little bit about Jeff.
Jeff was a reporter living in Detroit working for the Wall Street Journal and writing about, what he calls, "life transitions" when his editor passed along a release from Carnegie Mellon announcing Pausch's lecture. He thought it might make for a nice story.
Jeff checked on last-minute flights from Detroit to Pittsburgh and found out it would cost him $300, more than the Journal was willing to spring for. His editor suggested that Jeff stay home and interview Pausch by phone the day after the lecture. But Jeff thought that wasn't good enough. He wanted to meet Randy and get a sense of the scene. So, he decided to drive the 300 miles from Detroit to Pittsburg and the next day was in the second row when Randy delivered his talk.
Like everyone else in the room, he was touched by Randy's presentation of what essentially was a love letter to his colleagues and family. When Jeff's story about it ran in the Wall Street Journal online, it included a link to a video of Randy's lecture, which had been recorded by Carnegie Mellon, and it quickly went viral on the Internet.
Given that reception, Randy's friends and colleagues urged him to expand the lecture into a book. Randy initially wasn't keen on the idea, figuring that writing a book would take away precious time that he wanted to devote to his family. But then the idea arose of contacting Jeff and seeing if he might put the book together based on the lecture and interviews with Randy. And that's what they did.
Jeff said that Randy, the engineer, was, in his words, "a time management freak." Determined to stay as fit as he could, he went on a daily hour-long bike ride, so the two worked out a routine in which Randy would wear a cell phone head set on his bike rides, and Jeff would interview him. And so it went: an hour a day for 53 days.
The book came out in April 2008 with a press run of 400,000 that sold out in two days; the publisher went back to print five million more. "The Last Lecture" remains hugely popular both as a book and a You Tube video.
Jeff said that he thought what made Randy's lecture, in fact his whole story, so popular was that it was clearly authentic. In a time where the air waves and Internet are full of "reality" shows that are little more than set-ups for people to strut in front of a camera, this was the real deal: a brilliant but quirky fellow who sought not to bring attention to himself but to urge us all to give our time, our love to what matters most.
Jeff said he was delighted to be able to place a copy of the completed book in Randy's hands three months before he died. Although, he said that when he would call Randy to tell him all the places where the book was appearing or another language it was being translated into, Randy would bring him up short: "Stop Googling my name, Jeff, and go home and hug your kids," he would say.
For you see Jeff had shared his own story with Randy in their conversations. Married and the father of three daughters – a situation I can relate to – Jeff would say, "I'm quite comfortable being outnumbered by women."
Before moving to the Wall Street Journal he worked at another newspaper as an advice columnist, and he often found himself in the position of giving advice to clueless men about dealing with women. He tells of one column he wrote after a boy stood his daughter up who he asked to the prom. The night before, he called and said that he and his friends thought the prom was stupid and they were going to spend the evening in a friend's basement. She was welcome to come.
Not only was Jeff uninterested in having his daughter spend the evening in that basement, he was outraged that the boy had backed out at the last minute, after she had brought her dress and everything. So he used the power he had at his disposal: he wrote about it in the newspaper, telling his readers. "The lesson of the story – and of that night – is to teach your sons to be chivalrous, and your daughters not to take it."
Another male reader wrote to ask how he could persuade his girlfriend to have breast augmentation surgery. He responded that the woman "deserves someone who loves her for who she is, not how she looks in a sweater. If you can't do that for her, she won't need implants anyway because she will already have a big boob in her life. You."
As you can tell, Jeff had a talent for zingers. But he said that the most important lesson his reporting had taught him was how fragile life is and how important it is not to leave words we want to share with our loved ones unsaid.
In one column he wrote around Valentine's Day one year he told the story of a judge who often told his children that he loved them. One day as his 18-year-old daughter was leaving the house, he called out to her, "Kristin, remember I love you."
"I love you, too, dad," she replied. That day she died in a car wreck. It was a story that Jeff took to heart and led him to make a practice of saying "I love you" to his wife and daughters before saying good-bye or hanging up the phone.
This story comes to mind when we come to occasions like today that are transitions in our lives. We pray that the youths of this congregation that we send out to the world will be back many times to tell of their adventures and to share how they make their way in the world.
But we also acknowledge that this is a time of passage: there are things that these young women and men are leaving behind and new things they are taking up. So, it is a good moment to say some of those things that we want them to know: how proud we are of the people they have become, how impressed we are with their maturity, and how grateful we are to have known them and have been a part of their growing in this brief space of time they have been with us.
Too often, pride or shyness keep us from speaking our heart's truth, or for that matter from taking the time to hear it from another. So, we make do with substitutes such as greeting cards or gifts, all appropriate in their own way, of course, but not what we really need to say and hear.
What we need to say and hear is the truth. It doesn't have to be flowery words or orations. It simply should come from and be received by the heart.
My wife, Debbie, is a hospice nurse, and she tells the story of one day doing some work on a computer at another person's cubicle at her office, when she saw a small piece of paper with a list of words posted on a bulletin board at work.
"I love you . . . Please forgive me . . . I forgive you . . . Thank you . . . Good-bye"
She wondered what it was about, and so she asked one of the chaplains. She was told that they feel that these words summarize what chaplains believe we all need to hear and to say before we die.
The end of life, after all, is a stressful time. We each approach it as innocents: we have no experience at it. And so it's not unusual for us to be consumed with all the medical details of the dying process, treatments considered or refused, all the ways that the body slowly shuts down. Add to that the emotion burden everyone brings – regret, anger, shock, grief – and it's no wonder that it often is a traumatizing experience.
Amid all of this, though, there needs to be time given to the truth of relationships, finding time amid all the turmoil to tell each other how much we care, how grateful we are for each other's company, and how we hope to be reconciled at last. And finally, acknowledging the truth of parting and making our peace.
We may not fully achieve it. Life is not always tidy, and there are wounds we carry that can make it hard to find reconciliation. But it's worth giving it a shot.
In a subsequent book after The Last Lecture, Jeff Zastrow told the story of Chesley B. Sullenberger III, the pilot who safely landed a crippled airline in the Hudson River in 2009. He recalled how a Holocaust survivor living along the river in New York City observed the whole scene and wrote to Sullenberger, applauding him for keeping a cool head and doing what he could to help the passengers survive. Jeff said the man told Sullenberger that we never know if one person someday may make the difference that will save the world. Who knows if someone on that plane might have been that person, he wrote? "So, thank you, for saving the world."
Zastrow said in a TED talk on the Internet that the lesson he learned from Sullenberger's feat was that we can't know what's going to happen, but whatever life gives us, "We've got to be honorable, be moral; we've got to work our hardest."
And here's the coda that adds another twist to this story. A little over a year ago, not long after his TED talk, Jeff Zastrow was on his way home from a book signing in northern Michigan when he died, much too young, in a car accident on icy roads.
None of us can know what life will give us, but we have the choice of deciding what we bring to life. We owe it to those we love to let them know that, and often. We owe it to ourselves and others not to duck our responsibilities, but to step up to them. If we at this congregation have done our job, we have given you who leave the world of high school and our Religious Education program a sense of what some of your duties are: to treat each person you meet as someone with inherent worth and dignity, to see yourselves as agents of justice, equity and compassion, to be accepting of others while holding to your own conscience.
I hope we have helped you understand your community as extending far beyond here to people of all places and in the end encompassing all life on Earth, the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
You go with our blessings and our hopes, but we will always welcome you back with joy. And as you make your way in the world, if you find a Unitarian Universalist congregation in the community where you settle, you might want to check it out, and help us keep this great faith tradition vital and alive.
Let what you have found here in this community be a spark to your imagination that you, too, might find your place in the family of things.
Finding Family (text & audio)
https://uuasheville.org/wp-content/uploads/130512-Finding-Family-Mothers-Day.mp3
Pattiann Rogers' poem that I read earlier came to mind a little over a week ago when I got some good one-on-one time with Lucille, newly born daughter of our daughter and son-in-law, Anna and Langdon, and our second grandchild. Langdon was off to work, and Anna was getting ready to drive their older daughter, Eliza, to day care. So, I stopped by as one of a rotating corps of volunteers to watch the baby for about a half hour so that Anna could take Eliza without having to pack up the baby for the trip.
As a father of three and grandfather, now, of two, I've come to take real delight in having some time with an infant, but it had been a while, and there was much that I had forgotten. I had forgotten how at first when you hold them they're inclined to hunch their backs and pull their knees up close to their bodies – still not quite fully unfolded from the womb, how much of their time in those early days is spent in a sort of semi-consciousness between sleep and waking with the first hints of a smile playing across their lips.
But most of all, I had forgotten the almost visceral way that they seem to drink you in. As she cuddled against me, I felt her reaching, trying me out in some elemental way, before sound or speech or visual perception, a kind of bodily communication that I seemed to have forgotten I was capable of, but that I suddenly found myself slipping into.
Her: I'm here. Who are you? Me: I'm here. I love you.
One of those old, enduring connections found in all flesh, the finding of family. None of us can know for sure how, where or from whom we will get it – life is complicated out there – but we can't do without it. Family: something deeper than the channeling wires and threads, the veins, ligaments, filaments and fibers that are our biological heritage to each other.
Rabindranath Tagore captured it with the verse in his poem that we sang earlier. Looking out on "insects, birds, and beasts and common weeds, the grass and clouds have fullest wealth of awe," but it is family that "gives meaning to the stars." It is establishes our roots; it centers our identity. It is what makes possible what Pattiann Rogers calls "the grip of voice on presence, the grasp of self on place."
And so we were introduced to each other, Lucille and I, the first of our interactions and one of many connections she will be making in the world. But, of course, we all know that it's not long before the reality of family changes and becomes more like the picture my sister, Lisa, paints: scrambling to keep get going in the morning, beating ourselves up for the chaos we find in our lives and hardly present to each other at all, scattered to our various obligations – school, work, and so on – and reconnecting only in passing.
It's part of a natural drift that seems to have become the norm in the frenetic pace of this busy world. "Things to do, places to be" usually translates as anything but family. At its best family seems to act as a kind of charging station that we return to after our energy winds down, a place of shelter and renewal.
But too often it is the place where we play out the frustrations and unhappiness that build up over the course of our daily lives, a place quickly taken for granted or resented, whose its imperfect denizens, we feel, never quite appreciate what it is that WE need. And for some it can be a depository for shame or a sense of inadequacy, leaving us feeling harried and alone.
But, as my wise sister, Lisa, remarked in her Mother's Day sermon of several years ago, it doesn't have to be that way. "We can honor our responsibilities, nurture others and include ourselves in the midst of it," she said.
For her, the key was offered by a couple of encounters she had with spiritual advisors she had sought out over the course of a year or so. She was looking for help in reflecting on how in her busy life where at times she felt whipsawed by the responsibilities of parenting she might cultivate a deeper sense of spirituality. Unbeknownst to what the other had said, each offered similar advice: your children are your practice.
What she heard them to say was that attention to the daily rituals of family life was a discipline in itself. In raising her children she was not simply providing care that they needed, she was, in her words, "dwelling deep in interdependence." She was learning what a spiritual practice gives you, which is to see from a larger perspective, to find in the giving to another an avenue to maintaining a centered sense of self.
This doesn't mean somehow using own children for our own ends. It means seeing in that role a path for growth for parent and child. The discipline entails accepting the role of parent without judgment and acknowledging its power and the duties it entails as lessons for one's life.
As Lisa observed, "the chaos that children bring invites us to steady our sense of self and find our footing. We are echoed, challenged, mimicked, defied, sought after and sent packing. We are put on pedestals and used as furniture, we are intensely visible and not even there. This is all the stuff we need to practice acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude, creativity and trust. This is all the stuff we need to enter life fully."
And it occurs to me that the same observation applies to our larger family roles, too, though with a little less intensity. Grandfather, sister, nephew, aunt: we are given these roles, and most of us are not really sure what to do with them. For some, they are mantles we don grudgingly at dreaded family gatherings, but it need not be that way.
These relationships, too, can and do have power in our lives and consequences for each of us. In that way they are also reminders of a deeper way of living available to us. They are reminders that the life of wholeness and integrity that we each seek doesn't just happen. It is built brick by brick by each encounter we have, and we don't get it right from the get-go. We are awkward and uncertain at first, and so it takes rehearsing. It takes practice.
And, it's important to remember that the fact of family is not limited to those of blood relations, nor does blood relationship necessarily result in these kinds of family ties. Again, life is complicated and circumstances can set people against and apart from each other. Some rifts can be repaired, but others yawn too wide to be bridged. And so we are left sometimes to find family where we can.
I know of people in this congregation who have set about creating family ties with others where no blood relation exists but where they have found or made a connection of caring. In the end, we find family where we make family, where we can give ourselves to others with love and intention and are received with reciprocal care.
This Mother's Day brings to mind how such a connection happened a generation earlier in my family. My mother, Cynthia, a member of this congregation living in Brooks Howell Home, was only four years old when her mother, Alice, died.
It was, you can imagine, a hard time, and the family struggled for some years – my grandfather a newspaper editor trying to raise three girls on his own with the help of some family. Then, came the day several years later when a new woman entered his life, a phys ed teacher with an unquenchable spirit whose name happened to be Lucille. When she and my grandfather married, the kids weren't sure what to make of her, but she swept into their lives in those Depression Era days and made a home for them.
Truth be told, when I was growing up Lucille was probably my favorite grandparent. She was a "pahk the cah in the Hahvad Yahd" Yankee who saw to it on our trips to visit her that we saw all the sights of her home town of Boston. I remember that she always took intent interest in us and sent faithful birthday cards with cheery notes.
Unlike Billy Collins, I can't remember having sent her anything even as unimpressive as a lanyard as a gift, but I will always remember her as a loving soul who helped weave strength into our family. As I take my place in the grandparent generation I would say it is Lucille's example, Lucille's practice that stands before me. For she was one who chose to give her heart to those she chose to name as family: something I never had cause to doubt as long as I knew her.
Family, after all, is made in many ways: whether the result of blood ties or circumstances, its central components are the same: love and intention – love, that elemental gift of our very essence, the hope that we live when we are guided by the best that is in us; and intention, the practice of directing our thoughts, our actions, our will to something or someone that we deem worthy.
It isn't easy work. As Pattiann Rogers notes, there is "seminal to all kin" the open mouth seeking to take and take – You mothers know, right? – and the "pervasive clasping common to the clan" clinging tight like limpets, like the hard nails of lichen, fingers around fingers and the grasp of self on place, and then the snorts, the whinnies, the shimmers of self declaration.
Oh, we weavers, reachers, winders and connivers, pumpers, runners, air and bubble riders, rock-sitters, wave gliders, wire-wobblers, soothers, flagellators –
Brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, uncles and nieces and third cousins twice removed, stepmoms and foster dads, peace parents and godparents and every stripe of relation there is or can be.
All part of the crazy jumble that is family, blessed family, the great, old, enduring connections that are ours to find and ours to make, a practice that warms us and fills us and that in time and with intention might overflow to a hurting world.
May 6, 2013 | Sermons
The 9th grade youth presented their credos or belief statements on life's big questions: thoughts on God, existence, why bad things happen, ethics, death, after-life and possibly more. Learning with their mentors and teachers, supported by their parents, and spending time alone in the woods has led them to this place, on this day, to share their journey with us.
UUCABlog
The Sacred Work of Grief
Energy Savings Tip
New Day Rising, UU Conference, Saturday, February 27, noon-9pm
YRUU Sunday
Encountering Thurman's Jesus
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Re-Defining Marriage, or Love for The Daily Show
Submitted by Annabelle River on 21 January, 2010 - 06:20
I realize that I'm a couple days late by blogging standards, but I still want to join Anita Wagner, Alan, and Loving More in cheering for the polyamorous threesome on The Daily Show last Monday:
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
No Gay Out
www.thedailyshow.com
Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis
The poly folks come in at 3:10, but the whole clip is a good analysis of the marriage debates.
As the comments on Poly in the News agree (including one from George and Joy Reagan, the couple featured), The Daily Show did an impressive job of showing the poly interviewees as articulate, well-adjusted, sexy people, and getting its laughs at the expense of professional-comedian Jason Jones and his mock-sensationalism instead.
The segment also speaks well to trying to define my own heterosexual, polyamorous marriage, especially in its context of a fight for gay equality. The double standard is obvious and absurd: Heterosexuals already enjoy all kinds of "non-traditional" marriages, and yet the "traditional-marriage" lobby hasn't mounted any serious political campaigns against us.
In order to get my husband's and my marriage recognized by our families and by religious institutions, we did swallow a certain amount of pretense of "traditional" monogamy. Our vows promised, "I will be honest to you and trusting of you," and not fidelity; but we still smiled politely and silently when our parents' friends commented about us being "off the market." I stifled my laugh when our Catholic officiant asked me, "Do you believe that he will be as faithful to you as you are to him?" and simply answered, "Yes!"
But for all our half-lies to family and clergy, the U.S. government does not care. The county clerk who wrote our marriage license asked for our birthdays, our social security numbers, our birthplaces, and our professions. They did not ask our stance on adultery.
For that matter, we weren't legally required to hide the truth from our families or religious institutions either. We made the decision to avoid unnecessary drama, and we believe that full honesty with our lovers and closer friends is sufficient for our own consciences. But if we wanted to live more openly, we certainly could have told everyone we know, uninvited any disapprovers, gotten a civil judge or a Unitarian or a temporarily-ordained friend to officiate, and still had our legal wedding. The county clerks processing our name/address/social-security-number records still would never have known.
People may judge the Reagans for having a threesome on cable TV, but no one will "un-marry" them. And while non-monogamy is one of my especially personal issues, it is only one of the almost infinite ways to expose the myth of "traditional marriage" in the status quo.
Some anti-gay activists call gay marriage the "slippery slope" that will also legalize polygamy. And yes, re-defining marriage may convince some people that it's possible to re-define marriage. But pragmatically, legal recognition of gay marriage doesn't change the laws much. The parts of marriage that the American government regulates now - i.e. inheritance, taxes, child custody - have already evolved through feminism to look past which spouse has a pee-pee and which spouse has a vajayjay.
Pragmatically, being legally married to more than one person at a time would create a lot more unprecedented legal situations. If one person divorces out of a triad, is the remaining couple entitled to twice as much property because there are two of them? If someone with two spouses dies, which spouse inherits what? If someone with two spouses and no living will is in a vegetative state, and the spouses disagree on whether to keep them artificially alive, what then?
Also pragmatically, I'm okay with having only one of my relationships on government records, because my boyfriend and I don't have joint property or a joint residence. Part of the beauty of polyamory is that not all romantic relationships have to lead to marriage anyway.
So it makes perfect sense that America is opening up to legally recognizing gay marriage before it opens up to legally recognizing polygamy and polyandry. But from the perspective of my straight but "non-traditional" marriage, I too am watching the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case on pins and needles, praying for Judge Walker and the Supreme Court to show as much sense and humanity as The Daily Show writers.
cross-posted to http://annabelleriver.blogspot.com/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We're guessing there are a lot of sleepy eyes around the world for those (read: a WHOMPING number) of you who stayed up late last night to try to purchase your Burning Man tickets. We were standing by last night when midnight struck, and we worked over IM and watched with concern as things began to bog down from the weight of the onslaught… and the emails began to pour in looking for help.
InHouse Tickets had prepared everything to try to take the load, but we did still experience issues when the rubber hit the road with such magnitude. Below is a message from InHouse — PLEASE read it if you had any difficulty getting your ticket purchase, or need support from any failed attempts to order.
But before we get to that, we'd like to offer our special thanks — to those of you who purchased tickets at the higher price last night, to try to reserve the lower tiers for those who really needed them. Each year we see some of you doing this on the first day of ticket sales, and we want to say: thank you thank you thank you for that contribution to the community!
"By now many of you have already purchased your tickets to Burning Man 2004. Some of you may have experienced problems when trying to order online early on March 1st.
The ticket team would like to sincerely apologize for this morning's slow process in purchasing tickets. We are working through all of the support issues right now and will make sure that all partially completed orders will be finished as soon as humanly possible. (Note: partially completed orders will be processed at the level shown on those orders where verifiable.) This will take a day or two to resolve, but thank you for being patient while we work through everything.
Please use the above link to submit yor questions and issues. This is the *fastest* and most efficient way to communicate with us at present. Please do NOT call or send multiple support requests to InHouse or Burning Man – this will only slow us down as we try to answer your questions.
The $165 and $185 allotments are SOLD OUT.
We know this has been frustrating and hard and we thank you for your patience — don't worry you will get your tickets! Like last year, we are doing everything we can to meet the needs of our community. Thank you all for being understanding.
And now, before we go…some "Burning Man Ticket" haiku from a burner, because without a sense of humor, we're nothing.
Mocks me in my impotence.
I will read spam now.


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Research article 23 Mar 2017
Research article | 23 Mar 2017
Biomass burning and biogenic aerosols in northern Australia during the SAFIRED campaign
Andelija Milic1, Marc D. Mallet1, Luke T. Cravigan1, Joel Alroe1, Zoran D. Ristovski1, Paul Selleck2, Sarah J. Lawson2, Jason Ward2, Maximilien J. Desservettaz3, Clare Paton-Walsh3, Leah R. Williams4, Melita D. Keywood2, and Branka Miljevic1 Andelija Milic et al. Andelija Milic1, Marc D. Mallet1, Luke T. Cravigan1, Joel Alroe1, Zoran D. Ristovski1, Paul Selleck2, Sarah J. Lawson2, Jason Ward2, Maximilien J. Desservettaz3, Clare Paton-Walsh3, Leah R. Williams4, Melita D. Keywood2, and Branka Miljevic1
1International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia
2CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Aspendale, Victoria, 3195, Australia
3Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia
4Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, Massachusetts, 01821, USA
Correspondence: Branka Miljevic (b.miljevic@qut.edu.au)
Received: 12 Aug 2016 – Discussion started: 15 Aug 2016 – Revised: 12 Feb 2017 – Accepted: 13 Feb 2017 – Published: 23 Mar 2017
Abstract. There is a lack of knowledge of how biomass burning aerosols in the tropics age, including those in the fire-prone Northern Territory in Australia. This paper reports chemical characterization of fresh and aged aerosols monitored during the 1-month-long SAFIRED (Savannah Fires in the Early Dry Season) field study, with an emphasis on the chemical signature and aging of organic aerosols. The campaign took place in June 2014 during the early dry season when the surface measurement site, the Australian Tropical Atmospheric Research Station (ATARS), located in the Northern Territory, was heavily influenced by thousands of wild and prescribed bushfires. ATARS was equipped with a wide suite of instrumentation for gaseous and aerosol characterization. A compact time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer was deployed to monitor aerosol chemical composition. Approximately 90 % of submicron non-refractory mass was composed of organic material. Ozone enhancement in biomass burning plumes indicated increased air mass photochemistry. The diversity in biomass burning emissions was illustrated through variability in chemical signature (e.g. wide range in f44, from 0.06 to 0.18) for five intense fire events. The background particulate loading was characterized using positive matrix factorization (PMF). A PMF-resolved BBOA (biomass burning organic aerosol) factor comprised 24 % of the submicron non-refractory organic aerosol mass, confirming the significance of fire sources. A dominant PMF factor, OOA (oxygenated organic aerosol), made up 47 % of the sampled aerosol, illustrating the importance of aerosol aging in the Northern Territory. Biogenic isoprene-derived organic aerosol factor was the third significant fraction of the background aerosol (28 %).
Companion paper 1
How to cite. Milic, A., Mallet, M. D., Cravigan, L. T., Alroe, J., Ristovski, Z. D., Selleck, P., Lawson, S. J., Ward, J., Desservettaz, M. J., Paton-Walsh, C., Williams, L. R., Keywood, M. D., and Miljevic, B.: Biomass burning and biogenic aerosols in northern Australia during the SAFIRED campaign, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3945–3961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3945-2017, 2017.
This study reports chemical characterization of fresh and processed aerosols sampled over a month-long field campaign, during the intense fire period in Australian tropical savannah region. The study illustrates diversity in fire emissions and importance of processed fire emissions and formation of secondary species, including biogenic secondary species, in northern Australia.
This study reports chemical characterization of fresh and processed aerosols sampled over a...


ABS-CBNNews.com reports that the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) has released the schedule of Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3) operations during the holidays.
The report also quoted the MRT-3 management, who said they will continue to implement its no inspection, no entry policy. The MRT-3 management also reminded the public: "Gift-wrapped items will also have to opened for inspection."


text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Habari Media is Africa's biggest online media sales house. Each year they send out a calendar that not only functions as a media rate card, but also a showcase of the rising stars in the online industry. For 2012 we came up with "Digital Heroes", a desk top calendar highlighting the way these people are winning in the digital and media landscape around them.
The calendars box/ game console was delivered containing a set of 12 month background inserts cards that slide into the side of the box to change to the 'screen' of the game. The pop-out Heroes and Enemies for each month were provided in die-cut card format that, once popped-out, are inserted into a die cut stage in front of the screen.


text:
"The Adversary" is the sixth episode in the first season of the HBO science fiction western thriller television series Westworld. The episode aired on November 6, 2016.

The episode received positive reviews from critics, with Thandiwe Newton's performance being praised as a particular highlight of the episode.

Plot summary
The Man in Black and Teddy continue their journey to find Wyatt, heading to Pariah for answers. However, the Union Army has closed the border, preventing them from proceeding further. One of the soldiers recognizes Teddy and accuses him of being an accomplice to Wyatt's massacre of his unit. The Man in Black and Teddy are subsequently captured, with the Union soldiers planning to brand Teddy with a symbol of the Maze to mark him as a traitor. Teddy has a flashback confirming that he indeed was complicit in Wyatt's massacre and breaks free of his bonds. He then commandeers a Gatling gun and kills all of the Union soldiers at the camp.

Theresa informs Bernard that she wants to end their relationship. She fears that the revelation that she is sleeping with the head of the Behavior department could create a conflict of interest and hurt her credibility.

Bernard continues his investigations into the stray host. In the process, he discovers a small family of unregistered hosts operating in Sector 17. Dr. Ford reveals that this particular host family is based on his own family, and are first-generation hosts that Arnold designed for him.

Elsie finds evidence that Theresa is responsible for trying to smuggle data out of Westworld. In addition, she discovers that another person has been remotely reprogramming first-generation hosts. After warning Bernard about her discoveries, Elsie is grabbed by an unknown assailant.

Dr. Ford checks in on his host family and finds the dog dead. He interrogates Robert, the child host, who lies that the dog died naturally. Dr. Ford catches the lie and figures out that Robert killed the dog. On further interrogation, Robert admits that he was told to "put the dog out of its misery" by Arnold.

Maeve begins deliberately getting herself killed so she can continue her chats with Felix. Felix reveals the entire truth to her, showing that all of Westworld is fake. Sylvester discovers what Felix has done and threatens to inform QA, but Maeve convinces Sylvester to help her. She asks them to modify some of her programming to her advantage, making her smarter and increasing her pain tolerance. When they check her program, the duo realizes that somebody has already covertly modified Maeve's program.

Production
"The Adversary" was written by Halley Gross and series co-creator Jonathan Nolan, and was directed by Frederick E.O. Toye, who worked with Nolan on his previous TV series, Person of Interest.

Music
This episode features a strings-only cover of "Motion Picture Soundtrack" not by the usual composer Ramin Djawadi, but rather by Vitamin String Quartet, which plays as Felix gives Maeve a tour through the Westworld facilities.

Reception

Ratings
"The Adversary" was viewed by 1.64 million American households on its initial viewing. The episode also acquired a 0.7 rating in the 18–49 demographic. In the United Kingdom, the episode was seen by 1.07 million viewers on Sky Atlantic.

Critical reception

"The Adversary" received positive reviews from critics. The episode currently has an 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes and has an average rating of 8.6 out of 10, based on 28 reviews. The site's consensus reads "'The Adversary' shifts its focus to Maeve with one of Westworld's most haunting and moving sequences — and an episode that balances character development against the continual advancement of numerous storylines."

Eric Goldman of IGN reviewed the episode positively, saying, "Thandie Newton has done fantastic work all season, but this episode was a true standout for her, as she expertly played Maeve going through so much and processing so much." He gave it a score of 8.8 out of 10. Scott Tobias of The New York Times wrote in his review of the episode; "Westworld has been tossed into the same TV-MA basket as HBO shows like Game of Thrones, True Detective and Rome, which have brought the network some criticism for appealing heavily to libidinous men. The difference is that Westworld has been, from the very first image of the show, studiously anti-erotic, despite a premise whose human subjects indulge a lust for consequence-free sex and violence. If you were bored by the orgy, that's not a mistake on the part of the filmmakers." Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club wrote in his review, "'The Adversary' goes a long way towards rebuilding the faith I lost in previous weeks. And it does this by focusing on character need as much as on mystery." He gave the episode an A−.

Liz Shannon Miller of IndieWire wrote in her review, "There are some great sequences in this episode, and if we weren't already pulling for Thandie Newton in the Best Supporting Actress category at next year's Emmys, we sure as hell are now." She gave the episode a B+. James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly wrote in his review, "This is a reason I'm loving Westworld. We think this show is about AI. And it is, to some degree. But what's surprising is how the plight of the hosts can give us a fresh perspective on what it means to be human." He gave the episode an A−. Rebecca Hawkes of The Daily Telegraph wrote in her review, "At times during this week's episode, 'The Adversary', it felt as if we were inching nearer to a few of the answers we're so desperately craving. At others, we felt hopelessly lost — but in the best possible way." David Crow of Den of Geek said in his review, "while the episode as a whole was quite powerful, it is stained just enough to cost it that fifth star. Nonetheless, 'The Adversary' was high-quality television as a whole, and there is undoubtedly plenty of fun (and answers) to be had in the first season's final four episodes to come." He gave the episode a four out of five. Erik Kain of Forbes also reviewed the episode, saying, "this feels very much like the calm before the storm. That moment right before the wave comes crashing down, casting everything in its wake against the rocky shore. Then again, we're just six episodes deep. Judging by the restraint shown so far, we may have another episode or two of growing mystery, rising tension, and random acts of crazy disturbing violence before everything implodes."

References

External links

  at HBO.com

2016 American television episodes
Westworld (TV series) episodes
Television episodes written by Jonathan Nolan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Our family dynamic is a bit different. I was a single mother of two blessings when Brian and I met in 1997. We got married in 1999, and in 2000 Brian adopted Paige and Austin. We tried for several years to add on to our family and finally in 2005 God blessed us with Chloe. Paige (now 26) got married in 2011 and now has 3 children of her own. Austin (now 24) is married as well and has 2 children from previous relationships. Although Our relationship with him is strained at the current time, we know God is at work and the blessing is we get to be a part of his kids' lives. Chloe (now 12) has such a strong faith in Christ, which we attribute to her roots at River Oak. Through the years we knew our family wasn't "complete" but we continued on in our daily lives. Then, just this year, we added to our family through adoption!!! Landon (now 10) was our missing piece.
We have been a part of the school since 2010. Our older children both attended JCPS. Paige was pretty introverted and Austin was very extroverted. Both complete opposites and yet both having different issues on a daily basis with their schooling. We knew we wanted a different option for Chloe. I remember talking with our neighbors one evening about being stressed that Chloe was approaching the age of kindergarten. They mentioned River Oak and we got a little spark of hope. We went home, did some research and on registration day Brian went to the school VERY early to wait in line as we didn't have a "plan B"! We completed our interview and then celebrated when we were accepted. We have never felt judged because of our family dynamics (like when Chloe told the school she became an aunt at the age of 7!).
River Oak has been such a positive influence in our family by providing education, support, love, compassion, and even patience. We are a two parent working family. We have 4 children, 6 grandbabies (1 on the way), 2 fur babies (dog Charlie and cat Piper), and are active in extracurricular activities. To say that we are a little unorganized on some days is an understatement (but we are working on it!). Every teacher has been wonderful to work with. Through phone calls, text messages and emails, we stay connected and work together to keep the Kadow Kids on track (and us parents too, ha!).
In late August we received a call that a 9 year old boy (Landon) was searching for a forever family and we were chosen. I called Mrs. Jenice in a bit of a panic because we were going to go pick him up in a week and we didn't want to enroll him anywhere else but River Oak. We had very little information, no medical records, no real grades and VERY limited information on his past. His previous school had burned and all of his records were lost. This was a new adventure for us and we were so worried about everything. I remember praying the second night he was home and telling God, "I CAN'T DO THIS ON MY OWN… if this is your plan, God, then everything just needs to fit. I can't stress and lose sleep anymore. Please calm my emotions, my thoughts, and my actions and give me the courage to trust in Your plan." The next morning I woke up got the kids ready for the day. I dropped Chloe off at school (6th grade at Lighthouse Preparatory Academy) and went school supply shopping with Landon. We had a meeting at River Oak that afternoon and once again the Kadow family didn't have a plan B. So we prayed! Landon and I arrived at the school and he immediately started crying. We talked a bit in the car and I assured him that this school was very different and that I would be with him. We walked in together and was immediately greeted by the smiling faces of Mrs. Jenice, Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Wilkinson. Before I knew it Landon was talking with Mrs. Wilkinson and I was in the office talking with Mrs. Smith. It was then that my fears were gone. I explained to Mrs. Smith that another school just isn't an option for us and that we would really like to have Landon go to River Oak, even though it was late and we had absolutely no paperwork. She looked me in the eye and said "This is not a meeting of whether or not he can attend. He is going to go here. This is a meeting to see what we need to do to make this as smooth as possible." I was so relieved and felt so accepted and loved. That day we decided that Landon would best benefit from entering the third grade with Mrs. Wilkinson and he would start in the following few days. Phone calls started, paperwork was found and information was gathered. Landon started his first day "in a real school" at the age of 9. Everyone was very patient as I called, texted and stopped by frequently to check on my new son in his first few weeks. Since then it's just life as normal, (well "normal" for the Kadow family). I really feel River Oak is a wonderful blessing.
Everyone has been extremely patient, loving and honestly just fun to be with on this journey.
Landon is learning positive skills that are impacting his life in wonderful ways. He's very caring and strives to be more obedient. He's made exceptional progress in just 8 months, and I can't wait to see what God has planned for him in the future. Landon LOVES his school and even on days when homework is a struggle, he still looks forward to going!
Have you had a child graduate from River Oak and go onto another school? How was that transition?
Yes, Chloe went to River Oak from kindergarten to 5th grade and is now attending Lighthouse Preparatory Academy. Her love for Christ is her foundation, and it has been such a blessing to watch her grow in her faith through the years. River Oak taught her skills that have helped to prepare her for life challenges and knowledge that has given her confidence in her education. Several times this past year she stated, "Hey mom, I remember this from River Oak, only now it's a little harder." Chloe loves school and her enthusiasm for learning goes back to her earlier school days at River Oak.
I'd just like to say THANK YOU! Thank you to River Oak staff and families for accepting, loving, and truly caring for the Kadow Family. We aren't the perfect family, nor are we striving to be. We are simply living God's plan and some days just taking it one day at a time. We have struggles, challenges and even get off track sometimes, but we always try to make the right decisions and learn from the wrong ones. Our goal every day is be a blessing to someone and to show God's love through our actions. I guess that's why it's called His-story (history)… hopefully we can leave a positive impression on someone even if it's just a smile. God Bless!


text:
BJP recommends tax tweaks to attract foreign investors
By Administrator_India,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party has recommended adjusting rules on taxing equity market returns in the upcoming budget on Feb. 1, which if accepted, could attract more capital inflows into the stock markets, a senior party leader said.
Financial market participants have been lobbying for scrapping long term capital gains tax (LTCG) on investment in equity or equity-oriented funds or extending the holding period from the current one year to two years with nil tax.
India charges 15% short-term capital gains tax if equity shares are sold within a year and at 10% if sold after a year.
Another demand has been for an amendment to dividend distribution tax (DDT) rules.
In pre-budget consultations with the finance minister and the prime minister's office, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have urged the government to consider industry demands and listed measures to revive investments, Gopal Krishna Agarwal, economic affairs spokesman of BJP, told Reuters in an interview.
The long-term capital gain tax of 10% on the sale of equity shares was re-introduced in 2018 by former finance minister Arun Jaitley after a gap of 14 years, much to the disappointment of market participants and has been a major hindrance to foreign investment.
"These are doable and without putting much financial burden on the government".
Currently, Indian companies pay over 15% dividend distribution tax on declared dividends and investors pay another 10% tax on receiving more than one million rupees ($14,070) dividend in a financial year.


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Category Archives: Financial Planning Tips
Here's a situation you don't often come across. The IRS recently issued guidance on the tax treatment of a failure to cash a distribution check from a qualified retirement plan.
Under the scenario in the revenue ruling, an employer with a qualified retirement plan is required to make a distribution from the qualified plan to an individual in 2019 who is a plan participant. The qualified plan does not include a qualified Roth contribution program, nor does the individual have an after tax investment in the qualified retirement plan. The employer makes the required distribution by withholding tax as required by IRC section 3405(d)(2) and mailing a check for the remainder to the individual. Although the individual receives the check and could cash it in 2019, she does not do so. She also does not make a rollover contribution with respect to any portion of the designated distribution, and no other exception to income inclusion under IRC section 402(a) applies. No explanation is provided for her failure to cash the check by the revenue ruling.
Under the revenue ruling, the individual's failure to cash the distribution check received in 2019 does not permit her to exclude the amount of the distribution from gross income in 2019. It also does not alter the employer's obligation to withhold tax as required under IRC section 3405(d)(2). And it does not alter the employer's obligation to report the distribution to the individual and the IRS on a Form 1099-R.
For purposes of this revenue ruling, it is irrelevant whether the individual keeps the check, sends it back, destroys it, or cashes it in a subsequent year.
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA) mandated changes to the 401(k) hardship distribution rules. Generally, these changes relax certain restrictions on taking a hardship distribution. For 2019, the changes are optional, but effective January 1, 2020, following issuance of final regulations, certain changes will be mandatory.
An employer may, but is not required to, provide for hardship distributions in their retirement plans. Many plans such as 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and 457(b) plans permit hardship distributions.
If a 401(k) plan provides for hardship distributions, it must provide the specific criteria used to make the determination of hardship. Thus, for example, a plan may provide that a distribution can be made only for medical or funeral expenses, but not for the purchase of a principal residence or for payment of tuition and education expenses. In determining the existence of a need and of the amount necessary to meet the need, the plan must specify and apply nondiscriminatory and objective standards.
The rules for hardship distributions from 403(b) plans are similar to those for hardship distributions from 401(k) plans. If a 457(b) plan provides for hardship distributions, it must contain specific language defining what constitutes a distribution on account of an "unforeseeable emergency."
Effective for hardship withdrawals made on or after December 31, 2018, IRS proposed regulations eliminate the mandatory requirement that a participant obtain all loans available under the plan and all other plans maintained by the employer. Such a restriction is now an optional provision that may be adopted by the employer. The requirement that a participant must first obtain available distributions under all other plans maintained by the employer, (whether qualified or nonqualified) before receiving a hardship withdrawal remains in place.
Hardship distributions from a 401(k) plan were previously limited to the amount of the employee's elective deferrals and generally did not include any income earned on the deferred amounts. The proposed regulations permit, but do not require, 401(k) plans to allow hardship distributions of elective contributions, QNECS, QMACS, and safe harbor contributions and earnings on these amounts regardless when contributed or earned. The change can be made as of January 1, 2019.
The proposed regulations also make it optional for 2019 to prohibit an employee from making elective contributions and employee contributions to the plan and all other plans maintained by the employer for at least 6 months after receipt of the hardship distribution. Under the proposed regulations effective January 1, 2020, the 6-month suspension from making elective contributions is no longer allowed.
Prior to the issuance of the proposed regulations there were no special rules for hardship distributions on account of hurricanes or other natural disasters. The proposed regulations modify the safe harbor list of expenses for which distributions are deemed to be made on account of an immediate and heavy financial need by adding a new type of expense to the list, relating to expenses incurred as a result of certain disasters.
Finally, the proposed regulations incorporate guidance provided under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 by providing that qualifying medical, educational, and funeral expenses relating to a participant's primary beneficiary may qualify as expenses eligible for a hardship withdrawal.
A review of these changes would indicate that employers should not wait until 2020 to make these changes because they represent opportunities for employers to simplify plan administration in areas where administrative mistakes often occur.
Plan participants should ask their employers about the implementation and timing of these changes so they can adjust their financial plans accordingly.
Why Do Stocks Split?
Why do stocks split? According to Wells Fargo Advisors, when a company feels its stock price is getting too expensive to appeal to individual investors, it can decide to do a stock split to lower its per-share price. When this occurs, you now own more shares, yet the amount of equity you own in the company remains the same.
The stock split may not directly affect your portfolio. However, the lower-priced shares may eventually attract more buyers, eventually driving the stock price up over time. If that happens, you could benefit from the split and from the resulting share-price increase. Unfortunately, stock splits are occurring less frequently than in prior years.
Here's what you need to consider:
Don't wait for a split. If you're putting off buying stock in a particular company because you hope the stock will split and the per-share price will drop, don't hold your breath. Buy stocks according to ongoing purchasing strategies upon which you and your Financial Advisor agree and that make sense for your portfolio.
Revisit your individual stock-buying strategy. It can be very satisfying to invest in certain companies you really like. However, individual stocks tend to be more volatile investments than aggregated funds such as an investment designed to track performance of the S&P 500® Index or Russell 2000 index. Be sure you have a well-diversified portfolio before and after you consider adding individual stocks.
Consider gifting differently to kids and grandkids. In the past, you may have enjoyed giving younger family members individual stocks — maybe in companies that made their favorite cereals or digital devices, for example. You can still do that, but with fewer splits happening over time, the per-share price could limit how many shares you can give. The 2017 annual gift tax exclusion of $14,000 will increase to $15,000 beginning in 2018.
If you have any questions regarding stock splits or gifts to family members, contact Steve Siesser at ssiesser@verizon.net
Bad Debt-Business or Personal Deduction?
You loan someone money and they don't pay you back. What's the proper tax treatment for deducting the debt?
A business bad debt is deductible on the business tax return of the taxpayer (i.e. Schedule C) as an ordinary loss and can generate a net operating loss (NOL). A non-business bad debt is deductible as a short-term capital loss (Schedule D), subject to the $3,000 per year net capital loss limitation.
The taxpayer in this case made a career out of lending money for profit, both through business entities and out of his personal funds. One of his personal loans to a commercial laundry wound up going bad. He deducted the loss as a business bad debt which in turn created NOL carrybacks and carryforwards. The IRS claimed it was a personal bad debt because the taxpayer's private lending was not a trade or business.
According to IRC section 166, for a money lending activity to be considered a trade or business, the taxpayer must have been involved in the activity with continuity and regularity, with the primary purpose of earning income or making a profit. The courts have developed a non-exhaustive list of facts and circumstances to consider in deciding whether a taxpayer is in the business of lending money.
The IRS argued that even if the taxpayer had made enough loans over the years, his source of funds was a family limited partnership (FLP) he managed with his two sisters. Out of 89 loans made over a 14 year period, only 8 listed the taxpayer as the lender. The rest listed the FLP as the lender.
The court disagreed with the IRS based on the fact that the majority of those alleged to be FLP loans were in fact made from the taxpayer's personal trust. The taxpayer made at least 66 loans over this period of time (either alone, or acting as trustee of his trust) to a multitude of borrowers, easily exceeding $24 million. These figures were more than sufficient to support the finding that the taxpayer's personal lending activities were continuous and regular by themselves. Unless motivated by some hidden whimsy or charitable purpose, the number of personal loans made and the money he tied up in them proves he spent a sufficient amount of time on them.
Son Sells House To Parents To Avoid Foreclosure. What's Taxable?
The son was unable to make his mortgage payments that became due on his house. In order to avoid foreclosure, he sold his house to his parents. His parents financed the purchase by taking out a loan that was used to pay off $664,048 of the taxpayer's outstanding mortgage debt. The closing statement showed that "Total Consideration" for the sale and purchase was $975,000. The IRS claimed that the amount realized on the transaction was $975,000. The son argued that the amount realized should be his $664,048 liability relief.
IRC section 1001(b) states that the amount realized from the sale of property is the sum of any money received plus the fair market value of property other than money that is received. The regulations for this code section state that the amount realized includes the amount of liabilities from which the transferor is discharged as a result of the sale.
The son argued that the amount realized should be the $664,048 of liability relief because the transaction was in part a sale and in part a gift to his parents. The IRS argued the total consideration of $975,000 shown on the closing statement controls the determination of the amount realized.
The tax court rejected the IRS argument saying that the son received no cash and no other property from his parents as a result of the sale other than the mortgage debt that was discharged. The court said the IRS failed to understand that the transaction was in part a sale and in part a gift. [Reg. §1.1001-1(e)(1)]
The tax court ruled that the amount realized on the sale was the $664,048 of mortgage debt relief, minus the son's settlement costs at closing. (Son must report the gift on Form 709)
If you're in a similar bind and need tax help, contact Steve Siesser for advice. ssiesser@verizon.net


text:
Q: Liferay NullPointerException ViewAction could you please help me to debug the following exception I am getting in Liferay Portal?
URL /c/portal/layout
java.lang.NullPointerException
/com.liferay.portlet.assetpublisher.action.ViewAction
…che.catalina.core.ApplicationHttpRequest.getRequestURL (ApplicationHttpRequest.java:490)
…x.servlet.http.HttpServletRequestWrapper.getRequestURL (HttpServletRequestWrapper.java:211)
…x.servlet.http.HttpServletRequestWrapper.getRequestURL (HttpServletRequestWrapper.java:211)
com.liferay.portal.util.HttpImpl.getCompleteURL (HttpImpl.java:382)
com.liferay.portal.kernel.util.HttpUtil.getCompleteURL (HttpUtil.java:102)
com.liferay.portal.util.PortalImpl.getCurrentURL (PortalImpl.java:1797)
com.liferay.portal.util.PortalUtil.getCurrentURL (PortalUtil.java:472)
com.liferay.portlet.PortletURLUtil.getRefreshURL (PortletURLUtil.java:256)
com.liferay.portlet.PortletURLUtil.getRefreshURL (PortletURLUtil.java:167)
…che.jsp.html.portal.render_005fportlet_jsp._jspService (render_005fportlet_jsp.java:1694)
org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase.service (HttpJspBase.java:70)
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service (HttpServlet.java:731)
…liferay.portal.servlet.DirectRequestDispatcher.include (DirectRequestDispatcher.java:57)
…servlet.ClassLoaderRequestDispatcherWrapper.doDispatch (ClassLoaderRequestDispatcherWrapper.java:78)
…al.servlet.ClassLoaderRequestDispatcherWrapper.include (ClassLoaderRequestDispatcherWrapper.java:53)
com.liferay.portlet.PortletContainerImpl._doRender (PortletContainerImpl.java:638)
com.liferay.portlet.PortletContainerImpl.render (PortletContainerImpl.java:135)
…liferay.portlet.SecurityPortletContainerWrapper.render (SecurityPortletContainerWrapper.java:141)
…liferay.portlet.RestrictPortletContainerWrapper.render (RestrictPortletContainerWrapper.java:126)
…eray.portal.kernel.portlet.PortletContainerUtil.render (PortletContainerUtil.java:156)
…ortal.layoutconfiguration.util.PortletRenderer._render (PortletRenderer.java:125)
…rtal.layoutconfiguration.util.PortletRenderer.access$4 (PortletRenderer.java:107)
…on.util.PortletRenderer$PortletRendererCallable.doCall (PortletRenderer.java:180)
…on.util.PortletRenderer$PortletRendererCallable.doCall (PortletRenderer.java:1)
…ay.portal.kernel.executor.CopyThreadLocalCallable.call (CopyThreadLocalCallable.java:69)
java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run (FutureTask.java:262)
…rnel.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$WorkerTask._runTask (ThreadPoolExecutor.java:682)
…al.kernel.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$WorkerTask.run (ThreadPoolExecutor.java:593)
java.lang.Thread.run (Thread.java:745)

I am running Liferay Portal Enterprise Edition 6.2.10 EE GA1. Any clue?
Best regards,
Fabrício Sperandio

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Bitcoin is proving that it's not only for techies. The growth in value of the digital currency known as bitcoin over the last year has caught the eye of investors as well.
The value of one bitcoin was about $1 in 2011 until it reached its first "bubble" in July at $31 then dropped down. It got to $100 in 2013, and upon finding its footing, it rose to an astounding value of $1,000 in November of that year.
After briefly hitting $1,000 again in 2014, it dropped down and found itself as low as $200 in 2015. The price of bitcoin reached around $600 in 2016. That's a significant return over the last year and when that happens, investors of all types take note. In 2017, bitcoin prices skyrocketed.
But the roller coaster ride of bitcoin is not for every investor. It's traded on exchanges throughout the world and that makes it a liquid investment, but obviously, there's a significant level of risk.
We've written in the past about how evaluating bitcoin as an investment requires that investors consider it as an "alternative investment" and thus should only utilize a small portion of their portfolios for this asset. Because of bitcoin's lack of correlation to other assets like stocks or bonds, placing a small percentage into these "non-correlated" assets can allow a portfolio to better weather a storm created by market volatility.
In this way, these assets and their consideration as an "alternative investment" actually create less overall risk for a portfolio and the use of these investments have come to play a role in prudent portfolio asset allocation.
The use of these alternative investments for investors' portfolio has been rising since the financial crisis of 2008.
Many large wealth management firms such as Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch recommend prudent asset allocation models of 10 to 20 percent of an overall portfolio into alternative investments such as gold, real estate or hedge funds. As of yet, they're not recommending bitcoin and blockchain assets into this mix, but that's not stopping some investors from taking the leap with small portions of their portfolios.
If you're not familiar with bitcoin, I'll give you the quick history of the asset. Satoshi Nakamoto, an anonymous "entity" or individual, produced a white paper outlining a new currency called bitcoin in 2008. At the time, the white paper and Satoshi's creation resonated primarily with those in the tech world or those who believed that the current monetary systems needed change. Satoshi's ideas held relevance and potential to change things. Although there are now many who liken Satoshi's declaration of bitcoin as being similar to Martin Luther's theses (as an example of the times, Luther posted his to a door and Satoshi posted his on the internet), the appeal and interest in the digital currency was slow to take hold or gain interest at the time.
The road to acceptance of bitcoin has been bumpy and is still not fully completed.
However, we've moved far from the days of the famous pizza purchase of May 22, 2010. This is actually a day that is celebrated by many in the bitcoin world and it's known as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
At that time, bitcoin was being used more as a barter instrument among those in the developing and programming world. Bitcoins were being created through computers that ran the program and these were used to pay other programmers for their work.
When the technology was about a year old, Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer, made the leap of paying a fellow user on an Internet forum 10,000 BTC for two Papa John's pizzas. Considering that bitcoin had reached a high price of over $1,000 in November 2013, the value of those pizzas was over $10 million. Now that truly warrants its own holiday!
The period between the pizza purchase in 2010 and the $1,000 high in 2013 was a time in which bitcoin became more widely used as a form of currency.
This was primarily due to the ability to own bitcoin through an exchange rather than the previous manner of gaining them exclusively through mining for them. The first exchange that allowed for these bitcoin transactions was called Mt. Gox, which had originally begun as a site to sell and trade cards from "Magic The Gathering," thus the name of the exchange.
We're now at a time when bitcoin finds itself being written about in the mainstream press and the digital currency is traded on a 24-hour basis on exchanges around the world. You can buy computers, furniture, coffee and just about anything else with a digital currency that is not backed by gold and doesn't exist in physical form.
The creation and functioning of these exchanges are an important reason why bitcoin is not only gaining acceptance. People are using the digital currency as an investment vehicle as well. These exchanges and the awareness of value being created by digital currencies has led to the creation of other currencies, referred to as cryptocurrencies or blockchain assets.
According to Crypto Currency Market Capitalizations, the total value of these blockchain assets was nearly $12 billion in August 2016. Although bitcoin constitutes nearly 80 percent of this valuation –it's the only one worth over $1 billion, sitting at over $9 billion market value –the overall market covers nearly 700 digital currencies. On a 24-hour basis, there is nearly $80 million in volume among the various exchanges throughout the world.
This market didn't exist prior to 2008 and the creation of bitcoin. Actually, bitcoin was the only blockchain asset until 2011 when Litecoin and Namecoin were created. During that time, this creation of blockchain assets has funded new companies, developed new technologies and allowed people to both make and lose money trading them on worldwide exchanges.
Another valued blockchain asset is Ethereum, which saw its value increase over 1000 percent only a few months after its creation. The rapid growth of interest in Ethereum actually led directly to the creation of other blockchain assets. One of these was something known as The DAO (distributed autonomous organization) and its premise was to hold Ether (the cryptocurrency for Ethereum) and to institute an organization that would decide what to do with this supply. Members of The DAO would vote for proposed projects and share the benefit from the success of these efforts.
The DAO became the largest crowdfunded effort, receiving over $160 million of ETHER. This interest displayed that not only was there an appetite for investment in blockchain assets, but that the method of using blockchain assets for crowdfunding new businesses could be a wave of the future.
The other blockchain asset that was directly created from Ethereum is known as Ethereum Classic. This new blockchain asset was created in reaction to the reality that soon after The DAO was created, it was hacked and over $50 million was taken. This essentially killed The DAO and the reaction of the Ethereum team was to implement what's known as a hard fork to return the money to its investors. This led to the creation of Ethereum Classic.
A young startup company named Lawnmower became noted as creating one of the "easiest ways to buy bitcoin" with its mobile app. The company has expanded to provide information, education and analyst reports on the various cryptocurrencies that can also be bought and sold on the exchanges. Alex Sunnarborg, CFO of the company, points out, "there are currently over 20 blockchain assets with a market capitalization of over $10 million, 10 with a market cap over $25 million, two over $1 billion and one (bitcoin) with a market capitalization of over $10 billion."
Lawnmower recently prepared a roadmap detailing the major blockchain assets.
Lawnmower is planning to expand their easy way to buy bitcoin to include many of these other blockchain assets as well. They've created one of the first indices for these markets to allow users and investors to track these assets and the overall market as well. They call it the Lawnmower Blockchain Index and it tracks those blockchain assets that have above a $50 million market capitalization.
The volatility of the blockchain asset machine has forced them to add and remove a number of assets from the Index since it was first released. The immediate valuation of The DAO found it securely on the Index only to be removed a few weeks later after its hack and ultimate demise. Similarly, assets such as STEEM and Monero seemingly came from "out of the blue" to valuations that warranted their placement on the Index. Whether they or others stay on the Lawnmower Blockchain Index is still worth watching, but the Index is allowing investors and observers to follow the movements of this upcoming and volatile market.
Because of the explosion of the blockchain asset market over the last several years, we now have a market that once didn't exist that's worth nearly $12 billion. New companies can become funded with over $160 million of a blockchain asset!
Whether it's an appropriate investment for you and your portfolio is up to you and your financial advisor. You may find however that your financial advisor may not be knowledgeable or even aware of these assets and how you can invest in them. Until Lawnmower builds out its capabilities to make buying these other blockchain assets as easy as it is on their app to buy bitcoin, the reality is that it's not yet that easy to invest in blockchain assets besides Bitcoin.
Can You Discuss This With Your Financial Advisor?
An advisor or investor can buy an investment called GBTC from the over-the-counter market. This is an ETF-like investment that is a pure bitcoin investment. Its underlying value is 1/10 the value of bitcoin. It trades at a steep premium, however, which shows the appetite that investors have for this type of investment.
The rise of this market will eventually warrant the need for all financial advisors, money managers, and financial professionals to become educated and knowledgeable about these assets so they can have appropriate discussions with their clients. Until then, risky investors may be willing to take the dive into blockchain assets, but should do so by educating themselves on these markets and assets. We're still in the early stages, and although profits can be made, an investor must tread lightly to find the right "alternative investment" for his or her portfolio.
DISCLOSURE: The author is an advisor and investor at Lawnmower and does own GBTC and numerous blockchain assets such as bitcoin, ETHER, and others.


More affordable housing opportunities will soon be made available for people who qualify for the social, gap and low-income housing. This will be made possible by a R120 million property sale in the CBD. Added to this will be a concession which will be made available to older Communicare residents who solely rely on social grants for income.
Last week, Social enterprise housing NPC, Communicare sold its head office building on the Foreshore to a foreign buyer who operates in the leisure property market. According to the group, the new owner of the five-storey building has been on the lookout for an ideal location for a five-star boutique hotel for some time.
The building opposite the Cape Town International Convention Center boasts a massive 1294 square meters, five-storeys and a parking lot to accommodate 78 cars. The site was purchased from the Foschini Group in the late 1980s for R300 000 and construction of the current building was completed in 1991 at a cost of about R10 million at the time. The development was funded by Communicare and the Cape Joint Pension Fund (CJPF) in a joint venture. Communicare, however, bought out CJPF's 50% share in 2001.
According to Communicare stakeholder relations manager, Michelle Matthee, the proceeds from the sale will be used to fund upcoming housing projects which will see over 1000 people accommodated. "Communicare is working on the development of more than 1 100 units this year. This includes 138 rental units under construction at Musgrave Villas in Diep River and 314 social housing units at Bothasig Gardens. The mixed-use development planned at Salt River Market is also one of several other developments being planned," said Matthee.
Currently, the provincial housing backlog is 540 779 with a 2019/20 budget of R2.7 million which will yield 25000 housing opportunities.


Charity organisations basically are those organisations that were established for the sole purpose of performing functions relating to charity. Most of those organisations resources are dedicated for charitable activities. Its primary function is to give benefit to the public by performing worthy causes that helps the public at large. Most of these charity organisations perform functions for community service. Also all the operations performed by those organisations are legal and their policy goes in tune with the general public policy.
1. It basically has a separate entity and identity and that can also be considered as a trust fund or an establishment.
2. Its most important role is working for the benefit of the public. It can also perform community services or help community groups by using various means.
3. Most of those Charity organisations operates within the frame work of the law and have legal bindings.
4. They usually have different ways to generate revenue for the organisation. Most of the revenues are used for community services. They are basically a non profit organisation.
5. The one and the only function of this type of organisation are charitable.
The structure of a charitable organisation is just like any other private company. They have their own separate departments and have a hierarchical working structure. The only difference is in the purpose, principal and the values of the charitable organisations and their pursuit for non-profitable venture. There are several ways that the structure of these organisations can be organised, For example, corporation, unincorporated association, foundations and online endeavor. Depending on size and the type of organisation the number of the staff may vary.
Charity organisations have different ways to generate revenues for sustaining their causes. They usually have an active way to raise funds through a campaign or conducting programmes. The community service functions can range from helping other in times of disaster, giving financial aid, medical services, public works and conducting human right activities. They generally function as a welfare organisation and work for the improvement of the society through their charitable function.
There are various types of Charity organisations. They can be classified into various groups, for example, medical, religious, educational and social service groups. These organisations can be established by an individual, group, trust or financial contribution by a benefactor.
In spite of the various types all these organisations have one sole aim i.e. working for the benefit of the public.