The wonders of Skype in connecting classes in Seattle in the USA and Hillcrest in South Africa

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Submitted by Fiona Beal</em></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I</i><em>n July 2011 I was very privileged to attend the inaugural Microsoft Partner’s in Learning Institute in Seattle. Whilst there I connected with a virtual blogging friend, Julie Hembree, who visited me at my hotel. It is really exciting to meet virtual technology friends for the first time. Since then Julie has gone on to be an Edublogs winner with her amazing librarian blog, </em><em><a href="http://bellbulldogreaders.edublogs.org/">Bulldog Readers</a>,</em><em> plus a United States finalist in the Partners in Learning Global Forum held in Prague 2013. I used her insights in a </em><a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2013/02/teachers-ever-wondered-what-takes-place.html"><em>post</em></a><em> I recently wrote about the Forum. Last year Julie wrote and asked if I knew of anyone she could send books to and form a virtual connection with in South Africa. I wrote a blogpost about it and sent the respondents' names to Julie. Well, that connection has happened which I am very excited about, and I have asked Julie if I could use her  </em><em><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/2013/03/06/skyping-across-10000-miles/">post</a>s</em><em> as a guest post. The books have actually gone to a semi-rural school in Kwazulu-Natal near the <a href="http://www.msinsi.co.za/inanda-dam.php">Inanda Dam</a>. Highbury School collaborates with the school. On March 18th, the 7th year students at Highbury will travel to Ndlokolo Primary School to deliver the books for Julie. Thank you Julie for sharing the story on the Internet! So in this post we will first tell you about the background to the books, and then we will tell you about the skype conversation with Highbury Prep that took place on World Reaad Aloud Day!</em></span><br /><em><br /></em><strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong> <br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>This first part of the story comes from Julie’s <a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/2013/03/02/books-on-their-way-to-south-africa/">Books on their way to Africa</a> post</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Our first shipment of books is en route to South Africa! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/map-NPS-south-africa-1ktq3wz.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="233" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/map-NPS-south-africa-1ktq3wz.jpg" title="map NPS south africa" width="352" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These boxes are going to our partner school, <a href="http://www.hps.co.za/">Highbury Prep School </a>in Hillcrest, South Africa. We will be <a href="https://education.skype.com/">Skyping</a> with some 3rd year students from Highbury on Wednesday before school to jointly celebrate <a href="http://litworld.org/worldreadaloudday/">World Read Aloud Day</a>. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/Highbury-15dx1v9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="292" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/Highbury-15dx1v9.jpg" title="Highbury" width="512" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Highbury Prep School works with a semi-rural school near the <a href="http://www.msinsi.co.za/inanda-dam.php">Inanda Dam</a>. On March 18th, the 7th year students at Highbury will travel to Ndlokolo Primary School. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/Ndlokolo-Primary-school-265n1hv.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="286" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/Ndlokolo-Primary-school-265n1hv.jpg" title="Ndlokolo Primary school" width="448" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The students have been collecting “mealie meals” a type of breakfast porridge made from white maize, beans and Easter eggs to bring to the students at Ndlokolo. They will also bring the books we have sent, as long as they get there in time! <a href="http://www.natureschoice.co.za/bio-friendly/milled-flour-bran/white-mealie-meal-2/">Mealie meal</a> is made from the same ingredients as corn flakes. It is a staple meal in most African countries. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took a lot of work and fundraising to get to the shipment stage of our project! To make this exchange more personal, our students placed stickers inside each book and then signed them. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0370c-16gnquw.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="336" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0370c-16gnquw.jpg" title="IMG_0370c" width="448" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we counted out piles of books and made sure we had the most books we could fit into each box. The maximum weight for a box has to be less than 20 pounds. We figured out that we can fit about 50 paperback picture books  in a 20 pound box. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0372c-pc56oi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="336" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0372c-pc56oi.jpg" title="IMG_0372c" width="448" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also added some handmade bookmarks and some cards. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0375c-sxt5cv.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="336" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0375c-sxt5cv.jpg" title="IMG_0375c" width="448" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0376c-1qwynfj.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="336" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0376c-1qwynfj.jpg" title="IMG_0376c" width="448" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The boxes were closed and taped up. Mrs. Hembree filled out the customs paperwork and then took them to the post office. It is supposed to take between 6-10 business days for the boxes to arrive.” </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>This next part of the story comes from Julie’s <a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/2013/03/06/skyping-across-10000-miles/">Skyping across 10000 miles</a> post </b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This morning we made a Skype video call with some students at Highbury Prep School in Hillscrest, South Africa. If you would like to go on a virtual tour of the school, click on this <a href="http://www.hps.co.za/images/virtualtour/Highbury_School.html">Highbury Prep School </a>link. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0410com-13pleaa.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="332" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0410com-13pleaa.jpg" title="IMG_0410com" width="448" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was 8:15 am in Seattle, WA and 6:16pm in Hillcrest. That’s a 9 hour time difference! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0411com-2hhjzxu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="336" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0411com-2hhjzxu.jpg" title="IMG_0411com" width="448" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We chose to Skype on this particular day because it’s <a href="http://litworld.org/worldreadaloudday/">World Read Aloud Day</a>, an international day to draw attention to the importance of literacy around the world. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before the call, the students brainstormed some questions to ask the students at Highbury. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0433com-1u9o2je.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="336" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0433com-1u9o2je.jpg" title="IMG_0433com" width="377" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then at 8:15 we made the video call, with no technical difficulties! We were communicating across 10,100 or more miles (16,976 km). </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0413com-20bb2a9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="336" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0413com-20bb2a9.jpg" title="IMG_0413com" width="448" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had students from kindergarten to 5th grade,  two teachers -Mrs. Hynden, Mrs. Lustgarten and a parent- Mrs. Yates participate in the call. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0415com-1j081fr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="336" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0415com-1j081fr.jpg" title="IMG_0415com" width="448" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We exchanged questions back and forth and learned we have a lot of similarities and some differences too. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of the similarities: </span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we study study English, math, science. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we love PE! </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we like books </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we have technology </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we attend great schools</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some differences: </span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">they wear uniforms to school </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">only boys attend their school </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">they study two languages at school (in addition to English): Afrikaans and isiZulu </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">they have 11 official languages in South Africa </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">their school day is 7:30am – 2:00pm, except on days they have “sport” </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the entire school attends after school sport and learn swimming, rugby, soccer, etc. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it’s hot there right now – in the 90′s (32 Celcius) </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we use Netbooks and they use iPads</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During our call, we tried speaking Afrikaans and isiZulu. They taught us how to say Hello in both languages. They were also surprised to hear how many of our students speak another language. They said we are very “international”! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We found out the boxes of books we sent have not yet arrived, but hopefully will soon. Mrs. Dunstone said sometimes things take longer in Africa. As soon as they do arrive, she promised to take pictures and share with us. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our call lasted about 20-25 minutes and then it was time to say goodbye! The time just flew by! However, we did have a few minutes for donuts and juice before school. Mrs. Hynden showed us some of her photos from South Africa and figurines from Swaziland when she visited there in the late 80′s. She remembered going to the beach in Durban, which is about 45 minutes from Hillcrest. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0417com-11tz5zi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" height="448" src="http://bookstoafrica.edublogs.org/files/2013/03/IMG_0417com-11tz5zi.jpg" title="IMG_0417com" width="336" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone filled out a card and shared a positive statement about the call. Here are some of the students said: </span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I liked seeing how different things were in African and that they have iPads for every student.” Eleni </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Asking and answering questions.” Yennhi </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Asking if I can join their school!” Kailer </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It was funny when they said we have an accent.” Samantha </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It was really interesting when I heard they all had iPads.” Gabe </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“…just seeing them!” Madelyn </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“What I liked about Skyping was when they talked in a different language.” Kasia </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“My favorite part about Skyping with the class was hearing them speak their language and finding out 600 students get their own iPads!” Grace </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Listening to their accents.” Bella </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I like the sports you do.” Cooper </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“My favorite part was getting to know how their school works.” Lauren </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“My favorite part was listening to their accent.” Emily </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Awesome!” Jaiden </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The part I liked is when they said they had about 600 iPads.” Kaito </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“My favorite part was talking to different people.” Syon </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“My favorite part of skyping with the kids was being able to see their faces when they would laugh.” Mrs. Yates </span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I loved seeing the look on the African boys’ faces when they saw girls at our school!” Mrs. Hynden</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This video call was a fabulous experience. I hope we can continue the questions and learning on this blog. It’s amazing how technology can build a bridge between our schools!"</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********<strong>***********</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong> </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is a comment from Des Dunston’s at Highbury Prep</span></strong> <br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SchoolNet wrote to Des Dunstone to tell her how excited we were to see what happened about the books and how thrilled we were to see how Skype connected the classes, and Des commented “<i>Our Skype pizza party last night was a great success.  We had some parents join us and I think they are all so blown away by what we can do with technology these days</i>.” </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hooray for Skype. Try it! Your class will love it. Thank you to Julie and Des.</span><br /><br /></div>

Microsoft Skype The wonders of Skype in connecting classes in Seattle in the USA and Hillcrest in South Africa

Submitted by Fiona Beal I n July 2011 I was very privileged to attend the inaugural Microsoft Partner’s in Learning Institute in Seattle. Wh...

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Prestonwood Baptist Doesn't Call the Cops on the Molester, But They Call the Cops on the Church Member Who Asks Questions About the Molester

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0ZgQBx16qCmO-w0bk-0a8xia7uv3yLnJgo-QD29_0uu21iZ4jjB-EAQWzW8GG0i3c9S20l2Q_DJDr0Qrkqp1MIZDTt9iAkVzmRNs3B2buBaGjaDQWf9mU_BFUDnkxiOskn568yLKu5HD/s1600/StopAsking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0ZgQBx16qCmO-w0bk-0a8xia7uv3yLnJgo-QD29_0uu21iZ4jjB-EAQWzW8GG0i3c9S20l2Q_DJDr0Qrkqp1MIZDTt9iAkVzmRNs3B2buBaGjaDQWf9mU_BFUDnkxiOskn568yLKu5HD/s1600/StopAsking.jpg" /></a>Readers - it is hard to believe another SBC mega church has banned a long-time church member for daring to demand questions of its leadership through social media.<br /><br />Sound familiar?Don't these guys learn from each other's mistakes in how they try to bully critics and questioners?<br /><br />At <a href="http://www.prestonwood.org/" target="_blank">Prestonwood Baptist Church</a>, a long-time church member - an educated, professional, family man - recently became aware of the church's non-reporting of molestation of  several young people at the church at the hands of John Langworthy of Prestonwood back in 1989. Brett Shipp of WFAA covered the story <a href="http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/Disturbing-revelations-about-former-Prestonwood-minister-127284918.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and ABP covered it <a href="http://www.abpnews.com/ministry/congregations/item/8166-abuse-cover-up-alleged-at-sbc-mega-church#.UTmAlFfNnb0" target="_blank">here</a>. I wrote about the Prestonwood/Langworthy scandal <a href="http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/08/in-langworthyprestonwood-story-bloggers.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/08/christa-brown-makes-clear-case-for.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/2011/12/seminary-trustee-lawyer-tells-church.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br />This church member then did the unspeakable - he dared to use social media to ask questions of his church leadership. He had questions like, presumably, why did the church leadership NOT contact the police so they could investigate? Did the church warn the next churches or schools that Langworthy went to work at? This church member posted a few posts on the church Facebook page, which were promptly deleted. He then called the church to schedule a meeting - but it was abruptly canceled, and when he showed up at the church anyways he was turned away and told he was no longer welcomed at his church. You can watch the video of his visit to the church <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmWbMAJcIq4" target="_blank">here</a>, and you can visit his Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/People-Against-Prestonwoods-Silence-on-Allegations-of-Sexual-Abuse/429678530451319" target="_blank">here</a>. You can follow his Twitter feed <a href="https://twitter.com/crtynes" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br />The church then played the "he might be a threat" card by filing a "Suspicious Person Report" with the local police. Sound familiar?<br /><br />Prestonwood knows this man and his wife and kids. They know he is not a threat. They even know his questions are completely legitimate. But they would rather ban this man from his church, disrupt his family life and punish he and his wife for asking questions. Are they worried how this will affect this man's wife and children to have their husband and father banned from their own church under threat of arrest - just for asking questions of the holy man of God and his friends?<br /><br />The Wartburg Watch is going to cover this story more in depth tomorrow, so stay tuned.<br /><br />I hope this church member continues to use social media to expose their attempts to bully him and intimidate him, and more importantly shine more light on the Prestonwood/Langworthy scandal.<br /><br />But how ironic is this: Prestonwood apparently did NOT issue any trespass papers or "suspicious person's report" against Langworthy when he was found to be touching young boys at the church....but let a church member ask questions about how they handled the Langworthy case, and HE gets the boot.<br /><br />Don't call the cops when the music man is molesting minors...but quickly call the cops when the faithful member wants to know why the cops weren't called to report the molester.<br /><br />Don't report the molester to the cops...but report the "suspicious" church member who wants answers to his questions.<br /><br />Can things get any crazier in the Southern Baptist Convention?

Prestonwood Baptist Doesn't Call the Cops on the Molester, But They Call the Cops on the Church Member Who Asks Questions About the Molester

Readers - it is hard to believe another SBC mega church has banned a long-time church member for daring to demand questions of its leadershi...

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Guy Ahnyurdyck...Amsterdam Prison Blues

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Jayyyyyyyyy…Maaaaatt-Man…IWS Foreign Correspondent Guy Ahnyurdyck here, writing to you live from within the close and confining quarters of an Amsterdam hoosegow.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjlwgZlYSNRzB0o7cBjbWASlOsdSjkipZcP_f5c7AJCef8fwAGvMewIUMw7P66U70lm5nIwKAVaZZRu4KOfd8UYPPLfLN5nJBxagecjYqq-Mbf2y4ubJVKIRcJf9spBVaH7yi-Bo_NEM/s1600/Geert+Wilders+Sexy+Extremist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjlwgZlYSNRzB0o7cBjbWASlOsdSjkipZcP_f5c7AJCef8fwAGvMewIUMw7P66U70lm5nIwKAVaZZRu4KOfd8UYPPLfLN5nJBxagecjYqq-Mbf2y4ubJVKIRcJf9spBVaH7yi-Bo_NEM/s320/Geert+Wilders+Sexy+Extremist.jpg" width="320" /></a>I know, I know…I have been away for months, but this past Wednesday, mere moments prior to my most recent arrest, I heard your <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/03/06/premium-blend" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue;">IWS broadcast</span></i></a> in which you stated that you would fire me if you could find out my whereabouts, and I thought…<br /><br /><i>Perhaps I should contact IWS Radio Global HQ and explain my current sui generis curriculum vitae.  And thankfully, the wonderful folks of the Amsterdam afdeling van de Politie have allowed me to do just so.</i><br /><br />You see, gentlemen…<br /><br />With much rue and regret I must fall on my sword of self-psycho analyzeation and admit to you that for months I have fallen into the searing cauldron of self-doubt, the fires of frustration, and harvested only from the lamentable fields of self-loathing.<br /><br />In other words…<br /><br />For the past eight months, I have been doing nothing but drinking, drugging, and fucking, along the raucous, red-lit streets of Amsterdam.<br /><br />I have hit rock bottom and hope upon hope that you will reconsider your proposed action of terminating my employ with IWS.<br /><br />You see Jay, Matt, my IWS friends…Covering the topsy-turvy corners of the earth in search of hot spots of international news for nearly two years has drained me of human emotion.  I have become insensitive to the trauma and hardship of those around me.  I can feel no more.<br /><br />So, in order to feel again, I sought out the sensation of happiness in heroin, the elation of life through ecstasy, and the hard-on in my pants from hookers.<br /><br />I am ashamed, but long for compassion and treatment from both IWS and your vast and diverse worldwide audience.  And, this most recent litigious incident has been a wake up call for me.<br /><br />Shortly after the <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/03/06/premium-blend" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><i>IWS Radio broadcast on Wednesday</i></span></a>, strung out on NOS and peyote, I hired a most alluring Dutch hooker of Norwegian descent named, Logan Knight.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8f8pEo2hZ7hu1qpPmk3a_KtK-6DR9RJ6lkteY5fTBrNfmA_VdfaULFJemAD7S6JzIdtzAFTOBHNI_r_lZvoK6E5dSybsFuF-yVJxSjVF1khuXBlSd-9l8hcfshyphenhyphenx_3pIHFkyamT-FDI/s1600/tatjana+simic+hot+sey+nude+dutch+women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8f8pEo2hZ7hu1qpPmk3a_KtK-6DR9RJ6lkteY5fTBrNfmA_VdfaULFJemAD7S6JzIdtzAFTOBHNI_r_lZvoK6E5dSybsFuF-yVJxSjVF1khuXBlSd-9l8hcfshyphenhyphenx_3pIHFkyamT-FDI/s400/tatjana+simic+hot+sey+nude+dutch+women.jpg" width="307" /></a>Above the beltway she was a hot, taut, and gorgeous woman, but as I proceeded to go below sea level, I discovered that this lady of the night named Logan, had enough cock to plug the hole in not one, not two, but three dikes.<br /><br />I cried foul gentlemen and ladies, refused payment, and all the while bellowed,<i> “Mansterdam!! Mansterdam, Oh Dear God, Mansterdam!</i>!<br /><br />While I feel I was the victim of commercial bait and switch tactics, the authorities have incarcerated me for non-payment of services, and I haven’t the euros to make bail.<br /><br />Please Jay.  Please Matt.  I beg of you.  Give me one more chance.  My Flemish friend Stella Artois has said that she will help me right my ship and seek the help I need, so that I can find in my soul the award winning journalist that I lost so long ago.<br /><br />Readers of IWS.  Listeners of IWS…Help me to make my case.  Please beseech Jay and Matt to bail me out and give me a second chance, because…<br /><br />My 6’4 270 pound cellmate from Nijmegen is giving me the eye.<br /><br /><i>Afscheid,</i><br /><br /><i>Guy Ahnyurdyck</i><br /><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_iws</span></a></div>

Guy Ahnyurdyck...Amsterdam Prison Blues

Jayyyyyyyyy…Maaaaatt-Man…IWS Foreign Correspondent Guy Ahnyurdyck here, writing to you live from within the close and confining quarters of ...

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Red Jacket Orchard Juices Review

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQc4PRcmZiWHtEbyC53PaVwW3YITWIYVA7v9zSdiy8N9B6E_WnO_gBsLWpPrjNbiM8DM0okOcnSCAAIgpq9WGuYgBWyO6jltQEyCS52MuyitdkBv6uvcYhY2DXwDvB38FzZpKhT6863O0/s1600/Red+jacket+info.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQc4PRcmZiWHtEbyC53PaVwW3YITWIYVA7v9zSdiy8N9B6E_WnO_gBsLWpPrjNbiM8DM0okOcnSCAAIgpq9WGuYgBWyO6jltQEyCS52MuyitdkBv6uvcYhY2DXwDvB38FzZpKhT6863O0/s320/Red+jacket+info.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If there's one thing I loved drinking as a kid it was apple juice!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I loved it so much, from that very first taste!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was so delicious and fruity.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I got older though I put juices on hold either because of way too much sugar.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sometimes just eating the fruit naturally doesn't do the trick you need to sip on something!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So why not take a sip of the freshest all natural juices from <a href="http://www.redjacketorchards.com/">Red Jacket Orchard's</a>!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was sent some juices to test for review and I have to say so far so good I am in love with these juices!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gotta love coming home to some all natural freshly made juices!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVO9Zc1MzZQIiDzHyx79CmQafYOg3ZSAfgxpfLud9aXGc37BYR00SghNjGuQVhd28WjXwxQ3DmfW1LM-CP6z1ZziTE_mMfnrrxQ0jylq6U6SDpuJbZfi1M7DtD9-UpnzkQF2hSFKXTEE/s1600/Red+Jacket+Juices+are+here!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVO9Zc1MzZQIiDzHyx79CmQafYOg3ZSAfgxpfLud9aXGc37BYR00SghNjGuQVhd28WjXwxQ3DmfW1LM-CP6z1ZziTE_mMfnrrxQ0jylq6U6SDpuJbZfi1M7DtD9-UpnzkQF2hSFKXTEE/s320/Red+Jacket+Juices+are+here!.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These aren't just your ordinary apple juices either!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Each one of them has a unique flavor.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The ones I was sent to review were:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qqJSrVgKzBYVisELU47irMziFVOjadysiCQwtQQ99AnqggP6l7L7eNF5RR3_T8s33OHhG5K8ihXIo2HBcKqW2f_tC43PqIALGNSmRIHJnB2nBhNJXOO_X_fVA6ZpAoziwE91OjdAyv4/s1600/Red+Jacket+Display.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qqJSrVgKzBYVisELU47irMziFVOjadysiCQwtQQ99AnqggP6l7L7eNF5RR3_T8s33OHhG5K8ihXIo2HBcKqW2f_tC43PqIALGNSmRIHJnB2nBhNJXOO_X_fVA6ZpAoziwE91OjdAyv4/s320/Red+Jacket+Display.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Strawberry Apple: </u></span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First one I opened to try and whoa, I have never tried anything quite like this flavor at all!</span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Original apple juices from other brand names can't even compare to the fresh taste and sweetness you get from Red Jacket.</span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So delicious and sweet.</span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Purely amazing !</span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I absolutely love how fresh it tasted!</span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was like I could see myself standing in the apple orchard and picking the apples and smelling their sweet scent!</span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used to love apple picking as a child!</span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So much fun with the family and then afterward we would grab some hot cider.</span></div></div><div class="" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh the memories.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Grape Apple:</u></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-y1BNq-62BejTqL5UF7zN49qK3m_Ef_mt5YBhLHDhqApKdOl2sgoQ7mZavlf7zVvWaqB-KnTvRPTAv3b4YtsUOg9RrfErTmXBQruxY4hq1WM10N6S1aoKBXwCryHrCHEImPzfW03ek8Q/s1600/Red+Jacket+Grape+Apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-y1BNq-62BejTqL5UF7zN49qK3m_Ef_mt5YBhLHDhqApKdOl2sgoQ7mZavlf7zVvWaqB-KnTvRPTAv3b4YtsUOg9RrfErTmXBQruxY4hq1WM10N6S1aoKBXwCryHrCHEImPzfW03ek8Q/s320/Red+Jacket+Grape+Apple.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bringing this with me to work with my snack of rice cakes and Betty Lou's peanut butter.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of course I had to take a sip of it first to see if I liked it, and oh my I am glad I did!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This juice is phenomenal!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Amazing sweet delicious taste of grape.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Fuji Apple:</u></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><u>Black Currant Apple:</u></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Raspberry Apple:</u></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhau27oafLGTPg0Y7TqKl8NF7IDB_iY_QF_iADFxI0oYWKymnCirs14M_y31Y-QReZGpmX43k1xawyk866JzvJ1-CNBWjZnsLB-yg0qNXrvCmtRbsg52y-o7zo_JYJ3Hf71NDZ2CFq3hmo/s1600/Red+Jacket+Raspberry+apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhau27oafLGTPg0Y7TqKl8NF7IDB_iY_QF_iADFxI0oYWKymnCirs14M_y31Y-QReZGpmX43k1xawyk866JzvJ1-CNBWjZnsLB-yg0qNXrvCmtRbsg52y-o7zo_JYJ3Hf71NDZ2CFq3hmo/s320/Red+Jacket+Raspberry+apple.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Great fresh taste.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Light and sweet!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Other Flavors they have are:</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tart Cherry Stomp</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apricot Stomp</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apple Cider</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spiced Apple Cider</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">About this lovely company:</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For over 50 years, the Nicholson family has been devoted in developing the most delicious fruits from Red Jacket Orchard's in New York's Finger Lakes Region.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pressed right from the orchard using methods that grasp the fruits true essence and flavor.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIKS2rfnNcnZHdxxuE5q5jgdrcDCpo_7ZzG1pxVeFspHxbCSBs52mvk96atD1NGvvL2EgutQ3W2PHCLHGavOEMMCnqYL3o3_YPphFO8OL3FypJKhR6R9F25-TYdEPVGkbfLVEqeMswrY/s1600/fujibottle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIKS2rfnNcnZHdxxuE5q5jgdrcDCpo_7ZzG1pxVeFspHxbCSBs52mvk96atD1NGvvL2EgutQ3W2PHCLHGavOEMMCnqYL3o3_YPphFO8OL3FypJKhR6R9F25-TYdEPVGkbfLVEqeMswrY/s320/fujibottle.png" width="175" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Information about products:</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Unfiltered</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All Natural</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100% fruit juice</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cold Pressed</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Healthy Facts:</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">provides a good source of fiber and vitamin C</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">50-80% more effective as an antioxidant than the clear apple juices.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Never ever from concentrate, these juices are so tasty!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Interested in their products, check them out online!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.redjacketorchards.com/">http://www.redjacketorchards.com/</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like Them on Face Book here: </span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/redjacketorchards">https://www.facebook.com/redjacketorchards</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Follow them Via Twitter here:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://twitter.com/redjacketny"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">https://twitter.com/redjacketny</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Check out their Pinterest site here:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://pinterest.com/redjacketny/activity/"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">http://pinterest.com/redjacketny/activity/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">*Sold at these local retailers*</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Whole Foods Markets</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shop Rite</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wegman's</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Price Chopper</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and more!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Disclosure:</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Due to FCC Rules </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Red Jacket Orchard's provided me with samples of their apple juice products in exchange for a product review. All, the opinions expressed are my own.</span></div>

Red Jacket Orchard Juices Review

If there's one thing I loved drinking as a kid it was apple juice! I loved it so much, from that very first taste! It was so delicious a...

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Pritzker Prize Poll 2013

The <a href="http://www.pritzkerprize.com/">Pritzker Architecture Prize website</a> is indicating that the announcement of the 2013 recipient will happen on Sunday, March 17. <br /><br /><img alt="pritzker2013.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/pritzker2013.jpg" title="Screenshot of Pritzker Prize website" /><br /><br />So with 10 days until the announcement, who do you think should win the Pritzker? I've set up a poll in the left column (mirrored at the bottom of this post) to see how well this blog's readers know their stuff. I've narrowed it down to 15 candidates, but if you disagree with my choices vote "other" and please comment on this post with your pick; last year's winner has shown that the prize doesn't always go to the usual names. Check back here on the 17th to see who won—both the real Pritzker and this poll.<br /><br />For reference, <a href="http://www.pritzkerprize.com/about/jury_bios.html">the Pritzker Prize jury</a> is made up of:<br /><blockquote>- Lord Peter Palumbo (Chair)<br />- Alejandro Aravena<br />- Stephen Breyer<br />- Yung Ho Chang<br />- Glenn Murcutt<br />- Juhani Pallasmaa<br />- Martha Thorne (Executive Director)</blockquote>And here is the list of past winners:<br /><blockquote>1979 - Philip Johnson of the United States<br />1980 - Luis Barragán of Mexico<br />1981 - James Stirling of Great Britain<br />1982 - Kevin Roche of the United States<br />1983 - Ieoh Ming Pei of the United States<br />1984 - Richard Meier of the United States<br />1985 - Hans Hollein of Austria<br />1986 - Gottfried Boehm of Germany<br />1987 - Kenzo Tange of Japan<br />1988 - Gordon Bunshaft of the United States / Oscar Niemeyer of Brazil<br />1989 - Frank O. Gehry of the United States<br />1990 - Aldo Rossi of Italy<br />1991 - Robert Venturi of the United States<br />1992 - Alvaro Siza of Portugal<br />1993 - Fumihiko Maki of Japan<br />1994 - Christian de Portzamparc of France<br />1995 - Tadao Ando of Japan<br />1996 - Rafael Moneo of Spain<br />1997 - Sverre Fehn of Norway<br />1998 - Renzo Piano of Italy<br />1999 - Sir Norman Foster of the United Kingdom<br />2000 - Rem Koolhaas of The Netherlands<br />2001 - Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of Switzerland<br />2002 - Glenn Murcutt of Australia<br />2003 - Jørn Utzon of Denmark<br />2004 - Zaha Hadid of the United Kingdom<br />2005 - Thom Mayne of the United States<br />2006 - Paulo Mendes da Rocha of Brazil<br />2007 - Richard Rogers of the United Kingdom<br />2008 - Jean Nouvel of France<br />2009 - Peter Zumthor of Switzerland<br />2010 - Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Japan<br />2011 - Eduardo Souto de Moura<br />2012 - Wang Shu</blockquote><b>The Pritzker Prize Poll 2013:</b><br /><blockquote><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="460" name="poll-widget-4986086728704551266" src="http://www.google.com/reviews/polls/display/-4986086728704551266/blogger_template/run_app?txtclr=#000000&lnkclr=%233778cd&chrtclr=%233778cd&font=normal+normal+13px+Arial,+Tahoma,+Helvetica,+FreeSans,+sans-serif&hideq=true&purl=http://archidose.blogspot.com/" style="border: none; width: 100%;"></iframe></blockquote><b>Update 03.13:</b> A few "other" votes include:<br />- Peter Rich (ZA)<br />- Cesar Pelli (US)<br />- Giancarlo Mazzanti (CO) <br />- Alberto Campo Baeza (ES) <br />- Manuel and Francisco Aires Mateus (PT) <br />- Bijoy Jain (IN)<br />(The last four are culled from Critic Under the Influence's post on "<a href="http://criticundertheinfluence.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/handicapping-the-pritzker-prize-2013-edition/">Handicapping the Pritzker Prize</a>.")

Pritzker Prize Poll 2013

The Pritzker Architecture Prize website is indicating that the announcement of the 2013 recipient will happen on Sunday, March 17. So with ...

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Andean Dream Review

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaK_fmaW6GZcRYsIsrhkDY-38mDecW-56b1z1TtPat1bNvpu-dykap2wMuCfGZOMd-ti0WmSMzepAsjBXxO2kwKHpS3RVkcvbYQYwKPttEeG5A6QcG0fiijnTFU_Ib2YLCg5q6b1qAECI/s1600/AndeanWebLogo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaK_fmaW6GZcRYsIsrhkDY-38mDecW-56b1z1TtPat1bNvpu-dykap2wMuCfGZOMd-ti0WmSMzepAsjBXxO2kwKHpS3RVkcvbYQYwKPttEeG5A6QcG0fiijnTFU_Ib2YLCg5q6b1qAECI/s320/AndeanWebLogo2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ever notice that when you eat products such as wheat breads or sweets you feel the need to eat more?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I was watching Dr. Oz show yesterday and they were talking about how when you eat something such as junk foods you feel like you need more.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great name they came up with for it is called Carbage which is foods like pancakes, chips, desserts when you overload on foods and don't feel satisfied so you eat again to try to fill that void and that is called rebound hunger.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Makes you over eat to the point where you aren't feeling full like you should be.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Episode about super grains such as Quinoa.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/dr-ozs-super-longevity-prescription?video=17705">http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/dr-ozs-super-longevity-prescription?video=17705</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kick it up a notch by trying something different.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A new product I have recently tried and love is Quinoa, which is a powerhouse grain.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's nutritious and delicious.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first time I tried it I was at Whole Foods at the salad bar. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's high in protein, and contains a balanced set of amino acids,vitamins and minerals as well.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can toss some into a salad, a burger or cookies!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's also the most nourishing grain in the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>Doesn't contain</u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gluten</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Corn</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Soy</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">no nuts</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and their products are all natural!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've only tried it in salads, until now.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Words can not express how delighted I am to be trying these delicious and satisfying foods from </span><a href="http://www.andeandream.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Andean Dream</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> for review.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All of their products are made with Quinoa and I couldn't wait to try it in another form such as cookies!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They sent me 3 packages of cookies, some soups and a package of spaghetti.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can see in the below photo they sent me chocolate chip, coconut and coffee cookies.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They also have:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Raisins And Spice</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cocoa-Orange</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Orange Essence</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZwHQ8ONawSbQr9l-dVPgpWkrkHLwUNiUQq3bTubGZbHxiaO19WLcGJ3astBN5EFEHHG-mcT3jjPAQMU_9_HtDIK9oiirLHaiY7PkL2MidPa0jSrxjoZiS8Nx1QBpURsGhEMxIvwjm-g/s1600/Andean+Dream+products+have+arrived!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZwHQ8ONawSbQr9l-dVPgpWkrkHLwUNiUQq3bTubGZbHxiaO19WLcGJ3astBN5EFEHHG-mcT3jjPAQMU_9_HtDIK9oiirLHaiY7PkL2MidPa0jSrxjoZiS8Nx1QBpURsGhEMxIvwjm-g/s320/Andean+Dream+products+have+arrived!.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />*Cookie Key points*</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Made with Organic Royal Quinoa which is the finest in the world!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Contains 21 essential amino acids.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grows in Southern Bolivia near a mineral enriched salt lake which the lake minerals enrich the soil where the Quinoa grows and contributes excellence! </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cookies are gluten free and free of all animal products</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">individually wrapped in a recyclable material for your convenience. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Low in sugar</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rich in fiber and protein</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">making a more healthier snack option.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEel3PK9G0nZtAGUT0iqyZomC0J7wms0vUkjnsMY6ismV0rosMI5CLDF1dN-so49gMug5hlbiaAEm9NBSuR8g4YsKIY2Mgs3SNywrMZt7-DkNYxbdiyou6wVdsVIxh9NX9WD_LBpjLPY/s1600/andean+dream+macaroni+with+salad+and+chicken+parm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEel3PK9G0nZtAGUT0iqyZomC0J7wms0vUkjnsMY6ismV0rosMI5CLDF1dN-so49gMug5hlbiaAEm9NBSuR8g4YsKIY2Mgs3SNywrMZt7-DkNYxbdiyou6wVdsVIxh9NX9WD_LBpjLPY/s320/andean+dream+macaroni+with+salad+and+chicken+parm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love pasta and don't have it too often so tonight for dinner I had some of the Quinoa pasta and chicken parm with a salad.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have never tried this pasta before but I sure do love it!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The spaghetti gives the right amount of protein and fiber giving you that satisfying feeling letting you know you are full which to me is good.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It doesn't taste any different than other pastas I've tried.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So far I've tried the cookies.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coconut:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great coconut taste, sweet not too sweet.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have to say this one was my favorite!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was crumbly and delicious.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coffee:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great coffee taste, not too overwhelming.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate Chip:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yummy chocolate taste and works great with almond milk!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Quinoa soup:</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MH3IIsSzX_E/UqIrwX5k5mI/AAAAAAAALTc/D_jgsqN2nM4/s1600/13+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MH3IIsSzX_E/UqIrwX5k5mI/AAAAAAAALTc/D_jgsqN2nM4/s320/13+-+1" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is by far the best soup I have had in a long time!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was flavorful and so delicious especially on a cold night!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I do have to say, they are outstanding products!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love how Quinoa can be incorporated into so many recipes and food products such as spaghetti, soups, salads and even cookies!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check out their line of products on their web page here!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.andeandream.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.andeandream.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like them on Face Book!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andean-Dream/200458383301638">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andean-Dream/200458383301638</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">or Follow them via Twitter here.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/andeandream">https://twitter.com/andeandream</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Disclosure:</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Due to FCC Rules </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Andean Dream provided me with samples of their Quinoa products in exchange for a product review. All, the opinions expressed are my own.</span></div>

Andean Dream Review

Ever notice that when you eat products such as wheat breads or sweets you feel the need to eat more? So I was watching Dr. Oz show yesterday...

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Jerusalem, My Happy Home: Part 10

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QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Calibri;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Today felt important. I believe it was important. There were quite a few interesting learning experiences. But there were three points when I felt personally connected in a way that leaves the world changed for me. Will I be a better person for them? I don’t know. But it feels significant.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">The first point was at the Western Wall. Placing my hands and face against the wall and praying – laying my sins and failures on the wall, praying for mercy and blessing for myself, for those dearest to me, and for all those entrusted to my prayers – was like pouring my hope and concern into a great river of humanity’s prayers, a river flowing through the centuries. Each day, I pray for the Church, especially the Episcopal Church and Katharine. I pay for Joseph and Machakos, for Alex and Santiago, and for the Diocese of Nevada, our parishes and our people, naming those in special need. My prayers for the Church have changed recently as I’ve gotten more of a sense of how Jesus called the religious to repentance from their religiosity into an authentic love for God and God’s creation. At the Western Wall today, my attempt to pray for the Church immediately ricocheted into a prayer for people of all faiths that we might repent of our divisions and be united in an authentic commitment to each other’s well being. I left the Wall feeling considerably different than I had when I first touched it just a short while before.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">The second point was in the Church that Western Christians call the Church of the Holy Sepulcher but Easterner Christians call the Church of the Resurrection. We did not stand in the long line again to pray in the aedicule over the spot where the Church commemorates the burial and resurrection of Jesus. I am not persuaded that is the spot. The piety people practice there confuses me. See JMHH Part 1. Moreover, the tomb that was discovered there in the 4^th Century crumbled away long ago. That space is now a lovely vault artificially manufactured to evoke religious emotions. But tucked back in a dark less frequented area of the church, you can scrunch down and virtually crawl down through a tiny tunnel to two genuine 1^st Century tombs. Some say that one or the other of these tombs may have a better claim to being the actual burial place of Jesus than the place under the aedicule. Even if they are not, it was a place like this where his body lay and the miracle happened. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Two of us led the way, half crawling our way into that cramped stygian hole. I knelt beside the tombs not out of reverence but necessity and held the flashlight app of my I-phone on the tombs while each members of our group came down one by one to see the burial places. These tombs had not been aesthetically designed to evoke piety. They were just the gloomy place of despair where hope was buried and reborn. I felt especially privileged to be shining light into the tombs so that my fellow pilgrims could see them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">A brief educational digression from this spiritual confession: The burial practice in the first century was to place the body in such a tomb and enclose it with a rock. Then after the body had been given time to decompose, about a year, the family would remove the bones, clean them, and place them in an ossuary. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">The third point of reference moment for me today was at Golgotha. There is something of the Protestant historian about me that frets over whether a sacred place is where something really happened. If a place is deemed holy just because we feel it is holy, that works for me. But if we say it is holy because something happened there, I want to know whether that’s true. Golgotha is the real deal. This is where it happened. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">There are two chapels – one Roman, one Orthodox – located over the rock of Golgotha. Linda and I went to the Orthodox chapel. As we approached the altar, we could look down through a glass floor at the rock. Under the altar was a hole in the floor. Like each person before me, I knelt under the altar and reached down through the floor to place my hand on the rock. There I prayed for forgiveness for all my failings and to be changed into the person God would have me become. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">There are many theologies of the atonement; a lot of explanations of what difference Jesus’ death, descent, resurrection, and ascension make for us. There are eight such theories on two pages of Romans. They make my head spin. I loved a sign I saw today at St. Anne’s Basilica: “No explanations inside the Basilica.” I have some explanations of the atonement I sometimes think are helpful. But today, I only knew there is one specific atonement doctrine I don’t believe and another vague one that I do. The specific one is that God needed someone to pay the price for our forgiveness. That would not be the God I believe in. The other is that there is something written into the order of things – karma is a good enough name for it -- so that sin has consequences. Blood cries out from the earth. A price must be paid – just not to God – it was a thousand years after Jesus before anyone said the price had to be paid to God. But I know my failures to love, my selfishness, my cowardice, my duplicity, my envy, my pride, my greed, my faithless fears, my many, many sins of omission and commission – and I know they deserve consequences. To trust that God in Jesus has taken those consequences into himself for my redemption is my hope for this world and the next. With my palm against the rock of Golgotha, this was not an abstract idea. It was as palpable as stone on flesh. All the other atonement doctrines may be interesting and even helpful on some other day in some other place. But today at Golgotha, I understood redemption simply in my heart. And I trusted that by the power of all Jesus did and does, I will not only be forgiven but also transformed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Those were the big moments spiritually. But there were other points of real engagement with the Jesus story. One was the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic who was not entirely sure he wanted to be healed. Bethesda captured my attention because, like Golgotha, this place is the real deal. We know without a doubt this was the Pool of Bethesda that was a sort of Waters of Lourdes in Jesus’ day. This is where people came to be healed. What I don’t know much about is the ruins that surround the pool – except that quite nearby at a higher level is a Shrine to Asclepius, the Roman God of healing. My one learning from the visit was that it was not easy to get down to the pool in the first place. I used to think of the paralytic as a total slacker. I now see him as someone who had almost made it to his destination, then lost his drive at the very edge of the place he had been trying to go. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Earlier in the day we visited the Church of St. Anne, which purports to be the site of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the agreed statement of the Anglican – Roman Catholic International Consultation, the traditional Roman doctrines about St. Anne (Immaculate Conception) and the Dormition of Mary point to theological truths we Anglicans affirm. Belief in those stories is a permissible Anglican piety – they are just not dogmas for us as they are for Roman Catholics. Personally, I am fine with Joaquin and Anne. But if the BVM was bodily assumed into Heaven, I need the story line to be coherent, which for me means she needs to have lifted off from Ephesus. I have been to her house there. (I don’t know that it was really here house. But if she was in the care of the Beloved Disciple and he was the leader of the church in Ephesus, it would have been a perfectly good place for her to live.) So my mythical Mary spent her final years in Ephesus. She spent precious little of her life in Jerusalem. I just can’t see her ending her mortal life here. Jerusalem was not a great place in those days. Ephesus had the sea and was the only city on earth with streetlights. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">We passed by the Armenian Orthodox Church that purports to have the Upper Room in it. Again, my skeptic kicks in. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">We also visited the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Temple Mount – that is we were outside. We were not allowed inside the Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. But I did learn something that changed my feeling about that place. The Temple Mount is a large flat open area atop the mountain where Solomon’s Temple stood in 1000 and Herod’s Temple stood in the time of Jesus. The Dome of the Rock is a magnificent Islamic Building that occupies a central portion of the Mount. It is in an important place because it stands over the rock on which Abraham may have almost sacrificed Isaac (or Ishmael depending on which holy book we are reading) and Solomon’s Temple may have extended over this area. But it does not cover anything alike the total area of Herod’s Temple. It does not cover the area believed to have been the Holy of Holies. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">Herod’s Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. Christians regarded that destruction as fulfilling the prophesy of Jesus. Jews for the most part replaced Temple sacrifice with Torah study and observance (something the prophets had been advocating for over 800 years). When the Christians took over Jerusalem the first time during the reign of Constantine, we had no interest whatsoever in the Temple Mount. We used it as a garbage dump. When the Muslims displaced us, they scrupulously refrained from desecrating any of our holy places. But they restored the Temple Mount as a holy place. When the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem, they sacked the Mosques. But when the Muslims came back, Saladin refused to disturb the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Muslims have preserved the Dome of the Rock – which they hold to be the place Mohammed ascended into Heaven. We need to remember they didn’t take it away from us. It was never ours.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt;">A final head-shaking note on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher: six different Christian denominations laid claim to the building during the days of Muslim rule; so the Sultan divided the place up and gave each denomination jurisdiction over a part of it. The border skirmishes are intense. On an outside ledge, some construction workers left a ladder 160 years ago. It’s still there. They can’t decide whose job it is to move it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><!--EndFragment-->

Jerusalem, My Happy Home: Part 10

Today felt important. I believe it was important. There were quite a few interesting learning experiences. But there were three...

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Inside the Optical Glass House

The <a href="http://www.nakam.info/english/works/houseK/index.html">Optical Glass House</a> (2012) in Hiroshima, Japan, by <a href="http://www.nakam.info/">Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Architects</a> was featured <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2013/03/todays-archidose-655.html">a couple days ago</a>. Here is a video that goes inside the beautiful glass-block house.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6nHd_yMRvqc?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br /><br />(Thanks to the anonymous commenter for the tip.)

Inside the Optical Glass House

The Optical Glass House (2012) in Hiroshima, Japan, by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Architects was featured a couple days ago . Here is a vi...

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Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 03/07/2013

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.texasheart.org/projectheart/">Project Heart by Texas Heart Institute | Heart Smart Health Education</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Health teachers will love this site for kids. If you have a rainy day and have access to some computers, this would be a great place for activities. As we emphasize health, we should seek out engaging content in this area. This site is free. Love it. "The multi-award winning program is focused on teaching the basics of cardiovascular health, including anatomy, nutrition, and exercise, by offering comprehensive curriculum materials to teachers and a site just for elementary school children to explore. The curriculum was developed as part of our mission to educate the public in a collaborative effort with medical professionals and certified teachers.  Project Heart is completely free to use and free of advertisements. It is also fully translated into Spanish.  </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/health">health</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/health_teacher">health_teacher</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/heart">heart</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/science">science</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://eracism.flatclassroomproject.org/Judges+13-1">eracism - Judges 13-1</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">If you have experience with debate and are an educator, we need you. Will you take one or two hours of your time (at most) and serve as a judge for the Eracism global debate project? We have students around the world debating now and need a few more educators. Here's information on signing up. We'll train you on how to share. it is done using voicethread. Thanks for your consideration. If you coach debate, you might want to familiarize yourself with this new debate format "simulated sychronous" using voicethread.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/debate">debate</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclassroom">flatclassroom</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/project">project</a> <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 03/07/2013

Project Heart by Texas Heart Institute | Heart Smart Health Education Health teachers will love this...

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