Today's Teamster News 07.01.13

<a href="http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/new-study-shows-13-jobs-prone-offshore-outsourcing">New Study Shows 1/3 of Jobs Prone to Offshore Outsourcing</a>  Economic Populist   ...The occupational groups identified as being vulnerable to offshoring include office support (e.g., data entry and payroll clerks), auditors and tax preparers, computer programmers and software engineers, medical transcriptionists and paralegals, and technical writers...<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/06/29/the_capital_of_exploitation_temp_town_usa_partner/">Without full-time jobs, workers flock to temp towns</a>  Salon   ...Short-term work has become a mainstay of the American economy, intensifying the rise in income inequality...<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/business/an-unstoppable-climb-in-ceo-pay.html?pagewanted=all">An Unstoppable Climb in C.E.O. Pay </a> New York Times   ...the executive compensation analysis firm, found that the median 2012 pay package came in at $15.1 million — a leap of 16 percent from 2011. ..<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/06/29/no_manufacturing_jobs_wont_revive_the_economy/">No, manufacturing jobs won’t revive the economy</a>  Salon   ...Stop claiming a factory boom will save the country and lift people up. Here's what these jobs really look like...<br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/30/nsa-spying-europe-claims-us-eu-trade">Key US-EU trade pact under threat after more NSA spying allegations </a> The Guardian   ...The prospects for a new trade pact between the US and the European Union worth hundreds of billions have suffered a severe setback following allegations that Washington bugged key EU offices and intercepted phonecalls and emails from top officials...<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/06/28/new_bank_of_america_whistle_blower_emerges_more_customer_abuse/">New Bank of America whistle-blower emerges: More customer abuse secrets</a>  Salon   ...Bank of America whistle-blower details latest scheme to abuse homeowners, evade settlement rules and pocket cash...<br /><a href="http://wallstreetonparade.com/2013/06/mf-global-and-wall-street-whose-job-is-it-to-take-the-keys-away/">MF Global and Wall Street: Whose Job Is It To Take the Keys Away</a> (opinion)  Wall Street On Parade   ...Isn’t it the job of Congress to pass laws to ensure that checks and balances exist that prevent powerful men from gaming the system and dipping into customer funds to make casino bets...<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/opinion/krugman-the-war-on-the-unemployed.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">War On the Unemployed</a> (opinion)  New York Times   ...there’s a nationwide movement under way to punish the unemployed, based on the proposition that we can cure unemployment by making the jobless even more miserable...<br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/07/20137162126149643.html">Protests overshadow football final in Brazil </a> al-Jazeera   ...Protesters hurling petrol bombs have clashed with riot police in Brazil at the Confederations Cup football match, overshadowing the host nation's victory over world champions Spain in the final...<br /><a href="http://www.benzinga.com/news/13/06/3718985/sci-rejects-last-and-best-offer-from-teamsters">SCI Rejects Last and Best Offer from Teamsters</a>  Benzinga   ...Houston-based funeral giant Service Corporation International ... rejected a last and best offer from Teamsters Local 727 and countered with its original proposal to eliminate the employees' pension, health and educational assistance benefits...

Today's Teamster News 07.01.13

New Study Shows 1/3 of Jobs Prone to Offshore Outsourcing  Economic Populist   ...The occupational groups identified as being vulnerable to...

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Fast day

<div>It's a fast day of 500 cals today. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Breakfast:</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJPz2m-8dCXASB5xBXSLO8d3PnbntJRqTYlVn7wIad1nW3WA1dTB63VCpMdoj0eB1AwaeXGGv3w0gtN0ztmV8V0NmjfP_JgrMQ2n2kep1Ad4ocNJAjEoRW4RoyYeSbb4hoLRk1GA0WA5T/s640/blogger-image--17436010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJPz2m-8dCXASB5xBXSLO8d3PnbntJRqTYlVn7wIad1nW3WA1dTB63VCpMdoj0eB1AwaeXGGv3w0gtN0ztmV8V0NmjfP_JgrMQ2n2kep1Ad4ocNJAjEoRW4RoyYeSbb4hoLRk1GA0WA5T/s640/blogger-image--17436010.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1puV5myV9HKRCPDmYxIwXrmknj-InnZMnplhdvOM6NwM0k_tTtaaG6zBIP9yDTtKMNY8Mq78LYymBMtNE6v_sZVOU7jgdufBY7xuF_1H3pmKA3Lock58nNr4XzAca_XZ28cJ0BeHNFT-J/s640/blogger-image--808975210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1puV5myV9HKRCPDmYxIwXrmknj-InnZMnplhdvOM6NwM0k_tTtaaG6zBIP9yDTtKMNY8Mq78LYymBMtNE6v_sZVOU7jgdufBY7xuF_1H3pmKA3Lock58nNr4XzAca_XZ28cJ0BeHNFT-J/s640/blogger-image--808975210.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Lunch: Hummus</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXpP1H_BmXhE6wUD2zwcSeKag_4-q780df1sYUQllPuR-6z_-McdBjr9xiaX4sfzxCJyZyc4pRIxDElf9BFm1hPxtAMrtgJ31zEMr5sHte4lqCzhBNyboLogwKhIUjSRr4h_Fko6EVBUm/s640/blogger-image--1014856705.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXpP1H_BmXhE6wUD2zwcSeKag_4-q780df1sYUQllPuR-6z_-McdBjr9xiaX4sfzxCJyZyc4pRIxDElf9BFm1hPxtAMrtgJ31zEMr5sHte4lqCzhBNyboLogwKhIUjSRr4h_Fko6EVBUm/s640/blogger-image--1014856705.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Dinner: Small bowl of All Bran & rocket leaves salad</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKm_BBTluQUKTIAMvAZiNqrzL-KMJplpJ_6xhlhRXYAYFs5DBtLORyVeQSoCs3unstsgJnfDmWTs5foSUP3Y3TbKN5XLGBkWUQKEzjQyl8eCam1N-DaUF-si1D7IZ0gr1c_ISdB3ES9pE/s640/blogger-image-1083480510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKm_BBTluQUKTIAMvAZiNqrzL-KMJplpJ_6xhlhRXYAYFs5DBtLORyVeQSoCs3unstsgJnfDmWTs5foSUP3Y3TbKN5XLGBkWUQKEzjQyl8eCam1N-DaUF-si1D7IZ0gr1c_ISdB3ES9pE/s640/blogger-image-1083480510.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fGA6qbD0zlvydoOd3YSYtMUiWkzN75M_sYioPM54UtDnUDpNiDPg28jxUsPc8-JAkHdPK7mH8rnSvXkt7bdtH241akxdLpi1TWJhyphenhyphen-E_QZgtx1FYW2IRFeeuZ53P406Ybha8BkrQmo91/s640/blogger-image-903795488.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fGA6qbD0zlvydoOd3YSYtMUiWkzN75M_sYioPM54UtDnUDpNiDPg28jxUsPc8-JAkHdPK7mH8rnSvXkt7bdtH241akxdLpi1TWJhyphenhyphen-E_QZgtx1FYW2IRFeeuZ53P406Ybha8BkrQmo91/s640/blogger-image-903795488.jpg"></a></div><br></div>After work we got in to the hot tub for the first tine since we refilled.  The water was sparkling and perfectly warm.  It was divine.  After our soak we went straight to bed - surprisingly unhungry.  However, Ciaran did say he felt like making cheese and crackers even though he wasn't hungry but that it was just habit.  </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It was Ciaran's first day fasting - men can eat 600 cals on the 5:2 diet. For breakfast he had muesli sprinkled with seeds.  Lunch was 2 poached eggs, half a tomato & a slice of multigrain toast. Dinner was a banana and an apple.  He then went for a physio session followed by a boxing class.  He got home about 15 mins before me at 8.30pm.</div><br></div><br></div>

Fast day

It's a fast day of 500 cals today.  Breakfast: Lunch: Hummus Dinner: Small bowl of All Bran & rocket leaves salad After work we got ...

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WaPost: 'Obama yet to leave a lasting legacy for Africa on the scale of Bush and Clinton'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-xLr7IN3Q3pN_zBAieochku5BCuOXMS5FbJNwShAVcFCMaetejkbB0qCSEet0Bw3WoWol9KUBhQ2XS1gMH_jAaYdyKNc6Pxnf7SH6b5Qnm-xsb_7W2HJDBR43tw1OwJ0XMJlW9s3kxc9/s720/George+W.+Bush+20+Africa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-xLr7IN3Q3pN_zBAieochku5BCuOXMS5FbJNwShAVcFCMaetejkbB0qCSEet0Bw3WoWol9KUBhQ2XS1gMH_jAaYdyKNc6Pxnf7SH6b5Qnm-xsb_7W2HJDBR43tw1OwJ0XMJlW9s3kxc9/s400/George+W.+Bush+20+Africa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Laura and George W. Bush in Zambia, June 30, 2013.</i></div><br />The pictures are all over Facebook showing Former President George W. Bush and wife Laura traveling Africa this week as they continue their humanitarian mission that began before leaving the White House four years ago.<br /><br />Slowly but surely liberals have begrudingly had to admit GWB has played a large role in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/bush-aids-policies-shadow-obama-in-africa/2013/06/30/0c8e023c-e1ac-11e2-aef3-339619eab080_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop">AIDs relief</a> that has been credited with saving millions of lives. The Bushes have been <a href="http://bearingdrift.com/2012/04/03/george-w-bush-not-endorsing-in-presidential-primary-is-no-mystery/">instrumental in other global health advances</a>, too, and are almost revered in that part of the world. <br /><br />President Barack Obama? Not so much, and the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/obama-yet-to-leave-a-lasting-legacy-for-africa-on-the-scale-of-bush-and-clinton/2013/06/28/2d47d9f2-dfc3-11e2-8cf3-35c1113cfcc5_story_1.html">Washington Post</a> has noticed:<br /><blockquote>Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush passed innovative Africa initiatives while in the White House and passionately continue their development work in the region in their presidential afterlife. Obama’s efforts here have not been so ambitious, despite his personal ties to the continent.</blockquote>It must be a tad awkward for Obama to find himself in Bush's shadow after spending the first four years of his administration blaming his predecessor for everything that went wrong in America. The Post notes that Obama is five years into his administration and just now on a major tour of Africa, just the second time while President:<br /><blockquote>His first major tour of Africa as president is coming just now, in his fifth year, while Bush and Clinton are frequent fliers to Africa. Bush even will be in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, next week at the same time as Obama, although they have no plans to meet. Instead, their wives plan to appear together at a summit on empowering African women organized by the George W. Bush Institute, with the former president in attendance.</blockquote>The people of Africa had expected more from America's first black president after he told them in his first year, "I have the blood of Africa in me."<br /><br />Meanwhile, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush captured the heart of Africa with work that continues to this day:<br /><blockquote>Clinton first drew extensive attention to Africa in 1998 when he made the longest trip ever by a U.S. president, with stops in six countries that had never before been visited by any occupant of the Oval Office. Bush’s trip this week is his third in 19 months to promote his Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership to combat breast and cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. On this visit, he and his wife, Laura, plan to help renovate a cervical cancer screening and treatment clinic in Zambia before heading to Tanzania for the African First Ladies Summit advocating investment in programs for women and girls.</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJI7N-R5ei14mySuFZE6ERRnUWTtuuULYNs3nQMCoTgzejuA9JbBUdOvurO4dnEkuOCLX3eMm3x8MbuVPiWd0d_X1Xvz9h83rTxg-ghPiSX_ynUoTUBiHfeG0mETAI7-4yIUgnpbEHa5jU/s640/George+W.+Bush+21+Afrida.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJI7N-R5ei14mySuFZE6ERRnUWTtuuULYNs3nQMCoTgzejuA9JbBUdOvurO4dnEkuOCLX3eMm3x8MbuVPiWd0d_X1Xvz9h83rTxg-ghPiSX_ynUoTUBiHfeG0mETAI7-4yIUgnpbEHa5jU/s400/George+W.+Bush+21+Afrida.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>After a week of renovating, President and Mrs. Bush opened the Mosi-Oa-Tunya clinic, a cervical cancer facility in Livingstone, Zambia. Their trip demonstrates their continued commitment to the people of Africa through the work of the global health initiative at the George W. Bush Institute. June 30, 2013</i></div><br />Photos from the <i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheBushCenter?fref=ts">George W. Bush Presidential Center</a></i>

Africa AIDS Relief Barack Obama Bill Clinton George W. Bush George W. Bush Presidential Center humanitarian mission Laura Bush Washington Post Zambia WaPost: 'Obama yet to leave a lasting legacy for Africa on the scale of Bush and Clinton'

Laura and George W. Bush in Zambia, June 30, 2013. The pictures are all over Facebook showing Former President George W. Bush and wife Laura...

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THE BALKAN CHESSBOARD: RUSSIA’S RUBLE DIPLOMACY AND EU INTERESTS

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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWH7wHJMtsVuYs7qmVosWZEQZNME5yTqUid-CB4wrfQHHikAputjMZM0KCjoW-0pVVzDWAN03xLgkaADXnWwod3vU6sSoAz3KT_WGxlesIPFK7nh8ZZOLDX9r5nHN6jcKG5KWBTPoMiqw9/s1600/balkans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWH7wHJMtsVuYs7qmVosWZEQZNME5yTqUid-CB4wrfQHHikAputjMZM0KCjoW-0pVVzDWAN03xLgkaADXnWwod3vU6sSoAz3KT_WGxlesIPFK7nh8ZZOLDX9r5nHN6jcKG5KWBTPoMiqw9/s400/balkans.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">OLD ACTORS ARE LOSING THEIR GEOPOLITICAL INFLUENCE OVER THE REGION</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Source: Aspeninstitute </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">In 1998, Zbigniew Brzezinski argued that “a power that dominates EURASIA would control two of the world’s three most advanced and economically productive regions. A mere glance at the map also suggests that control over EURASIA would entail AFRICA’S subordination, rendering the WESTERN Hemisphere and OCEANIA geopolitically peripheral to the world’s central continent”.</span> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His book <i>The Grand Chessboard</i> was indeed a major contribution to geopolitical studies. Depicting the new challenges for US foreign policy in a multipolar world, Brzezinski identifies the geopolitical Achilles’ heel of the 21st century in the area he designated as the GLOBAL BALKANS, i.e. “the swathe of EURASIA between EUROPE and the FAR EAST.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An arena of historical disputes among the UNITED STATES, RUSSIA and EUROPE, and a source of regional instability, the BALKANS are undergoing an uncertain transition towards a new security architecture; new forces are playing an increasingly crucial role and old actors are losing their geopolitical influence over the region. The gradual decline of US leadership coincides with the EUROZONE recession: the EU is perceived as unable to provide the BALKANS with a new pathway towards a form of pan-EUROPEAN integration and incentives for major structural and economic reforms. This political vacuum is exposing the area to the influence of other active powers, such as TURKEY and even ISRAEL, but above all RUSSIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">EUROPEAN POLITICS IN THE BALKANS</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/08/bosnia-cursed-by-european-union-eu.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/08/bosnia-cursed-by-european-union-eu.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/07/bosnia-european-unions-stepchild.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/07/bosnia-european-unions-stepchild.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-suffers-from-unresolved-issues.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-suffers-from-unresolved-issues.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/ethnic-rift-key-hindrance-to-bosnias.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-2012.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/bosnia-2012.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RUSSIA’S ULTIMATE GEO-STRATEGIC GOAL IS TO RE-FRAME A CONTINENTAL BLOCK AGAINST THE ATLANTIC POWERS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vladimir Putin’s renewed <i>EURASIANISM</i> validates this assumption. Alexander Dugin, a RUSSIAN politologist close to the Kremlin and the military entourage, acknowledges that RUSSIA’S ultimate geo-strategic goal is to re-frame a continental block against the ATLANTIC powers, by making use of the vast strategic and demographic potential of the EURASIAN continent. Following this approach, RUSSIA should adopt a multi-dimensional foreign policy waiving close relations with the EU, CHINA and the regional powers, such as IRAN and TURKEY.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Post-Soviet Space (<i>Bližee Sarubeže </i>or<i> Near Abroad </i>in Russian’s political rhetoric) stresses the historical and cultural affinities with the Slavic communities and represents a pivotal area for Moscow’s external projection. Energy links are the key tools of political leverage for RUSSIA’S power projection towards this <i>Near Abroad</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“SOUTH STREAM” PROJECT</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The “South Stream” project represents the cornerstone of this trend: the pipeline, once completed, will pump RUSSIAN gas under the Black Sea to BULGARIA, branching off in two directions, north to AUSTRIA and south to ITALY. Considering that EUROPE’S demand for gas imports is projected to grow significantly in the next few years (reaching 80 billion cubic meters by 2020 and surpassing 140 billion cubic meters by 2030) the South Stream project will be crucial for the EUROPEAN energy supply.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfR481LSzprQvewLKYRKl9PJ53hZC4DihnXNAa6CJgkoNhi0mZS8_rR26Dk3g-Qqef55LjqtH5AyYi-IvoUNI4Bp6SN83zBhszATIbBcBdeff9HpBnOyy2lqIZIwmKA2mdG-2wnYk2mW-i/s466/nabucco-gas-pipeline.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfR481LSzprQvewLKYRKl9PJ53hZC4DihnXNAa6CJgkoNhi0mZS8_rR26Dk3g-Qqef55LjqtH5AyYi-IvoUNI4Bp6SN83zBhszATIbBcBdeff9HpBnOyy2lqIZIwmKA2mdG-2wnYk2mW-i/s400/nabucco-gas-pipeline.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With the intent of securing political commitment to the South Stream Project, RUSSIA has signed inter-governmental agreements with several BALKAN states, such as CROATIA, SLOVENIA, SERBIA and BULGARIA. Moscow is aiming at promoting deeper economic integration in the BALKANS, possibly persuading the countries of the region to join the Customs Union between RUSSIA, BELARUS and KAZAKHSTAN.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RUSSIA’S INCREASING COMPETITION WITH CHINA </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Near Abroad is not just seen as an area of natural expansion of RUSSIAN interests, but also a factor in Moscow’s increasing competition with CHINA – – now an active competitor in the BALKANS. The uncertainty over the future of the EUROZONE was inevitably exported to the EU periphery with a GDP contraction of 5.2% in 2009 in BALKAN countries. Moscow is making its influence felt as a reliable counterpart for the BALKAN countries. The unresolved KOSOVO question and the relative (or at least temporary) weakening of the EU’s and NATO’s direct role in the region are viewed by Moscow as an opportunity.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SERBIA TO OBTAIN LOANS FROM RUSSIA IN EXCESS OF $800 MILLION</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Encouraging RUSSIAN companies to invest in the region and raising the flag of cultural affinity, RUSSIA eyes the BALKANS as an economic hub to ensure better access to EUROPEAN markets. In SERBIA, the election of the RUSSIAN-leaning President Tomislav Nikolić is accelerating projects for the enhancement of hydro-electric stations, the advancement of the railway tracks and the rearming of the SERBIAN military. As a complement to those projects, Belgrade is also expected to receive RUSSIAN credits to the tune of $800 million.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2011, RUSSIA promoted large investments in the real estate sector in MONTENEGRO as well as in the oil and gas sector in MACEDONIA. In turn, more than 200 SLOVENIAN companies are operating in almost 50 RUSSIAN regions. To put this into context, EU FDIs have steeply declined in the last few years.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RUSSIA’S FOREIGN POLICY IN THE BALKANS LEVERAGES ENERGY LINKS......</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiST5j16qJmFIe5EyhfRCGjS7XU2Oz2F4_OlHDj0CfsXLAU_LoQNOcIRE4dOR5N0uBOvAMibpWasBW5n-31Bnfzs8z3y9MoO64XK2YTHmpBsFBwDIYskAwgoSqUmCzudUd_RWlAw5BGF1oq/s627/macedonia-pipeline-map-balkan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiST5j16qJmFIe5EyhfRCGjS7XU2Oz2F4_OlHDj0CfsXLAU_LoQNOcIRE4dOR5N0uBOvAMibpWasBW5n-31Bnfzs8z3y9MoO64XK2YTHmpBsFBwDIYskAwgoSqUmCzudUd_RWlAw5BGF1oq/s400/macedonia-pipeline-map-balkan.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meanwhile, lack of funds and of a reliable supply of natural gas are the main reasons for the stalemate of the EU’s flagship project of the Southern Gas Corridor – The Nabucco pipeline, the gas bridge from ASIA to EUROPE that was designed essentially to by-pass RUSSIA and link the TURKISH-BULGARIAN border to Baumgarten in AUSTRIA via BULGARIA, ROMANIA and HUNGARY. Once completed the 1,300km pipeline’s annual capacity will be between 10-23 billion cubic meters, one third of the actual capacity of South Stream.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ENERGY EQUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE BALKANS</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/new-mediterranean-oil-and-gas-bonanza.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/new-mediterranean-oil-and-gas-bonanza.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/12/energy-adventures-in-eastern.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/12/energy-adventures-in-eastern.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/geo-strategic-dynamics-in-eastern.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/geo-strategic-dynamics-in-eastern.html</a></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/complexity-of-eastern-med-energy-games.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/complexity-of-eastern-med-energy-games.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt;">TRANS-ANATOLIAN PIPELINE: A GEOPOLITICAL ACHIEVEMENT, BUT NO PANACEA FOR TURKEY’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE</span></strong><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-energy-dependency-on-countries.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-energy-dependency-on-countries.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A widely shared perception is that as RUSSIA’S foreign policy in the BALKANS leverages energy links to promote diplomatic and security ties, and vice-versa, the EU may be <i>de facto</i> disengaging from the region.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The EUROPEANS remain committed to the principle of stabilization through integration, adopted in the late 1990s in the form of both military and civilian missions – the largest of which is currently EULEX in KOSOVO, aiming at promoting the rule of law with an executive mandate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, if the EU is to be a decisive player in the future, Brussels will have to identify new synergies in its pursuit of the enlargement process and the creation of a security architecture in the BALKANS. This will allow the promotion of its interests – within the framework of a common EUROPEAN space – while also entailing an economic cooperation with RUSSIA from a better bargaining position.</span></div>

THE BALKAN CHESSBOARD: RUSSIA’S RUBLE DIPLOMACY AND EU INTERESTS

OLD ACTORS ARE LOSING THEIR GEOPOLITICAL INFLUENCE OVER THE REGION Source: Aspeninstitute  In 1998, Zbigniew Brzezinski argued that “a powe...

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Stupid People Rule!!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jFFaNMGr62ytJ0TMiFf-s3TfkHWFzMBnGuLZpOPoqI8lbcbJrRL9yTbeUOzTH_lwjr2cQNCTvAOxXFYHmoBbAKoEcCkeonjvExj0obHccfo98aKrpbExMVAmPRfbvorVVnKvk2IX6P8/s750/Don+West+Zimmerman+Trial+Daughters.jpeg" 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/AVvXsEg5jFFaNMGr62ytJ0TMiFf-s3TfkHWFzMBnGuLZpOPoqI8lbcbJrRL9yTbeUOzTH_lwjr2cQNCTvAOxXFYHmoBbAKoEcCkeonjvExj0obHccfo98aKrpbExMVAmPRfbvorVVnKvk2IX6P8/s400/Don+West+Zimmerman+Trial+Daughters.jpeg" width="266" /></a>If you are one of those freaks who lives vicariously through felons and follows trials on TV, you know that this past week, one of George Zimmerman’s defense attorney’s, Don West, opened his defense argument with the following:<br /><br />Know Knock?<br /><i>Who’s there?</i><br />George Zimmerman.<br /><i>George Zimmerman, who?</i><br />You’re on the jury.<br /><br />And then, later this past week Don West’s daughter Molly, posted a picture of Esquire Don and his other daughter, the slightly more than mildly hot Rachel West, on the internets. The trio seemed to certainly be enjoying the sucking and licking of their ice cream cones of stupidity.<br /><br />What does all of this tell us?<br /><br />Something we already knew, yet are constantly reminded of on a daily basis…<br /><br />People are stupid!!<br /><br />I know, I know…many of us knew that.  Many of us know that even we are on occasion, kinda stupid, but here’s the thing…I’m talking about folks who are in government…or a position of power…or a person who addresses the masses through the media.<br /><br />Don’t you think Attorney West could have told his daughter, or better yet, she on her own, would have the aforethought to not post a picture like that on the internet during the opening of the trial?<br /><br />The West family refers to this Friday ice cream eating tradition as, the ice cream cone of stupidity, and well…they nailed that one.<br /><br />Stupid, just plain stupid coming from the family of an attorney trying the biggest trial going to day, and then?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_kJpIxp2PrwLnkidwhaWNtvFul0RkZPLJW3qvoasQOy6x6uten1FtSKEcQdKXbj8eqtAgaZbIMwldWeeGVXoy_gws40bDwxAOjc0N2mLtf41yRMwTRJ3oORsh7BrcHcgwiQkM6SGFHU/s350/Louie+Gohmert+Crazy+Tea+Party.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_kJpIxp2PrwLnkidwhaWNtvFul0RkZPLJW3qvoasQOy6x6uten1FtSKEcQdKXbj8eqtAgaZbIMwldWeeGVXoy_gws40bDwxAOjc0N2mLtf41yRMwTRJ3oORsh7BrcHcgwiQkM6SGFHU/s320/Louie+Gohmert+Crazy+Tea+Party.jpg" width="320" /></a>We have Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)…who upon hearing that the Supreme Court struck down DOMA immediately invoked the word of GAWD Almighty throug the teachings of Solomon…<br /><br /><i>"I think polygamy is wrong, bigamy is wrong, and it's a crime in many places -- but how will that be justifiable now that the court has removed this [DOMA]?  There's some [who] believe polygamy is a way to go….You know, King Solomon, many -- including me -- believe was the wisest man who ever lived…Of course, then he had too many wives, and that [will] always mess up anybody's wisdom."</i><br /><br />Loony Louie while attempting to let the words of God pass through his lips, managed to insult and belittle Jewish Mormons and tie gay marriage to the evils of polygamy that were the downfall of King Solomon and Brigham Young.<br /><br />And then, and THEN!!  Last week, Paula Deen, in efforts to keep hold of her vast, yet quickly crumbling media empire, was stupid enough to think that common folk were stupid enough to buy her non-tearful, Jimmy Swaggart-type mea culpa on the TODAY Show.<br /><br />But…there was a big difference between Swaggart’s apology and that of Paula Deen’s.  Jimmy admitted that he sinned, and Paula?  She just wants those of us who are without sin to hit her in the head with a rock.  And let me tell ya, if I was without sin, I would find the biggest boulder in the world and crush her cranium until it was nothing but…butter.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHBmFyhh_JVu24QYcUrHGTBAioVLVGxbaCyo7k6KcaGa_LWRq318GxWKdSSb_LkVNu7cNF2z2aaAXSO5Hy186D-jzOHpqq33mocj4l6At36fWrLQV0eVABRfBt6NWAHKkhvwYTbtQuy8/s428/Paula+Deen+Crying+Racist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHBmFyhh_JVu24QYcUrHGTBAioVLVGxbaCyo7k6KcaGa_LWRq318GxWKdSSb_LkVNu7cNF2z2aaAXSO5Hy186D-jzOHpqq33mocj4l6At36fWrLQV0eVABRfBt6NWAHKkhvwYTbtQuy8/s320/Paula+Deen+Crying+Racist.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Poor, clueless, and stupid Paula Deen, she is still living in the 60’s…the 1860’s.<br /><br />People of financial worth, positions of governmental power, and litigational libido, prove every day that they too can be as stupid as the rest of us peons.<br /><br />And really?  We don’t need that.  We need people to look up to.  We need people who give us something to shoot for.  We need heroes.<br /><br />Sadly, as we approach yet another Independence Day, our forefathers, builders of American capitalism, and rebellious scalawags seem more and more impressive, because well…<br /><br />Our “leaders” of today both public and private, are nothing more than self-involved, self-serving idiots, and to be truthful, so is a sizable cross-section of the American public.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Of course…a few folks who are not idiots did a radio show yesterday.  Jay, Matt, and the IWS Radio gang celebrated American Independence yesterday.  They celebrated the greatness of leaders past, and did so, with the hottest and most articulate lesbian in the world, Angie!!</div><br />Angie was as always, awesome, as were Kirk Douglas, Buddy Acapella, Bobby Kraft, and Paul Piatt.  If you missed the hilarity LIVE, you can listen to it right here:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="370" src="http://player.cinchcast.com/?show_id=5053823&platformId=1&assetType=single" width="400"></iframe></div><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"><br /></div><i>Cheers!!</i><br /><br />Matt-Man<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><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mattmaniws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Matt’s Facebook Page</span></a></div>

Stupid People Rule!!

If you are one of those freaks who lives vicariously through felons and follows trials on TV, you know that this past week, one of George Zi...

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Arizona wildfire tragedy claims 19 firefighters

In what may be the largest loss in Hotshot history, <a href="http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/22726613/2013/06/30/yarnell-hill-wildfire-grows-to-almost-1000-acres">tragedy</a> struck Sunday night as officials confirmed that 19 Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters were killed while battling the Yarnell Hill wildfire that has consumed over 1,000 acres.<br /><br />The news brings to light the heartbreaking reality of fighting dangerous western wildfires. <br /><br />The local <a href="http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/22726613/2013/06/30/yarnell-hill-wildfire-grows-to-almost-1000-acres">Fox affiliate</a> reported more about the fire:<br /><blockquote>The wildfire was likely caused by a lightning strike Saturday night.<br /><br />The Yarnell Hill fire, about 35 miles southwest of Prescott, has burned about 1,300 acres and forced the evacuation of 50 homes.<br /><br />The fire started Friday and has not yet burned down any structures, but Sunday night firefighters pushed the blaze back away from communities, hoping to keep the blaze from overtaking any homes.</blockquote><a href="https://plus.google.com/111766091747410833625/posts/6ahoQeeVmNr">Reports</a> are that a flashover killed all 19 even though they deployed their <a href="http://forestry.about.com/od/forestfire/tp/fire_shelter.htm">fire shelters</a>.<br /><br />It is reminiscent of the July 2, 1994, <a href="http://forestry.about.com/od/forestfire/ss/s_canyon_fire.htm">wildfire on Storm King Mountain </a>near Glenwood Springs, Colorado, also known as the South Canyon fire, when 14 Hotshots were killed. It, too, was started by a lightning strike. Firefighters were trapped when winds shifted in the extremely rugged terrain.<br /><br />More details about the breaking Arizona fire from <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/30/fire-in-arizona-prompts-evacuation-of-120-homes/2477469/?csp=fbfanpage">USA Today</a>. Prayers for the families and friends of those who were lost.

Arizona firefighters Fox News Hotshots Lynn R. Mitchell Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots USA Today Yarnell Hill Arizona wildfire tragedy claims 19 firefighters

In what may be the largest loss in Hotshot history, tragedy struck Sunday night as officials confirmed that 19 Prescott Granite Mountain Ho...

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Storm clouds over the Blue Ridge Mountains

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcPMmmuNxleOtVn4OurySgMCBMfwM2KMLsubIrCVrP5LxAL7J6Ff6ZXeew-FeEuqTQTDWOCJfFa2JO_3AGYgp5nexSs5NlaY5BoNnk4ZccEQMKKK9_ootxQXLWX01n0lHJt1hpYRsvph_/s800/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZcPMmmuNxleOtVn4OurySgMCBMfwM2KMLsubIrCVrP5LxAL7J6Ff6ZXeew-FeEuqTQTDWOCJfFa2JO_3AGYgp5nexSs5NlaY5BoNnk4ZccEQMKKK9_ootxQXLWX01n0lHJt1hpYRsvph_/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Storm clouds gather over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Photos were taken from Weyers Cave.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRP8cAjuqJeL0sIEsYc-6DpHpqQOTBx-gRWoJ8pGShIAmUMCyom8DTC6J7ru5InztKmz6CH70AKnriB7IeMzLc5rFCFqCkgUz_sXijEtOeF91fwneAFJTXzl0BLarxf5CDxh8PQ9tz6_l/s800/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRP8cAjuqJeL0sIEsYc-6DpHpqQOTBx-gRWoJ8pGShIAmUMCyom8DTC6J7ru5InztKmz6CH70AKnriB7IeMzLc5rFCFqCkgUz_sXijEtOeF91fwneAFJTXzl0BLarxf5CDxh8PQ9tz6_l/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvu1fRsQH6GolyOwwPFcPpTQTrqP1xOksEKCtWRn-1hfPPLaaGjQFPgp4Zx9vECSKVJtpsaFHl9C1FpvGUEuhoIK7ZcxKGUAkEXLyTHJXdk5GF1k66z7YGtn-s_gaI7eKyh9d_VxCd0gf8/s800/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvu1fRsQH6GolyOwwPFcPpTQTrqP1xOksEKCtWRn-1hfPPLaaGjQFPgp4Zx9vECSKVJtpsaFHl9C1FpvGUEuhoIK7ZcxKGUAkEXLyTHJXdk5GF1k66z7YGtn-s_gaI7eKyh9d_VxCd0gf8/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfriWFGDwm4PJQz32Be4GsCFLtu_QSDu1-HKy1KY9ZXtWfqAyY6qJLwuYnp6MWDPmtOB3lbSkggkz5dFKDhTf5OswoiAu6P50XhzMg1IEDROIJi5PmGb7lyGXOd3rvynsk1qrb5J4TBRU/s800/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfriWFGDwm4PJQz32Be4GsCFLtu_QSDu1-HKy1KY9ZXtWfqAyY6qJLwuYnp6MWDPmtOB3lbSkggkz5dFKDhTf5OswoiAu6P50XhzMg1IEDROIJi5PmGb7lyGXOd3rvynsk1qrb5J4TBRU/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />June 28, 2013

Augusta County Blue Ridge Mountains storm clouds western Virginia Weyers Cave Storm clouds over the Blue Ridge Mountains

 Storm clouds gather over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Photos were taken from Weyers Cave. Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell June 28, 2013

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Sunday sunset

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjssecOfWCXzhf9g3ogBkiEtRWxaX2qY-y9Aos2XIp6C2o524p4nHtrxoXAWsQfG0WdsLJPJa7bU-AeZlMVKm3GkDEgIj1J3zxc33K-YIyq-Pt3ZrMo8JZfvfHNXqXXeCtX0WFvDGRk9PPz/s800/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjssecOfWCXzhf9g3ogBkiEtRWxaX2qY-y9Aos2XIp6C2o524p4nHtrxoXAWsQfG0WdsLJPJa7bU-AeZlMVKm3GkDEgIj1J3zxc33K-YIyq-Pt3ZrMo8JZfvfHNXqXXeCtX0WFvDGRk9PPz/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sunday sunset over the Appalachian Mountains.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div> <br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />June 30, 2013

Appalachian Mountains Augusta County Shenandoah Valley sunset western Virginia Sunday sunset

Sunday sunset over the Appalachian Mountains. Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell June 30, 2013

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Fragments of RPBW

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9164089708/" title="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments" height="448" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7296/9164089708_52e232f7d0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />In a summer of must-see architecture exhibitions (specifically I'm referring to <a href="http://www.world-architects.com/en/pages/le-corbusier-moma"><i>Le Corbusier</i> at MoMA</a>), there is one more<i>,</i> at the Gagosian Gallery on West 21st Street: <a href="http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/renzo-piano--june-27-2013"><i>Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments</i></a>, which runs until August 2. I stopped by on Thursday for the opening reception.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9164091994/" title="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments" height="480" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3753/9164091994_691ca51094_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Twenty-four tables document the same number of projects in the large skylit space, with even more models and photos overhead.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9164088540/" title="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments" height="480" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3787/9164088540_09317c7d52_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The opening reception was the least ideal time to visit the exhibition and get immersed in any of the projects, be it the Pompidou, the Tjibaou Cultural Center, the New York Times Building, or one of the in-progress projects on display. The large numbers of people just accentuated the sheer quantity of models, drawings, photos, books, and other objects on display, while making it impossible to sit down and examine the materials.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9164090458/" title="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments" height="480" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3668/9164090458_0987617125_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The exhibition has been done before <a href="http://www.fondazionerenzopiano.org/exhibition/62/renzo-piano-the-architect-s-studio-i-louisana-museum-of-modern-art-i/images/page/1/">in slightly different form as early as 2003</a>, but this iteration coincides with the halfway point of construction on Piano's Whitney Museum of American Art a few blocks south in the Meatpacking District; a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/sets/72157634415039287/">hard hat tour of the building</a> was hosted by the Whitney and Mr. Piano the day before the Gagosian opening.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9161870753/" title="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments" height="480" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7352/9161870753_c00c457605_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />My short visit to the Gagosian before heading to Long Island City for the <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2013/06/todays-archidose-688.html">MoMA PS1 unveiling</a> will be the first of at least a couple more; Piano's show requires numerous visits to really take in the thorough documentation presented. No wonder each table is served by eight chairs for sitting down to take a closer look at the projects. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9164087958/" title="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments" height="480" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5513/9164087958_06f0eb9564_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />While very few architects are deserving of such a treatment, if every architect thought of their process being displayed in a similar manner they would probably take more care in the sketches, models, and other pieces that make up the interim steps toward realizing a project. Or at the very least they wouldn't throw away the napkin sketch that seemed so important at the time but whose significance faded over time. <i>Fragments</i> expresses that each piece is an important part of the whole.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9164090858/" title="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments" height="800" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7301/9164090858_622112335a_c.jpg" width="600" /></a><br /><br />Whatever you do, go see this show—but make sure you do it when you have a couple hours free.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9161869675/" title="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Renzo Piano Building Workshop: Fragments" height="800" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7369/9161869675_5d786e2a94_c.jpg" width="600" /></a>

Fragments of RPBW

In a summer of must-see architecture exhibitions (specifically I'm referring to Le Corbusier at MoMA ), there is one more , at the Gag...

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Meandering

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClm2ZkZhLXg4HS04LEVGIcgu_Fc_VTfG98AnlstsBHUfsuLQ2_07YZdbwYvrIbvK2mk4W1Jvwap_Y1KZP9Zm5HhF89XSra-Jrh2AnXJ6h2DU4pmOAbmiMWineXcQscQecBievdHC7fvPE/s800/36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClm2ZkZhLXg4HS04LEVGIcgu_Fc_VTfG98AnlstsBHUfsuLQ2_07YZdbwYvrIbvK2mk4W1Jvwap_Y1KZP9Zm5HhF89XSra-Jrh2AnXJ6h2DU4pmOAbmiMWineXcQscQecBievdHC7fvPE/s400/36.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> While driving to Churchville recently for a meeting at the library, I took photos of the "neighborhood," that area west of Staunton that I call home. This is a neighbor's driveway.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXuiOkgY0CmRujNjD7vLnFAvnUSddZOCEBCNx244_SxUtJG6d4gNfgPdN59AChkaoQ6QfPlBOWsPlGNG-2WxQpbjk6TvVDYu8Qa_apREOpZ0-79O9qMlyij2vf0d09m5D8-lR34fdK8m1v/s800/37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXuiOkgY0CmRujNjD7vLnFAvnUSddZOCEBCNx244_SxUtJG6d4gNfgPdN59AChkaoQ6QfPlBOWsPlGNG-2WxQpbjk6TvVDYu8Qa_apREOpZ0-79O9qMlyij2vf0d09m5D8-lR34fdK8m1v/s400/37.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Looking west toward Elliott's Knob and Buffalo Gap.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZeqaYmT8KoShfcKFXiLroc31OY1MkCtrjJT3N1gGyH4Nr42yWKaGwYvnZVSHOKkMmdhe1t-glxndnPGzLTecWaZodWtaNflqr9ZKide9KsmGqrQyjASUoP82lWBaJAcVqNRJr_U_yRjE-/s800/38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZeqaYmT8KoShfcKFXiLroc31OY1MkCtrjJT3N1gGyH4Nr42yWKaGwYvnZVSHOKkMmdhe1t-glxndnPGzLTecWaZodWtaNflqr9ZKide9KsmGqrQyjASUoP82lWBaJAcVqNRJr_U_yRjE-/s400/38.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCxJK5913Ohv7r4GTswqe2dawM7MXVUU2-p-b91Cqhv99aAeMfwtwF-j3o3Txk24gebPmlqHT3l9DoI2TqrurPj0Tock4s7g97juadyTGbQL4KLCr__UOrRWmRDG9S4159149J-Wwi7f9/s800/45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCxJK5913Ohv7r4GTswqe2dawM7MXVUU2-p-b91Cqhv99aAeMfwtwF-j3o3Txk24gebPmlqHT3l9DoI2TqrurPj0Tock4s7g97juadyTGbQL4KLCr__UOrRWmRDG9S4159149J-Wwi7f9/s400/45.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1pBtkOK0UQ7OuSUcvSdd1vwSt4JolAUhcPAaWYd9p2UpioxAqIyUKa7AJ3rdMih6gbVsM0bcCDdODl3TZuTuIGNmf8zltwKp65TfmMamrkFRmkIK5dunJwGmTkDeli74rRfG31jicNSN/s800/40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1pBtkOK0UQ7OuSUcvSdd1vwSt4JolAUhcPAaWYd9p2UpioxAqIyUKa7AJ3rdMih6gbVsM0bcCDdODl3TZuTuIGNmf8zltwKp65TfmMamrkFRmkIK5dunJwGmTkDeli74rRfG31jicNSN/s400/40.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfqjiUu0_VRSh5UQlhCQOz6G-dn4roDFXDGwhAg78QVjayf9yQ1B4OWRTKQ3yf50tmWI_2pdgswk_uMyJDbCcjvXqT4BsKKDS2fvIrCkP5OvcvLGB4DyiqYjvh2_L-FvEjwf1hmPSleLi/s800/41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYfqjiUu0_VRSh5UQlhCQOz6G-dn4roDFXDGwhAg78QVjayf9yQ1B4OWRTKQ3yf50tmWI_2pdgswk_uMyJDbCcjvXqT4BsKKDS2fvIrCkP5OvcvLGB4DyiqYjvh2_L-FvEjwf1hmPSleLi/s400/41.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1fT3hMCwxwt2wyrobEtcV4gJocLGgZ9tVBwi9ZBVDZ2pmOSYW6LilBVZkvGsRYBBd2akDMbJ9K0mbaJcuDpBZoPUsiK9X9hYjDBgnCywtjZh0x-vU_upjVC6pCtw7mdyrkzuuK5H8ahrn/s800/42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1fT3hMCwxwt2wyrobEtcV4gJocLGgZ9tVBwi9ZBVDZ2pmOSYW6LilBVZkvGsRYBBd2akDMbJ9K0mbaJcuDpBZoPUsiK9X9hYjDBgnCywtjZh0x-vU_upjVC6pCtw7mdyrkzuuK5H8ahrn/s400/42.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgel65X85H-XeQS4SdKuRJ4SVvimaEAgSAMUr8hNK9K-l-hmrwRiM8tZJbs-s3UHzWFsOgX0q7dvyXpld3PZXHCncjbjdOXxZTIY5l73C3K0_9pYi2A1TBgzuSG381RZDyN6ajGNpTKmAQm/s650/43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgel65X85H-XeQS4SdKuRJ4SVvimaEAgSAMUr8hNK9K-l-hmrwRiM8tZJbs-s3UHzWFsOgX0q7dvyXpld3PZXHCncjbjdOXxZTIY5l73C3K0_9pYi2A1TBgzuSG381RZDyN6ajGNpTKmAQm/s400/43.jpg" width="368" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GnaTUVjR2vutJxqHIoSpycmbxtHtdBh7XrGT4Wt1F49lmDMSkQsyE7hT_zmiW9PwGvpSBXDd595K4kpEohBDfiBUGoXhHGGc2kHcMGhmsLK1S-qedz-XrOg9QdngfheCQ18eR1Gzl8Py/s1600/FCMV+Wine+Festival+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GnaTUVjR2vutJxqHIoSpycmbxtHtdBh7XrGT4Wt1F49lmDMSkQsyE7hT_zmiW9PwGvpSBXDd595K4kpEohBDfiBUGoXhHGGc2kHcMGhmsLK1S-qedz-XrOg9QdngfheCQ18eR1Gzl8Py/s400/FCMV+Wine+Festival+018.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifT_kIlH4WQO2WaWsofB-bKYC6Bdu4sNBuG7Zkllz2AT8XPMmaU6GaxZBpQw1JJ4u2NvyraOOpGbUfn3ClH_Uaj5a-PYXYehPqvUJsxcj2BLGHdBoY_p8cN3bHEbtmLdZTrKRPyD4AaTFy/s800/44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifT_kIlH4WQO2WaWsofB-bKYC6Bdu4sNBuG7Zkllz2AT8XPMmaU6GaxZBpQw1JJ4u2NvyraOOpGbUfn3ClH_Uaj5a-PYXYehPqvUJsxcj2BLGHdBoY_p8cN3bHEbtmLdZTrKRPyD4AaTFy/s400/44.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgdP6T6v1C5u3C05XRdOtZocgtviHz8hPaDUSFY3KJvRlf5jQaH4fK2Tp8hffzEeTrmuZkuSIkNXNmiyNwN2O91fn-tWh267-BmLc9XVJn_4cKYNFNuXM8wYKTiyY4MqwmBdmWt5GPHJk/s800/39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgdP6T6v1C5u3C05XRdOtZocgtviHz8hPaDUSFY3KJvRlf5jQaH4fK2Tp8hffzEeTrmuZkuSIkNXNmiyNwN2O91fn-tWh267-BmLc9XVJn_4cKYNFNuXM8wYKTiyY4MqwmBdmWt5GPHJk/s400/39.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />June 27, 2013

Augusta County Buffalo Gap Churchville Elliott's Knob western Virginia Meandering

 While driving to Churchville recently for a meeting at the library, I took photos of the "neighborhood," that area west of Staunt...

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Hay season

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhuHHG2UyFItCnnmJCmqkBjoMhjoKuxe80vYUMLchR75J8ODJJHT1LtG_eE52HHg-_EmVs21Qj6wkxQC-aMRXVR0a2_y_J-43hNReqyf8iMwC0fVK7sShAeqI8Y2FVYK2-Sbbgu0S1wrn/s800/33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhuHHG2UyFItCnnmJCmqkBjoMhjoKuxe80vYUMLchR75J8ODJJHT1LtG_eE52HHg-_EmVs21Qj6wkxQC-aMRXVR0a2_y_J-43hNReqyf8iMwC0fVK7sShAeqI8Y2FVYK2-Sbbgu0S1wrn/s400/33.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's hay season. I enjoy sitting on my porch and watching as they bale.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7dTEecoz3J238vosdm0R9NxZZjs3FtxBMRPAuAJhWO0hSkBloXs9NSljRq6_-QlrHwZ_7km7v_LPvE28uI2qIRYixX19Gd_BnhyphenhyphenJVzXJVoUOGZaAfb4HlQ1UdPo-G1FWkASKfUPkJWBf/s800/34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7dTEecoz3J238vosdm0R9NxZZjs3FtxBMRPAuAJhWO0hSkBloXs9NSljRq6_-QlrHwZ_7km7v_LPvE28uI2qIRYixX19Gd_BnhyphenhyphenJVzXJVoUOGZaAfb4HlQ1UdPo-G1FWkASKfUPkJWBf/s400/34.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6FFcDCnCIVO8z01hmwpZ8EmGEP-NUNPKtn0611vGVMcmchWN1hIRFge-h2smPdnybuFhQ-8hgBBTgXNpKFEUBGi128q4jB-3l_yvfhnDQACiq_et71yTsFlSKwnTZUiA1DGrNVy9TtZ4/s800/44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6FFcDCnCIVO8z01hmwpZ8EmGEP-NUNPKtn0611vGVMcmchWN1hIRFge-h2smPdnybuFhQ-8hgBBTgXNpKFEUBGi128q4jB-3l_yvfhnDQACiq_et71yTsFlSKwnTZUiA1DGrNVy9TtZ4/s400/44.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKgQXF3h_xyX215iQNakdmVpHTsmHchkRInb_rgeqNxLsnog2_xqZwGsW2k1VilPldWGY_Wymyw0ep-I7QMpRt9dYr_W5iSiCc-1nyzaFuAUnkiVL5ut2iYsv0uBFvzEyoDuxatRVNndl/s800/45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKgQXF3h_xyX215iQNakdmVpHTsmHchkRInb_rgeqNxLsnog2_xqZwGsW2k1VilPldWGY_Wymyw0ep-I7QMpRt9dYr_W5iSiCc-1nyzaFuAUnkiVL5ut2iYsv0uBFvzEyoDuxatRVNndl/s400/45.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFzBbRk6azOWXnyd4ucly76eciJHVamUvco1CDW3v2x55iIYOTYoPAc2Es0TE3M1qWkX_DtXWDwFY2xqRr6e5A-NQt5p-7cS_8_TFFzWiDGXP7ajnLkBar0VZ40DMz5WVd7ZAHg6fBoUt/s800/32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFzBbRk6azOWXnyd4ucly76eciJHVamUvco1CDW3v2x55iIYOTYoPAc2Es0TE3M1qWkX_DtXWDwFY2xqRr6e5A-NQt5p-7cS_8_TFFzWiDGXP7ajnLkBar0VZ40DMz5WVd7ZAHg6fBoUt/s400/32.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />June 28, 2013

Augusta County farmers hay season Shenandoah Valley western Virginia Hay season

It's hay season. I enjoy sitting on my porch and watching as they bale. Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell June 28, 2013

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The storm at the end of the day

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9nf_n6tmZ8u5m3GwubXxTS-shux4oV5pB9WkxLOP15fhM6OWgzr1NSzLcn6B0gdIoNv_rknL3cqN_WyLSupowkR4UX0WPc2orswFUtjI1SdhzhdBo4HuyxNux26Qr0jEmTDclL9flh-N/s800/29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9nf_n6tmZ8u5m3GwubXxTS-shux4oV5pB9WkxLOP15fhM6OWgzr1NSzLcn6B0gdIoNv_rknL3cqN_WyLSupowkR4UX0WPc2orswFUtjI1SdhzhdBo4HuyxNux26Qr0jEmTDclL9flh-N/s400/29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> On Saturday, storms had been rolling all around the area but had not hit us directly. As I drove home from the Shenandoah Wine & Jazz Festival at the Frontier Culture Museum, this was what the sky looked like west of Staunton.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqePlv6_LMwrLUmA4167LxyRWNo7rFnVGNas1P0Z0yYZrun071Uokzqp4lh4gdepVfDeq3iQ-AGtmFMUf1uPenKFIyRfnqpob9YAPKBHu6tV8aD01l_yyamWEHsZKkzGseHcDbHvk7coW0/s800/30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqePlv6_LMwrLUmA4167LxyRWNo7rFnVGNas1P0Z0yYZrun071Uokzqp4lh4gdepVfDeq3iQ-AGtmFMUf1uPenKFIyRfnqpob9YAPKBHu6tV8aD01l_yyamWEHsZKkzGseHcDbHvk7coW0/s400/30.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The road home ... the cow standing in the field on the right, the silhouetted power lines, and dark clouds overhead. The storms later hit us with steady downpours until late into the night. Looking east toward Staunton/ Fishersville / Waynesboro, there were continuous lightning flashes about 11:00 Saturday night. You can tell it's summer ... random thunderstorms popping up around the area.</div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />June 29, 2013

Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia Shenandoah Valley Staunton thunderstorms in Virginia The storm at the end of the day

 On Saturday, storms had been rolling all around the area but had not hit us directly. As I drove home from the Shenandoah Wine & Jazz F...

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Frontier Culture Museum wedding

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObg3hylrxt0BINaCrstxncE_djLZiuEdXp2ZxfGQfPWr2atnjU1ri8j-Gvn7-5VZtxZnm5BZPX8oqze-x3AabCHiJD9ZQKKSbHjx6pUQv0W8J7d4k6vM2lkf3PHeAka1njRAxKz51zczp/s800/24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObg3hylrxt0BINaCrstxncE_djLZiuEdXp2ZxfGQfPWr2atnjU1ri8j-Gvn7-5VZtxZnm5BZPX8oqze-x3AabCHiJD9ZQKKSbHjx6pUQv0W8J7d4k6vM2lkf3PHeAka1njRAxKz51zczp/s400/24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Saturday not only saw the Wine & Jazz Festival at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton but also a wedding that was directed by a close friend.  Since I was there for the wine festival, it presented the opportunity to visit with my friend before the nuptials.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJawRzfp1xjGbWOQzd8HWyt-M7JNpkTw_X3z2C4xijXuixWIhFctyKoANgfN2gZK6LJjd2RhcdcTHGKaq8p4-cPa0TM7qwjqFx99hhQ0QfAfuIGfptDcgRFF2pAsmO_QmXW8SGd-Wux7k/s800/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJawRzfp1xjGbWOQzd8HWyt-M7JNpkTw_X3z2C4xijXuixWIhFctyKoANgfN2gZK6LJjd2RhcdcTHGKaq8p4-cPa0TM7qwjqFx99hhQ0QfAfuIGfptDcgRFF2pAsmO_QmXW8SGd-Wux7k/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIdZIizVyRcJN2XsnDNH4JW8T7kVt3cSx2KwewgDX8HhRtchygg4TnO-8OcT-l9I6aZyrvnKVC0TthJ4_pokRlXu3oM6fzHPAcoJAZ5MyUt6yqWU7pJWrB7AdUqZaICNWGK4u3F6zm9Nc/s800/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIdZIizVyRcJN2XsnDNH4JW8T7kVt3cSx2KwewgDX8HhRtchygg4TnO-8OcT-l9I6aZyrvnKVC0TthJ4_pokRlXu3oM6fzHPAcoJAZ5MyUt6yqWU7pJWrB7AdUqZaICNWGK4u3F6zm9Nc/s640/2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8DQTll4W1Y7nkX-_FJuIStPXKOOudqF80n4Tw1BAaSWIKyKK4pUfM5zERoenDrn-7bmcW94DalhiL-aJrpkc4Zigwq_TrAbRmHydrf9FmrfRNFIxd1W4Gta1F66xwkrtI-bL5A5g8kJV/s800/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8DQTll4W1Y7nkX-_FJuIStPXKOOudqF80n4Tw1BAaSWIKyKK4pUfM5zERoenDrn-7bmcW94DalhiL-aJrpkc4Zigwq_TrAbRmHydrf9FmrfRNFIxd1W4Gta1F66xwkrtI-bL5A5g8kJV/s640/3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fonda was getting the sides in place to keep the sun and brisk breeze off the cake.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4sOrzreGz9zOa7VTA7G3BaWWfO6P8O1bWFZtKi0ve6ihA4KO6Odw6OpUcaKSW57UXpHeenewje97vDV5gH5nRSnrrqIS_cXtMHjIWcGGGZqy0J4QhY1zWAF6ZS26RNr_X71SZD7uY8pmv/s800/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4sOrzreGz9zOa7VTA7G3BaWWfO6P8O1bWFZtKi0ve6ihA4KO6Odw6OpUcaKSW57UXpHeenewje97vDV5gH5nRSnrrqIS_cXtMHjIWcGGGZqy0J4QhY1zWAF6ZS26RNr_X71SZD7uY8pmv/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Chairs were set up for the ceremony on the lawn outside the Pavilion followed by dinner and music under roof. Congratulations, Danielle and Mark!</div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />June 29, 2013

Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia Shenandoah Valley Staunton Virginia weddings Frontier Culture Museum wedding

Saturday not only saw the Wine & Jazz Festival at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton but also a wedding that was directed by a clos...

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ELISHA vs THOMAS JEFFERSON

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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: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Evangelicals rely on Scripture alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Secularists rely on Reason alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Episcopalians pay attention to both, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         and we also have a third leg on the stool – Tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our Old Testament story is about tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elijah had had one heckuva life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He’d done some pretty dramatic stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But now his earthly race was run, so he said to his disciple, Elisha, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“So long buddy, I’m off to Bethel.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But Elisha hung on to his teacher and went with him to Bethel.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elijah then said, “Adios, Elisha. It was nice knowing you.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         I’m going over Jordan.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But Elisha said “Not so fast I’m going with you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally Elijah said, “Goodbye Elisha I’m off to heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         Anything I can do for you before I go?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elisha answered, “Give me the power to keep on doing <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         what you’ve been doing -- only more of it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elijah said, “Only if you can follow me into heaven with your eyes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When the chariot swung low comin’ for to carry Elijah home,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         Elisha watched him until he was out of sight.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then Elisha tore off his own clothes and put on Elijah’s mantle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For those who have seen the 1982 film classic Barbarossa,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         it’s the same thing Gary Busey does to become Willie Nelson.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you haven’t seen Barbarossa, just skip this sermon and watch it. Point made.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With that mantle came prophetic power.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Earlier in the story, on their way to Elijah’s point of departure,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         they had to cross the Jordan River.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elijah had struck the water with his mantle<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         and it parted for him as the Red Sea parted for Moses,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">and as this very Jordan River had parted for Joshua        <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">when he took over the leadership of Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With Elijah gone, Elisha headed back the way they came.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When he got to the Jordan, he did the same thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He struck the water with his mantle, and the waters parted <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">as they had done for Elijah, Joshua, and Moses before him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elisha was carrying on a tradition stretching back over the centuries,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">from his teacher Elijah all the way to Joshua and Moses.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elisha had followed his teacher as far as he could go.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When his teacher was gone, Elisha tore up his own clothes,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         his own identity, and put on the mantle of Elijah and continued his work.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Americans are not so fond of Tradition. Take Thomas Jefferson.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He was all about Reason but he had no use for Tradition. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He insisted the world belongs to the present generation. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No law, no constitution, no form of government should last over 20 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jefferson worshiped at the Church of What’s Happening Now.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He tore up the mantle of his ancestors to put on his own clothes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jefferson and Elisha represent two opposite attitudes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Native cultures are our best example we have of Elijah’s way.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Native Americans honor their traditions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They hold their ancestors in reverence.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They respect the elders of the tribe.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Anglo-Americans treat our elders as burdens to be warehoused.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are certain that the wisdom of today<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         is to be preferred over the benighted ways of our forbears.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We don’t want to be burdened by yesterday. “Yesterday’s done.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We do not expect future generations to pay any attention to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Church of What’s Happening now<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         acknowledges no debt to the people who got us here<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         and no duties to those who will come after us.<br />“Imagine all the people living for today.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We want to wear our own clothes, the ones in fashion this year <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">      </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">not some dusty mantle from an old guy like Elijah.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s popular these days, even among some Episcopal leaders,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         to junk the Tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sell the churches, meet in bowling alleys, and make up a ritual<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         if we feel so inclined at the moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The ritual we make up will express<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         what we think, what we feel – something we like –<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         nothing that might make us uncomfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was a time I’d have said “sign me up” for that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But there came a point when I was not so sure of myself anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I wasn’t positive that my opinions were better than the teachings <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">of ancient spiritual masters,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         or that my feelings were nobler than those of the saints.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And I had children to think of.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I began to feel a responsibility for the next generation<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         I simultaneously felt a responsibility to the past generations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s when I became an Episcopalian.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s when I began to tear up my own clothes<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         and put on the mantle of Elijah.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I didn’t shut down my mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Reason is still one of our sources of authority. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We still think. We still feel.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But if there is a conflict between my opinions <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">and the teachings of the Church,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         I seriously consider the remote possibility <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">that I might be wrong. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Sometimes I love the Tradition. Sometimes I hate it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But it’s always there for me to learn from,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         sometimes by arguing with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For example, I have never been comfortable with the Nicene Creed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But I keep saying it and that makes me look hard at what it means.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One year, a particular line offends me to the core.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The next year, I have found a new meaning for that line<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         and I love it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But by then, another line bothers me. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t say the Creed because I’m comfortable with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I say it because I’m uncomfortable with it. It makes me think.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sacred Tradition is essential to our spirituality,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         right along with Reason and the Holy Scriptures.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This chasuble we wear represents Elijah’s mantle. It is a symbol of Tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Apostolic Succession, having bishops made by bishops in a chain <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         of inheritance going back to the apostles <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">                  is a symbol of Tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But it takes some caution. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We all know that Scriptures can be used for good or ill.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our Reason can be used or misused.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s the same with Tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It can guide us into the future or it can trap us in the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The key is to recognize the difference between Sacred Tradition<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         and a stodgy lack of imagination. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sacred Tradition is about our core values – the stuff that makes us who we are.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It isn’t about singing one style of music instead of another;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         or whether we use an organ or guitars.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It isn’t about whether we use the 1928 Prayer Book or the 1979 Prayer Book.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s about having a Book of Common Prayer,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         so that we pray in the way of the church <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">         instead of what each of us makes up to suit ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sacred Tradition connects us to our power source.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Elijah passed onto Elisha a mantle of prophetic power.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Jesus passed on to the disciples the power to heal <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">and proclaim good news.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Tradition is a power source.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It has sustaining power to get us through the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">When life hits us in the face and we have no words f<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">or how we feel or what we want, <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">         the Tradition has prayers for us,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“Surely it is God who saves me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I will trust in him and not be afraid.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Tradition has transforming power to open up a new future.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It gives us this prayer,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">         “Let the whole world see and know that<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">         things which were cast down are being raised up,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">         and that things which had grown old are being made new,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">         and that all things are being brought to their perfection. . . .” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Tradition isn’t stodgy or nostalgic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It’s dynamic, unfolding, challenging us <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">to become more than we are.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Our Tradition is written in poems and prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is recorded as stories of the saints.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We act it out in ancient rituals. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The poems, the prayers, the stories, the rituals<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">         have all been sanctified by holy lives of Christians.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">By that sanctity the Tradition is charged with power<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">                  like Elijah’s mantle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><!--EndFragment-->

ELISHA vs THOMAS JEFFERSON

Evangelicals rely on Scripture alone. Secularists rely on Reason alone. Episcopalians pay attention to both,          and we al...

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