Gaia will kill you!

ThinkProgress: Storm victims kind of had it coming, didn’t they? « Hot Air

If you reject the notion of human-caused global warming, the earth will kill you. And what happened to Tuscaloosa proves it.

Windows 8 wallpaper

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A secular case against same-sex marriage

MIT student offers a secular case against same-sex marriage « Wintery Knight

Becki Newton wallpaper

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Is Obama out to ruin America?

A frequent criticism one reads of the president and his administration is that he and his officers are inept. Their manifold and multiple failures result from the fact that they just don't know what they're doing.

This criticism has the virtue, one supposes, of crediting the White House with good intentions, though pursued with bad execution.

Nonsense, responds another set. Obama and company in fact know exactly what they are doing. The ruination of America's economy, energy infrastructure and standing in the world are exactly what this administration wants to do. Far from being stricken with ineptitude, they are carrying it out expertly.

Barry Rubin weighs in on this, presumably on the former side rather than the latter: "Yes, Virginia, Obama Foreign Policy Is Ignorant and Stupid Rather Than a Conspiracy." It begins:

The most common question — or remark — that I get from readers is to say that I’m wrong to talk about how Western policymakers (and especially the Obama administration) are ignorant, ideologically deluded, and unable to learn from experience. They claim that these problems arise from a deliberate malevolent effort to destroy America.

It tells something about how bad a lot of the administration’s policies are that such a conclusion is possible. Nevertheless, it’s not correct

Yet by the end of his essay, Rubin has not persuaded even himself of his own position.

... the mess does result from arrogance, stupidity, ignorance, inexperience, and ideology of those who are making the final decisions.

Of course, it is also true that the ideology guiding these decisions — which is supposedly so wonderful — is objectively quite destructive of U.S. interests. A reader wisely suggests the maxim that there are those who know what they are doing and those who don’t. For those who really understand the ideology they are promoting, it is intended to weaken the U.S. role in the world because they think it has been bad, to end U.S. leadership because they think it has been bullying, and to empower various people in the Third World because they think that they’ve been oppressed and exploited by the United States.

They are thus doing a huge amount of damage and dismantling — hopefully only temporary — much that American diplomats and soldiers have spent decades in building.

Yes, they are doing the best they can. And that’s precisely the problem.

So which is it, Barry? I'm going with the latter.

Easter Services 2011

The Easter Service is always a great time of praise and worship within the church family. Havng two packed-out services was exciting this year. The worship was robust and uplifting. Our worship team did a great job and our kids are always touching. They minister mightily! Having the awesome privilege of sharing the Word is special every Sunday and seeing all the open Bibles is always a huge encouragment.

But, sometimes we forget, Sundays are also a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing. Some of the most precious times occur immediately before and after the services where folks linger around the sanctuary and enjoy the sweetness of each others' fellowship. Last Sunday's services were particularly joyful and the sense of community was awesome and lingering. What a beautiful and "glorious day"!

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Gas Coupon! Print and Use!

Found at Extreme Couponing In the Near Future @ AMERICAN DIGEST

BODY ARTS

Redfern, Strawberry Hills, post office (Theme Day: Mailbox)

These mailboxes are located outside the Strawberry Hills post office in the inner city suburb of Redfern. The red Australia Post mailbox is for standard letters and packages sent anywhere in the world, while the gold Express Post mailbox is for mail sent in special Express Post envelopes which for an additional cost are guaranteed next day delivery to certain parts of Australia. 
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of this theme day

Fascinated with Hats and Fascinator's

Kate Middleton Dutchess of Cambridge.

Kate Middleton looks good in just about anything – including traditional British hats, particularly the Fascinator. Worn at fancy society events, the Fascinator headpiece is an alternative to a full brimmed hat and often includes feathers, flowers, and beads. It’s often placed on the side of the head or at the back.

Where would you choose a fascinator? In certain occasions where you might think about wearing a hat you can wear a fascinator instead. Hats can sometimes crush or damage your hair style. However, most times your hair may be styled around the look of your fascinator. Or should you have a smaller piece it can be added to the hair without fear of damage or having that crushed hair look. 

Many hats use pins to hold a hat in place. You do not want to harm yourself should they slip. A single comb is all that is needed to keep the fascinator on your head for long periods of time without pain. Fascinators have been kept in place with hair clips as well, plus can be placed on a headband. 

Where should the Fascinator be placed? The old fashioned rule for hats was that a lady always wore her hat on the right side of her head so that her beau on her left arm could see her face when they were walking together and, also he could draw his sword with his right hand if necessary without removing her hat at the same time!

We don't need to worry about those rules any more thank goodness, although the right side of the head, and tilting forward, remains the most popular side to wear fascinators although covering your parting is a good idea too if you can.  Having said that the smaller fascinators or hair accessories can also be worn at the back of the head too. Wondering how to make your own Fascinator? There are some ideas here.

Hats, headbands or fascinators, Kate Middleton the Duchess of Cambridge has made wearing headpieces fashionable again. 

Linking to:
http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://trulylovelywiththelaneysisters.blogspot.com/
Sunday linky
http://petitehermine.blogspot.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

Denzel Washington Pictures

Denzel Washington Pictures and Denzel Washington Photos

Denzel Washington Pictures

Denzel Washington Pictures and Denzel Washington Photos

Edward Norton Pictures

Edward Norton Photos and Pictures

Edward Norton Pictures

Edward Norton Photos and Pictures

Eddie Murphy Pictures

Eddie Murphy Pictures and Eddie Murphy Photos

World’s Smallest Camera Developed By Awaiba

These days, it seems like every one want to make things thinner and want to make things smaller. And it actually doesn’t get much smaller than the Naneye camera. The world's tiniest camera at just 1mm wide, 1mm long, and 1.5mm tall, it's smaller than a typical match head, and it lives on a single silicon chip.

Portuguese image sensor developer Awaiba created the small camera, named the NanEye 2B, for use in the medical industry. NanEye 2B draws only 1.8 volts of electric current, and can take "clear and sharp" 250 by 250-pixel pictures. As you may have guessed, this Lilliputian digital camera won't be striking stores anytime shortly; instead, it will be put to use delving into human bodies in the name of science.

Awaiba sees the NanEye 2B being used for a range of medical purposes, including dental imaging and medical endoscopy, and it could even be used to give surgical robots a boost.

Altar Calls?

This from Thabiti Anyabwile's blog today:

“What About Altar Calls?”

I’m sometimes asked by people why we don’t do “altar calls” at our services. Like the people who ask the question, the churches in my personal background pretty much all practiced “altar calls” at the conclusion of a sermon or service. I’ve seen them done in very poor fashion, and I’ve seen some pastors be really clear about the gospel, repentance, faith, and the fact that “coming forward” does not save. I date my own conversion to the preaching of Exodus 32, which concluded with an altar call.

So, why don’t we practice “altar calls”? I don’t think the pastor who practices an “invitation” at the end of a sermon is in sin, but he may not be acting wisely either. This list of reasons, compiled by Pastor Ryan Kelly of Desert Springs Church is a pretty good summation of some of my thinking (HT: Z).

1. The altar call is simply and completely absent from the pages of the N.T.

2. The altar call is historically absent until the 19th century, and its use at that time (via Charles Finney) was directly based upon bad theology and a man-centered, manipulative methodology.

3. The altar call very easily confuses the physical act of “coming forward” with the spiritual act of “coming to Christ.” These two can happen simultaneously, but too often people believe that coming to Christ is going forward (and vice-versa).

4. The altar call can easily deceive people about the reality of their spiritual state and the biblical basis for assurance. The Bible never offers us assurance on the ground that we “went forward.”

5. The altar call partially replaces baptism as the means of public profession of faith.

6. The altar call can mislead us to think that salvation (or any official response to God’s Word) happens primarily on Sundays, only at the end of the service, and only “up front.”

7. The altar call can confuse people regarding “sacred” things and “sacred” places, as the name “altar call” suggests.

8. The altar call is not sensitive to our cautious and relational age where most people come to faith over a period of time and often with the interaction of a good friend.

9. The altar call is often seen as “the most important part of the service”, and this de-emphasizes the truly more important parts of corporate worship which God has prescribed (preaching, prayer, fellowship, singing).

10. God is glorified to powerfully bless the things He has prescribed (preaching, prayer, fellowship, singing), not the things we have invented. We should always be leery of adding to God’s prescriptions for His corporate worship.

Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 of Ryan’s list are the most compelling reasons in my opinion. These would seem very serious objections for anyone who takes seriously the idea that our Christian lives and gatherings should conform to what the NT commands, models, and prohibits. Perhaps I would add an 11th: The “altar call” teaches the congregation to evaluate the “success” or “effectiveness” of the ministry on outward, visible actions and results.

Further, the need to be pastorally careful and sensitive with the souls of men needing to repent and believe couldn’t be more urgent. So, anything that obscures the reality of God the Holy Spirit’s work in conversion and the necessity of repentance and faith must be regarded–at best–a practice with potential to undermine the very work we’re giving our lives to.

Do people “respond” to the word of God at our services? They do. And we give them a number of ways they may follow up on what they’ve heard, from talking to an elder or Christian friend after the service, to scheduling an appointment during the week, to letting us know they would like us visit with them, and so on. One thing I appreciate about our approach is that it allows us to meet, listen, question, encourage, teach and pray in a much more thorough way. By God’s grace we’re seeing people converted and profess their faith in baptism as the Spirit opens their hearts. We’re not perfect by any means. But I do hope we’re being faithful to the scripture’s commands, examples, and restrictions.

What do you think about Kelly’s list? Are you “for” or “against” and why? Would you add anything to or challenge anything on the list?

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So this morning at 5:20 am I and people around world tuned in for the Royal Wedding. I do vividly recall watching Williams Mother Marry Prince Charles nearly 30 years ago on July 29, 1981. The date is easy to remember because it was my mother’s birthday. I recall being up early to watch and also being glued to the TV so as not to miss a moment of the coverage since there was no such thing as TiVo or DVR.

Today was for me wonderful and a bit bittersweet. It was wonderful to see 2 very happy people exchange vows and cement their lives together for all their loved ones (and a good bit of the world) to see. IN a strange way I felt a kinship to Kate as I remember being the bride who found her Price charming and simply wanted all the people I knew and loved to witness our pledge of love to one another. Regardless if you are royalty or girl from Alexandria VA the sense of calm, peace, excitement and jubilation all at one time is the same. The bittersweet part for me was watching with my kids and building some of the same memories I had with my mother. I miss my mom so much, and events such as today bring back the good memories of my childhood and my life with her.

I was tickled when my 6 year old Jackson kept asking “are they going to kiss, are they going to kiss?” He was giddy with excitement as they did it not once but twice for the entire world to see. My 9 year old was staring at the dress, the veil and of course the tiara. I told her “see one day that could be you” and the beauty is it truly one day will be her, maybe not on that grand of a scale, but hopefully with the same grace and poise shown by Kate and William today.

Adding Raised Beds to Your Garden By Joyce D’Agostino

Those of us who live in the front range of Colorado know that our compacted clay soils are a true challenge to having a successful garden.  In addition to the hard clay, the high pH of our soil
s here and throughout the state due to the free lime that naturally exists also can pose a problem. 

One answer is to add raised beds to your garden. Raised beds allow you to grow your garden vegetables and flowers in quality soil and nutrients that will allow you to get higher yields and better results from your gardening efforts.

If you purchase a raised bed kit, you may notice that many of them are only about 6” deep and most suggest you buy more than one kit for the optimum depth. Outside of some small annuals, most plants want and need a deeper root medium, so you will need at least one more kit, or add purchased railroad ties or similar timbers to give you the right height and depth.

Most garden vegetables such as tomatoes and squash require full sun for most of the day. Check your seed packets or the information included with the plants you purchase to know how much sun is required. For example, if you choose plants that require full sun or sun for most of the day be sure that the placement of your bed will not have partial or heavy shade.

After choosing the location, we raked up all of the bark that was in the area and set it aside. Wood bark should not be incorporated into your soil because it takes a long time to decay  and also ties up the nitrogen necessary for good plant growth. When your beds are completed, you can use the bark to make pathways in between the beds but be sure to not add the bark to the new soil.

The next step is to prepare your soil. The soil in the areas of our planned beds was covered not only with landscape fabric but bark mulch on top. Landscape fabric is often used by gardeners and landscapers to help control weeds, but over time the pores of the fabric become clogged from dust, debris and soil and torn. The result is that the fabric no longer allows the proper amount of air and water and this can stop the beneficial bacteria and organisms in your soil to be present and weeds can penetrate through the tears. It was necessary to remove this worn out fabric and discard it.

Since the soil under this fabric was very compact, we used a pitchfork to loosen and aerate the soil in the area where the beds will be placed.We added some new soil to this area along with a layer of leaves that we saved from the fall. As the plants grow, it was necessary to loosen the soil under these beds so that their roots will not stop at the compacted soil which could act as a hard barrier

The new soil was then added to the beds. Choosing a quality soil is crucial. Take time to read the contents on the bag of soil. If it states vague ingredients such as “organic matter” then you may want to be cautious. If you are in doubt, buy a small bag of the soil that you are considering, open it and and carefully examine the contents. Watch for topsoil that contains a large amount of things like wood bark and chips, rocks and other matter that was used as a filler. A good topsoil will be clean of debris. Many topsoils and composts are not regulated as to their content so can vary widely from high quality to soil that was scraped from construction sites which could contain harmful chemicals, nails, glass and other debris.

There are several good articles that can help you plan your new raised beds and choose the right materials.  Go to http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/pubs.html and click on publications. There are many free fact sheets that can help you with all of your gardening needs. The following fact sheets discuss raised beds and choosing your soil: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1839.html; http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1812.html and http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/Garden/07235.html.

Cinco De Mayo Giveaway

In honor of the upcoming Cinco De Mayo holiday I have a Mexican food theme giveaway.

Thanks to Casa Mexicana Foods I have a package of Chicken Chipotle Tacos Seasoning and Fish Tacos Seasoning to give away to one lucky US winner.

If you would like to win this set of Casa Mexicana Seasonings please leave a comment on this spot with your email address.

Open to US Shipping Only.

Winner TBA Wednesday

Casa Mexicana Fish Tacos This mix re-creates the traditional and delicious recipe of fish tacos from Acapulco, or pescado a la talla, with hints of smoly chipotle chiles, paprika, coriander and garlic. YOU WILL NEED 2 Lbs of fish (tilapia or halibut recommended) 8-12 corn tortillas 1 lime 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil ¼ cup of water Optional: lettuce, avocado and mayonnaise DIRECTIONS Add water, 2 tablespoons of oil and packet contents into plastic bag, mix thoroughly. Slice fish in strips and add to plastic bag, coat thoroughly and marinate for 5 minutes. Empty contents of plastic bag into sauté pan with 1 teaspoon of oil. Cook over medium heat until ready (do not overcook). Serve on warm tortillas with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. CHEF SUGGESTION: add shredded lettuce, mayonnaise and avocado. INGREDIENTS: Salt, annatto, paprika, maltodextrin, onion, garlic, chipotle chile, black pepper, coriander, oregano, silicone dioxide (a natural anti-caking agent), cumin. Made on equipment that also handles wheat, milk, soy and eggs. NET WT. 1 OZ. (28.3g) 4 SERVINGS Casa Mexicana Chicken Chipotle Tacos (Tinga) This traditional dish from Puebla, where it is locally known astinga, is spicy and infused with chipotle's smoky flavor. YOU WILL NEED 2 whole chicken breasts (bone in) 1 ¼ cups of canned crushed tomatoes 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil 8-12 corn tortillas 1 cup of water Optional: beans, onion and avocado DIRECTIONS Heat oil in sauté pan, add chicken and cook for 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Pour crushed tomatoes in pan, add water, packet contents and mix thoroughly. Add chicken and bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove chicken, shred, top with desired amount of sauce and serve on warm tortillas. CHEF SUGGESTION: serve with refried beans and avocado. Slice half an onion and sauté until golden brown, mix with chicken. Ingredients: no-MSG chicken stock (salt, dextrose, hydrogenated vegetable protein, spices -including turmeric as color, corn starch, garlic, chicken yeast extract, and onion), chipotle chile, salt, maltodextrin, pasilla chile, onion, garlic, silicone dioxide (a natural anti-caking agent), cumin, oregano. Contains Soy. Made on equipment that also handles wheat, milk, soy and eggs. NET WT. 1 OZ. (28.3g) 4 SERVINGS

Moderation Nation My Get Together

Tomorrow I'm hosting a Hershey's Moderation Nation My Get Togther Party.

We're going to talk about healthy recipes using chocolate and we're going to learn this awesome dance called Batuka.

If you'd like to learn more about Moderation Nation please visit: http://www.themoderationnation.com

Get menus and meal planning advice: http://www.themoderationnation.com/menus.aspx

and http://www.themoderationnation.com/meal_balancer.aspx

You can even connect with experts: http://www.themoderationnation.com/connect_over.aspx

DENIM SHORTS

HEIDI

Denim shorts are a staple in almost every girl’s wardrobe. Easy to wear, casual and stylish with the right accessories, denim shorts have become a celebrity favourite too

 ASHLEY-TIS & HALLE

 ALESSANDRA & NICKY-HIL

VICTORIA & GISELE