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The Voice of God in the Wilderness

MP3 Audio:  WS330328 Dn-Joseph_The-Voice-of-God-in-the-Wilderness.mp3

This homily was preached on Sunday morning, January 19, 2014,
at Christ the King Orthodox Church in Omaha, Illinois, by Dn. Joseph Gleason.

Gospel Reading:  Mark 1:1-11

Behold I send my messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God is One.

After the fall of man, sin, death, and corruption entered the human race. And even though God had commanded saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth,” man rebelled. They began working on this building project called the tower of Babel. It was like the first great skyscraper in one of the world’s first great cities. And God said, “This is not a good thing. They are serving self. They are serving sin. They are serving Satan. And in that frame of mind, in that frame of heart, they are working together. They are coming together as an unholy community.” And so He confuses their languages. And unable to communicate with one another, they scatter to the four winds of heaven. And they finally go out to populate the earth as He had originally commanded. He cast them out of the city and sent them into the wilderness.

Fast forward many centuries, and in the ancient Middle East, we find the ancient Middle Eastern version of New York City, or Chicago. The name of the city was Ur. There’s a young man in this city named Abram. There’s a young woman, his half sister, Sarai. And they had everything here that one could imagine: all of the entertainment, all of the business opportunities to win friends, to influence people, and grow their little empire, all the food, all the merchandise, all the trade from around the world, all the entertainment that one could imagine, and not only that, but a support group for who knows how many generations–Abram’s father, Terah, and men even before that–there was this whole support group of hundreds of Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents and Great-Grandparents. And if you look at the ages of these people in Scripture, great, great, great, great, great-grandparents . . . Lots of friends, lots of opportunities. And God calls Abram and Sarai out of the city. And He sends them into the wilderness to become strangers in a foreign land, to herd farm animals far away from any city.

Fast forward to Moses. He is pulled up out of the water by Pharaoh’s daughter. He is raised in the capital of the empire as the grandson of the King, the grandson of the Pharaoh. He is given the best education that that culture had to offer. He is given the most sumptuous feast, the most amazing foods. He had influence, he had wealth, he had power. You know all the young ladies looked at him as a very eligible bachelor. He had it all. Any entertainment that he desired, it would have been right there at his door. And around the age of 40, God calls him out of the city and sends him off to shepherd sheep in the wilderness for 40 years, in preparation for the other dumb sheep that he was going to shepherd in the wilderness for another 40 years. Because that’s just what happened: when he was 80, God brings him back and now, not just Moses, but all the Israelites–all two million of them–God calls out of Egypt. And He calls them to walk in the wilderness.

Fast forward several more centuries in Israel’s history and look at some of the greatest prophets of God: Elijah & Elisha. Some of their best work, some of their most intimate times with God, some of their greatest miracles are performed not in Times Square, not on State Street in Chicago, not on 6th Street in Austin, but in the wilderness with very few spectators.

Then we come to the greatest prophet of all: John the Baptist. Of all of those under the old covenant, Jesus said there is none greater born of a woman than John the Baptist. According to Scripture and according to the Tradition of the Church, not long after he was born, he ended up being raised not in the city, but in the wilderness. You see, his Dad was a priest! He served in Jerusalem, the capital city of the nation. He’s the son of a priest, and yet he ends up being raised in the wilderness. And when he becomes an adult, he becomes that voice crying out, not one of many voices in the city, but this lonely, isolated voice in the wilderness.

At the birth of Christ, does God send signs from Heaven? Does the veil between Heaven and earth open up and do the angels appear and announce, “Glory to God in the highest and peace and good will towards men”? Yes! But they don’t announce it in the city.

The angels do not appear to Caesar. The angels do not appear to the high priest. The angels do not appear on main street in Jerusalem. The angels appear and announce God’s good news in the wilderness to a bunch of shepherds. What is God’s affinity for the wilderness? What is His affinity for these blue collar shepherds? Why doesn’t He want to go where all the millions of people are and proclaim His message there, so that more people will hear it right away? Why is this pattern repeated again, and again, and again, and again, and again throughout  Scripture? God is calling us out of the city and into the wilderness.

In today’s Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, it says, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” And then when telling us the beginning of the Gospel, it doesn’t start with the Crucifixion; it doesn’t start with faith. It starts with “a voice crying out in the wilderness,” a voice that calls us to repentance and to baptism. We hear in the wilderness — in Mark chapter 1 — we hear the voice of God’s prophet. And at the end of the passage, we hear the very voice of God. For when this prophet baptizes the Son of God–not in the city, but in the wilderness–That is when we hear the very voice of God coming down out of Heaven saying, “Thou art my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.”

Does God speak to man? Absolutely. But so often, you have to be willing to turn your back on the city and walk out and be practically alone. And that is where you hear the voice of God’s prophet. And that is where you hear the voice of God.

What reasons does God have for doing it in this way? I believe one of the reasons is the background, the context of the message, just like the canvas that you are going to paint on needs to be the right type of material. God needs the right type of canvas, the right type of background on which to write His message. If you walk into a city, almost everything that you see is man-made. And most of it is made by men who are fallen, sinful and at enmity with God. You see, God doesn’t say there is anything wrong with the idea of a city. Scripture starts in a garden and ends in a city. We start in Eden, but then by the time you get to the book of Revelation, John says, “I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven.” You see, if you have a bunch of holy, godly people working together, a city can theoretically be a good thing. But when you have millions of sinful men and women coming together into one city like New York, Chicago, New Delhi, Mexico City, etc. . . . a lot of times what we get is a lot more like Babel than it is like the New Jerusalem.

And so we have these buildings. We have these storefronts. We have these banners, we have these advertisements, we have these billboards, very few of which are calling us to humility, very few of which are calling us to be ascetic, very few of which are calling us to a deeper and closer relationship with God, very few of which are calling us to obedience to God. You walk into a city, and you’re surrounded with the arrogance of man. You’re surrounded with advertisements and storefronts that want to call you in, and in exchange for your money to fulfill any lust that your heart may have.

You go out into the wilderness and you may not find much. You may just find a bunch of sand in the desert. But God created each grain. You may just find a bunch of straggly old trees. But God created them. You see, the Maker of that sand, the Maker of those trees, is without sin, which is more than I can say of the maker of those skyscrapers, and those businesses, and those billboards. And so in the wilderness, God has a canvas that is relatively free from sin, death, and corruption. It’s a place where you are more easily without contradiction and without distraction. You are going to be able to hear the message. But the canvas is not the only reason. The background and the context of the message is not the only reason.

Another reason that God calls us out of the city has to do with the fact that He is unwilling to be simply one voice among many. You see, if you listen carefully enough, it is possible to hear God’s voice even in the city. Abram heard Him well enough to know, “I need to get out of here!” Lot, in Sodom, was able to hear God’s voice clearly enough to leave. God speaks at all times. God speaks everywhere. And anybody who is attentive enough can hear Him. But even if you are listening, even if you are open to hearing the voice of God, God knows how many distractions there are in the city. He knows for every word you hear from Him, you are going hear a thousand words from the radio stations, the TV’s, the acrobats, the performers, the advertisers, the salesmen, who want your money, the people who are trying to suck you into the world.

Now with all of these things going on, is it still possible for you to hear the message? It is possible. Wives, is it possible for you to have a conversation with your husband, to hear everything that he says while you’re cooking, while you’re disciplining a child, and while the TV is on in the living room? Yes. But it’s not possible to give him your undivided attention while doing all those things. Husbands, is it possible to have a conversation with your wife while you are watching a football game, while you’re munching on some nachos, and while you’re patting one of your grand-kids on the back? Yes, it is possible. But at that particular moment, you are not giving your wife your full and undivided attention.

See, you can hear the words of somebody, you can even listen to the words of somebody, and still be lacking in the conversation. Because in addition to hearing them, in addition to listening to them, sometimes people need that respect of receiving your full and undivided attention, where you say, “You are so important that I’m going to block everything else out. I’m going to concentrate on absolutely nothing except what’s coming out of your mouth.”

If your husband deserves that, if your wife deserves that, if your parents deserve that, if your children deserve that, how much more does the Lord and Creator of the Universe deserve our full and undivided attention when we listen to what He has to say?

In the city He can speak. In the city you can hear him. But there are so many distractions. If you’ll leave the city and go into the wilderness–a couple of cows, a goat or two, some trees, some dirt, some leaves, some chirping birds–It is far less distracting. Now you can hear God. You can listen to what He says. You can give Him your full and undivided attention. Out in the wilderness Abraham did not have to be distracted by the merchandise in Ur. Forty years herding sheep, Moses did not have to be distracted by the pomp and the pride of Egypt. John the Baptist, growing up in the wilderness and being a prophet in the wilderness, did not have to endure the grating on his soul of the arrogance and pride of the pharisees and the high priest.

Turn your back on the city and walk into the wilderness, and give God your full and undivided attention.

There’s another reason why God, over and over, calls people into the wilderness away from the cities. And this is simply a matter of the audience. Now, what I’m about to say is not a hard and fast rule. Can you find humble people working in the city? Yes. Absolutely. Can you find arrogant and prideful people living way far out in the country, in the boondocks? Absolutely. You can. But if you’re really looking for pride, if you’re really looking for haughtiness, if you’re looking for the best example you can find of that thing which is the stench in the nostrils of God, are you more likely to find it in the wilderness, or in Times Square? Hollywood doesn’t make it’s movies in the desert. It does most of its work right there in the city where it has all the resources available to it. Secular music, be it rock, country, whatever, most of their work is done where? Places like Nashville. Big corporations where people bow down to the almighty dollar. You don’t find many fortune 500 companies in Omaha, in Norris City, in Stonefort. How many fortune 500 companies do you have in Stonefort? Probably the same amount we have in Omaha . . . Zero. If you have the pinnacle of pride in movie production, in television production, in music, in business, in restaurants, in any field that you can imagine, where are you likely to spend your life? In the city.

If you’re more like a monastic, somebody who wants to dedicate every moment to God — How many monastics gravitate to the city? They don’t. People that are humble, that aren’t trying to claw their way to the top in business, that aren’t trying to claw their way to the top in music, in advertising, in any other field, the people that are humble, they are more likely to be content having just a loaf of bread out in the desert, to be content just living in a trailer in Omaha or Norris City. They are more likely to be content with less. And remember what it says in the Scripture, that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Now, that’s true no matter where you are. If you are humble and you happen to be in the city, then God will give grace to you. If you live in Omaha, in the boondocks, and you have a haughty and an arrogant spirit, God will resist you. But just in general, the proud are attracted to the city. The humble are content enough to be in the wilderness.

And so, to whom do you believe God will reveal Himself? Remember at Christ’s birth, the angels said nothing to the emperor. The angels said nothing to the governors, to the rich.The angels appeared to the humble shepherds, the blue collar workers, the farmers, the coal miners, the teachers. Over and over and over throughout Scripture, we find that the voice of God’s prophets and that the very voice of God so frequently is not in the city, but is in the wilderness.

What are some things that we can take away from this for ourselves?

Well, first of all, do not be ashamed, even a little bit, that you are part of a small, podunk hometown, little country church. I like being in the wilderness! I like being far away from the city. I like being in the boondocks. According to Scripture, that seems to be a pretty good place to be if you want to hear Him.

Second, we need to learn from this how we should order our lives. For you see, with modern technology, Satan has tried to come around our right flank and attack us where we don’t expect it. He says, “Alright, you go live in the country. You go live in the wilderness. I’m going to go get  ABC, and CBS, and MTV and all of these other hundreds and thousands of channels, and I’m going to pipe the city into your home. I’m going to create all this music in this city called Nashville, in this city called Chicago, and I’m going to pump that into your home. I’m going to use the television, the radio, the TV set and I’m going to bring the city to you!”

See, now you too can get on and get on You can get on eBay and you can be just as superficial as the people in the city when it comes to fashion. Congratulations. You too can melt your brain with thousands of hours of music that say absolutely nothing about obedience to Christ. Congratulations. You too can spend all this time on, whether its television shows, whether it’s driving into the city for things and get so engrossed in food that you’re more interested in how you can have your next gourmet meal than you are interested in how soon can I take the Eucharist. You see the sins of the city; do not stay in the city. The pride and the pomp and the arrogance of the city of Babel doesn’t stay in Babylon. Satan has learned how to very effectively export it to anyone who is willing to drink it in.

So what should our attitude be? Same thing that God has always taught us. Our attitude should be one of simplicity, humility, putting God and the Church and our families at the center of our lives. Not putting sports and clothes and food and entertainment at the center of our lives. Now, am I saying that it’s ever wrong to listen to a secular song? That you should never, ever, ever go to any movie? That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that Christ needs to be at the center of your life. You need to take every thought captive to Christ.

And there’s also this concept of silence. Remember where God says in the Psalms, “Be still and know that I am God,” whether you’re standing in the wilderness, or whether you’re standing in downtown Evansville, or Chicago. This is the opposite concept to what the devil does. This is saying, “Wherever you are, bring some of the wilderness to where you are. Take some time out of every day and just be still. Be silent.” That means turn off the TV, turn off the radio, lay down the newspaper, put down your video games, put down your hobbies, put down your guns, and just take some time to drink in and to breathe in a little bit of the wilderness. You see, God speaks in the still small voice. He doesn’t thunder from Heaven. He doesn’t paint in pink and green stripes up in the sky. He speaks in a still small voice. And the only way that you’re going to hear him–even if you have children–is to have some silence. You get enough control over your children that there is some time out of every day that it’s quiet. And as a family, every single one of you slow down, push out the world, push out the city, and just meditate on the Word of God, the lives of the Saints, and prayers to Christ.

There is a lot that we can learn from this. You see, there were a lot of Priests, there were a lot of Pharisees, there were a lot of Sadducees that lived 2000 years ago, who, if you asked them, they would say, “I would give anything to hear the voice of God. Anything!” And yet, were they willing to turn their back on Jerusalem, turn their back on the city and go out into the wilderness to hear His prophet preach? “Well, no, no, no…he’s just this crazy, poorly dressed guy that has no culinary ideas whatsoever. He eats locusts and honey, and I’m not…I’m allergic…I’m not into those things.”

And because they would not go into the wilderness, they missed the voice of Gods prophet. And when Jesus was baptized they weren’t there. And they did not get to hear the voice of God saying, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

I don’t want to miss the voice of God!

And so it all boils down to something very simple. We are given the world that we can love. We are given Christ that we can love. And you have to choose one or the other, for you cannot love both. Either you will hold to one and reject the other, or you will serve the one and you will despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. You cannot serve God and material things. You cannot serve God and worldly pleasures. In your spiritual life, you need to leave the city. You need to hear the still small voice of God that calls you into the wilderness, and there is where you will hear the voice from His prophets. There is where you will hear His voice from Heaven.

In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. God is One.

This homily was preached on Sunday morning, January 19, 2014,
at Christ the King Orthodox Church in Omaha, Illinois, by Dn. Joseph Gleason.

About Fr Joseph Gleason

I serve as a priest at Christ the King Orthodox Mission in Omaha, Illinois, and am blessed with eight children and one lovely wife. I contribute to On Behalf of All, a simple blog about Orthodox Christianity. I also blog here at The Orthodox Life.
Video | This entry was posted in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, 2014 Homilies, Fr. Joseph Gleason, Mark 1:1-8, Orthodox Homilies. Bookmark the permalink.

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Victorian Spiritualism and Spirit Communication

Robert Scott, the Pandora Society’s leading expert on Victorian Spirtualism, offered an extensive presentation on the subject during this year’s International Steampunk Symposium. The top highlights and most useful information for those interested in further research continue below. Books on the subject are few and far between, but after much research, the best books on […]

Top 5 Steampunk Movies for Halloween

Guys, this was hard. Like, waaaaaaaay harder than I expected. It turns out there are LOT of Steampunk movies with a bit of the gothic or macabre so they’d work for Halloween. I decided to choose five categories and provide both my pick plus at least one runner-up in that category. Luckily for us, there’s still plenty […]

Review of The Best of Spanish Steampunk

I received this anthology as a gift and opened it with a great deal of anticipation. Short, speculative fiction has been my favorite genre for many years and reading an entire anthology of steampunk stories would be a treat on a cold winter day. But as I read, I found myself to be puzzled: there were ghost stories, gaslight romances, alternate histories, and references to Victorian authors and their creations, but very few elements that reflect the steampunk aesthetic.

How Dead Are You?

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. –Benjamin Franklin There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead means you’re still partly alive. –The Princess Bride Every culture since the dawn of time has been fascinated by the dead. The Egyptians entombed them in huge, […]

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Win Tickets to the Time Travelers’ Ball

Buy your Pandoracon tickets between now and midnight on Friday, August 17, 2012 and you will be automatically entered into a drawing for our next prize giveaway for those who pre-register for Pandoracon. This time you might win two tickets to the Time Travelers’ Ball!

Last September saw the first Cincinnati Time Travelers’ Ball, a steampunk festival that took over the Southgate House (now under new management as the Thompson House) with bands, burlesque, sideshow acts, costumes, and more. This year the Ball has moved to November 17th make way for Pandoracon, and has moved location to beautiful The Redmoor theatre. The Time Travelers’ Ball is a primarily steampunk event, but the scope for costuming is wide open to anything from time and relative dimensions in space.

Tickets to the Ball are not on sale yet, but you can win two simply by buying your Pandoracon tickets in advance (on September 15th they go up in price and we stop giving away prizes). If you already registered for Pandoracon you will also be entered into this and subsequent drawings between now and mid-September.

This morning we drew for the signed print of Billy Tackett’s Pandoracon Doctor Who poster and the winner is . . . Emily Pritchard! Congratulations, the print will be given to you at Pandoracon 🙂

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Practicing With The Pilot Parallel Pen

I’m more of a Modern Calligraphy type gal, I’ve had a dip pen in some form or another since I was a kid.

Gothic Calligraphy on the other hand has always been an art form I appreciated at a distance, mostly because I really didn’t know where to begin if I wanted to attempt it.

When things I do attempt don’t immediately come easily to me I get really really lazy about them, because practicing sucks, especially if you don’t see any progress. That’s probably why I thought trying the Pilot Parallel might end up being the same old thing.

But that really wasn’t the case at all. I’ve found that practicing with the parallel has been very easy and I love the results.

I might not be the next best thing in Gothic Calligraphy, or calligraphy in general, but at least it doesn’t look like nonsense anymore.

Download a couple free worksheets, watch a couple youtube video’s, and you’re basically all set. But it really is all about practicing (even though it sucks). I start by copying letters I see that I like, and then over time change them little by little through trial en error into something my own.

Just writing the alphabet over and over again has never been something that interested me. I find it totally boring and counterintuitive to my learning anything. So in order to keep myself interested I’ll watch a movie and practice words that I hear while I’m watching a movie. Or find quotes, or poems that I enjoy, and practice by writing them down. Most of the time, what I write is totally nonsensical taken out of context.

The pilot parallel is also very inexpensive and available at most art stores. They also offer different sized nibs. This one I have is 6mm, and I chose it because gothic letters are easier for me to write when they’re bigger. I tend to fall back into modern calligraphy with a smaller nib.

Just thought I’d share my experience with this pen. I’m still a beginner myself, but if I can fuel your passion for writing, than all the better.

Thank You For Reading!

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Just Listed :: Adorable Townhome in Alpharetta!

13473 Spring View Drive Flyer front13473 Spring View Drive Flyer back

Welcome home! Nestled in the popular Spring Valley townhome community, this end unit has it all. The open floor plan, custom features, and charming character will never go out of style. The close proximity to Windward Parkway, GA400, and Highway 9 makes it convenient to and from any direction. You’ll also have easy access to the other highways, byways, and activities that make this location such a well-loved destination. Highly sought after schools include Cogburn Woods Elementary, Hopewell Middle, and Cambridge High!

  • Kitchen features ample cabinet space, granite counters, island, pantry, and breakfast bar.
  • The spacious living room boasts a cozy gas starter fireplace and hardwood floors.
  • The separate dining area is perfect for entertaining guests or casual meals at home.
  • The master suite is a true retreat including a trey ceiling, large walk-in closet, and master bathroom with double vanity, garden tub, and separate shower.
  • Additional upstairs bedrooms and bathroom are well-sized and bright.
  • A lower level bedroom and full bathroom are ideal for additional living and lounging space.
  • The deck is great for outdoor enjoyment and grilling out.
  • One car garage easily fits vehicle with extra storage space.
  • Wonderful location close to interstates, shopping, and restaurants.

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Brass Heart Pet Tag

Red Dingo Brass Heart Pet Tag. A beautiful quality Brass Pet Tag. Select the option to have your tag engraved – included in the price and guaranteed for the life of your tag.

OPTIONAL ENGRAVING; Click on the “Display” icon below your chosen size.

SMALL – Engraving Details

MEDIUM – Engraving Details

LARGE – Engraving Details

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Red Dingo Brass Heart Pet Tag. Red Dingo is an Australian company with many years’ experience providing high quality pet products. These quality, great looking tags will bring a touch of class to any collar. They are made to exceptionally high quality standards and will never rust or corrode, so they last a long time as well as looking great. This Brass range comes in 7 designs – in addition to this heart design you can choose from a fire hydrant, dog kennel, dog face, circle, bone, or rectangle design.

At The Pet Partnership we have a wide selection of Collars, Leads and Harnesses to complement your choice of Pet Tag, so have a browse through before going to the checkout.

Delivery: 10-14 working days.

Small: 20.1mm (0.8″) width x 20.1mm (0.8″) height.
Medium: 30.1mm (1.2″) width x 30.1mm (1.2″) height.
Large: 38mm (1.5″) width x 38mm (1.5″) height.

Engraving Details:
Small: 2 lines – line 1 up to 10 characters including spaces and line 2 up to 6 characters including spaces.
Medium: 3 lines – line 1 up to 18 characters including spaces, line 2 up to 14 characters including spaces and line 3 up to 12 characters including spaces.
Large: 5 lines up to 16 characters including spaces.
Both sides of this tag can be engraved and all engraving is in capital letters.

At The Pet Partnership we know it is important for your pets to be seen sporting the latest style of collar complete with matching pet tag, so we’ve made sure we have an extensive range of pet tag shapes, designs and colours. When selecting a tag for a Dog, please use the guidance below to ensure you display the correct information when choosing the Engraving Option.

The ‘Control of Dogs Order 1992’ says that any dog in a public place should have the following 2 pieces of information either inscribed on its collar or pet tag:
• Name of owner.
• Address of owner – the minimum information needed is house number, road name and full post code.
Whilst it’s not actually a requirement to have a contact number on the tag, it’s highly recommended to speed up the process of reuniting pooch and person.

Additional information

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Handmade Posh Dog Bandanna – 176 – Size 2 – fits up to neck size 15″ – A Collar’s for Christmas*

Rustic stags with a pop of bright colour

1 in stock

Gentle, rustic cream and beige Scandinavian theme with this one.

This is the traditional style dog bandanna – tie in a double knot around the dog’s neck.  They are double-sided – one patterned – one plain – so no untidy seams show and you get a pop of solid colour while they are wearing them.

The fabric on this one – cream background with stags and rocking horses / lime green on the other.

Size 2: fits a neck up to 15″

All the fabrics I use are 100% cotton printed pattern fabric – cool wash – warm iron
All my handmade dog bandannas have a dog shaped button detail on the top point.

These are completed items ready to post out to you. I buy small quantities of fabric and don’t repeat fabric designs over and over – when it’s gone – it’s gone!!!

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What makes a chicken happy?

Maslow’s Pyramid: Self-actualization for chickens?

19 June 2019, at 11:51am

What makes a chicken happy? And why consider a chicken’s happiness? As poultry veterinarians, we continually strive to improve the welfare of animals to help them reach their full potential. It would seem to reason that chickens with good welfare are more likely to be “happy” - and be more productive. Taken from Poultry Health Today wirtten by Philip A. Stayer Corporate Veterinarian at Sanderson Farms, Inc.

It occurred to me an interesting exercise would be to apply Maslow’s pyramid to chickens. Abraham Maslow is a psychologist who, back in 1943, came up with a universal hierarchy of needs, often illustrated in pyramid form. The first and most basic need, according to Maslow, is physiological. At the top of the hierarchy is self-actualization - when fulfillment enables a person to be at his or her very best.

How can we apply Maslow’s pyramid to chickens? What would be the hierarchy of needs for chickens to ultimately reach “self-actualization”? What follows are the cumulative observations and speculations of an experienced, mature (though some may say “old”) poultry veterinarian.

Figure 1. Maslow’s pyramid
Figure 1. Maslow’s pyramid
Figure 2. The pyramid applied to chickens
Figure 2. The pyramid applied to chickens

Apart from oxygen - an essential key physiological need for any aerobic species - I would assign four “freedoms” chickens need to reach self-actualization, which are akin to the often quoted “Five Freedoms” of animal welfare.

The safe, comfortable chicken

The first tier in the hierarchy of needs would be protection from predation. This is an instinct that’s easily observed in commercial poultry. If you wave a solid object over their heads or shine a light overhead when it’s dark, chickens will immediately squawk and run away from the offending stimulus, which they presumably interpret as a flying predator like a hawk or owl. Keeping chickens inside a structure with a roof resembles the protective canopy of an Asian rain forest, from where they originated.

Thermal comfort would be next in the hierarchy of needs for chickens and is most likely more important to chickens than food or water. This is really apparent in day-old chicks. If they’re either cold or hot, they won’t eat or drink.

Since we raise chickens far away from their ancestral Asian home, their thermal comfort must be addressed with man-made means. In the US, we raise “biddies” in brooding environments to warm baby chicks in the winter and cool them during brutally hot summer months. Free-range chicks may suffer from temperature extremes if their need for thermal comfort is ignored.

Third on the chicken’s journey to contentedness are food and water. Chickens are omnivores, and meeting their nutritional needs is most easily achieved with a combination of grains and animal proteins. Water availability and good water quality are vital. Water must be potable and free of pathogens for poultry to flourish.

The social chicken

The next level in the hierarchy of needs for chickens that corresponds with Maslow’s self-actualization level might be termed “frolic,” and it encompasses the social aspects of being a chicken. Chickens are social animals — that is, they live in flocks — and they like to be among “birds of a feather.” In brief, chickens appear less agitated when surrounded by other chickens.

This was never more apparent to me than when another veterinarian and I were trying to figure out the most gentle way to handle birds going to processing. Together we caught an entire transport coop of chickens (about 150 individuals) by ourselves, with one chicken per hand. We loaded the transport module, transported the coop to the processing plant, unloaded and individually surveyed each one of the chickens.

We noticed birds flapped their wings more when we each had one bird in hand, whereas the contract catchers had multiple birds per hand. If we picked up chickens as pairs, two in each hand, flapping decreased. The chickens appeared to receive comfort from other chickens in near proximity.

Another clear example of chickens’ social behavior occurred after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sanderson Farms lost over 70 chicken houses on contract farms. In many cases, all that was left were the floor pads. Walls and roofs were gone. This was in late August in south Mississippi and it was stinking hot. Broilers scattered and wandered into the cool shade of the surrounding woods during the day, but every night, they would return to the floor pads where their houses once stood to spend the night in the company of flockmates.

Protecting chickens from themselves

Some social behaviors among chickens are unacceptable, just as they are among humans, and they have to be managed by caretakers to protect chickens from themselves.

One example is the “pecking order,” a natural behavior that emerges as members of a flock discover where they belong in their social strata. Breeder chickens’ beaks are treated so their primary “bullying” weapon is dulled to prevent them from dismembering other birds.

Enhancements have been proposed, like shiny objects that arouse curiosity and entice chickens to take the object from one another, but that can encourage chickens to run around and result in injuries. In modern poultry houses, caretakers use subdued lighting to keep chickens calmer and discourage crowd chaos. They may also use migration fences to prevent chicken pile-ups at one end of the house. These measures might be compared to requiring kids to wear bicycle helmets for their own protection instead of allowing them free rein to express all their “natural behaviors.”

I don’t know if reining in natural behavior interferes with the chicken’s self-actualization, but in my experience, chickens are happy to eat, drink and be merry in the modern poultry house. They’re probably a lot happier if they aren’t pecked to death by flockmates and are protected from injuries suffered in a high-speed pile-up.

Have we built the case for the “self-actualized chicken”? What we humans may like does not mean that is what chickens may prefer. Exactly how chickens can ultimately achieve “self-actualization” may or may not eventually be elucidated by research.

In the meantime, the best approach I’ve found comes from fellow Mississippian Tim Cummings, DVM. When he taught at Mississippi State University, his advice was “Listen to the chickens.” I would venture to say that Tim also meant “observe.” Listening to and observing chickens will tell us more about what makes a chicken happy than trying to anthropomorphize our desires onto chickens.


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Tag Archives: Oscars

How the Oscars got grouchy: In your face politics

26 Feb

by Patrick Novecosky

(February 26, 2019) — When Jack Palance stood up to collect his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1992, I distinctly remember thinking, “I bet the old guy has a heart attack by the time he hits the third step.”

Jack Palance with his Academy Award in 1991

Palance did, indeed, drop to the floor. Not because he went into cardiac arrest, but to execute three one-handed push-ups – and one more with two hands to top off the performance. He checked his politics at the door.

Those were the days.

Over the past couple decades, the Academy Awards’ prestige — along with viewership of the live broadcast — has waned. It hit an all-time low last year when Jimmy Kimmel took a turn as host. The 26.6 million people who tuned in to the ceremony were the fewest to do so since Nielsen began estimating the program’s viewership in 1974.

Last night’s numbers weren’t much better, up a modest 2.1 million.

Why the Oscars Are Dying

Philip Bump at The Washington Post blames the slump on people not actually seeing the nominated films, therefore having no interest in the glitz and glamor of Hollywood’s biggest night.

Using statistical analysis, Bump makes some good points. The more popular the nominated films, the more popular the Oscar broadcast. Make sense.

But there’s something deeper going on here. Politics.

It’s Getting Too Shrill

Actors have always worn their politics on their sleeves. Humphrey Bogart organized a delegation to Washington, D.C., in 1947 against what he perceived to be the House Un-American Activities Committee’s harassment of Hollywood screenwriters and actors. Jane Fonda blasted the U.S. military’s involvement in Vietnam in the 1970s, and a bevy of stars — from Mark Ruffalo to Meryl Streep  — lined up to support Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in their 2016 bids for the White House.

But that’s on their own time.

Americans are free to tune out celebs’ activism (and they do) at the push of a button. While Fonda’s shrill rants against most of America’s war efforts are annoying, most of us are able to palate her on-screen performances. As annoying as I find Susan Sarandon’s liberal politics, it didn’t dissuade me from watching Thelma and Louise for the third time.

Marlon Brando famously refused his Best Actor statue in 1973 for his role in The Godfather, sending Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his stead. On stage, Littlefeather cited “the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry.”

Brando’s stunt was an exception to what was generally an entertaining awards program.

Crashing America’s Party

Michael Moore delivers a rant against President George W. Bush at the Oscars in 2003 (Getty)

The last couple of decades, however, have seen an excessive number of stars use the Oscar pulpit to lecture Americans on how to vote, how to spend their money, and which causes to embrace.

In his acceptance speech for winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Cider House Rules in 2000, John Irving gave a nod to “everyone at Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights League” and thanked the Academy “for this honor to a film on the abortion subject.”

Three years later, Michael Moore delivered a blistering speech, lambasting President George W. Bush only four days after the U.S. invaded Iraq. “We are against this war, Mr. Bush! Shame on you, Mr. Bush! Shame on you!” Moore shouted, drawing boos and groans from the audience, as well as some soft applause.

When Leonardo DiCaprio accepted the Best Actor award for his role in The Revenant in 2016, he lectured America:

Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.

Spike Lee channels Prince at the 2019 Oscars

And last Sunday, Spike Lee (dressed as Prince), took a not-so-veiled swipe at President Trump. “The 2020 election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize and be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate.”

Americans don’t mind lectures from qualified experts. But they don’t have much patience for overpaid entertainers posing as authorities on anything but entertaining. Maybe if they’d take a page from Jack Palance’s playbook, we would give the Oscars a second chance.

Patrick Novecosky is a Florida-based media relations professional, founder of this blog and NovaMedia. This article originally appeared on Feb. 26, 2019, at The Stream.


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As promised, we’ve created an animation to demo the Unify product we discussed when we last spoke.
The beginning demonstrates what we’ve created for Elavon / Bank of America and then later how it can help collate and create personalised documents for TNT.

Hope it’s of interest. If so, let me know and we can demo in more detail and set you up a free trial account to test with more TNT assets.

Be great to hear any thoughts you might have.

Best regards

Nick Martin

Creative Director

01279 797 250
[email protected]


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Birdies For Charity: Connecticut Legal Rights Project

iHeartCommunities is once again the proud media sponsor of Birdies for Charity with The Travelers Championship. Please take a listen and look at all of our interviews supporting the non-profits taking advantage of this amazing opportunity to fund-raise! We'll be broadcasting live from the Fan Zone the week of the tournament, be sure to stop by and say hello!

Birdies For Charity: Connecticut Legal Rights Project

Pictured: (Left to Right) Renee DiNino of iHeartRadio, Kathy Flaherty of Connecticut Legal Rights Project, and Taylor Whiting, Volunteer Coordinator for Travelers Championship

Listen below to Kathy Flaherty of Connecticut Legal Rights Project talk about their involvement with Birdies for Charity and how you can help their organization!

Connecticut Legal Rights Project

CLRP provides high quality legal services to low income persons with psychiatric disabilities living in Connecticut, primarily on matters related to their treatment and civil rights.

One of CLRP's most important goals is to empower people with psychiatric and other labels by increasing their own ability to influence the decision-making processes that, to a large extent, control their lives.

Click here to visit their site and learn more!

Birdies for Charity

Birdies for Charity is a giving platform that utilizes the excitement around the Travelers Championship to help nonprofits in communities across the region raise awareness and funds to support their missions. Nonprofit organizations simply solicit donations and receive a 15% bonus on every dollar raised!

Birdies for Charity Bonus Bucks

Each organization that raises money through BFC will receive at least a 15% bonus on top of each donation collected.

Increasing Awareness of Your Charity and Your Cause

The tournament provides opportunities for participating organizations to spread their mission through multimedia such as radio, website and social media.

Relieving Fundraising Challenges

All participating organizations will receive a unique website link to collect donations, a toolkit filled with promotional templates, and all administrative and processing fees will be covered by the Travelers Championship.

CLICK HERE for more information!

Want to know more about Renee? Get their official bio, social pages & articles on The River 105.9! Read more

Content Goes Here


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Persona (1966)
Ingmar Bergman

When I came home I saw myself in the mirror and thought: we’re alike. Don’t misunderstand me, you’re much prettier, but we are alike in a way. I think I could turn myself into you, if I made a real effort.

PersonaIngmar Bergman’s Persona (1966) isn’t like anything I’ve seen of his other works – perhaps the first time I’ll replace the word ‘meticulous’ with ‘avant-garde’ when describing his films.  The film follows two women – Elisabet Vogler (the luminous Liv Ullman), an actress who has deliberately pushed herself into a shell of silence and Sister Alma (Bibi Andersson), her young nurse – on an isolated island where each others’ desires, fears, agonies and memories unfold. Although fraught with elements apt for traditional character analyses, including the famous character switch trick that scriptwriters love, Persona manages to avoid the trap that the Bergman has partly set for himself through his previous films. Suitably imbibing elements of the modernist mode of cinema championed by the New Wave, Bergman creates a confounding work that is as rich in its implications and as cinematic in its execution as his previous films.

Bergman frequently crosscuts between images of natural landscapes and those of the characters’ faces. Bergman presents a simple analogy between the faces of landscape and landscapes of the human face. These landscapes keep changing the film as the film progresses, much like the very many faces the characters assume. Bergman seems to underscore that we are all actors in a way, taking up one face or the other throughout our lives. Although by profession it is only Elisabet who is an actor, Alma, too, turns out to be one in the film. Alma and Elisabet are like two mirrors placed in front of each other. Elisabet is an actor who has assumed another role – that of a silent spectator of the world. She watches Alma as if she were a movie character and psychoanalyzes her once she gets to know her past. She may even be feeding on Alma for her next role. Alma, on the other hand, feels closer to Elisabet, yet acts like a film character herself. She too tries to pull down Elisabet’s new-found mask, in an attempt to expose the fakery of her being. But all such textual inferences sum up to nothing, for, as the first few frames of the film suggests, Persona is more self-referential than referential (In a fascinating shot, the camera photographs Elisabet photographing the camera!).

This perplexing shift of Bergman into the modernist trend (along with his notorious comments on Godard) presents a whole new dimension to the film. Alma and Elisabet may very well represent the whole of traditional cinema and the modernist wave respectively. Bergman drops enough clues to this. Early on, Alma tells the doctor that she may not be able to “cope up” with the tough nut Elisabet. She laments aloud when she is alone. On the other hand, Elisabet is sober and detached (Later, the doctor tells her: “Your hideout isn’t watertight. Life seeps in everything. You’re forced to react.”). When Alma turns on the radio to listen to an exaggerated melodrama, she laughs. Elisabet is visibly affected by the violence of the outer world whereas Alma is disturbed by her inner world, much like the two cinemas they stand for.  Bergman presents them as the two definitive – and necessary – halves of cinema with a “can’t life with, can’t live without” relationship with each other.

PersonaFurthermore, they act as the audiences of the respective cinemas as well. Elisabet watches Alma dispassionately, never reacting even to the most dramatic gestures and words of the latter. She seems completely devoid of external emotions. She alienates both herself from Alma and Alma from her. Alma, however, complements Elisabet with her excessive sentimentality and expressiveness.  Contrary to Elisabet, she tries to involve herself with Elisabet and even expects her to react to her misery. Alma’s need for an emotional response is indeed adversarial to Elisabet’s intellectual reply. This complementarity is more than just literary. Bergman often cuts from one character to the other in a pattern that establishes them as mirror images, obeying eye-line matches. The characters wear opposite coloured clothes. Bergman frames his shots in such a way that one of the characters superimposes over the other as if obtaining a hybrid. In a notable scene, Alma threatens Elisabet with a bowl of boiling water, upon which the latter reacts with the only words she ever speaks in the film. Alma, like many who disapprove of the modernists’ self-indulgence, even tries to expose Elisabet’s “pretentiousness” (“You’re acting healthy. You do it so well everyone believes you. Everyone except me, because I know how rotten you are.” she says).

Not everyone thinks that Bergman’s self-reflexive endeavor is a success. Robert Kolker presents a dissenting view of Persona in his book, The Altering Eye:

“In any given sequence, once Bergman begins to concentrate on the interaction of the two women, the devices used to create distance disappear, and we are invited to partake of immediate emotion and psychological mysteries. The characters’ fears and agonies and Bergman’s fascination with them overtake any desire he might have to examine the way they are created. His desire to communicate the perverse pleasures of emotional confrontation outweighs his need to confront the intellect by denying narrative desire and its fulfillment.”

But, this narrative instability, I think, is precisely the intention of Persona. Bergman extends the interplay of his characters on to the audience as he places them in the shoes of Elisabet and Alma, in tandem. He first engages us emotionally and tempts us to do the conventional character analysis in every sequence and suddenly, by exposing the material nature of film or having an extremely perplexing sequence, pushes us into the modernist mode, thus distancing us. Ironically, the screen burns midway in the movie (as if someone has poured boiling water on it) to chop off any emotional connection that it may have built. Neither does Bergman embrace the modernist style completely, nor does he indulge himself in literary analyses or excessive sentimentality, perhaps because he believes both of them to be vital, as he stresses in the film.

But, such a reading (or any particular reading for that matter) of the film may be downright speculative, however concrete the evidences are. But that is because the film itself is both elusive and tantalizing at the same time. Persona presents us an easily digestible narrative but one that is also extremely difficult to penetrate. Bergman puts us in a limbo wherein we are neither allowed a clear view of the characters’ psyche nor are we made capable of realizing that what we see is just a two-dimensional entity. Persona may be a grand confusion of filmmaking styles, but it is also a film that attempts to absorb the best of both worlds, illustrate the drawbacks of traditional and modern cinema, examine the role of the artist  (Elisabet apparently stops speaking during a performance of Elektra – a tale of revenge – and continues to do so even when the world burns) and, most importantly, study the relationship between cinema and its audience through the ages.


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Made in Dagenham Charity Preview Night

12 November 2019

Made in Dagenham Charity Preview 12th November, 7:00pm Stratford Playhouse, 14 Rother Street, Stratford  upon Avon, CV37 6LU.

Stratford Musical Theatre Company is delighted to be  presenting a special event, previewing its Autumn  production in aid of The Shakespeare Hospice.

Funny, touching and timeless, Made in Dagenham shows how ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they stand together.

Tickets for The Charity Preview performance are £25, which includes a drinks reception before the performance as well as a post-show talk with the cast, creative team and possibly a special guest…

Family Support

Our Family Support Services include Children and Family Support Service, Bereavement Support, Counselling, Chaplaincy and Social Work Service.

Discover More
© 2019 The Shakespeare Hospice, Registered Charity Number: 1064091. Registered in England & Wales Number: 3291683.
Registered Office: Church Lane, Shottery, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 9UL


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Bright Horizons and The Skills Network continue to succeed!

Details: Written by Jessica Thompson Published: 09/05/2018

Bright Horizons and The Skills Network continue to succeed!

Following the continued success of our Bright Horizons partnership in England, we are excited to announce that we are now expanding into Scotland settings!

We are delighted to see over 400 Bright Horizons employees now enrolled onto a level 2 qualification with The Skills Network, providing a fantastic opportunity for staff members to upskill and develop their knowledge in their chosen subject area.

Initially launching the partnership across all England settings in January, the relationship has gone from strength to strength, seeing visible success through increased enrolments and an expansion in course offering.

The partnership provides all employees at Bright Horizons access to fully funded training in a range of subject areas, with the opportunity to gain a nationally recognised level 2 qualification and develop their skill set.

We are proud to be launching our training opportunities across all Scotland settings on Monday 14th May and are excited to continue working with Bright Horizons!


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A Parisian Adventure

I spent February 27th-March 2nd in Paris. I had flown into the Charles de Gaulle airport when I first arrived in France, but had to run to meet my train and had no time to spend in the city. I’ve been in France now for two months, and was finally able to make a trip & spend a few days in Paris. Seven friends and I planned a four day weekend in the city, and it was absolutely amazing!

My housemate Elizabeth has a friend in Paris named Lorelei. Lorelei is from France and met Elizabeth when she was studying abroad in South Carolina. Elizabeth let her know we were planning a trip to the city, and asked if she could recommend some of her favorite places that we should see while we are there. Lorelei took it 10 steps further and got us all rooms at the Novotel hotel where she works! A four star hotel, a 15 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, for less than we would’ve spent at a hostel…. Yes please! The Novotel hotel was amazing and I recommend it to anyone traveling to Paris. We were also able to get vouchers for breakfast which you must pay extra for if booking as a traveler, but it was a great spread, and my American friends were all very pleased to see bacon! (A rare commodity here in France.) The rooms at the hotel were great, and the lobby area was very impressive! There were computers available to the guests and many nice sitting areas for tired travelers. I hope to stay there again with my family, when they come to visit in May.

Checking-in to the hotel took a few minutes because we had three separate rooms booked, but were only checking into two of them at the moment. (The others had class and would meet up with us later.) As the receptionist verified all of our information and started programming room keys, she started going through (what I like to call) “the check-in spheel”. She proceed to give us the information to connect to the wifi, pointed us in the direction of the breakfast room, and then smiled, handed us the keys to our rooms and said “You’re in rooms 1301 & 1303. The elevators are down the hallway to your right.” The words she said had stuck me like someone walking into a glass doorwall… 13th floor?! They do exist! It was the first time I had ever been in a hotel with a 13th floor! There’s a first time for everything!

IMG_7554Remarkably, Lorelei’s generosity didn’t end there. We knew we wanted to do something special for her for getting us such great accommodations, so we asked if we could take her out Saturday night. We asked her to take us to her favorite place in town so we could treat her, and also to see where the local’s like to go! Not sure what to expect, we started out on our adventure. When we asked Lorelei where we were headed, she replied with “it’s a surprise!” My excitement was growing as we took one metro, to another metro, and started walking around the town we eventually settled at. Following the leader, Lorelei led us around a corner where we faced a huge, steep road. It was one of those ‘out-of-breath’, ‘feel-the-burn’ type hills. Once at the top, we walked another 30 feet or so, and found ourselves battling an even longer, steeper hill! I have been up and down many hills in Poitiers, but these were exceptional! I was waiting for someone to award me with a Girl Scout hiking badge! (Okay, I’m being a bit dramatic, but you get the picture!) We were all a little curious if this was going to be worth the treacherous hike. Let me be the first to say it was absolutely, 110% worth it! We found ourselves in the center of a small Parisian town square with the most perfect ambiance you could imagine! Complete with caricature artists, live music, restaurants, and a beautiful church, I can’t think of anything that could have made the mood any better! We had dinner at one of the bistros in the square, which was absolutely fabulous. I had beef bourguignon, and it was by far the best meal I’ve had since I’ve been in France!

IMG_7575After dinner I walked around with a friend to see some of the shops. We got about 15 feet outside the restaurant before we were approached by artists that started drawing sketches of us. I was completely aware that I was a typical tourist/target, falling into the trap, but at the moment I was content with it. The night was already amazing so why not make it even better?! I came home that night with a souvenir sketch, (that looks nothing like me, by the way!), but it’s a fun memory of that night. After dinner we took a walk and exited the square on the opposite side of where we entered. Lorelei took us to a lookout point of the entire city and it was absolutely breathtaking! If you’re ever in Paris, take the metro to Abbesses and walk up each hill until you reach the top. You will thank me, I promise!IMG_7612

IMG_7412Of course, one of the biggest highlights of the trip was getting to see the Eiffel Tower. With our hotel so close, we were able to see it pretty much anytime we wanted to, and made many trips there to take pictures & just enjoy the view.

IMG_7782We also visited the Louvre, and hung out with Mona for a bit. 🙂 My best friend in Poitiers, Diego, didn’t plan to come on this trip, and as we were leaving & saying goodbye, I said “I wish you were coming!” I was chatting with him online the next day, and told him how I missed him & that he should be here with us. He took it all to heart and surprised me Saturday! He met us at the museum and spent the rest of the day with us. Such a great friend! It made my trip so much more enjoyable! From the Louvre, we walked past the shopping district to the Arc de Triomphe. After standing and walking for the entire day, we wanted to sit down for a while. Finding a Starbucks, we grabbed a cup of coffee and sat in a McDonald’s just talking and relaxing. I know what you must be thinking, “You’re in Paris! Why are you at Starbucks and McDonald’s?” Believe it or not, it was delicious and missed on my part. I don’t go to either of these places very often at home, but having them available to me was a nice change. Don’t worry, we ate at plenty of great French places in Paris as well! We made a trip to see Notre Dame and entered just as a mass was ending, very powerful and simply breathtaking. From there we walked to the famous Love Lock Bridge, and also visited the cemetery where Jim Morrison is buried.

IMG_8268On Sunday, our last day, we took a boat tour along the River Seine. Our hotel room had a great view of the river so it was nice to end the weekend with what we had been looking at for four days. The tour was an hour long, and cost 13€. In my opinion, completely worth it! We were able to see Paris from a different angle, and there was commentation in French, Spanish, and English that was very interesting! I learned that the White House was build with inspiration from the building in the picture below. I also learned that their Statue of Liberty was originally facing the Eiffel Tower, but was turned in 1889 so that the Statues of Liberty in New York and Paris (the sisters) would be facing each other! It can also be seen in the movie “National Treasure: Book of Secrets”!

Can you see the resemblance?

Overall, the weekend was amazing! Visit https://thetwentysomethingtraveler.shutterfly.com/ to see all of the pictures! We were definitely exhausted when we came home, but it was totally worth every minute! I will be returning to Paris in April for a 5K, and again with my family in May. It’s crazy to think that I am traveling to all of these places and seeing all of these landmarks that I’ve only dreamed of. I am definitely taking in every second. I realize this is a chance of a lifetime, and am not taking anything for granted. To think I am already halfway through with this experience is sad, but if it ended tomorrow I would be so happy with the places I’ve seen and the people I’ve met.

*Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory* – Dr. Seuss


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First CODA car comes off the production line

The first CODA sedan rolls off the production line in Benecia (photo from CODA Automotive press kit).

Well, the wait is over.  We are proud to congratulate Forrest and the rest of the CODA team on this great news!  Initial reports price the CODA sedan at $37,250 – a sticker price that can be reduced with a $7,500 federal tax credit and a $2,500 state rebate.  A $27,250 electric car?  Sounds good to us.

To learn more about the launch of CODA’s sedan, read the Mercury News story at or check out CODA’s website,

“Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.”

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, scene 3, lines 75-77.

Whether the wisdom of Old Polonius’s words to his son Laertes still holds sway is subject to debate when it comes to investing in green initiatives.

A recent study by the Filene Research Institute and Hall Associates Consulting, LLC indicates that credit unions have strongly invested in those who want to make green purchases, such as fuel efficient, hybrid or electric vehicles or home efficiency upgrades.   The study finds that such lending programs attract borrowers who are low credit/default risks, spur credit union membership growth in important market niches, and promote business growth.

To learn more about the study and to view a video summary go to

We are happy to report that the State of New York has become the seventh state to pass benefit corporation legislation, joining Maryland, Vermont, New Jersey, Hawaii, and California.  At midnight last night, the New York Legislature unanimously passed bills S79-A and A4692-A, bringing New York within the fold of those states that are empowering companies with the business model of doing well while doing good.

Want to learn more about this groundbreaking legislation?  Information about benefit corporation legislation can be found at or you can speak to Donald Simon, the Wendel Rosen lawyer who helped draft similar legislation that was recently enacted in California.

In my humble opinion, one of the things that sets Wendel Rosen apart from other firms in the green space is our desire to move the needle forward.  Not only do we represent clients who focus on sustainability as an operating principle, but we also take part in legislative initatives that are designed to expand the principles of sustainability to all.

Today, I am proud to state that SB 582 passed through the California State Legislature on Wednesday.  SB 582 – a commuter benefits bill – was modeled on a San Francisco ordinance that required employers to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, congestion, and air pollution by offering employees options to pay for alternative commuting expenses with pre-tax dollars (e.g., commuter checks to buy high-value BART or Muni passes).  This legislation doesn’t just benefit employees, however.  There is a financial benefit to the employer, as well, because participation in this initiative is sweetened through a reduction in the payroll taxes that the employer pays.

It is estimated that approximately forty percent (40%) of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions is due to commuting.  Reducing vehicle miles traveled by the sole driver is a priority to reducing these emissions.  By offering commuter benefits, such as those outlined by SB 582, employers and employees can work together to consider alternatives to simply driving alone to the office.

Wendel Rosen, like other mission-driven businesses, happily supported SB 582 (as you can see from the Wendel Rosen Letter of Support for SB 582).  We’ve been offering commuter benefits to our employees for years.  We’re proud of that track record, and we are equally pleased to have assisted in the passage of this bill.

We can’t wait for Governor Jerry Brown to sign it into law.

Bill Acevedo

Usually, the most revolutionary ideas are those that address the most “simple” problems.  One aspect of sustainability that is seriously overlooked, but often complained about, is packaging.  Boxes, bags, wrappers, bags in boxes – you name it.  Excessive packaging is everywhere from food to toys to everyday household goods.

Some companies, like Ecologic Brands, Clif Bar, and Walmart are changing the way the goods that we buy are packaged.  In 2006, Walmart introduced a packaging scorecard with the intention of improving packaging design, conserving resources, and reducing packaging along its global supply chain by 5% by 2013.  The results have been impressive with packaging design breakthroughs from many Walmart suppliers.

Clif Bar, for its part, recently introduced The Climber wine pouch.  Clif Bar boasts that it has an 80% lower carbon footprint than two glass bottles, it is 90% less waste than said bottles, and best of all  it reseals and keeps your wine fresh for up to one month after opening.  That is a breakthrough!

And, this week’s guest on The Wendel Forum radio show, Ecologic Brands (  is re-thinking the way that common household supplies such as milk and laundry detergent are packaged.  Using recycled and recyclable (i.e., you can recycle it again) cardboard, Ecologic Brands is swapping out the plastic that clogs landfills and our oceans.  The bottle is composed of an outer cardboard paper shell and a recyclable plastic liner.  The liners are made of 70% less plastic than your average jug.  If you have kids, or if you play as a hard as you work, you know how much of an environmental benefit it is to have laundry detergent bottles like these.

But don’t take my word for it.  Tune your radio (or computer) to Green 960 AM at 11:30 this Saturday morning to hear Ecologic Brand’s CEO, Julie Corbett, tell you all about her revolutionary idea to address the way we package everyday household goods.

Each Spring and Fall I find myself going through the closets and dressers to collect donations to cart off to Goodwill.  With two little but ever growing children, this is less about being charitable than it is about a rite of necessity.  I have to get rid of old stuff so that I can replace it new stuff.  The Goodwill model, accepting my old stuff to give it to people as their new stuff, seems to fit the bill.  Well, almost.

You see, I don’t replace the children’s clothes with clothes from Goodwill.  I go out and buy brand new clothing to take the place of their outgrown garments.  Yes, I share these purchases with others later on, but for the most part, I keep consuming.  There has to be a different approach, don’t you think?

On this week’s show, we’ll talk to two emerging companies that are answering this question.

ThredUp ( is an online exchange for used children’s clothing and toys.  ThredUp’s CEO, James Reinhart, sits down and tells us how his idea, which he likens to a Netflix for kids’ clothes – is taking off.  According to Reinhart, ThredUp is signing 1,000 mothers – PER DAY – as clothes-swapping members.

As for you adults, have no fear, there is something for you, too.  Platinum Dirt (, which is headed by Dustin Page and Aaron Parrish, will also join the Forum discussion.  They will tell you about their ingenius idea to recycle leather seating from Cadillacs, Lincolns, BMWs, Mercedes, and other cars left to rot in the junkyard.  They take this leather and turn them into beautifully designed leather jackets, wallets, and purses.

It will be an exciting discussion – recycling, fashion, and environmental and business benefits.  Tune in to Green 960 AM to learn how emerging clothing industry entreprenuers are moving beyond the Goodwill approach to recycle clothing and repurpose materials to create new fashions.

Climate Change Education

March 28, 2011

The San Francisco Superior Court, Judge Ernest Goldsmith presiding, has handed the plaintiffs in the matter of Irritated Residents, et al. v. California Air Resources Board, et al. (CARB ruling), a significant victory – for the moment.  Judge Goldsmith ruled that the California Air Resources Board failed to properly consider alternatives to their championed cap-and-trade program, a main tenet of California’s landmark global warming law, AB 32.  The regulators must now go back and consider other alternatives to a cap-and-trade program, which certain people contend (environmental activists amongst them), does not adequately address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions.  While this ruling does not defeat California’s efforts to tackle climate change, it most certainly slows it down by sending the regulators back to the drawing board for the time being.

But, what is the real significance of this ruling?  Who really understands the CEQA issues (besides lawyers and certain interested parties) that were at issue here?  Indeed, while many people seem to harbor strong opinions about the general subject of climate change , its cause(s), and the steps that we should take to address it, it is not clear how many people actually know enough about the nuances of the topic to opine in such definitive fashion.

To this end, in the upcoming weeks on The Wendel Forum radio program, we will speak to the Alliance for Climate Education (“ACE”), a Bay-Area non-profit group whose mission is to educate high school students on the science behind climate change and inspire them to take action to curb the causes of global warming.   ACE developed its unique education programs to address this problem because no public agencies, schools or organizations working to educate youth on climate science existed at an appropriately large scale.  In just two years of operations, ACE has become the national leader in high school climate education, with an effective offering that includes the ACE Assembly, Student Action Programs and Leadership Trainings.

Stay tuned to The Wendel Forum to learn more about climate science, ACE, and their significant efforts to educate our children about the issue and what they can do to help address the problem.

Post Links:

Court’s ruling in the matter of Association of Irritated Residents, et al. v. California Air Resources Board, et al., PDF, linked here:  CARB ruling.

Alliance for Climate Education:


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International Studies in Sociology of Education

Introducing a new section

Research in Translation

‘Research in Translation’ is a dedicated section of International Studies in Sociology of Education.

It presents theories, debates, and research in the international field of sociology of education which have been produced in languages other than English and in regions beyond dominant metropoles.

This section seeks to address the prevailing geopolitics of academic knowledge in which English language research is translated for, or taken up in, non-English-language contexts, but the opposite direction is much less travelled.

We welcome submissions of 2000-4000 words for this section of ISSE which will be published occasionally.  Submissions may take on a wide range of formats, including, for example:

  • Reviews of sociological research in education that has been published in languages other than English;
  • Interviews with educational theorists, researchers or practitioners who are working in languages other than English and/or in regions outside what is considered the global North, and whose work might not have be widely known in the English speaking world;
  • Critical examinations of the ways in which theory and research from different regions of the world are being used and interpreted (translated) in different ways by people working in languages other than English.

Authors are to make clear the significance of their reviews/commentaries for international studies in sociology of education.

Submissions should be in English. It is recommended that the authors include references to the dilemmas of translating across cultures and languages, i.e., how their translation acknowledges that concepts or theories are culturally embedded, and/or reflections about the difficulties of translating particular notions or research traditions into English. Submissions will be reviewed by the Research in Translation Editor with support from the wider editorial board.

We also welcome full-length research-based submissions relating to the themes above in the format of standard journal articles. These will be peer-reviewed through the normal ISSE process and be published in the main section of the journal.

International Studies in Sociology of Education

Language: en-US

Publisher: tandf

Visit Journal Articles

Submission guidelines

Instructions for Submissions

We encourage any author interested in submitting a piece for the ‘Research in Translation’ section to discuss their ideas with the Section Editor Inés Dussel at idussel@cinvestav.mx, prior to sending in their submission. Submissions are to be made on through the online submission system at: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/riss20


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Top 10 Most Downloaded Articles in Biology 2018

We've compiled a list of our top 10 most downloaded biology articles for 2018. Enjoy free or open access to all below!

Article Collection - Biology

Article TitleJournal TitleAuthor(s)
Associations between chronotype, morbidity and mortality in the UK Biobank cohortChronobiology InternationalKristen L. Knutson, Malcolm von Schantz
Bioindicators: the natural indicator of environmental pollutionFrontiers in Life ScienceTrishala K. Parmar, Deepak Rawtani, Y. K. Agrawal
Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)AutophagyDaniel J Klionsky et al
Salmonella: A review on pathogenesis, epidemiology and antibiotic resistanceFrontiers in Life ScienceShu-Kee Eng, Priyia Pusparajah, Nurul-Syakima Ab Mutalib, Hooi-Leng Ser, Kok-Gan Chan, Learn-Han Lee
Overview of citric acid production from Aspergillus nigerFrontiers in Life SciencePau Loke Show, Kehinde Opeyemi Oladele, Qi Yan Siew, Fitri Abdul Aziz Zakry, John Chi-Wei Lan, Tau Chuan Ling
Principle and application of plant mutagenesis in crop improvement: a reviewBiotechnology & Biotechnological EquipmentYusuff Oladosu, Mohd Y. Rafii, Norhani Abdullah, Ghazali Hussin, Asfaliza Ramli, Harun A. Rahim, Gous Miah, Magaji Usman
DNA molecular markers in plant breeding: current status and recent advancements in genomic selection and genome editingBiotechnology & Biotechnological EquipmentMuhammad Azhar Nadeem, Muhammad Amjad Nawaz, Muhammad Qasim Shahid, YÄ±ldÄ±z DoÄŸan, Gonul Comertpay, Mehtap YÄ±ldÄ±z, RÃ¼ÅŸtÃ¼ HatipoÄŸlu, Fiaz Ahmad, Ahmad Alsaleh, Nitin Labhane, Hakan Ã–zkan, Gyuhwa Chung, Faheem Shehzad Baloch
‘Necessary and sufficient’ in biology is not necessarily necessary – confusions and erroneous conclusions resulting from misapplied logic in the field of biology, especially neuroscienceJournal of NeurogeneticsMotojiro Yoshihara, Motoyuki Yoshihara
CRISPR genome editing and its medical applicationsBiotechnology & Biotechnological EquipmentMohammad-Reza Mahmoudian-sani, Gholamreza Farnoosh, Ali Mahdavinezhad, Massoud Saidijam
A Mediterranean-style dietary intervention supplemented with fish oil improves diet quality and mental health in people with depression: A randomized controlled trial (HELFIMED)Nutritional NeuroscienceNatalie Parletta, Dorota Zarnowiecki, Jihyun Cho, Amy Wilson, Svetlana Bogomolova, Anthony Villani, Catherine Itsiopoulos, Theo Niyonsenga, Sarah Blunden, Barbara Meyer, Leonie Segal, Bernhard T. Baune, Kerin O'Dea

To get this list, we used Taylor & Francis’ internal reporting tools to gather the top 99,999 articles within Biology according to number of downloads for the period between January 2018 and September 2018 (inclusive).

The total number of downloads was filtered from largest to smallest, and the top 10 were found.

All download figures are correct as at 21 September 2018.

Follow Bioscience on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates

Image result for twitter logoFollow @tandfbiosci on Twitter

 Image result for facebook logo  Follow @tandfscience on Facebook

Latest Tweets


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Tubby Christmas Moose | Christmas Decoration

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land surveying techniques which are currently used in India require more
humans, more time and costlier instruments in order to measure the area of
particular land 1. To reduce these limitations authors proposed concepts of
“land surveying using quad copter and GPS”. To measure the area of a given
land, the quad copter will be travelled to the starting point of the land; this
can be any point on the edge of the land which has to be surveyed. Location of
that point will be capture in terms of latitude and longitude coordinates. The
data from the GPS module is transferred to the ground station through ZIG-BEE
transmitter and receiver. The overall Project was carried out to reduce the
cost and make human efforts less in surveying the land, which is achieved
through this project. The idea of using quad copter and GPS got for the
proposed system. By using quad copter, we will be able to capture the image of
plot and by using image processing technique; we can easily calculate the area.
And the GPS can be used for controlling the moving vehicle.

The unmanned vehicle is ‘quad
copter’, where the quad copter is used for taking highly overlapped photos of
the area of interest 2. The generated photo of area undergo further process
like digital models, digital terrain model and access volume of various
materials. System uses them to get information from places which cannot be
easily (or safely) accessed, like highways or rocky cliffs. Since the
measurements do not interfere with traffic of work processes, we can use low
altitude photo-grammetry to offer elegant control measurements of quarries,
landfills, highways or roads. Calculations given are much tougher. Idea got-The
low altitude photos can used for calculation of area, at a specific interval of
time using UAV.

The images from UAV were used for
ortho-mosaic and digital terrain model (DTM) generation, thus allowing for
high-resolution landslide monitoring 3. Several new open source image- and DTM processing tools are now providing a complete
remote sensing working cycle with the use of no commercial hard- or software.
Public domain image processing tools for low-cost ortho-rectification and
mosaic blending were used. A couple of public domain image processing tools for
low-cost ortho-rectification and mosaic blending were used.

The purpose of surveying robot is to
streamline a series of work at sites, such as transportation and setting of
surveying equipment, surveying, the recording of coordinates data, to achieve
labor-saving and high efficiencies in surveying work 4. They can move across
an up-and-down site with all equipment necessary for surveying including a
total station, a precise instrument, loaded on them. Errors caused by man in
reading and writing coordinates data are eliminated, and coordinates data can
be prepared efficiently at the site office. Aiming at labor-saving and
improving efficiency in surveying work,
developed surveying robot that carries out at sites transportation and
installation of surveying instruments, surveying, recording coordinates data,
treating and managing coordinates data at the site office. Here from this
project we took the idea of surveying robot as a sketching robot. Instead of
having the surveying equipment on it, we try to move the sketching robot
throughout the plot, for measuring the land area. With help of these sketching
robots, the points to be measured are plotted and calculate area.

In this system it is shown how a UAV
system can be built at low cost and the main focus of this contribution is on
the generation of 3D point clouds 5. In this system it takes the 3D picture
of land and the calculating the area. This system gives the accurate
measurements and this system is used for the troposphere survey. The
calculation of area is completely depended on the software used and unmanned
aerial vehicle is used for capturing the points. Advantages; the existing
system provides accurate measurements. And the software used provides all the
correct measurement. This existing system helps us the measuring easy to do the
measuring easily. And the idea of capturing images.

New applications in the short and
close range domain are introduced, being the UAVs a low-cost alternative to the
classical manned aerial photogrammetric 6.
The UAVs are capable of photogrammetric data acquisition, SLR digital
cameras, can fly in manual, semi-automated and autonomous modes. It has an
ability to quickly deliver high temporal and spatial resolution image
information and to allow a rapid response in a number of critical situations
where immediate access to 3D geo information is crucial. Fast data acquisition,
transmission and no runway area is required. Especially, in case of large scale
projects and non flat objects (e.g. buildings, towers, rock faces, etc.) the
same task becomes much more complex in case of 3D objects requiring convergent
images and, maybe, vertical stripes.

Distance measurement is a basic
operation that every surveyor must be able to perform with the tools available
7. For large property dealings its take much more time to measure the
distance between two points. To avoid this tiring procedure of area calculation
that involves separate side measurement, carrying of the equipment and sending
the obtained side to total station, they incorporate Survey robot which
combines all these features. In other words, it performs three most important
tasks. Firstly, it can be freely moved about the plot when given a desired
direction. Secondly, it obtains the length of any desired plot as it moves and
transmits the length. This transmitted length is stored in the PC and then an
area measurement module is used to find the area. Thirdly, if the user wishes
to subdivide his entire plot then we just need to program the Survey robot
appropriately and the subdivision of plot is done in a very less duration.

Post Author: admin


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First cold

The LM has his first cold and it’s breaking my heart.

His little sniffles, sneezes and coughs are so hard to listen to, especially since there isn’t much I can do other than wait it out. So far I’ve tried steaming him in the shower, dripping saline in his nose with an eye dropper, and using a bulb syringe to clear his nose. And so far none of those things have really worked.

We had a rough night last night, noone really got much sleep. Because he was coughing so much and was so congested we let him sleep in our bed. He was comfy and I let him nurse whenever he wanted to. Luckily this cold hasn’t affected his mood! He’s still a happy go lucky little guy.

Here he is warm and fuzzy in his fleece monkey onesie.

Checking out monkeys on his feet!

Checking out monkeys on his feet!

We skipped our Mommy and Baby fitness class this morning – I didn’t want him to get worse by going out, or infect any other babies. It’s too bad we had to miss it though, it’s such a fun class and I need the exercise. The LM seems to enjoy it as well – he likes looking at all the other babies. Getting my body back is high on my list of priorities, but obviously the LM comes first.

I really hope he gets better soon!

What remedies do you use when your baby gets sick?


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Amazing Summer! Classical Fusion Hits

Music (classical, world music)

Add to favourites
  • Leith Depot - Leith Depot
  • 19:30
  • Aug 15
  • 1 hour
  • Suitability: 5+
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Group: PipaRimba Duo
  • Warnings and additional info: Venue Age Restriction: Strictly 18+ after 20:00. Buy a ticket in advance to guarantee entry or Pay What You Want at the venue
  • Accessibility:
    Wheelchair Accessible Toilets
    Sight not needed
    May not apply to all performances. You'll find more information about accessibile performances and how to book tickets in the accessibility tab below.
  • Babes in arms policy: Babies do not require a ticket
  • Policy applies to: Children under 2 years
Dates, Times and Prices

Award-winning PipaRimba is an innovative and masterful pipa/marimba duo. With their unique playing style, characterised by a wide range of genres and with a creative vision of combining theatrical elements, dance, improvisation and their own compositions/arrangements, they were invited to perform extensively across the continents, from Europe to Asia to America, and in international art/music festivals around the world. Amazing Summer! Classical Fusion Hits will feature not only the most famous works from classical composers e.g. Mozart, Chopin, Paganini, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin etc, but also new arrangements with tango, flamenco and jazz fusion.

Please note that while all media gallery content is provided by verified members of the event, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society does not review or approve this content before it is posted. Reports of inappropriate content or copyright infringement can be directed to [email protected].

General venue access

  • Wheelchair Accessible Toilets
    Sight not needed
  • Accessible entry: Information not supplied
  • Wheelchair access type: Not fully wheelchair accessible
  • Stairs: 11- 20
    Number of stairs is provided as guidance and is not in addition to any wheelchair access type (lift/ramp etc) stated above.

Each venue can contain several space with different accessibly information. Visit the venue page for full venue accessibility info

How and when to make an access booking

Our access tickets service is available to anyone who:

  • Would like to book specific accessibility services, e.g. a hearing loop, audio description headsets, captioning units, seating in relation to the location of the BSL interpreter
  • Requires extra assistance when at a venue
  • Has specific seating requirements
  • Is a wheelchair user
  • Requires a complimentary personal assistant ticket to attend a performance

Dates, Times and Prices


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Visit the Othello Public Market

We visited the Othello Public Market last week — the market is still growing and the manager has big plans to make it a thriving community space.  Several food vendors offer tasty lunches from around the world, a large produce stand has a nice selection of fresh fruits and veggies, and a variety of interesting items are for sale inside the market space.

Located at 4200 S Othello Street, the market is open Wednesdays through Sundays 10 am to 6 pm.  But apparently, the weekends are much busier than the weekdays at this point.  Read more about the Othello Public Market here and check out their Facebook page.


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Energy efficiency in the business world is becoming a policy priority of increasing importance. The EU is trailblazing in globally leading legislation aimed at improving our businesses’ energy consumption. Traditionally an agenda item for the environmental lobby, it is today becoming an increasingly important agenda item for the business lobby too. The reason is simple – it makes business sense.

Businesses exist to make profit. For energy efficiency policies to work, they must enable businesses to support that core objective – making profit. Businesses increase their profit by either increasing sales or reducing overheads. Common thinking is to increase sales. As an entrepreneur and business owner, I believe that reducing overheads is the more efficient way of doing so.

Reducing overheads through energy efficiency often requires lower investment than increasing sales. Furthermore, an energy efficiency project typically lasts a few months to a year to conclude, after which the benefits extend well into the future.

The Malta Business Bureau is the EU business advisory body to the Chamber of Commerce and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association. With an office in Brussels and Malta, we have an intimate understanding of both EU policy and vision. I would like to emphasise vision here. As well as local business conditions, we believe that there is an excellent opportunity for local businesses to move towards the EU vision on energy efficiency.

Reducing overheads through energy efficiency often requires lower investment than increasing sales

2019 is a very important year for energy efficiency in Malta and throughout the EU. The 2020 targets are literally right round the corner and efforts need to be maintained through 2019 and 2020, to ensure that every stakeholder does their part in reaching national objectives.

2019 is an important year for another reason. Non-SMEs, the largest companies, throughout the EU are legally obliged to complete ISO compliant energy audits. These audits will reveal the potential within EU industry for energy efficiency. Apart from supporting these businesses to identify opportunities for increased profitability, they will also generate critical policy-informing data.

They will reveal energy efficiency measures that are common to all businesses in all sectors throughout the EU, opportunities within specific sectors, and opportunities within specific regions. Crucially, they will also reveal upcoming technologies, as well as opportunities for the financial sector to invest in energy.

This is all very important, as while our immediate focus must be on the 2020 targets, we also need to plan ahead for the more ambitious 2030 targets. As anyone involved in business knows, there are changes that can be made very quickly in the business world. There are also changes which take more time.

Policy work tends to take even longer, simply due to the effort it takes to create the right environment for commerce, social, environmental and financial interests to converge towards a goal over an extended period of time. It is tempting to ignore the 2030 targets, however the groundwork to set the environment in which they can be reached is fast approaching, and in some respects already arrived.

The MBB has been working on energy efficiency since the Energy Efficiency Directive was transposed into Malta law in 2014, supporting the Energy and Water Agency’s Energy Efficiency Partner Initiative, through which businesses commit to regularly taking energy efficiency action, and leading the Investing in Energy Project. We will continue to support the business community in achieving higher levels of energy efficiency, thus increasing businesses’ own profitability while safeguarding the environment.

We are excited about the conclusions of this year’s Non-SME energy audits and would advise all non-SMEs to start their energy audits as soon as possible, to ensure that the December deadline is not missed, to identify opportunities for increased profitability, and to support the achievement of national targets.

Simon De Cesare is the president of the Malta Business Bureau.

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