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Man 'was involved in Syria battles'
A Northern Ireland man charged with receiving weapons training from opposition forces in the Syrian civil war has told police he was involved in battles against both Islamic State and the government regime, a court has heard.
Eamon Bradley, from Londonderry, has given detectives an extensive account of his role in the bloody conflict earlier this year, the city's magistrates court was told.
Bradley, 25, from the Creggan area of the city, was arrested in Derry on Thursday only days after returning from Syria.
He appeared in court today charged under UK terror legislation with committing two offences in Syria - possession of explosives with intent to endanger life, namely a grenade, and receiving training in arms and explosives.
Dressed in a black T-shirt, bearded Bradley, who the court heard converted to Islam five years ago, spoke only to confirm his date of birth and that he understood the charges he faces.
He was remanded in custody after his application for bail was refused by District Judge Barney McElholm.
A detective sergeant with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) told the judge he could connect the accused with the charges.
The officer said Bradley, who is from Melmore Gardens in Derry, answered all questions during two days of questioning at Antrim police station.
"During this account he stated, having converted to the Muslim faith and becoming aware of the conflict in Syria, he determined that he would travel to Syria to help the people," he said.
"He described to police contact with people he doesn't identify on the internet which assisted him to getting to the Syrian/Turkish border, which is a known crossing point into Syria for the on-going conflict."
The officer said Bradley, an Irish citizen, flew to Turkey from Dublin in February and stayed at various locations near the Syrian border for two months.
"That's where he learned more about Islam and various groups and groupings in the area," he said.
The officer said Bradley told detectives he assembled with a group of men and went over the border into Syria via a river crossing.
"Mr Bradley has informed police that he attended a training camp under the control of a group called Jaysh Al Islam, which translated is Army of Islam," he said.
"He was there for a period of approximately two months. He stated he received training in this camp in AK47 firearms, he mentions other firearms, he also mentions mortars and other explosive weapons.
"He claimed that he signed up to be part of the Mujahedeen knowing they would be fighting to overthrow the Baath regime - the Syrian government - and fighting against Isil."
The detective added: "During his account with police he stated he was actively involved in three battles in Syria - two against the Baathist regime and one against Isil.
"In course of those battles he was armed with an AK47 and numerous magazines of ammunition and a grenade."
The officer said Bradley had stressed to police that he did not use any of the weapons during the battles.
He said the accused told officers he was in a group of around 20 men who were armed with heavy artillery including mortars and tanks. He said the opposing side was similarly armed but also had planes.
With limited court staff on duty at the weekend, only one of Bradley's family members was allowed to attend the hearing. While his mother went inside the court, other family and friends waited outside.
The officer said Bradley told the police he eventually left the region to return home, using a Syrian passport, after becoming "disillusioned".
Applying for bail, the accused's lawyer insisted his client believed he had not committed any crime.
"Mr Bradley genuinely doesn't believe he has done anything wrong," he said, noting he came from a "good family" and had never been in trouble with the law before.
The lawyer claimed it was the first occasion someone in the jurisdiction had been charged with extra-territorial offences under those specific terms of UK terror legislation.
Judge McElholm, noting the complexity of the conflict in Syria, said he had concerns about what constituted "terrorism".
"As I understand it he was fighting against a tyrannical and murderous regime," he said. "I am not entering into the field of politics but those are terms that have been used by democratic leaders in the western world. And he was also fighting against Isil."
He added: "There is no doubt that the regime in Syria has committed gross atrocities and human rights violations throughout that conflict. And I would find it very hard for the state to argue that fighting against Isil was an act of terrorism."
Opposing bail, the detective sergeant stressed that Bradley was not charged in relation to his claimed involvement in battles - that he was instead accused of possessing arms and receiving weapons training.
The officer said he opposed bail on the grounds of potential risk of absconding the jurisdiction; risk of reoffending if he went back to Syria; and risk that the weapons training could be used to aid domestic terrorists in the UK.
After further deliberation, the judge ultimately refused the bail application.
"With some reluctance I am going to refuse bail," he said.
He said further details would need to be explored - such as the exact reason why Bradley returned to Northern Ireland - before bail could be considered.
Bradley was remanded in custody and will appear before the court again via videolink on December 4.
His mother entered the dock briefly at the close of the hearing and embraced her son.


2 edition of Housing investment programme 1983-84 found in the catalog.
Housing investment programme 1983-84
Birmingham (England). Housing Department. Housing Services Division.
Introduction. Housing reform has been a crucial component of the overall economic reforms in urban China from the mids. Since , China as a socialist country, has adopted a welfare housing system where the production, allocation and maintenance of housing has been the responsibility of the relevant work unit (Danwei).Unlike a mere employer, the work unit provided . New housing development projects can stress the local schools by introducing an influx of new students. The Department of City Planning collaborates with other City Agencies to develop comprehensive data on new housing starts. Following are the housing projection.
HOME Developer Program. HOME is a flexible program designed to work in partnership with local nonprofit and/or for-profit groups to fund a wide range of activities that build, buy, and/or rehabilitate affordable housing for rent or home ownership. The purposes of the HOME program are: Expand the supply of affordable, decent, safe and sanitary. NID Housing (NID) was co-founded in by National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) President T.L. “Thom” Holmes and Political Action Committee Chair, Ray Carlisle, , the largest and oldest minority real estate trade association in the nation, was founded in with the cause and motto of promoting “Democracy in Housing”.
Forming a consortium is a way for local governments that would not otherwise qualify for funding to join with other contiguous units of local government to directly participate in the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) program. In FY , HUD approved consortia Participating Jurisdictions (PJs). Stabilized off-campus housing assets hover around 99% during the school year. Acquisitions of student housing skyrocketed in There was an estimated $ billion in transaction volume, which was a $ billion increase over , and was more than 3 times higher than in Student housing continues to appreciate at record rates.
Science and life
Getting hired, getting trained
games new skills
Handbook of biolinguistics
The twelve United Colonies, by their delegates in Congress, to the inhabitants of Great-Britain.
Town halls of Canada
Medium frequency propagation prediction techniques and antenna modeling for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) broadcast applications
The Glad Tidings
Interpreting the Derwent Valley
What is wrong?
Bride of the Water God
To ensure HUD continually provides the most up-to-date guidance on evolving program policies and procedures, the Public Housing Occupancy Guidebook chapters will be living documents on HUD’s website. Housing investment programme 1983-84 book Individual chapters will be amended as policies are refined.
Chapter Titles. Fair Housing and Nondiscrimination Requirements, Coming soon. developing affordable housing because of the length and complexity of the develop-ment process.
It needs to address two great challenges: defining the problem and creating solutions. Affordable housing leaders must make the case for the impor-tance of affordable housing to a community and they must also create and articulate.
Tenants who qualify for Section 8 of the Act have their rent and utilities covered in full or partially by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Section 8 financially assists 4 million homes by aiding tenants in paying landlords. While this is a great program for low-income tenants, it’s a whole different story for property owners. The mass delivery housing programme is envisaged to deliver about houses in the next 18 years, as such new jobs are expected to be created from this initiative.
On average, 10 houses are expected to be constructed on a yearly basis. Based on the formulae employed by the National Housing Enterprise a construction of a new houseFile Size: KB. Housing Finance in Africa Yearbook. We are thrilled to be celebrating the 10 th anniversary edition of the Housing Finance in Africa published in with just 15 countries included, the Yearbook has grown in scope and depth to contain 55 country and five regional profiles.
Housing association completions funded by the Housing Corporation fall by 21% from 5, in /84 to 4, in 84/ SFHA warns that, without proper investment, they will continue to fall.
The New York City health system created a program focusing on housing homeless patients that has already reaped big rewards. Montefiore Health System in the Bronx has tackled the social determinants of health by investing in housing, a move that has cut down on emergency room visits and unnecessary hospitalizations for an annual percent.
Search the world's most comprehensive index of full-text books. My library. Housing Project Process Guide CLARA Communal Land Rights Act, Act 11 of DFA Development Facilitation Act, Act 67 of EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EIAP Environmental Impact Assessment Practitioner EMP Environmental Management Plan ESTA Extension of Security of Tenure Act, Act 62 of GP General Plan IDP Integrated Development Plan IPILRA Interim Protection of.
* Note: The revolving housing fund was not included in the final version of the Devolution Deal Investment Programme but is included above for completeness regarding the £8bn figure.
The housing fund or a similar alternative does, however, remain an ambition of the Combined Authority going forward. HPC Housing Investment Corporation (HIC) delivers long-term, low-cost financing to housing non-profits and cooperatives to build more affordable housing and regenerate Canadian community housing portfolios.
Take the first step. Review our evaluation criteria to see if your project is eligible. Housing for the Elderly: Information on Hud's Section and Home Investment Partnerships Programs [England-Joseph, Judy A., Simmons, Nancy, Feldesman, Alice, Blackwell, Gwenetta] on *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.
Housing for the Elderly: Information on Hud's Section and Home Investment Partnerships Programs. The HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program was created under Title II (the Home In- vestment Partnerships Act) of the CranstonGonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of Implementing Regulations are codified at 24 CFR part Florida Housing administers the State Housing Initiatives Partnership program (SHIP), which provides funds to local governments as an incentive to create partnerships that produce and preserve affordable homeownership and multifamily housing.
The program was designed to serve very low, low and moderate income families. Investors should calculate the costs involved in buying, renovating, and maintaining affordable housing to determine whether it is a viable investment proposition.
The Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) is a strategic investment management tool used by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to transform its vision and policies into tangible programmes and projects. These projects and programmes are designed to realise the goals set out in Government’s overarching National.
core HOME program activities and general administrative and financial management. Chapters 4 through 7 provide guidance on monitoring each of the eligible HOME activity areas (homeowner rehabilitation, rental, homebuyer housing, and tenant-based rental assistance). Each of these chapters is further divided into three sections.
Housing Finance in Kenya Overview. This profile is also available in French here. To download a pdf version of the full Kenya country profile, click here. As one of the leading economies in the East African region, Kenya is viewed as an economic, commercial, financial and logistics hub in the region, offering a critical connection to the East and Central African markets.
Book Review. This best portfolio management book is not only a conglomeration of insights about how to multiply your return, but it is also the combination of great insights into finance, strategy, asset allocation, investment, and s who have read through this book not only recommended this book to every finance students, they also mentioned that this book is a must-read.
The Million Programme (Swedish: Miljonprogrammet) is the common name for an ambitious public housing programme implemented in Sweden between and by the governing Swedish Social Democratic Party to make sure everyone could have a home at a reasonable price.
The aim was to construct a million new dwellings during the programme's ten-year period. Rent is subject to abatement under certain circumstances. Rent is paid where the property is habitable. Should a property become uninhabitable during the term of the lease or due to a lessor’s breach of the lease terms, the rent may cease or abate.Volume II Sec 7 - R-1 Research Development Test and Evaluation Program DHP PB20; Volume II Sec 8 - RDT&E Budget Item Justification DHP PB20; Volume II Sec 9 OCO - O-1 Summary of OCO Operations DHP PB20; Volume II Sec 10 OCO - OP-5 Operations and Maintenance OCO Details DHP PB20; Volume II Sec 10 OCO - OP Summary of OCO Price Program Growth.This transmits CHG-1 to REV-7 of the CPD Monitoring Handbook The primary purpose of this revision is to comprehensively redesign and update Chapter 7, HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), and Chap Relocation and Real Property changes are made to Chapter 2, Management of Monitoring Activities, to update language regarding corrective actions to .


Two exhibitions by a group of young artists are on display at HCM City’s The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre.
A series of photos entitled Bikes of Hanoi is among finalists for the Sony World Photography Awards 2020 Professional competition.
The Việt Nam Fine Arts Association's 9th National Congress was held successfully last month in Hà Nội. Artist Lương Xuân Đoàn was elected as its new chairman until 2024.
The old roofs, street corners, vendors and remarkable architecture make a soul of Hà Nội, according to photographer Nguyễn Việt Thanh, who showcased 30 photos of the beloved capital.


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While working, i’ve chanced upon a photographer who takes the loveliest wedding photos. I notice the style of wedding photography change and i love it. Its no longer just taking pictures of the bride and groom with all their guest.
Its about taking the little details, the tiny expressions and moments. All beautifully taken in wondrously beautiful locations with special people sharing their love. If ever, i’d hope my wedding pictures turn out as beautiful as these.
Pictures taken from Clayton Austin’s website.

domain: artistic


text:
Jordie & Trent
An indigo dreamland.
Drove to this shibori rock quarry in Nashville for this anniversary session and I couldn’t believe my eyes. We were planning on driving up to a typical tonal rock quarry and when we got there, it was like we were on Pluto. One of the coolest locations I’ve shot in.
My favorite was how the white was peeking out of the blue— tie-dye heaven.
These are my dear friends, Jordie & Trent, celebrating six years.
As seen on Green Wedding Shoes.


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Tortellini Pasta Salad with Green Beans and Burst Tomatoes - this easy vegetarian pasta salad can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature. It's quick to make, packed with protein, and super healthy. Perfect for family gatherings and picnics alike.
Who loves an easy and simple meal that you can throw together in under 30 minutes? Who loves not turning the oven on on a hot day? Who loves both of those things? Me, that's who!
This Tortellini Pasta Salad is one of my favourite things to throw together in the warmer months. It's a perfect side dish, or, thanks to the robustness of cheese tortellini and white beans, makes for a great vegetarian main as well.
The best thing about this dish is that it's great served warm, cold, or even at room temperature. Perfect for outdoor dining, picnics, potlucks, or even packed lunches.
Let's get at it!
Tortellini Pasta Salad Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this easy and delicious pasta salad.
- Tortellini --> Cheesy tortellini is my favourite here.
- Tomatoes --> Cherry tomatoes or baby plum tomatoes work great.
- Green beans --> It's a bean fiesta in here.
- Cannellini beans --> Canned is totes fine.
- Pine nuts --> Cause we're fancy.
- Pecorino cheese --> We're going to crumble that over the top.
- Basil --> So it tastes like summer.
- Garlic --> So it tastes amazing.
How Make Tortellini Pasta Salad
You'll find detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, but let's go through it here step by step.
Step 1: First things first you're going to heat up a pan screaming hot, add a bit of oil, and then add the tomatoes. This causes them to burst and throw their juices around the pan in general tomato hysteria, which is exactly what we want to happen.
Step 2: Then the green beans go into the pan and calm the situation down. Isn’t that what green beans are typically known for? Crowd control and hysteria dispersion?
Step 3: I like to add the garlic in just after the beans, because I’ve eaten enough burnt garlic in my lifetime to know that it can benefit from the pan-cooling hysteria-controlling effect of the green beans.
Step 4: Next add the cannellini beans into the pan of veg so they can soak up some of that delicious tomato-garlic broth situation we’ve got going on.
Tip! Fresh tortellini takes literally three minutes to cook, so you can throw it into a large pot of salted water at a rolling boil, and cook according to package instructions.
Step 5: Don't bother to drain the pasta or rinse it with cold water, just transfer the tortellini straight from the water into the pan, all wet and slippery, as it’ll add a bit of moisture and starchy cooking water into the whole situation, which is a good thing on both counts.
Step 6: All that’s left to do is toss everything together and platter up this Tortellini Pasta Salad and get fancy with some toppings. Alternatively you can use a large bowl. I’ve used a generous amount of crumbled pecorino cheese, toasted pine nuts, and freshly torn basil leaves.
Now we get to dig in! This dish is great served warm, but it’s also perfectly good at room temperature or even cold.
- I've used cheese tortellini in these photos, but feel free to use your favourite tortellini or whatever you've got on hand. I prefer refrigerated tortellini since it cooks so quickly, but dried is totally fine as well.
- Feel free to switch things up and use a batch of these Semi-dried Tomatoes in place of fresh cherry tomatoes.
- If you don't have cannellini beans on hand, kidney beans work great as well (here's how to cook kidney beans from scratch).
- When it's in season, fresh asparagus is delicious in place of the green beans. Diced bell peppers are also delightful, as are your favourite veggies.
- Feel free to replace the Pecorino with your favourite salty cheese, such as Parmesan cheese, or even torn fresh mozzarella.
- Black olives, capers, and cucumber are great for mediterranean flavors.
Tips for the Best Tortellini Salad
Prepare your ingredients
Slice your tomatoes, trim and slice your green beans, and slice your garlic before you start cooking, because once you start everything happens pretty fast.
Use a hot pan
You’ll want to get your pan nice and hot before adding the tomatoes – the oil shouldn’t be smoking, but it should have a bit of a shimmer to it. I like to start the tomatoes cut side up so the skins get a bit of a blister to them.
Need to make more or less Tortellini Pasta Salad? Simply adjust the number of servings in the recipe card below and it’ll adjust the recipe for you.
You totally can. Either use a vegan tortellini, or sub in another pasta shape of your choice. Orecchiette would work really nicely here.
You bet. Just use gluten-free tortellini, or, if you can’t find it, I recommend gluten-free gnocchi in its place.
You can and you should. It’ll last 3-4 days in the fridge, and is great cold or at room temperature. Perfect for packed lunches!
Tortellini Pasta Salad with Green Beans and Burst Tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 10 oz cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 10 oz green beans trimmed and chopped in half
- 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 14 oz cannellini beans or other small white bean
- 1 lb fresh spinach and ricotta tortellini pasta
- ¼ cup pine nuts lightly toasted
- 2 oz crumbled pecornio cheese
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves torn
- Put a large pot of water over high heat, and bring to a boil.
- Place a large skillet over medium hight heat. Add the olive oil and heat until oil is shimmering, but not smoking.1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Add the sliced cherry tomatoes to the hot pan, sliced side up. Let them sizzle for a few minutes without stirring, and then give them a stir so the other side gets some heat as well.10 oz cherry tomatoes
- Let the tomatoes cook for a few minutes more, until you're seeing deeply coloured spots on them and they are releasing their juices into the pan.
- Add the green beans and stir to combine. Allow them to cook with the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes without stirring.10 oz green beans
- Add the sliced garlic, and stir well. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently so that the garlic does not burn.2 cloves garlic
- Add the tortellini to the boiling water, and cook for 3 minutes (check your package for recommended instructions, but it should be fast).
- Add the cannellini beans into the pan and stir.14 oz cannellini beans
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tortellini directly from the cooking water into the pan with the beans and vegetables. Stir well to combine.1 lb fresh spinach and ricotta tortellini pasta
- Add another drizzle of olive oil to the pan, and season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the pan from the heat, and transfer the Tortellini Pasta Salad to a platter.
- Top with crumbled pecornio cheese, toasted pine nuts, and fresh basil.¼ cup pine nuts, 2 oz crumbled pecornio cheese, ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Slice your tomatoes, trim and slice your green beans, and slice your garlic before you start cooking, because once you start everything happens pretty fast.
- You’ll want to get your pan nice and hot before adding the tomatoes – the oil shouldn’t be smoking, but it should have a bit of a shimmer to it.
- I like to start the tomatoes cut side up so the skins get a bit of a blister to them.
- Can I make this dish vegan? You totally can. Either use a vegan tortellini, or sub in another pasta shape of your choice. Orecchiette would work really nicely here.
- Can I make Tortellini Pasta Salad gluten-free? Just use gluten-free tortellini, or, if you can’t find it, I recommend gluten-free gnocchi in its place.
- Can I make this dish in advance? It’ll last 3-4 days in the fridge, and is great cold or at room temperature. Perfect for packed lunches!
- Need to make more or less Tortellini Pasta Salad? Simply adjust the number of servings in the recipe card below and it’ll adjust the recipe for you.
- Nutrition values are an estimate only
Originally published July 24, 2018. Last edited and updated June 10, 2023.

domain: food


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Winning the 21st Century–Allied Strength and Solidarity
Arrivals and Breakfast
9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Brexit and worries about transatlantic security cooperation have reinvigorated Europe’s defense debate, creating new multilateral and bilateral ties. How seriously should NATO allies take Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which is part of the EU’s common defense and security policy? What role will be played by the EII—the French-inspired nine-member European Intervention Initiative? What role does the U.S. relationship with non-NATO Sweden and Finland play in regional defense thinking? Most importantly, how much might the EU help NATO with the vital question of improving military mobility through better infrastructure and smoother administration?
Ana Birchall, Vice Prime Minister for Romania's Strategic Partnerships' Implementation, Romania
10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Atlanticists are slowly and belatedly winning the argument for increased defense budgets. But spending on what? In 2017, only twelve countries out of 29 met NATO’s requirement that members spend over 20% of their defense budgets on equipment. The move to smart spending will require unprecedented international cooperation on procurement, greater specialization, and political leadership. Allies also need to spend more on defense infrastructure. In an era of fragmentation, how can the Alliance find the necessary cohesion?
MODERATOR: Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges (Ret.), Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies, CEPA
, Policy Advisor, Policy Planning Unit of the Office of the Secretary General, NATO
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Professor Timothy Garton Ash is the United Kingdom's foremost expert on European history and politics. He is the author of ten books of political writing or ‘history of the present,’ which have charted the transformation of Europe over nearly forty years. He is Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford, Isaiah Berlin Professorial Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His essays appear regularly in the New York Review of Books and he writes a syndicated column on international affairs. His firsthand reportage on the collapse of communism in 1989-1991 won widespread acclaim.
Timothy Garton Ash
, Professor of European Studies, Oxford University and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
SPOTLIGHT ON UKRAINE
Challenges and the Road Ahead: Insights from the Special Representative
Kurt Volker, Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, United States
2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Military planners used to focus chiefly on technology’s ability to deal death at a distance. Now information operations, the targeted use of corruption, cyberattacks, and a host of other “hybrid warfare” tactics allow asymmetric aggression in which closed, autocratic countries can undermine open, democratic ones, often with minimal use of conventional military means. Western countries must adapt to these complex, fast-changing, and unprecedented threats, without sacrificing their core institutions and principles. How can this hybrid threat be contained?
, Director of the National Security and Defense Coordination of the Government Office, Estonia
3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Technology is undermining old business models, but monopolists are fighting a hard rearguard action—and politicians and regulators are struggling to keep up. The interconnection of gas and electricity markets, tough application of antitrust rules, and vigorous diplomacy are all required. What means do U.S. allies have to diversify their energy supplies away from sole-source providers like Russia? What are the political and economic priorities to create a resilient, green, and cost-effective energy system in Central and Eastern Europe?
, Secretary of State for Strategic Energy Infrastructure in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Poland
Sandra Oudkirk, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Energy Resources, United States
, Program Director, Foreign & Security Policy, Heinrich Boell Foundation North America
5:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.
Andrássy National Security Fellowship Reception
6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
CEPA Forum Award Dinner
H.E. Ivan Korčok, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic to the United States

domain: politics


Online Retail Boom Pushes PayPal To $1 Trillion Mark
Online payments giant PayPal is edging closer to $1 trillion in annual transaction value, largely due to the e-commerce boom prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
For the September quarter, PayPal recorded $US479 million on FX-adjusted revenues, up 24.4% to an historic $US5.5 billion.
Quarterly transactions grew by 36% YoY to $US247 billion, with consumer accounts growing by 22% to 361 million.
California-based PayPal, which is worth $US220 billion, offers online, mobile and in-app money transfer products across 200 countries.
Recently, the company entered the “buy now, pay later” space with the introduction of the Pay-in-4 or Pay-in-3 credit platforms in the US and UK market.
This has not yet launched in Australia, however when it does it will compete against Oz-listed providers such as Afterpay and Zip.
For the year 2020, PayPal is forecasting total income to rise 45% to $US1.5 billion, with revenue tipped to jump 25% to $US5.5 billion.
In the last five years, PayPal shares have increased 418%, with a last close of $179.81.
“I’m extraordinarily pleased with the success we’re having with buy now, pay later,” PayPal chief executive Daniel Schulman told analysts.
“We rolled this out in France several months before we introduced this into the US and UK, and the up-tick that we’re seeing in the French market is well beyond any of our expectations. We just rolled out in the US and the demand is tremendous.”


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The latest Israel-Hamas war will loom large in the history of the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict — alongside the wars of 1948, 1967, and 1973, the intifadas of the 1980s and 2000s, and the 1993 Oslo Accords. All were transformational moments that continue to shape the conflict, but events at the close of 2023 — Hamas’ acts of terrorism, Israel’s response in Gaza, regional reactions and flashpoints, and decisions by major stakeholders — will surely be the central hinge-point for the next decade or more. Indeed, the year ahead will be a critical juncture in the history of the conflict and perhaps the entire Middle East.
This policy brief takes stock of the drivers underpinning the dynamic first three months of the war; the assumptions and strategic questions that have surrounded it; and what these may mean for the direction of the war and its aftermath. The second policy brief in this series will evaluate the paradigms that characterized the conflict before and after the war, and what the crisis may mean for efforts to reach a permanent settlement to the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Since Hamas took full control of Gaza in 2007, Israel and the militant group have fought four major wars (in 2008–09, 2012, 2014, and 2021) and seen many other flare-ups of violence. These usually followed a similar pattern: a precipitating event, an exchange of missiles from Gaza and retaliatory strikes from Israel, a cease-fire once the sides perceived returns on the fighting to be diminishing, and then a return to the previous state of affairs, with a degree of subsequent coordination on rebuilding in Gaza.
In between wars, the Israeli security apparatus and Hamas usually operated with informal arrangements in which Israel allowed funds to reach Hamas in Gaza to maintain stability in the territory. This policy — occasional violent clashes with Hamas followed by accommodation with the group (a practice Israelis came to call “mowing the grass”) — enjoyed wide consensus in Israeli political and security spheres. Beyond the tactical desire to maintain calm, it was also viewed by some as a strategic interest for Israel: As an example, at a Likud Party meeting in early 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said that this policy prevented a two-state outcome by maintaining Palestinian division between the Palestinian Authority-run West Bank and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, preserving Israeli control over the future of the West Bank and Gaza.
An Unclear Endgame
But Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack was different than any previous round of Hamas-Israel violence. Large groups of Hamas militants had never before broken through the Israeli lines surrounding Gaza and enabled an attack of such a scale inside Israeli territory.
Symbolism was undeniably part of Hamas’ calculus. The attack came nearly 50 years to the day after the Yom Kippur War between Israel, Egypt, and Syria, in which Egypt surprised Israel with an attack on its positions in Sinai. From that attack, Israel emerged considerably bruised and incentivized to reach a peace with Egypt, returning some of the territories it occupied in 1967. As was the case in 1973, the Oct. 7 attack came as Jewish Israelis celebrated a High Holy Day, Simchat Torah, which impacted the Israeli response.
But the comparison to 1973 mostly ends there. In contrast with Egypt’s attack a half-century earlier, which was designed not only to showcase Israel’s vulnerability but to affect its decision-making, Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack does not seem to have come with a defined diplomatic endgame in mind. Analysts have offered a variety of explanations of what Hamas was seeking to achieve; some of them are simultaneously possible, and some of which would be mutually exclusive.
Several Possible Goals
1. Seize on a Moment of Unprecedented Division in Israel
We should not forget that the months that preceded the Oct. 7 attack were some of the most politically fraught in Israel’s history. Between January and October last year, hundreds of thousands of Israelis — a massive amount considering the country’s population is 9 million — took to the streets to protest an effort by the Netanyahu-led coalition in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, to weaken judicial checks on legislative and executive authority. Labor unions, military reservists, and huge swaths of Israeli civil society played a central role in the protests. In response, supporters of the government organized counterprotests. Given the social and political unrest over such a prolonged period, Hamas might have been convinced it could catch its opponent in a moment of weakness.
2. Stall the Saudi-Israel Normalization Process
Hamas undeniably saw value in derailing Israeli normalization in the region — sending a clear message that such integration could not proceed unchecked while the Palestinian issue remained ignored. Given the magnitude of the Oct. 7 attack, however, it seems certain that Hamas conceived its plans far before Saudi Arabia and Israel’s diplomatic progress earlier in 2023. Clearly, the attack was about much more than Israel’s regional relationships.
Hamas likely sensed, though, that a normalization agreement would be a major blow for the Palestinian aspiration to self-determination. This was likely a major factor, especially considered Hamas’ Iranian sponsorship. The bottom line: Hamas sought to dispel the notion that the Palestinian issue was not an obstacle on the road to peace between Israel and its other Arab neighbors.
3. Collect Bargaining Chips
By taking hostages, Hamas almost certainly intended to collect bargaining chips that could be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. Indeed, some Hamas leaders have cited Netanyahu’s foot-dragging in previous negotiations over prisoner release as one of the reasons behind the attack. It is a strategy Hamas has used before, most prominently in the case of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit was kidnapped in Israel and held captive by Hamas from 2006–11 before eventually being exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails (including Yahya Sinwar, who now heads Hamas in Gaza).
It is debatable, however, whether Hamas intended to capture as many hostages as it did on Oct. 7 (over 200 were ultimately kidnapped). Observers have made the case that the attack was a “catastrophic success” for Hamas — that the group anticipated results on a far smaller scale, around which Israel would offer an intense but limited military response and negotiate prisoner swaps, allowing Hamas to bolster its claim to the mantle of Palestinian resistance. Under this theory, Hamas itself was surprised by the havoc it was able to reap, and the 1,200-plus people killed and 200-plus kidnapped led to a response Hamas did not anticipate. What was meant to be a battle like those of the past became a total war.
4. Draw Israel Into a Stalemate
Alternatively, it has been suggested that Hamas intended to provoke a massive “final war” and create a new status quo in Israeli-Palestinian relations. Under this theory, the scope of the Oct. 7 attack was meant to draw Israel into a mass military response and reoccupation of Gaza that would:
- Bring the violence and injustice of the decades-long conflict to new heights.
- Provoke wide-scale anti-Israel demonstrations across the Middle East.
- Draw international attention and prompt condemnation.
- Bring in the regional “Resistance Bloc” (Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis) against Israel to spark an even wider conflagration.
- Ultimately raise the cost of occupation to an intolerable point for Israel.
Hamas officials have said that creating a “permanent” state of war on all of Israel’s borders is among the goals of its operation. How Hamas’ leadership may have expected this massive confrontation to play out and ultimately lead to is unknown, as the group’s maximalist stated diplomatic goals do not represent a feasible basis for negotiations.
5. Gain Leadership of the Palestinian National Movement
Lastly, it is possible that the Oct. 7 attack was meant to foster Palestinian political support for Hamas. Hamas has asserted that it is the face of Palestinian resistance, building on its goals during the last round of large-scale violence in May 2021. The name Hamas gave the Oct. 7 operation, which can be translated to “Operation Al Aqsa Flood inside Israel,” is a less-than-subtle signal of its desire to be seen by Palestinians and the overall Middle East as the protector of Palestinian and Muslim rights in Jerusalem.
Further, the attack can be read as an attempt to discredit the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s nonviolent approach to dealing with the Israelis, which has proven insufficient to prevent Israeli injustice against Palestinians or achieve Palestinian self-determination. After Oct. 7, early polls of Palestinians showed a spike in approval for Hamas, possibly because of the perception that it alone is standing up to Israel. Still, Hamas is often described by analysts as ambivalent about governing, preferring popularity and political and military symbolism to actual day-to-day governance. How it could seek to leverage the current war to replace Palestinian institutions remains unclear. Still, the stagnation and unpopularity of the PA indicate its distance from most of the Palestinian public.
In any case, an important takeaway from the war’s first three months is the degree to which Hamas is a black box in terms of its ideology, goals, operations, and structure. It seems clear that there are multiple power centers within the group, each with different understandings of aims. For this reason, the theories described above remain debated and will be for years to come. Hamas has never articulated a clear diplomatic endgame. While many suggested in recent years that Hamas’ political wing was becoming more pragmatic and open to creative diplomatic solutions, the Israeli assessment now is that any such signs were a long-game manipulation to lure Israel into complacency. For Hamas, the Oct. 7 attack achieved the goal of putting the Palestinian issue back on the table, and itself on top of the resistance mantle. But a path from the current moment to a constructive, longer-term measure to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is unclear. And if much of the world has its way, Hamas will not be in a position to decide how that path unwinds.
How Israel Has Responded
In Israel, the weeks that followed Oct. 7 were among the worst in the history of a country that has known many tragedies. The attack plunged Israel into a state of existential anxiety and insecurity. The Israeli intelligence and security failures that surrounded the attack will be studied and debated for years to come. Amid the national trauma, a broad consensus around the need to respond overwhelmingly quickly developed. Shock and public rage led to a massive retaliation on Gaza that brought enormous damage, killed thousands of civilians, and displaced nearly the entire population. Through the first three months of the war, however, Israel’s longer-term policy aims have remained opaque.
Israel’s War Aims are Simple — But Less Viable
In the days that followed the attack, Israel’s defined war aims were clear: 1) destroy Hamas, 2) achieve the return of the hostages, and 3) prevent such an attack from ever happening again. These goals had broad public support and international sympathy, but as the war has gone on, it has become evident that they present major dilemmas that do not lend themselves to clear metrics of success or a coherent long-term strategy.
1. Destroy Hamas
In the first days and weeks of the war, the Israeli leadership set the bar for success high: “We will wipe this thing called Hamas — ‘ISIS-Gaza’ — off the face of the earth. It will cease to exist,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. As the early weeks of war dragged on, first with a bombing campaign and then a ground invasion, whether Israel could cause Hamas to “cease to exist,” or even completely defeat the group militarily, had come into question. Since taking control of Gaza in 2007, Hamas has developed significant institutional and military apparatuses. At the beginning of the war, analysts estimated that Hamas had around 30,000–40,000 fighters as well as extensive underground tunnels and bunkers in which to wage urban warfare.
Israeli leaders have since clarified that their goal is to end the security threat Hamas poses to Israel, as well as its ability to govern the Gaza Strip. This is widely viewed as a more manageable goal, but it fails to address Hamas’ ability to wage an insurgency in Gaza or the West Bank. More importantly, it fails to address Hamas’ political support among the Palestinian public — the view by a major percentage of Palestinians that Hamas is the only Palestinian political actor standing up to Israel and fighting for the Palestinian people. Hamas as an idea and a movement will be difficult, if not impossible, to defeat militarily.
2. Return the Hostages
Israel’s second stated goal, and perhaps the highest priority for most of the Israeli public, is the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Beyond killing 1,200 people on Oct. 7, Hamas took more than 230 Israelis and other foreign nationals into Gaza as hostages. Between Nov. 21 and Dec. 1, 108 hostages were released by Hamas in exchange for expanded humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of 240 Palestinians held by Israel. The release of the remaining Israeli hostages would likely come at a major cost to the Netanyahu government: an Israeli withdrawal and Hamas’ continued control in the Gaza Strip. In 2024, Egypt and Qatar have both sought to negotiate an end to the war, but the parties seem very far apart.
3. Prevent Future Terrorist Attacks
The third — and perhaps most paradoxical — of the goals is to end future terrorist attacks from Gaza. Israel has effectively destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, and Hamas has undeniably become a shell of itself since Oct. 7. But terrorism is political by definition: “the use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” Israel’s siege of Gaza, without an effort to undermine Hamas’ political goals and ideology by presenting alternatives for the Palestinian people, does not advance the long-term goal of preventing future terrorism.
Scenarios for Future Governance in Gaza
For the first three months of war, Israel did not lay out an affirmative vision for Gaza’s future governance. This can not only be attributed to its focus on the war aims outlined above, but also to the makeup of the Netanyahu coalition. Nuanced public discussions around “the day after” would almost certainly fracture an already teetering coalition. Israel’s current government — the most right-wing in the country’s history — will not endorse the PA as the future governing body of Gaza, nor will it endorse a process that could lead to a Palestinian state, which the coalition rejects for a variety of reasons (security, ideological, and otherwise).
In most Israelis’ eyes, the PA has been poisoned by corruption, ineffectiveness, and the incitement of violence against Israel. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been clear in his desire to collapse the PA; since last October, he has frozen funds to the PA and suggested he would rather resign than transfer its tax revenues to be used in Gaza. Meanwhile, the PA is weak and unpopular among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Its leadership refuses to return to governing Gaza without a sense from Israel, the U.S., and international community that it would be a step toward realizing a Palestinian state — an assurance the Israeli government will not offer.
Israel has spent months seizing control of Gaza and destroying Hamas’ capacity to govern and make war. This process will continue — though likely at a lower intensity — through the early months of 2024, and it seems wholly unlikely that Israel will negotiate a truce with Hamas and leave the group to govern Gaza as it did before the war. So, the question becomes: If/when Israeli leadership feels Hamas has effectively fallen, what happens then? If Israel refuses to view the PA as an option and potential partner, three scenarios seem possible:
1. Long-Term Israeli Containment and ‘Freedom of Operation’
One very realistic option may be long-term Israeli control over Gaza’s borders, security, and economy, while reconstruction, governance, and security issues remain addressed ad hoc. Israel’s leadership has stated that it does not intend to “reoccupy” Gaza but suggested a desire for Israel to have “freedom of operation” in the territory for years to come. This would likely include military buffer zones along Gaza’s land and sea borders and potentially the Philadelphi Corridor, the Egypt-Gaza border area that has long-been overseen by Egypt. It could even include zones inside Gaza.
However, open-ended de facto Israeli control over Gaza — even without day-to-day “boots on the ground” in population centers — seems likely to lead to increased humanitarian stressors. These might include:
- Growing resentment and radicalization.
- A long-term insurgency and state of terror against Israelis by remnants of Hamas or successor insurgents.
- Regional and/or international friction and isolation.
- Extended risk of regional conflagration.
Despite these and a host of other challenges, the Israelis’ sense that Gaza is a threat and that they lack alternatives may make this scenario the most likely.
Israel could also declare “mission accomplished” and withdraw from Gaza. This would likely be in response to domestic and international pressure, with the benefit of offloading the burden of overseeing the territory. But this approach would almost certainly leave a vacuum for Hamas or other enemies of Israel to fill, ultimately undermining Israel’s goal of crushing Hamas and advancing Israeli security.
Seeking to avoid the mistakes of 2005, when Israel withdrew from Gaza and Hamas ultimately gained control of Gaza after a civil war with rival political party Fatah, some have proposed that Israel pursue a “local option.” In this scenario, a chosen individual or group of local leaders would manage Gaza in coordination with Israel and probably Egypt. It is unclear who this would be and how this would work; it is also unclear how long such actors would last, as they would undoubtedly be targets of assassination by Hamas and others. As such, this scenario would be extremely fragile, and likely impossible.
3. Governance by a Regional or International Coalition
Early in the war, some policymakers and analysts expressed the possibility of Israel handing Gaza off to an international or regional coalition to govern and manage security. Among the proposed candidates were Egypt, Jordan, the Arab Gulf states, NATO, the Arab League, or some combination of the U.S., United Kingdom, France, and/or any combination of the above.
These proposals did not, however, address why these actors would take on the cost and risks of controlling Gaza; how such a regime would work and toward what end; or a laundry list of other challenges. For Middle Eastern states, Europe, and the U.S., occupying a highly populated — and now-destroyed — territory without an exit ramp is not a viable option. Even Arab states that despise Hamas and have relationships with Israel would not be inclined to clean up after it, given current public opinion and Israel’s conduct during the war. Without a political horizon or road map toward an endgame, regional and international actors should not be expected to go far beyond the bare minimum: humanitarian relief.
None of the options described above seems especially desirable, possible, or sustainable. A long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza seems certain to result in tragedy for Israelis and Gazans. The creation of a vacuum in Gaza — the likely result of a unilateral Israeli withdrawal or effort to put a (perceived) puppet government in place — is a recipe for future disaster. And no Arab or international force is likely to agree to take on the Gaza without a political endgame.
Thus, all signs point to the need to address the political foundations of the conflict and Palestinian support for Hamas: the lack of Palestinian self-determination. In addition to a security strategy, Israel will need to wrestle with a political/diplomatic strategy to match – indeed, to see a mutually-agreed political “endgame” to the conflict as a path toward its own security. Refusing to do so will only repeat the cycle of violence.
Policy Considerations Moving Forward
The first months of the conflict brought both a painful torrent of violence and a similarly chaotic policy environment. Neither Israel, the U.S., nor any other actor had a credible plan for how to react to an attack like Oct. 7 — particularly in the context of the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which at the time was assumed to be intractable and slowing eroding, rather than ripe for a massive conflagration.
For the first two months of the war, the Biden administration maintained publicly that Israel had a right and obligation to respond in Gaza as it saw fit. As the war continued, however, the administration determined a need to push Israel to limit civilian casualties and define a plan and “day after” for Gaza. In Washington, many questions came to be broadly discussed over this time about the realm of possible paths forward and assumptions on which the Biden administration could build a strategy.
1. What to Do About Hamas
Israel will likely succeed in ending Hamas’ governance of Gaza. But it will be impossible to eliminate all combatants and/or the political potency of the movement’s resistance narrative. Indeed, a prolonged Israeli war in Gaza would likely further increase Hamas’ popularity and recruiting power; as such, any governing structure that emerges in Gaza immediately after the war will likely require at least tacit acceptance by remnants of Hamas. Otherwise, insurgency is inevitable. How to achieve this acceptance and prevent insurgency, though, is unknown, and it depends on how the next few months play out.
2. What to Do About the Gaza-West Bank Divide
Solutions for Gaza will likely prove inextricable from solutions for the West Bank. For Palestinians, a separate Gazan government — particularly one put in place by Israel — is a nonstarter. Going forward, the West Bank and Gaza should be seen as a unit. No one is served by continued division and stagnation, and Palestinian political leaders and factions need to be pushed to work to build unity, legitimacy, and capacity to meet the moment. Elections are one tool for addressing the divide between the two territories, but in the current moment it is difficult to identify the mechanics that would be required.
3. What to Do About the Palestinian Authority
In its current form, the PA is too weak and unpopular to fill the inevitable governance and security vacuum in Gaza. As such, capacity will need to be built, and legitimacy granted, by Palestinians in Gaza, the people of the West Bank, and regional and international actors.
As Gaza transitions out of Israeli control, Palestinians (and potentially Israelis) would likely reject attempts by external actors to act as trustees. Instead, it would be most acceptable for external actors to support Palestinian institution-building toward self-governance. In January 2024, the U.S. began a dialogue with the PA on necessary reform steps with the goal of creating international momentum toward a “new” PA.
4. What to Do About the Israeli Government
The coalition currently leading the Israeli government is virtually certain to pose a barrier to a sustainable Israeli-Palestinian peace. The current government lacks wide support within Israel, regionally, and internationally, and it continues to pursue destabilizing actions (blocking aid, targeting civilian infrastructure, permitting settler violence, using troubling rhetoric, expanding settlements, etc.). Advancing constructive post-war scenarios will require a sea change in the Israeli government’s approach.
5. What to Do About a Political Horizon
The current Israeli government will reject any steps that explicitly advance a two-state end-goal. However, the current Israeli government will not last forever, and polls show a future government may be more centrist in its approach. If this happens, the United States – particularly President Biden through the trust and leverage he has built – has an important role to play in putting the two-state solution back on the respective publics’ agendas as the only viable long-term option for peace and security. Still, it is an open question whether this will resonate with or be rejected by the unprecedentedly traumatized Israeli and Palestinian publics, and whether other important stars will align.
6. What to Do About the Arab Governments
Early in the war, some officials and pundits suggested that Arab states could step in after the war to rebuild, and potentially govern, Gaza. This is highly unlikely. Without a fundamental change in Israel’s current government and its policies, and a clear U.S. embrace of a policy centering a diplomatic endgame, Arab states will not move in to fill the governance and security vacuum in Gaza that would following Israel’s invasion.
7. What to Do About the UN
Palestinians and the Arab states might insist that in the transition, the United Nations (UN) play a role beyond the provision of humanitarian assistance. Israel would likely oppose a formal UN role, and political dynamics with the Security Council’s permanent (Russia, China) and rotating members would complicate matters. An alternative might be to form a “contact group” made up of the UN, the Arab Quartet (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), and the PA with Israel, the U.S., and the European Union. Again, this step would likely require a sense that a larger political process toward a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could bear fruit.
In wrestling with the questions above, it seems clear that a piecemeal approach moving forward would likely be ineffective and inefficient. Linkages between each of these components will be critical. A successful approach should be comprehensive and set explicit targets from the outset. It should establish clear sequencing and timelines and take domestic politics and spoilers into account. As of the time of writing, it is too soon to tell if this will be the case.
The latest Israel-Hamas war has shattered many assumptions that have come to characterize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past decade, including that:
- Actors can “manage” the conflict without addressing its roots.
- Palestinians will forego their self-determination goals for economic advancement and stability.
- Israel’s military is invincible.
- Hamas’ political and ideological stance was becoming more moderate.
- Regional normalization can proceed without addressing the Palestinian issue.
- The U.S. can withdraw from the Middle East.
All these assumptions are now under heavy reassessment. The strategic calculations of all parties will inevitably be impacted by this moment. Meanwhile, they deal with the terror, trauma, fear, and destruction that have characterized the first phase of the war.
In the wake of Oct. 7, the long-intoned warning that the status quo was unsustainable and peace would be elusive in the absence of a negotiated resolution to the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become even more stark. If there is a hope, it is that this new reality can spur a long-term process toward a just, sustainable peace for two people long beset by violence and injustice.
 Tal Schneider, “For Years, Netanyahu Propped Up Hamas. Now It’s Blown Up in Our Faces,” Times of Israel, October 8, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/.
 Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Public Opinion Poll No (90), December 13, 2023, https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2090%20English%20Full%20text%20Dec%202023.pdf.
 Maayan Lubell, “Israel’s New War Cabinet Vows To Wipe Hamas off the Earth,” Reuters, October 11, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-gantz-agree-form-emergency-israel-government-statement-2023-10-11/.
 Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “terrorism (n.),” accessed January 2023, https://www.oed.com/dictionary/terrorism_n?tab=factsheet#18691289.
This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s), and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

domain: news


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Music at St John
The music ministry at St. John is under the direction of Corey de Tar as Director of Choirs, and Bart Dahlstrom as organist. The musicians of St. John strive to enhance and enrich the liturgy with hearts and hands and voices. Instrumentalists, singers, and handbell ringers willingly share their gifts in giving glory to God. Our children and youth also participate in the music program for special services and events.
CHOIR AT ST JOHN
St. John is blessed with many volunteer singers who blend their voices in unique ways. All singers—teens through seniors—are invited to join the choir (no previous experience or audition is necessary). Our repertoire spans the centuries and a variety of quality choral anthem styles are incorporated. Rehearsals are held each Thursday evening from 7:30 – 9:15 p.m. in Heritage Hall. St. John’s choir leads worship each Sunday.
ST JOHN HANDBELL CHOIR
When it comes to being in a musical group, handbell choir is the ultimate team sport! Our St. John Ringers make music on three octaves of Schulmerich handbells and Malmark choir chimes. The group is open to all who enjoy praising God through music. We welcome teens through seniors, regardless of musical level. We support all levels of musical ability; there is definitely a place for anyone interested in experiencing the joy of handbell music. Rehearsals are on Wednesday nights from 7:00 – 8:45 p.m. in Heritage Hall. We ring periodically at worship services throughout the church year and on major church festivals.
MUSICAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH
SUNDAY SCHOOL KIDS begin each class with singing. Youngsters raise their voices and praise God. Their songs are intentionally incorporated into worship services. Their offerings are always filled with spirit and enthusiasm.
The St John Flute Choir is an ensemble of 11 flute musicians who perform on traditional flutes and other instruments in the flute family such as the piccolo, alto flute, and bass flute. Founded in 2002, the group's mission is to provide an opportunity for adult flutists to continue in their development and enjoyment of music through ensemble playing. The group is committed to the enhancement of religious worship services.
St John Lutheran Church supports the choir and the choir provides a regular musical contribution to the worship service and special concerts in the church. The choir has also performed at worship services for other churches in the area and for community charitable events such as the Relay for Life.
In addition to programs from St. John, the church also hosts a variety of musical events from time to time.


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Week 13 Day 84
Milford Sound, NZ 44.6750° S, 167.9294° E
I wrapped up last week’s post the night before we went kayaking through Abel Tasman.
Friday morning we woke up early, grabbed some sandwiches and coffee from a local coffee shop and headed to Marahau to check in for Freedom Kayak School.
Before you’re allowed to run amuck with your kayak you have to sit through an hour class where they teach you how to paddle, how to wear your kayak skirt, and how to not get bit by seals.
Jacked up on free instant coffee provided by Marahau Sea Kayaks we listen like little kids on Christmas morning.
When we were finally released into the park, Tom and I set out on an adventure!
Our goal was to make it around Fisherman’s and Adele island all the way north to Archorage and back!
30 min in when we were still halfway to Fisherman’s Island, hands starting to blister we readjusted our goal.
We decided we didn’t need to make it that far north and started kayaking a little more leisurely.
Fisherman’s Island was probably the coolest part of the trip, but that also may have been because we got there while it was still low-tide.
Along the way we could have sworn we saw a penguin darting in and out of the water….but then again it may have been one of those black swimmer birds. Hard to tell because they are both about the same size. (After now for sure seeing Penguins I still think it was one!)
Adele island didn’t offer much more than we had already seen. The wind was beginning to pick up making it harder to paddle, but we finally made it around the island!
Allowing the wind to float us into the last sandy beach, (high tide was on it’s way!) we found a spot to
slam food into our starving faces eat lunch.
We spent the rest of the afternoon leisurely paddling in / letting the wind float us back to shore.
Drifting in and out of the coastal bays we saw all kind of crazy birds, plants, and a natural tunnel (stay tuned, Tom will feature it in one of his future videos!)
We pulled off just south of Marahau to check out Split Apple Rock.
Scientists say the rock was formed by volcanic melting of feldspar, quartz, and mica, causing the split when the rock reached the water and cooled, but we all know the rock was really split by the sword of Zeus while battling with Neptune over the hand of Dione. Zeus actually won that battle and the hand of Dione.
After our short trek to Split Apple Rock we headed back to Nelson.
Heading straight to the Freehouse, we refueled with a delicious brew and some spicy Indian food from across the street!
Despite being exhausted we managed to rally a little longer and met up with our friends Claudia and Simon from Waitomo! They were in town just back from the Heaphy Track before exploring Abel Tasman themselves.
When we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer, we said goodbye to Claudia and Simon and headed to Guppy Park, where we both slept amazingly well.
Saturday we headed to McCashins to do some work.
This little gem definitely tops Tom’s and my favorite coffee shops list! It may even be the best Coffee shop we’ve ever been too!
McCashins has comfy big chairs, unlimited free WiFi, bold hot brew from their coffee shop Sublime, and tasty cold brew from their Brewery Stoke!
All that’s missing is a furry Orange Cat named Colby Jack and we could have stayed there forever!
Finishing up our work for the day we headed back to Nelson to hit up a couple more of their Breweries.
The next stop was Abbey Ales, a hop garden literally growing hops!
Abbey is a restaurant set up inside a green house. The floor is dirt and gravel and in between tables there are trees and hops growing out of the ground!
We had our first Ginger beer of the trip and then walked over to Founder’s.
We had tried to find Founder’s Monday night as we drove into town and didn’t have any luck.
Saturday we figured out why. Founder’s Brewery is actually located in the back of Founder’s Park, a little gated village staged to look just like the first Nelson Settlement.
Walking through the historic “town” Tom felt like he was an extra in M. Night Shamananana???’s movie the village. Luckily we weren’t and arrived at the brewery safe and sound to share a sampler to end our day.
Sunday we began what will be a week of road tripping through the South Island.
Driving into Rotoiti we stumbled upon a hydroplane race! The Lake was randomly having a festival that we just happened to catch.
We watched the hydroplanes do a couple circles, stared some eels in the eye with our GOPRO and then hopped in the car heading down the road into wine country.
After passing through the beautiful vineyards, we made it to Blenheim.
We were pleasantly surprised to catch their Sunday Market in the Clock Tower square which turned out to be quite lucky because other than an awesome Sunday Market the town didn’t have much to offer.
We had trouble even locating a decent coffee shop. We finally found a takeway coffee in a little diner and hit the road, heading South on the East Coast Highway.
We still got to stretch our legs, walk through a really cool mossy rock path, and see a pretty cool waterfall.
Shortly after we stopped at the seal colony we reached Kaikoura, our destination for the night.
Kaikoura is probably one of the more underrated towns of NZ. It may be small; but the town is very friendly, the coastline is beautiful, and they have an awesome craft beer bar called the Groper with unlimited WIFI!
After scoping out the town, we headed to the peninsula to get a better view of the coast.
The rocks lining the coast are pretty unreal.
Tom and I made a yummy meal out of the back of the car and then settled in for the night watching LOTR The Two Towers before falling asleep.
Before this week is over we will have raced down the superbowl at Hanmer Springs, explored the remnants of Christchurch, visited Monteith Brewery and the Pancake rocks of Punakaiki, met back up with Claudia and Simon TWICE, got stuck over night in the off the grid town of Haast, had our car break down at Roaring Billy Goat Falls, visited Wanaka, drove with sheep, stopped in Queenstown, and floated through the epic Milford Sound.
End of Part 1 log on in a couple days for part 2….

domain: travel


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Recipe of the Day
Cherry Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Teriyaki chicken never had it so good in this intriguing mixture with cherries, ginger, rice vinegar, carrots and almonds, all bundled up in a crisp lettuce package.
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Everything you need to party like a leprechaun.
New for spring! Good-for-you food you’ll love to eat.
Delicious recipes, party ideas, and helpful cooking tips! Get a year of Allrecipes magazine for just $9.99!


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Find a Boat Shipping Company in Mentor, OH
Are you in the Mentor, OH, metro area and needing to transport a boat? Find the best and most affordable Mentor, OH, boat transporters by using uShip. Customer-rated boat transport companies compete for your business through uShip, giving you the best price and a quality service.
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domain: geography


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Far Cry New Dawn is a direct sequel to Far Cry 5. Announced at The Game Awards 2018, it brings players back to Hope County, Montana years after Far Cry 5's nuke-filled fiery conclusion where you have to contend with a new enemy faction of pirates known as the Highwaymen. The Far Cry New Dawn release date is February 15 and is priced at $40 in the US. No Far Cry New Dawn price for India has been announced just yet. Just like Far Cry 5, it will be coming to the PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. Aside from revealing the game, Ubisoft also let slip details pertaining to Far Cry New Dawn's gameplay, setting, and story.
Considering that we've seen Far Cry 4 in November 2014, Far Cry Primal in February 2016, and Far Cry 5 in March 2018. Far Cry New Dawn's release barely a year since Far Cry 5 makes us wonder if it's a stop gap title in between bigger, potential showings like the alleged Watch Dogs 3 or a firm release date for known titles like Beyond Good and Evil 2.
If you're a fan of video games, check out Transition, Gadgets 360's gaming podcast. You can listen to it via Apple Podcasts or RSS, or just listen to this week's episode by hitting the play button below.

domain: entertainment


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Quinoa. Salad. Two words that strike boredom and possible fear in your average lunch-goer. I was skeptical of quinoa myself, at first. But I’ve found it to be a versatile and easy-to-make grain that plays well with a range of other flavors.
Use the recipe below as a starting point, and experiment to create the flavor combinations you like.
Makes 4 lunch servings or 6 side-dish servings.
1 cup cooked quinoa (about 3/4 cup uncooked)
1 14 oz. can white beans or chick peas, drained
3 – 4 cups vegetables. I like carrots and celery in the summer, and roasted sweet potatoes or delicate squash mixed with Brussels sprouts or broccoli in the colder months.
Salad dressing or sauce to taste. Try Italian vinaigrette, creamy goddess dressing, or tahini sauce, or your favorite marinade or sauce.
Cook the quinoa as you would rice, either on the stove top or in a rice cooker. Meanwhile, cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces if raw.
For roast vegetables, I’ll usually make a large batch to go with roast chicken or another entree, and set some aside for this recipe.
In a mixing bowl or storage container, combine the cooked quinoa, beans, and vegetables, and pour over 2-3 tablespoons of sauce and toss to combine. Taste and season with salt and extra sauce as you like.
You can then portion this out into individual containers for a quick grab-and-go lunch.


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By Matthew Wesolowski
Another cold windy day in the deer woods was on the agenda with expectations nearing an all time low. So far my archery season was a huge disappointment in terms of total number of deer sightings overall and my own performance when opportunities arose.
Almost two weeks into the regular firearms season having yet to see a single buck. I was beginning to feel as if I were just going through the motions, but still unwilling to accept defeat due to lack of effort.
As is the case, I am in essence only an avid meat hunter that finds great satisfaction in taking a nice doe or subordinate buck that others may not find as much a sense of accomplishment in as I do. To me that's the beauty of deer hunting is no matter how low you set your standards, the posability always exists for any hunt to become the trophy hunt of a lifetime at any moment.
Earlier in the day I was feeling pretty good to have spotted six antlerless deer across the road from me on the mornings hunt. I had to pass on a golden opportunity for a mature doe as she stood in a safe zone 50 yards across the neighbors posted property where hunting is not allowed.
I decided this afternoon to make my way to higher ground behind the house, if for nothing more than the anticipation of checking my trail cameras. Forty-five minutes to the top, I reached my first cam set and pulled the card to reveal what I'd become so accustomed to already expect...nothing. I figured the high winds and wintery weather had kept deer movement to a minimum during the overnight in an area where they had already been pressured hard and perhaps maybe even evacuated at this point.
Without seeing any fresh sign up to now in the six inches of fresh snow we received, my hopes were just to fight off the wind and cold long enough to finish my rounds and check my other two cams around the perimeter of the propperty.
Half way between my first and second cam sets I stumbled upon a few sets of fresh tracks working their way through the hemlocks. My mind drifted to a family group of does and fawns using this cover to escape the elements so I worked my way to a stick blind I had not far from here. Once at the blind, I hunkered down in hopes of spending the last 3 hours of daylight in an area that showed the most promising sign to fill my doe permit. The sit was a short lived one hour as the wind cut right through me once I stopped moving.
I strapped my pack back on, grabbed my gun and decided to hit the other two cams and work my way home. If all went according to plan, I should arrive just before dark and maybe catch a plate of hot dinner before feeding time was over.
I made my way around the green field and noticed the deer had been using it the night before. My cudde (trail cam) was close, and my excitement level grew as I neared the set. Unfortunately, it was no surprise when I got there that they had eluded that cam too...I had one more to check with 2 1/2 hrs of light left so away I went.
I made my way through another dense set of hemlocks. This patch was full of fresh tracks as well as fresh beds, but the sight of running deer tracks leaving the cover quickly snapped me to the reality that I had already spooked them out without ever getting a glimpse of one. With my head hung in dissapointment I got sidetracked following the tracks to see that they ran off in a circle back from where I had just come from. For kicks and giggles I'd poke around in here for a while to see where they have all been hiding and maybe understand things a little better.
After an hour or so I'd seen enough and headed off to my last cam set about a 1/4 mile away. Giving some serious consideration to just skipping this one and taking the straight line back downhill towards home sounded like a much more pleasant experience at the time but I was really doubting I'd find the drive to make the return trek the following day. At least now I would know all my batteries were good to go until I found my way back up here.
At some point my mind just began to wander about other things non-hunting related including where the heck I was heading. When I snapped out of it and looked up, the snow covered woods I was looking at before me wasn't farmiliar at all........brain fart,lol.
I stood there like an idiot for a bit trying to regain my berrings, after I had not hit the trail I was looking for in quite a while. I finally recognized a distant hillside and cussed myself for being so unobservant......it was no wonder to me I was having such a hard time killing a deer this year......geeze.
In the homestreach now, having reached the trail I was looking for, I only had two more ridges to cross to get to the last cam set. It wouldn't be long now...I wonder what was cooking at home, I'm getting pretty hungry.
Turning back uphill to come to the head of the ravine was going to be a lot less work than cutting straight across the 60 foot plunge, so that's what I'll do. My pack and gun were gaining weight and my body was starting to feel the aches and stiffness setting in from the long walk about with all this gear.
Just before hitting the top of the ridge off to my left down in a briar thicket I noticed a deer browsing along, nipping the ends off branches overhead. Now I'm pumped! This dumb deer was only 40-50 yds away and had no clue I was there watching it.
There was just too much crap in between us to get a good look at what it was, but I could have swore I saw some antler flash through the brush. I shouldered the muzzleloader and peered through the scope which was set at 4X power. Holy moley! It was a buck for sure, but I still have no clue as to how many points he had or how big it was yet. That's ok....he's working his way out of the thicket heading uphill and would be in the clear soon.
Anticipating the upcoming shot opportunity that was about to unfold, I checked to make sure my safety was on and then proceeded to pull the hammer back. Like something from a bad dream.....my hammer was stuck...it wouldn't pull back...What the hell was going on? I looked up and saw the buck in all his glory for the first time. A wide beauty slowly making his way along.
Back to my gun. I quickly opened the break open action and checked the primer for some reason, then cracked it back closed and got the hammer back for good. Apparently I didn't have it locked closed, thus preventing me from cocking it.
Now my buck was in the clear, my gun cocked, and my crosshairs settled on him standing statue still in a perfect shot scenario... I couldn't possibly ask for better. I calmly clicked the safety off and it was show time! 1-2-3....BOOOOOOOM!!!
I could see right through the smoke like never before as the beast went from 0 to 60 in an instant. Not far into his escape dash he slipped to the ground, but quickly regained his feet and sped out of sight just over the hill.
All of a sudden, I got distracted when another beautiful buck emerged and staired off in the direction my buck had run. Together, we both stood and listened to my buck crash. I watched as the other buck slowly made his way down the ridge seemingly without a care in the world about his friends demise.
Not wanting to take any chances of following up unloaded, I ran a few patches through my barrel and loaded up another round before taking up the trail. As I'm swabbing the barrel, movement catches my eye and another one horned spiker is trotting in to 20 yds before stopping to look off in my buck direction... trying to figure things out. I could only smile and take it all in at this point. What a freaking hunt this had turned out to be on a hunt that almost didn't happen.
I ended up shooing the spiker away and headed off to follow up on my beasty. At the top of the ridge lay success in the form of a magnificant 19 inch wide 11 point buck that left me breathless. All I could do was sit on the ground beside him and admire what an incredibly impresssive creature he was dead before me as he was just moments before in life breathing the same air as myself.
A quick thank you to our common creator was first and foremost even though I'm not much of the religious kind...it was obvious at this point there was no denying what God had planned for this glorious day where hunter meets the hunted.
The drag home was a long one but I managed to cover the ground quickly and return just after dark. Probably would have gotten there a lot sooner, but I couldn't help but to stop a few times and look back at my trophy leaving the bloody skid marks in the snow behind me!
Back to Deer StoriesPage from Wesolowski Buck

domain: hobby


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Competition: US & Canada
As published in the Foundation’s Report for 1939–40:
SCHWARTZ, DELMORE: Appointed for creative writing in the field of poetry; tenure, twelve months from April 1, 1940.
Born December 8, 1913, in Brooklyn, New York. Education: University of Wisconsin, 1931–32; New York University, A.B., 1935.
Briggs-Copeland Instructor in English Composition, Harvard University, 1940.
Publications: In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, 1939. Essays, stories, poems and reviews in Southern Review, Nation, Poetry, Kenyon Review, Partisan Review, New Directions.


Posted 01 / 03 / 18
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We’re very excited to announce that The Shepherds BuildingMore
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MINI2 has the scoop on what could be in the next MINI Diesel:
It would appear the MINI One D could be a thing of the past, as MINI furthers it’s co-operation with gasoline engine partner PSA Group, it looks as though the engine currently powering the 206 GTi Diesel (among other Peugeot, Citroen and Ford motor cars), will be the unit to pull along the next generation MINI Diesel.
Initially we were under the impression the new Diesel would be around 90bhp (still a possibility as there is a 90hp version of this engine used, for example, in the Ford Fiesta Zetec S Diesel), however latest information leads us to believe quite firmly a version of the 110 bhp unit will be installed in the new MINI diesel, which BMW expect to account for more than 15% of overall MINI sales at it’s peak.
You can read the entire story below:
MF Analysis: With BMW committed to bringing a few select diesel BMW’s to the states in the coming years, it would seem that the next diesel equipped MINI may have a fighting chance of coming stateside. It doesn’t hurt that this engine also has more usable power than the current MINI One D. Something Americans tend to always approve of.


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Episode of Series “The Golden years of surf collection”.
The archetypal surfing film of the 1960’s, Bruce Brown defied all odds to produce one of the most successful feature-length documentary films in movie history. Filmed on locations world-wide, with diverting tongue-in- cheek narrative by Brown, we follow two surfers’ quest for the ultimate wave. The heady surfing days of the sixties are forever captured in this classic.
Bruce Brown Films


A pistol can be one of the most versatile and powerful weapons around. It is small and easily carried about your person. Depending on the caliber, it can deliver a very powerful performance or it could deliver just enough to get the job done with a lower recoil. Every shooter has his or her own reasons to shoot though, with some just seeking out a fun target pistol and others buying one as a matter of life or death. Regardless, if you are serious about accurate performance, you want to make sure you get a firearm that offers the most advanced features.
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I LOVE this cake!! I'm looking to make one similar but I was planning to put the clotheslines on the sides of the cake. How did you make the little birds? It adds such a pretty touch. Also what tip did you use for the grass? Thanks for all your help!!! :D
Michila....I made the birds freehanded from fondant, I formed the body's with the tail, and then made the heads via tiny balls rolled in the palm of my hand and then made tiny balls and pushed em flat and formed into teardrop shaped wings, I used a toothpick to gentle make the wing feathers along the edge of the wings..then I applied all the pieces together,let dry,dotted the eyes with a food color marker and used the #1 tip with yellow icing and just barley touched the birds face to form the beak...You...
Michila..I PMed you cause I ran out of room here,giving you instructions...
That is just adorable! Everything looks perfect! Great job.
My, what a cute cake!!! Love the writing for the clothesline.
:o Soooooooooooooo Cute! (sorry were there to many o's :)) I love this cake! Nice job!
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Mags Waughman – Monument Management Scheme Officer
A green bracken covered hillside in the sunshine would be seen by many visitors to the National Park as an unspoilt piece of countryside, but how many would imagine that bracken is actually Public Enemy No. 1 for rural archaeological sites?
Bracken has its place in biodiversity, but in the wrong location it can be very destructive for the historic environment. Because of the way the underground parts of the plant (the rhizomes) develop and spread, this inoffensive looking plant can cause enormous damage to fragile deposits and features below the ground surface. So the alarm bells start ringing when I see bracken growing on some of the best-preserved sites across the National Park, many of which are protected in law as Scheduled Monuments because they are considered to be nationally important.
Organising the treatment and control of bracken growing on Scheduled Monuments has been a big part of my work as Monument Management Scheme Officer over the summer. I’ve often felt daunted by the sheer expanses of bracken hiding what I know to be wonderful archaeological sites and have had a number of unpleasant experiences pushing my way through waist-high bracken fronds. However, with a little perseverance and the goodwill and cooperation of very many people we’ve arranged for bracken to be sprayed on 35 Monuments this summer and I think we’re starting to have an effect. Landowners and farmers, partner organisations such as Natural England, the National Trust and the Forestry Commission, archaeological consultants, land management contractors and my colleagues in the National Park have all helped in the targeted battle against the bracken. From Bronze Age burial mounds and prehistoric field systems to medieval rabbit warrening features and 18th century alum working sites – many different types of site have needed attention and I’m hoping that when I go back to these Monuments next summer I will be able to see archaeology where I could only see bracken this year. Our fight against the bracken has been possible because of the North York Moors National Park Monument Management Scheme (MMS). This programme was set up in 2009 in partnership with English Heritage in order to improve the condition of Scheduled Monuments on the Heritage at Risk register, which is published annually by English Heritage to highlight the Monuments across the country considered to be most under threat. The aim of the MMS is to remove as many Monuments as possible from the Heritage at Risk register by improving their condition. The risk is the possibility of the destruction and loss of nationally important Monuments. The MMS is now into its fifth year and it’s working very well – helping landowners and farmers to improve the condition of Monuments on their land by arranging for management and repair work to be carried out. Usually we commission an archaeological consultant to draw up a Management Plan identifying the work needed without causing further damage to the Monument, and supervise contractors to carry out the work once everyone is happy with what has been proposed. With bracken control and other vegetation management work, it’s very important that treatments are repeated in subsequent years in order for it to have a full effect.
Extra feet on the ground…..
The National Park has a group of Historic Environment Volunteers and they’re fully involved in our drive to remove Monuments from the Heritage at Risk register. In the spring our enthusiastic volunteers were trained in what to look out for and now we have Jo Collins who works for the MMS two days a week coordinating their efforts out in the field. The Volunteers have been busy over the summer visiting Monuments to give us an up-to-date record of their condition. This is immensely helpful as we have a huge number of Scheduled Monuments in the National Park (840 – the highest density within the Yorkshire region, and second in number to only one other National Park). Many of these Monuments haven’t been visited for several years and have almost fallen off the radar for regular monitoring, but with the help of the volunteers we can identify any problems developing and then try to address them through the MMS.
136 Scheduled Monuments were on the Heritage at Risk register before I started work on MMS – we’ve removed 38 since then, but we still have a long way to go!
A word about the photographs – some archaeological features are sometimes difficult for non-archaeologists to make out – but if you can get your eye in and learn to recognise different shapes on the ground …..


Multi-purpose wipe, especially for washing dishes and replacing sponges. But also to wipe surfaces such as table, kitchen top, etc. Made of organic cotton, 100% natural. Very absorbent and long lasting. Washable at 60˚C.
Perfect in the kitchen, in combination with the knitted hand towel in the same colors.
25 x 25 x 0.2 cm / 10 x 10 x 0.1 in.
Made in France
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