Daily Archives: March 10, 2017

It’s Tulip Time! – Daily Reckoning

Posted: March 10, 2017 at 3:33 am

[Ed. Note: To see exactly what this former Reagan insider has to say about Trump and the fiscal threats from politics and the debt ceiling, David Stockman is sending out a copy of his bookTrumped! A Nation on the Brink of Ruin And How to Bring It Backto any American willing to listen before it is too late. To learn how to get your free copyCLICK HERE.]

At the peak of the Dutch tulip mania, bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman and a single rare specimen bulb (Semper Augustus) purportedly changed hands for the equivalent of 12 acres of prime land.

But after rising 8X in a few months, the reckoning came in February 1637. The tulip bulb price index came crashing back to where it had started in, well, November of the prior year!

So it might be wondered whether this most recent November to February (into March) mania is there yet. That question is especially important in light of the fact that Trumps recent address to Congress amounted to the proverbial clanging bell at the top.

In giving the most fiscally irresponsible speech since LBJs guns and butter, the Donald proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he and his team have no clue about the horrific fiscal facts of life confronting them.

They are utterly unaware, apparently, that they are plowing right into a Grand Debt Trap that will put the kibosh on not only the vaunted Trump Stimulus, but on the entire 30-year era of Bubble Finance.

But before I get back to more detail on the Grand Debt Trap ahead, it is worth noting what happened during a more recent November to March blow-off rally. I am referring to the infamous dotcom mania, of course, and it just so happens that there is a nice symmetry in the numbers as they pertain to the present.

Between October 24, 1999 and March 22, 2000, the NASDAQ 100 rose from 2,460 to 4,600 or 87%. After that parabolic climb, however, it soon plunged back to where it had started in October. Nor was the year 2000 collapse close to done it plunged a further 67% through October 2002.

Like the NASDAQ blow-off of 2000, the current Trump-O-Mania rally started on November 2. As it happened back then, however, the NASDAQ 100 peaked shortly after the Fed raised interest rates (again) on March 21. Yet as CNN reported that day, the Feds action was considered to be no big threat to a then unstoppable bull:

For financial markets, the rate increase and the short announcement that followed was a non-event, mostly because Wall Street had widely expected the Fed to do exactly what it did.

There wasnt a black swan in the sky, it seemed until there suddenly began a dizzying two-year plunge of almost 85% from the nosebleed peak.

This time there is an Orange Swan hovering above the market, but it appears equally unrecognized by todays punters. I am referring to the fact that the headline reading algos have totally misread the Trump Stimulus.

The robo-machines and the remaining troop of day-trading carbon units that mimic them can only read words, not the political tea leaves. Accordingly, when the Donald promised a big, big corporate cut and a massive tax reduction for the middle class and also a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to rebuild Americas roads, bridges, airports, hospitals and schools, the machines dutifully priced it in.

But what they havent reckoned with is that the debt ceiling clock starts ticking on March 15 when the current holiday expires. It will then freeze in at approximately $20 trillion, leaving the Treasurys coffers with about $200 billion in cash.

But the Trump Administration blew through $204 billion of cash during its first 35 days in office. That fact was apparently unbeknownst to the President, who tweeted the complete falsehood that he had already reduced the public debt by $12 billion.

Au contraire!

The U.S. Treasury is bleeding red ink profusely notwithstanding Janet Yellens comical claim that the American economy is closing in on the Keynesian nirvana of full employment. During the first four-and-one-half months of FY 2017, in fact, Uncle Sams net debt increased an astonishing $532 billion. That amounts to an annualized borrowing rate of $1.3 trillion.

Given the Treasurys cash burn rate of $3-4 billion per calendar day, the U.S. Treasury will have 50-75 days of cash when the debt ceiling clock starts ticking again on March 15. Thats less than a week away.

And that means it will run out of cash long before any tax bill even gets out of the House Ways and Means Committee or infrastructure bill even gets tabled.

Indeed, the Wall Street robo-machines are abysmally un-programmed with respect to the entire budgetary process. The fact is, none of the components of the Trump Stimulus can happen until both houses pass and agree to a FY 2018 budget resolution with its 10-year path for revenues, spending, deficits and the public debt.

It is only through a budget resolution that encompasses a comprehensive long-term fiscal plan that it is possible to get a reconciliation instruction for the tax bill; and without that parliamentary mechanism, tax reform will die in a Senate 60-vote filibuster stage managed by the K-Street lobbies.

But heres the thing. The ticking debt ceiling clock will mightily interfere with if not block completely the process of reaching an agreement within the GOP caucuses on the FY 2018 budget resolution.

In fact, the legislative and political maneuvering in the run up to this summers debt ceiling vote will powerfully concentrate the minds of the backbench fiscal hawks. It will remind them that their fate under the massive deficits embedded in the Trump Stimulus will be to walk the plank time after time to raise the debt ceiling!

Moreover, as the media finally begins to focus on the rapidly dwindling cash balance at the Treasury, it will elicit a maneuvering, bargaining and posturing spectacle inside the GOP caucus that will make Speaker Ryan wish to send the gavel back to John Boehner.

The fiscal conservatives will demand entitlement reforms, but Trump says no. The Trump White House has embraced an utterly stupid and unnecessary plan to bust the sequester caps and add $54 billion to the already bloated $600 billion defense budget for FY 2018 alone and proposed to offset it with draconian cuts to domestic agencies and the State Depart/foreign aid budget which are already dead in the water in the GOP Senate.

But heres the newsflash. The FY 2018 sequester caps of $548 billion for defense and $518 billion for non-defense discretionary spending are chiseled in law under the BCA (Budget Control Act).

There is not a snowballs chance in the hot place that a bill could pass the House which raised defense to more than $600 billion, while slashing the domestic cap to under $500 billion. There would be blood on the floor from one end of the Capitol Building to the other.

By the same token, there would be an outright revolt by the Freedom Caucus if both caps are raised which is the only way to assemble a legislative majority.

In the meanwhile, the drive to repeal and replace Obamacare is already deeply fracturing the House GOP, and its going to get progressively worse.

Whats happening is that the Freedom Caucus is quickly figuring out what I documented already. Namely, that the Ryan plan for repeal and replace is actually little more than Obamacare Lite. Not only will the $7 trillion 10-year cost under current law not be reduced in any material way, but the Ryan plan will also establish what amounts to a new age-based entitlement to health tax credits.

Taken together, all of these battles over the sequester caps, Obamacare repeal, a new continuing resolution for FY 2017 appropriates which will be needed to avoid a government shutdown in later April will take their toll.

Accordingly, the Mother of All Debt Ceiling Crisis will occur for the simple reason that there is no pathway to a House and Senate majority for a multi-trillion debt ceiling increase.

Perhaps thats because Washington has never been there before. That is, facing down a $20 trillion public debt with $10 trillion more in the pipeline over the next decade, and a clueless team in the White House that wants to pile trillions more of red ink on top of that.

In a word, the algorithms driving the stock averages to tulip bulb mania highs cant possibly anticipate the political firestorm that is coming down the pike.

When it hits, the machines will begin puking up a tsunami of sell orders like never before. When the dust finally settles, there will surely be some new charts that will give the October-March plunges depicted above a run for their money.

Regards,

David Stockman for The Daily Reckoning

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It's Tulip Time! - Daily Reckoning

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A Struggle Back to Financial Independence After a Brain Injury – The Good Men Project (blog)

Posted: at 3:33 am

On a beautiful June day in 2009, Harvey was riding his motorcycle up the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu as he had many times before. He enjoyed the scenery and the feel of the open road. However, he has almost zero memory of this particular day.

As he neared the Malibu Pier, a woman driving a sedan ahead of him suddenly made an illegal U-turn turning directly into his motorcycle. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet that surely saved his life. The highway was shut down and Harvey was airlifted to UCLA hospital where he spent the next two months in a coma.

Harvey had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) along with many physical injuries, and he would spend the next six months in hospitals. From UCLA he was transferred to Kindred Hospital in Culver City, and then to the Bakersfield Centre for Neuro Skills residential program.

It was in those first few weeks while Harvey was in a coma that his independence and civil rights would be terminated through a court-appointed conservatorship.

Harvey and his wife Sheila had been married for 16 years and had a six-year-old daughter. Having been born into privilege, Harvey had considerable wealth that he had not co-mingled with his wifes accounts. Additionally, Harvey and Sheila had never prepared a will, power of attorney, or health care directive. Harvey felt that he was a healthy 40-year-old, and he would handle those legal things when he was older.

Sheila and their daughter were living in their family home, where she was responsible for a hefty mortgage, even though she had limited access to Harveys money. She hired an attorney and applied for conservatorship of Harvey and his assets. The case was heard by Judge Reva Goetz, who has handled such famous conservatorship cases as Britney Spears and Mickey Rooney.

Sheila was denied conservatorship over Harvey because they had recently separated and were living under different roofs. Even though she immediately rushed to his side in the hospital and resumed her role as his wife, the court decided that they couldnt be certain whether or not Harvey would want Sheila to have continued access to his money.

Eventually, Harveys father and his attorney were awarded co-conservatorship and were able to pay general bills such as real estate and income taxes, utilities, groceries, etc. Harvey would eventually be awarded a monthly allowance to spend on whatever he wanted, making him feel like he was being treated like a child.

Once youve been put into a conservatorship, you cant hire an attorney, so one is appointed for you by the court. This attorney is called a Probate Volunteer Panel (PVP) attorney. Harveys PVP attorney bragged at an initial meeting with Harvey and the family that she enjoyed causing friction between husbands and wives. She felt it was her duty to decide what was best for her client (Harvey) no matter what he or his family members might say to the contrary.

Harvey had a hearing every six months or so to monitor how things were going. He was supposed to be advised by his PVP attorney, however, she kept falsely telling the court that Harvey wanted a continuance of the conservatorship. Harvey wanted his wife Sheila to be conservator, but the PVP attorney would not allow it, and argued for the continued humiliation of the court-monitored allowance.

At the hearings, the lawyers which by this point consisted of an attorney for his wife, an attorney for his father, Harveys PVP attorney, and eventually a court-appointed attorney for his minor child (known as guardian ad litem) and judge would talk about him as if he were a child (because basically without any of his rights, he sort of was) and they would never refer to him by name only as the conservatoree. Harvey said it was very dehumanizing to be treated this way.

As Harvey began getting better and better, it was becoming obvious that the conservatorship had to come to an end, but doing so was harder done than said. He had to have a capacity declaration performed by a physician. The problem is that when a large amount of money is at stake, doctors are reluctant to say yes, because if they said yes and he lost it all the next day, the doctors decision would be questioned.

Eventually, Judge Goetz gave him the name of a specific doctor that she trusted. Harvey would endure two days of rigorous testing, and in January 2011, the doctor eventually wrote a declaration that Harvey was responsible enough to control his own life. In March of 2011, the judge terminated the conservatorship and Harvey was once again granted all of his civil rights. After the hearing was over, the court reporter approached Harvey and told him she had sat in on thousands of cases like his, and his was only the third one she had ever seen terminated it is that rare to have a conservatorship overturned.

However, his nightmare did not end there.

The court-appointed PVP attorney was supposed to charge at a reduced rate; however, she solicited the judge to bill at her full rate, and was granted permission. This frustrated Harvey, as he felt the lawyer really never had his best interests in mind. Harvey had to file for separate counsel to fight the fee petition, which added two more attorneys fees. In addition to his PVP attorneys fees, he also received a bill from his fathers attorney, the attorney who was acting as co-conservator, the guardian ad litem for his daughter, as well as his wifes attorney despite the fact that she had dropped her petition to be named conservator 18 months prior. Harvey had to pay legal fees, bonding fees, and mandatory accounting fees.

In total, this cost him just over $1 million dollars all because Harvey did not know he should have a durable power of attorney for health care and financial matters which created a situation where others took advantage of his health crisis.

Right after the conservatorship was lifted, Harvey told Sheila he wanted to go to Vegas and gamblebecause it was his money, damnit! She looked at him and said, NOT WITHOUT A WILL FIRST! So in April 2011, Harvey wrote a holographic (handwritten) will in his own handwriting on a piece of paper that said, Everything goes to my wife. Shortly afterwards, he hired a law firm to implement all of their trusts, wills, power of attorney, etc.

Harvey wants everyone to understand the importance of having a durable power of attorney drawn up NOW, no matter your age or health because you never know when life takes a drastic turn like Harveys did. This durable power of attorney is a simple form you file with your attorney for a few hundred dollars, and it directs who is responsible for you and your estate should you become incapacitated. Had he had one, it would have saved him the humiliation of losing his civil rights, as well as causing his loved ones time and grief and of course $1 million in attorney and other fees.

My Brain #donor card arrived today from the Concussion Legacy Foundation #tbi #concussion #braininjury #advocate pic.twitter.com/202PhjK673

amyzellmer (@amyzellmer) March 4, 2017

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This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post

Photo credit:Geneva Vanderzeil/flickr

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Rowing champ Hamish Bond continues to excel on bike with Oceania Championships time-trial third – Stuff.co.nz

Posted: at 3:31 am

MARC HINTON

Last updated19:29, March 10 2017

BRUCE JENKINS PHOTOGRAPHY

Olympic rowing champ Hamish Bond has produced his most significant result as a cyclist at the Oceania championships.

Clearly double Olympic rowing champion Hamish Bond wasn't listening when it was broadly accepted his dalliance with cycling would be a road paved with difficulty.

This, after all, was a career rower who had achieved special things sitting down and going backwards on the water. Nobody anticipated something similar swapping the boat for the bike on dry land.

But Bond continues to blaze an extraordinary trail in his remarkable transition to road cycling, a third place finish in the time-trial at the Oceania championships in Canberra his latest significant achievement on two wheels.

The 31-year-old two-time Games champion in the pair alongside partner Eric Murray has taken a year away from rowing to give competitive road cycling a crack. But even the Cambridge super athlete can't have envisaged the success he would have this early in such a different sport.

READ MORE: * Murray to rehab knee while Bond cycles * Another step into unknown for Bond *Bond to tackle Tour of Southland *Hamish Bond and Eric Murray win Olympic gold

Bond's latest achievement, finishing top Kiwi and on the podium in a classy Oceania field, tops even his earlier achievements in the New Zealand summer.

Previously Bond had beaten top touring pro George Bennett to win the Abel Tasman Cycling Challenge and then finished third in the time-trial at the national championships, followed by a creditable 14th in the road race. He was also eighth on general classification in the Tour of Southland.

But in just his second time-trial start on an exacting Canberra course, Bond has beaten home fellow Kiwis Jason Christie (fourth) and Joseph Cooper (fifth) to power to third overall.

The time-trial was won by defending champion Sean Lake, of the IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness team, who powered home in 54min 32sec.

Fellow Aussie Ben Dyball was 53s back in second place, with Bond coming home 1:00 behind the winner and 1:38 ahead of Christie who was second behind Jack Bauer in the national time-trial in early January.

Bond was rapt with his effort as he continues to fast-track his education in the tough time-trial discipline.

"It's important I keep improving and keep justifying the input of a lot of people who have been quite generous with their time and effort in terms of helping me progress quickly," Bond told Stuff from Canberra. "It's always good to put in a good performance that justifies that and enables you to keep going.

"Though a lot of the top pros were overseas racing it was still a good calibre race, and some top New Zealand riders were there. To tip both [national road race champion] Joe Cooper and Jason Christie over was pleasing.

"I felt I went OK. It was a challenging course, and very little of it was flat. It was basically up and down the whole 40km which was a good challenge and I quite enjoyed it. It was a really good experience doing a tough time-trial like that."

Bond rated the Oceania bronze his best achievement of his cycling stint thus far.

"I felt it was a step on from the nationals," he added. "It's only the second time-trial I've done, and the idea was to try ride with a little more control. I was perhaps a little out of control at the nationals in terms of going over the red line a little early and just hanging on for the bulk of it.

"I tried to get my pace more even throughout the race here which was a challenge given the hilly nature. I tried to keep my efforts more measured and feel as though I did that to a degree. When you've only done two [of these races] you learn so much each time you go out."

Bond is bypassing the road race in Canberra, but will head to Europe later this year to continue to measure himself in his year-long stint in his new sport.

-Stuff

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Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious inspires eco-citizens – Global Sisters Report (blog)

Posted: at 3:31 am

As the Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious XVII wrapped up March 3 in Yangon, Myanmar, participants said they would carry with them a renewed commitment to their responsibility as eco-citizens, the message of environmental care to their congregations and beyond, and an affirmation of the meeting's importance in strengthening the work of religious in the region.

The conference's theme, "A Call for Global Ecological Conversion," used Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" and his papal bull, Misericordia Vultus, which introduced the Holy Year of Mercy, as spiritual frameworks in exploring issues related to the environment and climate change.

Participants said the message of caring for the Earth, countering climate change and helping communities that global warming affects most will continue beyond the five-day Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious, known by its acronym, AMOR.

"By doing this, we have done something for the whole Catholic church and the church in Myanmar," Sr. Margaret Maung, president of the Catholic Religious Conference of Myanmar, aSister of Our Lady of the Missions and chairwoman of the 19-member working committee, said in an interview. "By the presentations and the table sharing and interacting, we came to know each other and the reality of the church, and that we are one with the Earth and the strengths and weaknesses of the environment and climate change."

Sr. Margaret Maung, chairperson of the AMOR XVII Myanmar planning committee, greets meeting participants. (GSR photo / Gail DeGeorge)

A keynote addressby Yangon Cardinal Charles Bo on the first day, Feb. 27, set the tone for the gathering of 132 participants from 21 countries. Country reports from Bangladesh, India, Korea, New Zealand and others showed the effects of climate change and pollution, as well as specific concerns, such as use of nuclear power in Japan in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In subsequent days, participants explored more deeply the meaning of eco-spirituality and the inherent Asian spirituality that celebrates "contemplative consciousness" and "ecological consciousness understood as awareness and sensitivity to the interconnectedness of all beings and things on Earth," as Claretian Fr. Samuel Canilang, director of theInstitute for Consecrated Life in Asia, said in his presentation.

"Asians don't need anyone to tell us the environment is sacred," he said. "It is natural to us."

Not long ago, Canilang said, Asians may have felt self-conscious focusing such attention on the spirituality of the natural world, lest others accuse them of being pantheistic. But Laudato Si' is liberating Asians to speak of their relationship with nature, he said.

Moreover, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in its document "Contemplate" reminds consecrated men and women of the call to ecological conversion, he said.

"The new relationship with the natural environment, which the congregation describes as 'relational circularity,' calls for a new spirituality, one that is ecological and contemplative," Canilang said.

A sister watches the opening ceremony for the Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious XVII outside St. Mary's Cathedral in Yangon, Myanmar. (GSR photo / Gail DeGeorge)

Among other presentations, participants listened to best-selling Myanmar authorSayama Ju,whose novels and writings often focus on ecological themes. They heard from Caritas Myanmar about its work with ethnic populations and small farmers in encouraging sustainable crops and agricultural methods, as well as the organization's continued recovery for the thousands affected by a 2008 tropicalcyclone.

They visited a government-run agricultural research center that focuses in part on the development and use of organic fertilizers and seeds.

In his homily during closing Mass, Bo said participants should not fear taking on corporate giants and governments that would harm the environment.

"You are like David," he said. "You face the Goliath of governments, cronies, business interests who would like to mutilate our Earth, our mother, our sister. But be armed with conviction."

In a follow-up interview with GSR, Bo said in urging religious women and men to take on corporate and government interests, the needs of people who live in poverty and ethnic communities caught in the middle of conflicts over natural resources have to be a key concern.

Participants at the Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious XVII in Yangon, Myanmar, listened to a variety of presentations on environmental themes, including developing a deeper eco-spirituality. (GSR photo / Gail DeGeorge)

He hoped the AMOR conference would serve as inspiration for women and men religious to "be more outspoken regarding ecological issues and destruction of natural resources and deforestation, especially connected with armed groups and ethnic groups and military armed groups," he said. "More and more, we are trying to speak out, especially the religious as well as some of the bishops, for ecological justice and economic justice. These two things are linked together."

Yet amid the need for strategic planning, fundraising and other aspects of undertaking missions, he cautioned religious communities about losing their spiritual dimension and encouraged them to focus on people who live in poverty.

"Our biggest temptation today is to become an NGO," he said in his homily, underlining Francis' message for all religious "to return to simplicity."

Many participants took heart particularly that the conference was in Myanmar, itself a country emerging from 60 years of military rule and isolation.

Participants at the Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious XVII watch a demonstration on plant grafting at the Vegetable and Fruit Research and Development Center in Yangon, Myanmar. (GSR photo / Gail DeGeorge)

"We are coming from the area where we had war for many years and always feeling like we were the people who suffered," said Sr. Christa Mariathas of theHoly Familyprovince in Sri Lanka, a country that endured a 25-year civil war that ended in 2009. "Sometimes we become furious because we didn't have opportunities, but [Myanmar] is opening once again to be with other countries. We feel that we are the same and we can come out of our boundaries just to embrace all nature."

Several sisters told GSR that they were going to adopt practical means of furthering the recycling and ecological efforts of their communities.

Sr. Angelina Ng, a contemplativeCarmelitenun from Singapore, said her community has been doing a renovation project, and workers have strewn trash around the worksite. She said she would get recycling bins and start recycling materials from the site.

Others mentioned expanding gardens, using more organic fertilizers and undertaking more awareness-building at parishes and schools on the need to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Many say the meeting was important not only for the ecological message but for the opportunity to connect with women religious from other countries.

Participants at the Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious XVII visit the Vegetable and Fruit Research and Development Center in Yangon, Myanmar, to learn about the center's work on seeds, organic fertilizers and sustainable agriculture methods. (GSR photo / Gail DeGeorge)

"I love AMOR," said Sr. Maria Vianney Hoang Thi Diep, an Our Lady of the Missions sister in Vietnam. "I love the way we put energy together to find ways to become ecological citizens. That is new for me, to become an ecological citizen."

She said she plans to tell her sisters to be more aware of ecological sensitivities and raise awareness with those they work with.

"I also like the connection between contemplation, communion and mission," which was a focus of the meeting, she said.

"When you contemplate, you are one with God, and you feel God's love for oneself, and you can see the love of God is present in nature," she said. "When you have deeper communion with God, you can have deeper communion with self, with another and with nature. And then it links to mission to do something to care for others and do something to care for our Earth."

AMOR began in 1972 as a forum for women religious in Asia to meet every two to four years to focus on particular themes. This year, men for the first time were invited to attend, as a recognition of the broadness of the topic. Women religious will continue to organize AMOR, but men will continue to be invited to participate in future sessions. The next gathering will be in Indonesia or Bangladesh in 2021.

Sr. Lucy Zhang from Taiwan, left, and Sr. Mary Ma Suling of St. Therese of the Child Jesus from China talked during the Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious XVII, held Feb. 28-March 3 in Yangon, Myanmar. (GSR photo / Gail DeGeorge)

Sisters from different congregations and countries networked during meals and tea breaks. During an evening of entertainment, some performed impromptu songs from their countries, and all sang a united rendition of "Lord, We Thank You" in English.

The event and the participation pleased AMOR organizers.

"We became close with each other and shared how we are doing with our ministries, to share resources, share materials and whatever we come across in congregations," Maung told GSR.

Sr. Eden Panganiban, one of the event's facilitators, said she hadn't participated in previous AMOR gatherings and said she found the networking and interaction valuable. Yet follow-through is important so connections continue, she said.

Participants at the Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious XVII in Yangon, Myanmar (GSR photo / Gail DeGeorge)

"Part of the reawakening or rebirth would be that AMOR is to really take up a mission for Asia-Pacific on how consecrated women with the support of men could be a voice in the region," she said. "AMOR would have its own particular mission for that and become even a prophetic voice within the church structure."

A statement summarizing the theme and goals of the meeting was drafted and discussed. Participants received this version March 5:

[Gail DeGeorge is editor of Global Sisters Report. Her email address isgdegeorge@ncronline.org. Follow her on Twitter:@GailDeGeorge.]

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Australia dominate day one of Oceania Road Cycling Championships – Insidethegames.biz

Posted: at 3:31 am

Australia emphatically won all six gold medals in the time trial races on the opening day of the Oceania Road Cycling Championships in Canberra today.

Sean Lake retained his title in the men's elite time trial after storming to the gold medal, winning by nearly a minute.

The 25-year-old crossed the line in a time of 54 min 32.7sec after dominating the race around the 41 kilometres course.

Another Australian, Ben Dyball, took second in 55:25.4 while the podium was completed by New Zealands Hamish Bond, a two-time Olympic gold medallist rower, in 55:32.1.

Lucy Kennedy added a second gold medal for the hosts when she edged the women's elite race in a close battle, with the top three separated by just 17sec.

The 28-year-old completed the 25km course in 40:4.2, edging compatriot Rebecca Mackey, who took second place in 40:15.1.

An Australia one-two-three was then complete when Lisen Hockings crossed the line in third in 40:20.9.

"This is my first title and it feels like a nice reward for a lot of hard work," said Kennedy.

"Fourth place is hard to take, being so close to a podium.

"I was certainly hoping to make the podium this year and to take the win is extra special.

"The first half was much easier with a lot of downhill, but with such a tough return judging your pace is difficult.

"Conditions were great and a hilly time trial course suits me well so I took advantage of the climbs which I'm sure is where I made up time."

Australian dominance then filtered down to under-23 and under-19 categories.

A close battle saw Jaime Gunning snatch gold in women's under-23 race in a time of 41:6.3, just 1.4sec ahead of Mikayla Harvey of New Zealand.

Harvey was forced to settle for silver in 41:07.7 while she was joined on the podium by Madeline Park, also of New Zealand, who took bronze in 41:45.1.

Australia's Liam Magennis produced a stunning ride to win the under-23 men's crown, as he improved on his fourth place finish in 2016 to take the gold medal in 42:57.7.

Magennis was joined on the podium by fellow Australians Jason Lea and Cyrus Monk who took second and third, in 43:26.3 and 43:39.4, respectively.

In the under-19 women's time trial Australia's Maeve Moroney-Plouffe stormed to gold, covering the 14km course in 21:44.5, having claimed four medals at the Australian Track Championships last weekend in Brisbane.

Silver went to Libby Arbuckle of New Zealand in 21:55.4, 11sec behind Moroney-Plouffe, while Australia's Madeleine Fasnacht finished in third place in 21:58.0.

Sebastian Berwick completed today's Australian dominance when he claimed the under-19 men's title in 36:14.7.

Thomas Jones took silver in 36:53.2 with Mitchell Wright rounded off the top three in 37:09.2, completing another sweep of the podium for the Australians.

Tomorrow marks the start of the road races with all three women's races taking place.

The men's road races then bring the action to a close on Saturday (March 11).

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Seychelles holidays beneath the waves promoted in Italy – eTurboNews

Posted: at 3:31 am

The European Diving Show (Eudi) is largely attended by groups from the tourism and fishing industry including didactics, tour operators, diving centers, and aficionados of the underwater world.

The Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) took part in the in the most important national and European show for divers and diving cruises held in Bologna, Italy, as from March 3 to 5.

Around 32,000 visitors are recorded annually, and this year was no exception with many big sponsors of the event present such as Turkish Airlines, Canon, and GoCamera GoPro.

STB was represented by the Regional Manager for Italy, Monette Rose, partnered with tour operator, Albatros Top Boat, the most important tour operator that sells diving, which gave a share of its business to Seychelles during the fair in Bologna, Italy.

One corner of the stand was entirely dedicated to Seychelles and was a great chance to promote the beauty and underwater life of Seychelles to consumers and professionals in the maritime industry.

The tour operator advertised with dedicated brochures about cruises aboard MSY GALATEA and the diving experience in Seychelles in collaboration with Blue Sea Divers diving center.

STB representative, Monette Rose, also partnered with a new tour operator, Dont Stop Me Travel, based in Pomezia, which is strongly geared towards pushing Seychelles and its diving experience.

The Managing Director, Marco Benazz, along with Product and Sales Manager, Bernadette Romanati, who is a Seychellois and the former STB marketing executive based in Italy for several years, also moved fast in promoting the archipelago and organizing niche packages.

During the fair, not a chance was missed to broaden contacts and build essential relationships with key figures in the tourism and fishing industries.

Ms. Rose invited them to Seychelles for its underwater events such as the Underwater Photo Contest, which will take place in October on Praslin for diving, snorkeling, and underwater photography, being organized by Dont Stop Me Travel.

The fair closed with great success in terms of visitors and media coverage with many activities organized such as Eudi Movie, Eudi Selfie, workshops, and many VIP special guests such as Umberto Pellizzari.

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Royal Caribbean Set to Launch World’s Biggest Cruise Ship (Again) – Cond Nast Traveler

Posted: at 3:30 am

If you subscribe to the "bigger is better" mindset, your future cruise vacation plans just got seriously supersized. Mark your calendars for April 2018, when Royal Caribbean's new Symphony of the Seas (the fourth vessel in the line's Oasis class of ships) joins ranks with its current 25-ship fleet as the biggest cruise ship ever built.

The massive 18-deck, 5,494-passenger vesselmeasuring in at a whopping 230,000 gross tonswill swipe the title of "world's largest ship" from Royal Caribbean's 2016-debuted Harmony of the Seas , trumping that ship's dimensions by about 3,000 tons and 28 added staterooms. In addition to bringing aboard some of the cruise line's more popular innovationsincluding favorites like the robot bartender-helmed Bionic Bar , a seven-neighborhood shipboard concept, surf simulator, ice-skating rink, rock-climbing wall, waterfront AquaTheater, and several waterslides (like the 10-story-high Ultimate Abyss: the tallest slide at sea)the line has hinted at Symphony of the Seas unveiling some "revolutionary new firsts" all its own, though mum's the word on those specifics just yet.

Bookings are now open for Symphony of the Seas's inaugural year, which will kick off on April 21, 2018, with seven-night Mediterranean itineraries from Barcelona, calling on ports in Spain (at Palma de Mallorca), France (in Provence), and Italy (at Florence/Pisa, Rome, and Naples). Come early November, the ship will cross the Atlantic to Miami, where it will shift its offerings to a series of 7-night eastern and western Caribbean itineraries; the Symphony of the Seas will then remain homeported there for the remainder of 2017 and throughout 2018.

Surely, a ship of this magnitude deserves a terminal to match, which is why the line has also broken ground on a brand-new 170,000-square-foot facility to receive it upon its arrival in Miami. The cutting-edge, angular glass-designed PortMiami Terminal A is being touted by the line as "the most innovative cruise facility in the U.S." Set for completion in October 2018, the sparkling new terminal will welcome the Symphony of the Seas , along with its fellow Oasis-class sister ship Allure of the Seas (which is being relocated there from Ft. Lauderdale) in November 2018, where both ships are slated to offer a robust calendar of island-hopping Caribbean itineraries.

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Royal Caribbean Set to Launch World's Biggest Cruise Ship (Again) - Cond Nast Traveler

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Pirates of the Caribbean 5 International Trailer – Screen Rant – Screen Rant

Posted: at 3:30 am

DisneysPirates of the Caribbeanfranchise outlived the original trilogy which ended with a farewell to series regulars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, the original love interests thatsparked off this entire swash-buckling adventure. Despite the epic scope of the trilogy thatspanned the map and even dipped briefly off its edge, there was always a sense that this was merely a segue for Johnny Depps Captain Jack Sparrow.

His adventures were bound to carry on long after the trilogys narrative was over, andPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tidesdelivered on that front. Itwent on to show Jacks continued adventures, breathing life into the franchise with an impressive worldwide gross of over $1 billion. Its critical performance was less than spectacular however, with many suggesting that Disney scupper the franchise from then on.Six years later however, and the studio islooking to revitalise thePiratesfranchise once more, withPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

An explosive Super Bowl trailer for Pirates 5 was revealed, featuring Javier Bardem as the central antagonist, and teasing the return of several familiar faces, the most exciting of which was Orlando Bloom as the now-undead William Turner. An international trailer has since been released, condensing much of the footage into a shorter format. Take a look at the video above.

The trailer is a full minute shorter than the Super Bowl trailer, and unfortunately doesnt offer any glimpses of new footage. It actually cuts much of the Super Bowl trailers tense build-up, skipping fromwhat seems to be the flashback sequence featuring a young Captain Jack, to quick cuts of a variety of action set pieces: gunfights, chase sequences over rooftops, and naval warfare. The domestic trailer put much more emphasis on Kaya Scodelarios Carina Smyth, as the international trailer only focusses on her during the closing momentscomical throwback to Jacks first encounter with Elizabeth Swan in the firstPiratesmovie.

While it doesnt offer anything new for fans to chew on, the international trailer comes fresh off the back of a striking new poster featuring the chief protagonists lined up, as well as comments from co-director Joachim Rnning suggesting thatPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Talesmay not actually be the final film in the franchise. This muddies the water a little considering the billing of this movie as thefinal adventure, though the tagline was never confirmed to mean thatDead Men Tell No Taleswill be the closing chapter in the series. It was also unlikely that Disney would so easily let go of a multi-billion dollar franchise likePirates of the Caribbean,not whentheyre currently bankrolling some expensive movies like Avengers: Infinity War.

Source: Disney

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AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from Latin America, Caribbean – Charlotte Observer

Posted: at 3:30 am


Charlotte Observer
AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from Latin America, Caribbean
Charlotte Observer
In this Wednesday, March 8, 2017 photo, a woman covered in fake blood shouts slogans defending a women's right to have an abortion during protest marking International Women's Day in Brasilia, Brazil. Many women stayed home from work, joined rallies ...
IIDA 2017 Best Interiors of Latin America & the Caribbean CompetitionDexigner

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AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from Latin America, Caribbean - Charlotte Observer

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HGTV ‘Caribbean Life’ episode features Richmond family – Richmond.com

Posted: at 3:30 am

Leslie and Al Strickler of Richmond were featured on a recent episode of Caribbean Life, a house hunting reality show on HGTV.

The Stricklers were hunting for a tropical getaway for their family on the Caribbean island of Nevis.

They fell in love with the island when Al, owner of a medical equipment and technology company, was visiting on a business trip and Leslie, who owns her own communications firm, tagged along.

It was love at first sight, Leslie said by email. She added that their first view of the lush, green island surrounded by beaches with a volcanic mountain in the middle just took our breath away.

The Stricklers describe themselves as soon-to-be empty nesters, with their eldest daughter, Olivia, 21, in college, their son Harrison, 19, at boarding school, and their youngest, Maggie, 15, at St. Catherines School in Richmond.

Harrison is a leukemia survivor who helped create a family bike ride around Richmond called Tour de Harrison that helped raise more than $100,000 for pediatric cancer research.

On the show, the Stricklers were looking for a three-bedroom property with a budget of $500,000 to $700,000 where they could split their time between Richmond and the Caribbean.

There was an immediate feeling of connection to the island, Leslie said. Everything that happened to us was serendipitous. My intuition just said ... this feels right.

The episode was filmed in August. The family was visiting the island with their three children, who also make an appearance.

On the episode, the Stricklers take a family bike ride, where they mention Harrisons history as a leukemia survivor and the Tour de Harrison.

The episode is titled Finding Zen in Nevis. It first aired on HGTV on Sunday and can currently be watched On Demand.

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HGTV 'Caribbean Life' episode features Richmond family - Richmond.com

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