The 2019 HEAV Convention is shaping up to be one of the best ever–and how can it miss with this keynote speaker! Kirk Cameron has been a part of the national landscape since starring as Mike Seaver in the ABC hit sit-com, Growing Pains. That role turned him into a cultural icon in the 80s, […]
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Republicans and their Dear Leader have called climate change “the greatest hoax” of our time. Trump was asked yesterday if he had read the UN report on the dangers posed by climate change and he answered “Not yet” (translation: never), and he said, “who wrote it?” implying that it was probably from some hysterical scientists and he wouldn’t believe it if he read it. Which he won’t.
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes:
As Hurricane Michael rips through homes and communities, we send our sympathies to all those in its path, but let’s also review what some leading Florida residents have said about climate change.
“One of the most preposterous hoaxes in the history of the planet,” scoffed Rush Limbaugh of Palm Beach. Gov. Rick Scott’s administration went so far as to bar some agencies from even using the term “climate change,” according to the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (Scott denied this).
Myopic Floridians have plenty of company. President Trump dismissed climate change as a hoax “created by and for the Chinese.” Senator James Inhofe, a Republican of Oklahoma, “disproved” climate change by taking a snowball onto the Senate floor and noting that it was chilly outside; using similarly rigorous scientific methods, he wrote a book about climate change called “The Greatest Hoax.”
Alas, denying climate change doesn’t actually prevent it. North Carolina passed a law in 2012 prohibiting the use of climate science in certain state planning, yet that didn’t intimidate Hurricane Florence last month. And banning the words “climate change” isn’t helping Florida now.
Some folks will say this isn’t the moment for politics. But don’t we have a responsibility to mitigate the next disaster?
Consider that the three warmest years on record are the last three. And that the 10 years of greatest loss of sea ice are all in the last dozen years.
It’s true that we can’t definitively link the damage from any one hurricane (or drought or forest fire) to rising carbon emissions. But think of it as playing with loaded dice: A double six might have occurred anyway, but much less often.
“There is strong consensus among scientists who study hurricanes and climate that warming temperatures should make more intense hurricanes possible,” Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane expert at M.I.T., told me. He said that the probability of Hurricane Florence-magnitude rains in North Carolina has roughly tripled since the middle of the 20th century.
Flooding actually causes more hurricane deaths than wind, and climate change amplifies flooding in two ways. First, it raises the base sea level, on top of which a tidal surge occurs. Second, warmer air holds more moisture – about 10 percent more so far – and that means more rain.
Prof. Michael E. Mann of Penn State told me that Hurricane Michael should be a wake-up call. “As should have Katrina, Irene, Sandy, Harvey, Irma, Florence,” he added wryly. “In each of these storms we can see the impact of climate change: Warmer seas means more energy to intensify these storms, more wind damage, bigger storm surge and more coastal flooding.”
As recently as the early 2000s, there wasn’t much difference between the parties on climate policy, and Senator John McCain campaigned in 2008 as a leader in reducing carbon emissions. In 2009, Donald Trump joined other business executives in backing more action to address climate change.
Yet in the following years Al Gore helped make climate change a Democratic issue, and the Koch brothers helped make climate denial a litmus test of Republican authenticity. Tribalism took over, and climate skepticism became part of the Republican creed. So polls show that today climate denial is far greater in the United States, home to the greatest scientific research in the world, than in just about any other major country.
Trump says he will pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, and he had nothing substantive to say about a new United Nations report, which has been called a “deafening, piercing smoke alarm” of catastrophic consequences ahead from climate change.
Republicans are correct that all this is uncertain. But in every other context, we try to prevent threats that are uncertain, and it’s irrational for Trump to be obsessed with, say, Iran, when he seems indifferent to the prospect that we are collectively cooking our entire planet.
There are legitimate debates about the best way to reduce carbon emissions, and reason for skepticism that we will succeed. Carbon taxes would have to be very substantial to have a large impact, geoengineering is uncertain, and there will be painful trade-offs ahead.
We also should curb the dysfunctional National Flood Insurance Program, which encourages people to live in low-lying areas. One Mississippi home flooded 34 times in 32 years, resulting in payouts totaling almost 10 times what the home was worth.
But we’re not even having these debates.
I worry that television coverage in the coming days will be dominated by heroes on boats rescuing widows on rooftops. Yes, that human drama is riveting – but it doesn’t address the larger problem.
The way to tackle lung cancer wasn’t to celebrate heroic doctors treating patients in the cancer ward, while ignoring cigarette smoking, but rather to reduce cigarette use.
Climate change may be the most important issue we face, reshaping our children’s world. At some point, those calling “hoax” will fade away and we’ll reach a new consensus about the perils. But by then, it may be too late.
By Debra Shepperson with Relish Photography by Lee
1. Many couples fast before the wedding.
The wedding day is like a mini Yom Kippur (also known as the Day of Atonement that includes a ritual fast). Tradition states the couple’s past sins are forgiven on their wedding day. Many brides and grooms wear white clothing during this time as it is also a traditional color for Yom Kippur.
2. The bride and groom see each other before the wedding ceremony.
The ketubah (Jewish prenuptial) signing is completed before the couple walks down the aisle. It can either be done in private while the wedding guests gather for the ceremony or in front of guests.
3. The groom lowers the bride’s veil before the ceremony.
The groom looks at his bride before he covers her face with a veil to make sure she is indeed the woman that he intends to marry. The veiling also symbolizes the groom’s intention to marry the bride because he loves her for who she is and not just for her physical appearance.
4. The ceremony begins with circles.
Traditionally the bride circles the groom seven times to symbolically create a new family unit. Why seven times? There are seven days in a week, and the number seven signifies completeness and wholeness. In some communities, brides circle the groom three times instead of seven-or they do not circle at all. Some congregations have made egalitarian updates to the tradition; the bride circles the groom three times, the groom circles the bride three times, then the seventh circle is completed together.
5. The chuppah or wedding canopy.
The canopy can be made of a tallit (prayer shawl) or other cloth that is attached to four poles. The poles can either be secured in place, or they may be held by four people during the ceremony. The chuppah symbolizes the home that the couple will share during their marriage. It is open on all four sides to signify hospitality.
6. Seven blessings are read or chanted.
Called the Sheva B’rachot or “seven blessings,” this may either be read by the officiant or by other people whom you wish to honor.
7. Wedding rings are not placed on the left ring finger during the ceremony.
Instead, they are placed on the right index finger. They are switched to the left ring finger after the conclusion of the ceremony. In some communities, only the bride receives a ring under the chuppah. If she wants to give the groom a ring, she does so later.
8. The moment the bride receives her ring is the moment that the marriage is official.
The actual marriage takes place when the groom gives the bride an object of value (usually an unadorned metal ring) in front of two kosher witnesses.
9. The bride and groom share a cup of wine during the ceremony-twice.
They can either drink from the same cup both times or share from two different cups.
10. The groom breaks a glass.
At the end of the ceremony, the groom stomps on a glass. The shattering glass serves as a reminder of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. It also represents the concept that there is sorrow in the world even in our times of joy.
Debra Shepperson is Co-Owner of Relish Photography by Lee, a full-service wedding and portrait photography company. To learn more about the Relish wedding collections and services, please visit www.relishphotosbylee.com. Photos by Relish Photography by Lee.
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Peter Greene provides an excellent explanation of Amendment 8, which was thrown off the ballot this morning by a Florida judge.
The lawsuit against Amendment 8 was filed by the Florida League of Women Voters.
It will be appealed, so it is important for you to understand what Peter Greene explains in this post.
Jeff Bryant has paid close attention to the ongoing torrent of scandals surrounding charter schools, so of course he was astonished to see New York Times’ writer David Leonhardt acclaiming the “miracle” in New Orleans.
Bryant suspects this is but another example of Democratic centrists selling out those to their left, arguing for a DeVos’ style market-driven reform that disempowers ordinary people whose only power is their vote.
Leonhardt disdains elected school boards, like his fellow Reformers. He likes the market. But he claims that he is fact-based, when he ignores the facts that don’t fit his narrative. Leonhardt, he suggests, is a garden-variety neoliberal, willing to see a community robbed of its votes so that white kids can get the best schools and black kids get the D- and F-rated schools.
Bryant writes:
Ironically, the very next day after Leonhardt’s piece ran, an enormous charter school scandal came crashing to the ground on the opposite coast.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, an operator of a charter school chain in the city, who also served on the district’s school board, had to resign after pleading guilty to using his publicly funded charter school, including its employees (even the low-wage custodians), as a source of funding for his school board campaign, and then lying about it.
The day after, in Pennsylvania, a former head of an online charter school in the state was sentenced to serve 20 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the IRS, siphoning $8 million from the charter school he created to spend on houses, a plane, and other luxuries.
Revelations of these legal and ethical violations on the part of charter school operators are a near daily occurrence.
Yet proponents of charter schools refuse to acknowledge any problems posed by having publicly funded school operations left completely unregulated, bereft of transparency, and accountable only to the very narrow range of test scores they can mangage to produce by using intensive test prep and selective enrollment and pushing out of low performers.
Bryant adds:
In a ten-year retrospective on the New Orleans school reform model, Emma Brown wrote for The Washington Post, “Many community members feel that the city schools are worse off in ways that can’t be captured in data or graphs, arguing that parents have less voice than they once did and that the new system puts some of the neediest children at a disadvantage, especially those with disabilities or who are learning English as a second language.”
Today, over 20,000 children in New Orleans remain in D- and F-rated schools, based on state rankings, and schools are on a three-year slide, dropping 65 percent from 2014 to 2017. Most of the top-ranked schools are more than 50 percent white, and black students are far less likely to be taught by credentialed teachers, to attend schools ranked A or B, and to have access to advanced courses.
So evidence that charter schools have yielded academic gains in New Orleans or anywhere else are muddled at best. Nevertheless, establishment Democrats like Leonhardt argue charter school skeptics are the ones driven by ideology and twisting of facts.
There’s a reason for the desperate arguments promoted by Leonhardt and other charter school proponents.
Just as the general public supports progressive proposals for universal health care and minimum wage, surveys find that Americans have increased confidence in public schools while support for charter schools has dropped by double digit percentages among Democrats and Republicans.
Now there’s some facts for you.
If charters were as beneficent as Leonhardt says, we would expect to see dramatic charter gains in cities like Detroit and Milwaukee. But that hasn’t happened.
Last night, I woke at about 2 am, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. My head was filled with images of children torn from their mothers and fathers. Of children shipped to far-away cities. Of parents crying. Of children frightened and alone. Of babies in the care of strangers who don’t touch them. Of 6-year-olds, terrified and crying for their mothers. Children in cages.
I couldn’t fall asleep. I was tortured by the thoughts and images of the children and their weeping parents. Our government is doing this.
I was outraged by the decision of the Trump administration not to reunite children whose parents were criminals. Does the government have the right to steal the babies of criminals? When was that law passed?
I had a thought. A fantasy. Lock up the Secretary of Homeland Security until every child is reunited with their family.
Words can’t express my outrage at what our government is doing to families. What happened to family values? Maybe that’s reserved for native-born citizens. Maybe they didn’t mean it.
Some parents will never see their children again. They made the mistake of seeking refuge in our country.
Can we report the Trump administration to some international court? The Hague? Where do you go to register a complaint about human rights abuses committed by a nation?
By Nadia Anderson, CPA with Virginia Grace Event Management
Outdoor weddings are wildly popular in central Virginia, other locations in the South, and across the country. Outdoor venues that regularly host weddings may offer comparable services and pricing to indoor venues. However, having your wedding at a venue that wasn’t designed to host large gatherings may be costlier than you think. Before you sign a contract with an outdoor wedding venue, consider the total cost and be sure that it fits within your spending plan. These are a few big-ticket items that may influence your venue choice.
RENTALS AND STRUCTURES
Does the venue provide tables, chairs, linens, or basic décor items like vases for flowers or floating candles? Is there a focal point that exists on the grounds or will you have to build an arch or an arbor to create a backdrop for your ceremony? Increase your budget to allow for the items that you will have to borrow or build.
POWER
Wedding music and entertainment, catering, and lighting all require an electrical source. The requirements of your specific vendors will dictate how much power you’ll need, but don’t forget to ask the venue its plan for getting you connected and whether or not you’ll have to bring in a generator.
BATHROOMS
The county dictates the number of toilets that are required based on occupancy regulations. Check with the venue to be sure they have enough bathrooms to service your guest count. Be sure to compare the cost of a luxury bathroom trailer to a series of port-a-johns. You may discover it’s worth the upgrade to ensure the comfort of your guests.
TRANSPORTATION
Ask the venue about parking restrictions and the number of spaces that are available to ensure there are enough to accommodate your guest list. Also, be sure that you’re aware of how far the parking lot is from the actual ceremony or reception location on the grounds of the venue. You may consider providing group transportation from the hotel or golf carts to assist older guests and those with physical limitations to help them make it safely to the wedding.
NOISE ORDINANCE
Be aware of the sound ordinance in the city or county where you’re getting married. It will only cost you research time to be sure that your contracted band or DJ is in compliance with the noise regulations. Trust us, you’d rather spend that time than pay a fine.
Nadia S. Anderson is a CPA, certified wedding and event planner, the owner of Virginia Grace Event Management, and the preferred planner for three venues in Richmond, Virginia. To learn more about how her team can help you create stress-free wedding memories, please visit http://www.vagraceevents.com.
The post Outdoor Wedding Costs to Consider appeared first on Richmond Weddings.
Happy Mother’s Day! There are tons of great ways to share some quality time with your family this weekend. Kids can browse this Homeschool Classroom for awesome gift ideas and recipes to help make this Mother’s Day special. Connect…
Meredith and Taylor
November 11, 2017
How They Met
Meredith and Taylor met in their high school homeroom in 1998. Taylor sat in front of Meredith all four years, and they were always friends and enjoyed chatting together. But when they graduated, they went their separate ways, Meredith to Virginia Tech and Taylor to Christopher Newport University. They both found themselves back in Richmond in August of 2015. Meredith explains, “We both were at the BrewBQ Festival down at the 17th Street Market. We started talking and the rest is history.”
The Proposal
Taylor asked Meredith to be his wife on December 27, 2016. “We loved going to Pony Pasture with our two dogs, Millie and Ellie.” They would go there quite often and honestly, Meredith had a feeling that Taylor would propose somewhere outside and by the river. For about a month, every time they went to the river, Meredith would try and look extra cute, just in case he decided to pop the question. But on that morning, Meredith rolled out of bed and didn’t think about what she looked like. Little did she know, she was about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Taylor popped the question at their favorite spot with their dogs in tow, and Meredith said, “Yes!” Bedhead and all.
The Details
“We both attended the same church, Second Baptist, growing up. Taylor and I were even both baptized by the same preacher and pastor, Dr. Spence.” The church was a special place for both the newlyweds and their families. Dr. Spence even came out of retirement to marry them!
Meredith’s wedding ring, an heirloom passed down from her great-grandmother, was the main inspiration for the decor. “We wanted a shabby chic/vintage look. Traditions and family are both very important to us and that was how it began.” Thanks to Pinterest, and the help of her second-graders which she teaches, Meredith found the perfect color scheme. They chose navy, blush, gold, and gray complimenting their decor perfectly. For their florals, they used white hydrangeas with ranunculus and natural gray brunia.
The couple chose The Country Club of Virginia, James River for their reception because they wanted to be both inside and outside. Also, there was the added plus of being on a golf course, which Taylor has loved all his life. “We wanted a memorable ceremony, but we also wanted the guests to feel like they were at a party!” And with the help of the band, their guests were dancing and eating all night long.
Favorite Part of the Day
“My favorite part of the day was being surrounded by all of our friends and family at the church. I absolutely loved the ceremony and those special moments with Taylor.” Taylors favorite part? The moment the church doors opened and he saw his future bride for the first time. The two, who are admittedly not very good at keeping secrets from each other, opted to not have a first look, instead, they saved it for the aisle.
Biggest Challenge
“The hardest part of us was the guest list! Both being local, and having all our friends and family be so important to us, it was VERY difficult!”
Best Piece of Advice
“Enjoy the planning process and combining your family and friends. Do take time for dates and try not to focus on the wedding all of the time!”
The post Real Richmond Wedding: Meredith and Taylor’s Vintage Chic Wedding appeared first on Richmond Weddings.
Our very own blog poet has written a wonderful new poem.
“Jabbertalky” (after Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll, of course)
“Twas brillig, and the billionaires
Did lie and dissemble in the press
All flimsy were Deformer wares
And the charter rats did nest
“Beware the Jabbertalk my son!
The Cores that bite, the tests that catch!
Beware the Coleman bird, and shun
Felonius charters, natch!”
“He took his opt-out sword in hand:
Long time Deformer foe he sought –
So rested he by the Knowledge tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
”And, as in peaceful thought he stood,
The Jabbertalk, with eyes of flame,
Came bumbling through the teaching wood,
And burbled as it came!
“One, two! One, two! And through and through
The opt-out blade went snicker-snack!
He left test dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And, has thou slain the Jabbertalk?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.
“Twas brillig, and the billionaires
Did lie and dissemble in the press
All flimsy were Deformer wares
And the charter rats did nest”
TheBestRichmond 