Our Father, God in heaven, is the ruler over all the earth and as His children, adopted into His royal family through our faith in Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, we are all royal heirs to all of God’s promises.
We were designed by our creator to be the glory of men and the mothers of all living things.
At the end of creation, we were the final “cherry on top” as I’d like to say to the problem of loneliness in mankind.
Why, I repeat, why have so many of us women allowed ourselves to fall from that place of honor and esteem?
It grieves me to see women hiding in the shadow of their churches, shamed and saddened by secrets that they wish they could conceal from their past.
Christian women should be restored to their place of wholeness. Their place of dignity, quality and honor before God so that their testimony may be a true blessing and will draw all women back to the Lord.
Unfortunately, many Christian women are still hiding, still carrying heavy baggage’s of hurt, fear, guilt and shame.
They go about their daily routine concealing their true royal identity, pretending not to notice their filthy condition.
Their light isn’t shining, and no one can see the Queen within them whom their Father created them to be.
All signs of their royal inheritance have been covered with the degradation of abuse, mistakes and unfortunate incidents that happened sometime in their lives.
Love works like a magnet since everyone wants to be loved. Jesus shared a big secret with His disciples-the secret to winning more souls for Him. When Christians love one another, anyone who sees them will want to join them because everyone is looking for love.
When they find it, they will want to stay there. This is the very thing the enemy hates!
The devil and his cohorts of darkness will do everything possible to put confusion in the midst of those who love one another. This is why the church should be on the look out to identify the strategies of the devil when members who once loved begin to do otherwise.
The devil will want to use talebearers, backbiters, and critics to cause love in the church to fade away. These groups should be identified and prayed for as well as counseled so that the love in the church can remain active.
Charity within the church must also be encouraged as it encourages kindness. When we back up our love with action, those in the world will find it easy to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
How do You identify Yourself?
How do you identify yourself? Are you just a boy or girl, or do you see yourself as a Queen or King?
Your gender identity is a deep-seated, internal sense of who you are as a gendered being. It is the gender with which you identify yourself.
The National Geographic(www.nationalgeographic.com) has done research on what’s being called the “gender revolution”.
Some people identify themselves as LGBTQ an acronym used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer individuals in our community.
Affirming pronouns however or the most respectful and accurate pronouns for a person as defined by that person.
It’s best to ask which pronouns a person uses to avoid offenses.
Gender Identity in Children
Once young children learn to talk, most will declare a gender identity, boy or girl, that aligns with their biological sex.
According to research drawn from www.HealthyChildren.org around two years old, children become conscious of the physical differences between boys and girls.
By age four, most children have a concrete sense of their gender identity.
During this same time of life, children learn gender-role behavior-that is, doing “things that boys do” or “things that girls do” when they choose toys, clothes, activities or friends.
There are many paths to becoming a woman or a man.
The History of Miss Universe
In 1952, Catalina established the current Miss Universe as we know it. The first competition was in Long Beach, California. It was an instant hit.
Armi Kuusela of Finland was the first winner. Before her reign was over, she had to give up her title to get married to a Filipino tycoon, Virgilio Hilario
The Miss Universe beauty pageant has come a long way since 1952, but its ethos has remained the same:
Finding the most beautiful woman in the entire universe.
Who was Catriona Gray, Miss Universe 2018?
According to Rappler.com, The Miss Universe 2018 coronation night on December 17, 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand saw fan favorite, the Philippines’ own Catriona Gray bringing home the coveted crown.
Catriona Gray, succeeds 2017 titleholder Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa, and is the fourth Filipina to wear the crown. Even before her pageant run, she has been advocating for HIV/AIDS awareness, and education, particularly for impoverished youth.
Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
Anton Ego, in Pixar’s Ratatouille
It is becoming more and more evident that group creativity is becoming more and more necessary.
We now live in a world of very complex and global challenges. Many of the most important and pressing issues exceed the capacity and capability of one individual.
As a result, it is clear that in order to find solutions, collaboration with other people has become increasingly necessary.
Concepts of Intelligence
Most of us grew up with a concept of intelligence based on the traditional IQ test. The IQ test was originated by Alfred Binet (1857-1911) to measure, objectively, comprehension, reasoning and judgement.
Alfred Binet was motivated by a powerful enthusiasm for the emerging discipline of psychology and a desire to overcome the cultural and class prejudices of the late nineteenth-century France in the assessment of children’s academic potential.
The Past vs. The Present
The Past
Research indicates that many studies in different fields were done by single individuals who made significant strides and produced inventions, works of art, formulas, and other various pursuits.
A great example of a man that history has crowned as one of the “Great Renaissance Men” was Leonardo Da Vinci.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, military engineer and draftsman — the epitome of a true Renaissance man. He is famously known for paintings like “The Last Supper” and “Mona Lisa,” and for inventions like a flying machine.
Gifted with a curious mind and a brilliant intellect, Leonardo da Vinci studied the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work. His drawings, paintings and other works have influenced countless artists and engineers over the centuries.
Mona Lisa
In 1503, da Vinci started working on what would become his most well-known painting — and arguably the most famous painting in the world —the “Mona Lisa.” The privately commissioned work is characterized by the enigmatic smile of the woman in the half-portrait.
The Present
The best research now emerges from groups and many science papers are co-authored, many works of art-creatively collaborated among individuals, even recent inventions and great ideas bear testament to the “great minds” behind them all.
Why is this you may ask? The reason is simple: many of the biggest problems that we need to solve now require the expertise of many people from different backgrounds who can bridge the gap between each discipline.
Creative Thinking and Accelerated Learning
Michael J. Gelb is a world-renowned innovator in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning and leadership development. He is also the author of How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci- Seven steps to Genius Every Day.
In his book, he states that at the time of the IQ test conception, the concept was considered a breakthrough, however, contemporary research now shows two significant flaws.
Flaw 1
The idea that intelligence is fixed at birth and immutable (unchanging overtime or unable to be changed).
He believes that although individuals are endowed genetically with more or less talent in a given area, researchers such as Buzan, Machado, Wenger and many others have shown that IQ scores can be raised significantly through appropriate training. Yeah!!
Flaw 2
The second weakness is the idea that the verbal and mathematical reasoning skills measured by IQ test (and SATs) are the sine qua nons ( an essential condition; a thing that is absolutely necessary) of intelligence.
Managing and Growing your Creative Dreams
How Management relates to growth
One of the most powerful things about growing your creative dreams is that growth requires management. This especially applies to you if you plan on making your creative dreams public or bringing it to the marketplace.
The manager part of you is different from the creative worker part of you. The creative worker only knows how to physically work directly on the creative dream. It’s the part that sews, paints, sings, dance, write or physically does something.
The manager part of you is the one who looks ahead, designs a system, or hires assistant for the creative worker.
Growth involves change, focus and strategy. Growth isn’t necessarily good if the system that supports that growth is faulty or becomes strained.
Also remember that growth in business doesn’t always match human growth.
Camana Bay
Farmers & Artisans Market
As a vibrant town center constantly growing, Camana Bay is a must-visit for international visitors and locals alike. This event, taking place on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., will allow for 40 local vendors to showcase and sell a mix of their produce, local specialty food items and artisanal and craft products.
CAMANA BAY
A destination within a destination, Camana Bay is a vibrant town located in the heart of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory.
Situated on 685 acres between Seven Mile Beach and the North Sound, this mixed-use master-planned community is one of the first examples of New Urbanism in the Caribbean.
Developed by Dart Real Estate, Camana Bay offers more than 650,000 square feet of commercial office and retail space as well as 63 luxury apartments available for long-term lease, public spaces for all to enjoy, world-class shopping and dining, as well as family-friendly entertainment, events and attractions.
Another part of managing and growing your creative dreams is assembling a team to help you. We form teams all the time without calling it that. The dictionary states that a team is: “A group of people working or playing together as a unit”.
Did you also know that families are a kind of team? Growing creative dreams calls for us to form teams because we can create more in a community than we can by ourselves.
When you make a creative dream real, it is then separate from you and needs support in order to grow.
A team is an excellent kind of support, and the right kind of team is the best type of support.
Marketing
Growing your creative dreams may involve marketing. If you are at a public stage with your creative dreams and wish to share it with more people, you will need to know something about marketing.
If you choose to involve your creative dreams in the world of trade and commerce, use some of your energy to become informed about what that means.
Marketing Essentials by Michael Ferrier
It can be extremely exciting and rewarding to share your creative dreams with the world and receive compensation in the form of money.
You can then use that money to fund more creative dreams.
Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney World
Types of Success
Success can: • Isolate or remove you from friends or familiar things • Distort your values • Overwhelm you • Cause you to quit your creative dream
The dictionary defines success as: “The gaining of position, fame, wealth, achievement or satisfaction.
Tyler Perry
Success however is not the answer or the solution, but part of a greater system. Your response to and management of your success is pivotal in nourishing yourself and your creative dreams.
Success can also: • Expand and accelerate your creative dream • Cause you to choose to be apart of a team • Bring you in contact with wonderful people and things • Assist you in making your other creative dreams real • Support other people’s creative dreams • Activate brand-new creative dreams
Success can also activate arrogance, egotism and entitlement.
Teachers and Mentors
We can be self-taught and taught by others. Teachers can appear in books, videos, films or by our experiences.
Micheal Jackson
Michael Jackson ruled the 80’s so dominantly, it’s easy to forget that the adorable pre-teen Jackson was a Motown sensation in the 70’s.
A child prodigy with cheerful charisma and natural dance talent, he led his band of brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon.
With four singles hitting the top of the Billboard charts, the Jackson 5 were among the first black groups to appeal to a racially diverse audience. With hits like “ABC” and “I Want You Back,” Jackson established his path to global stardom.
So remember, being teachable is important. We can need or want to learn, yet be essentially unteachable. If we are stubborn, or unwilling to listen or change, we can be unteachable.
However we receive teachings, our creative dreams will benefit from learning.
A Mentor
A Mentor is already doing/living something you want to do or live. I’ve learnt that the mentoring process is both a practical and alchemical process.
Practical, because you can imitate or practice what he or she has done and apply it to your own life.
Alchemical, because his or her energy and your energy merge and change both of you.
Mentors can mentor very briefly or over a lifetime. It is a gift that continues to give throughout generations.
Pyramids at Giza
Multiple Intelligences
In his modern classic, Frames of Mind (1983), psychologist Howard Gardner introduced the theory of multiple intelligences, which concluded that each of us contain at least seven measurable intelligences.
And guess what else I learnt? In Gardner’s later work with his colleagues (another prime example of group effort), they catalogued twenty-five different sub-intelligences. Wow!
Let me add my own intelligence to the following prime examples (7 being a prime number after all. Get it? Lol!).
Seven Types of Intelligences and Genius Exemplars other than Leonardo da Vinci
Meaning of Genius Exemplar: 1 : extraordinary intellectual power especially as manifested in creative activity. 2 : a person endowed with transcendent mental superiority specifically : a person with a very high IQ.
7 Types of Intelligences
• Interpersonal/Social- Queen Elizabeth I, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi • Musical- Mozart, George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald • Verbal/Linguistic- William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Jorge Luis Borges • Logical/Mathematical- Stephen Hawkins, Isaac Newton, Marie Cutie • Spatial/Mechanical- Michelangelo, Georgia O’Keeffe, Buckminster Fuller • Interpersonal (self-knowledge)- Viktor Frankl, Thich Nhat Hanh, Mother Teresa • Bodily/Kinesthetic- Morihei Ueshiba, Muhammad Ali, F.M. Alexander
The theory of multiple intelligences are now accepted widely and when combined with the realization that intelligence can be developed throughout life, offers a powerful inspiration for aspiring Renaissance men and women.
The patent system is the oldest form of intellectual property right. Since its development, the concept has been featured in many of the world’s major political upheavals.
Testimony of this fact can be traced back as far as the late Middle ages where the element of monopoly conferred upon the holder of a patent has at least the potential to provide very significant economic benefits.
Brunelleschi’s Dome: The story of the Great Cathedral of Florence
Brunelleschi’s Dome
The first recorded patent was issued in Florence in the fifteenth century. According to the 5th Edition of Information Technology Law by Ian J. Lloyd, Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect of Florence’s remarkable cathedral won the world’s first patent for a technical invention in 1421.
Filippo Brunelleschi was a classic man of the Renaissance: tough-minded, multi-talented and thoroughly self-confident. He claimed he had a new means of conveying goods up the Arno River (he was intentionally vague on the details), which he refused to develop unless the state kept others from copying his design.
Florence complied and Brunelleschi walked away with the right to exclude all new means of transport on the Arno River for three years.
When adopted in England, the purpose of the patent system was somewhat different. Unlike Brunelleschi’s patent, the technology covered by the patent was new to the country rather than new in itself.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the system fell increasingly into disrepute because unfortunately the system was frequently being used to boost the Royal revenues by conferring a monopoly in respect to basic commodities for a fee.
It was another hundred years however, before it was settled that in return for the award of a patent, the inventor was required to specify details of the manner in which the invention functioned and not until the enactment of the Patent Act 1902 that even a rudimentary form of examination of the patent applications was made with a view to establishing novelty.
In recent United kingdom statutes, it has been made absolutely clear that the element of invention is critical for any award and that a balance is to be struck whereby in return for putting details of the manner in which the invention functioned into the public arena, the inventor is to receive a temporary monopoly in respect of its exploration.
Description of the Modern System
The basic theory of the patent system is simple and reasonable. It is desirable in the public interest that industrial techniques should be improved. In order to encourage improvement, and to encourage the disclosure of improvements in preference to their use in secret, any person devising an improvement in a manufactured article, or in machinery or methods for making it, may upon disclosure of the improvement at the Patent Office demand to be given a monopoly in the use for a period of years.
After that period it passes into the public domain, and the temporary monopoly is not objectable, for if it had not been for the inventor who devised and disclosed the improvement nobody would have been able to use it at that or any other time, since nobody would have known about it.
Furthermore, the giving of the monopoly encourages the putting into practice of the invention, for the only way the inventor can make a profit from it (or even recover the fees for his/her patent) is by putting it into practice, either by using it themselves, and deriving an advantage over their competitors from its use, or by allowing others to use it in return for royalties.
United Kingdom’s Patent System- Patent Act 1977
Today the United Kingdom patent system is based primarily on the Patent Act 1977. This statute was enacted in part to reform and update the United Kingdom law relating to patents but also in order to bring domestic law into conformity with the provisions of the European Patent Convention, opened for signature in 1973, which provides for a measure of harmonization in matters of substance and procedure amongst signatory statutes.
There is no doubt that inventiveness is a key requirement of the patent system, what has been more debatable has been the application of the system to soft-ware related inventions. these are innovations where novelty resides primarily or exclusively in software components.
Concerns:
1 Does the software developments fit conceptually into the industrial nature of the system?
2 Does the library and related resources exist to allow claim to novelty to be adequately assessed?
Patents in the International Arena
According to the 5th Edition of thew Information Technology Law by Ian J. Lloyd, the patent systems tended to be found only in the developed world. However, since the introduction of the World Trade Organization (WTO), it has resulted in many more countries introducing systems of patent protection.
The oldest international instrument is the Paris Convention, an instrument signed by ninety-six states, including all of the major industrial states. This provides that the submission of an application in one signatory state will serve to establish priority for the applicant in the event that equivalent applications are submitted in other signatory states within twelve months.
Although such a facility is of considerable value for inventors, the practical problems involved in obtaining patent protection on anything like a worldwide basis are immense, and a number of subsequent agreements have sought to ease the task facing applicants.
For a good description of the history of the United Kingdom Patent System, see the Patent Office Website at:
The Convention was first opened for signatory on the 20th March 1883, with the most recent revision occurring in Stockholm in 1968.
Intellectual Property in GATTS and WTO
Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade has provided a legal mechanism for international trade. Reform to the system in the 1990’s brought service into the international agreement for the first time and also introduced provisions relating to the intellectual property rights.
The Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Protocol, which was adopted in 1994, entered into force on the 1st January 1995. For more information on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) requirements and signatures to make patents, visit:
A patent may be awarded in respect of an invention. The invention may relate either to a new product or to a novel process (perhaps Blockchain Technology?).
The Patents Act 1977 does not define the word ‘invention’, but it does specify attributes that any invention must possess. These require that:
Software-related inventions can be patented. In the United Kingdom, approximately 100 patent applications in their name are published each year. In proceedings before the European Patent Office, this figure rises to 100 per month.
The report of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology on Patents, research and Technology indicates that in the last 10 years the (EPO) European Patent Office has granted around 10,000 patents for software-related inventions, and has refused only 100 applications.
In 2003, it was estimated that up to 30,000 software patents had been issued by the European Patent Office, although, in part because the existence of the statutory prohibitions requires that software-related inventions be cataloged by reference to their field of application rather than the software component.
Matters excluded from patent protection
In addition to defining the elements that most be found in an invention, the Patents Act 1977 lists a number of features which will not qualify for the grant of a patent.
Section 1(2) which mirrors Article 52 of the European Patent Convention, provides that patent are not to be awarded for:
A discovery, scientific theory or mathematical method (I wonder if STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math is included?)
A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation whatsoever;
A scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, or a program for a computer; or
Over the past few centuries, a certain ideal has become very popular: that of the intelligent person.
In traditional schools, the intelligent person would master classical languages and mathematics.
Gifted Children
In a business setting, the intelligent person would anticipate commercial opportunities, take measured risks, build up an organization, and keep the books balanced and the stockholders satisfied all at the same time.
Kind of like a Renaissance Person. (Lol!) or maybe a Supercomputer!!!
Supercomputers
I was highly stimulated by my most recent research on Supercomputers. Guess what I found out? Supercomputers and mainframes are not competing solutions as you might think!
Quantum Computers vs. Supercomputers vs. Mainframes
Supercomputers vs. Mainframes
Both Supercomputers and mainframes address a particular type of need. The difference between supercomputers and mainframes is best described as follows:
Mainframes – Computing power used to perform billions of small transactions. Wow!
Supercomputers – Used for focusing on solving a single big problem. Hhmm..very interesting.
When it comes to measuring how powerful supercomputers are, a unit of measurement referred to as “floating-point operations per second” or “flops” is used.
Apparently, the authority when it comes to keeping track of who has the fastest computer is the TOP500 project.
Ever since 1993, TOP 500 has been using the Linpack benchmark to measure relative performance among supercomputers to determine who has the fastest computer. The list they produce every six months contains the top-500 computers in the world, along with some really interesting metrics. See the diagram below:
We can see that the fastest computer in the world is the Sunway TaihuLight, one of the greatest sources of Chinese national pride after the giant panda. With a ridiculous price tag of $273 million. Lol!
The TaihuLight is built entirely on Chinese engineered semiconductors as part of a program to decrease China’s reliance on foreign technology.
Countries with the most Supercomputers
When it comes to the country with the most supercomputers, the USA and China are now in a dead heat when measured by total GFlops (251 million vs. 235 million) and by number of machines (168 vs. 160).
Please also note that 88% of the computing power in the TOP 500 list is owned by just 10 companies:
Supercomputers vs Quantum Computers
When quantum computers are complete, they will be expected to work on the same sort of problems that supercomputers work on today – everything from designing better airplanes to discovering new drug molecules, to assisting people with their love life! Lol!
Let’s talk about Money
The Bible gives a prime example of the stewardship of money in the book of Luke,
20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.
21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them,
25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
26 They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.
Wow!
The Ideal Human Being (Renaissance Man/Woman)
Every society features its ideal human being. The ancient Greeks valued the person who displayed physical or athletic agility, rational judgment, and virtuous behavior (good luck with the last point!) Lol!
The Romans highlighted manly courage, and the followers of Islam prized the holy soldier.
Under the influence of Confucius, Chinese populations traditionally valued the person who was skilled in poetry, music, calligraphy, archery, and drawing.
I was even fascinated to discover that even among the Keres tribe of the Pueblo Indians today, the person who cares for others is held in high regard. That’s my favorite and most encouraging! Maybe I’ll try for that one!
The Symbol Analyst and the Master of Change
Fast forward to the 21st Century where a premium has now been placed on two new intellectual virtuoso’s or types of prodigies: the “symbol analyst” and the “master of change”.
Symbol Analyst
According to my studies, a symbol analyst can sit for hours in front of a string of numbers and words, usually displayed on a computer screen, and readily discern meaning in that maze of symbols.
This person can then make reliable, useful projections.
Cool!
Master of Change
On the other hand, a master of change readily acquires new information, solves problems, forms “ties or partnerships” with mobile and highly dispersed people, and adjusts easily to changing circumstances.
Even cooler!
It should also be noted that those charged with guiding a society or community have always been on the look out for intelligent young people.
Intelligence and Family
In the late nineteenth century, Frances Galton, who was one of the founders of modern psychological measurements, thought that intelligence ran in the family.
Based on that assumption, he looked for intelligence in the offspring of those who occupied leading positions in the British society.
However around 1870, he began to devise and create more formal tests for intelligence, ones consistent with the emerging view of the human mind as a subject for measurement and experimentation.
Now in today’s modern world we have countless people avidly pursuing the best ways of defining, measuring, and nurturing intelligence.
Alfred Binet was a psychologist who was commissioned by the French Government to devise an objective method for identifying children who were not doing well in school.
He designed the first comprehensive intelligence test in the early 20th century.
Then later on in 1916, Lewis Terman and his colleagues at Stanford University revised Binet’s test for use in the United States, resulting in the administered test gaining wide acceptance during the 1940s and 1950s.
From there, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was introduced and is still widely used. (Fourth Edition SB-IV).
IQ = MA/CA X 100
I was also intrigued to find out that as time progressed test researchers developed a formula for expressing a child’s intellectual level that made it possible to compare children of different chronological ages (CA), which apparently are expressed in how old in years and months the children are.
This measurement was called the intelligence quotient (IQ) and is defined as follows: IQ = MA/CA X 100
The computation of IQ made it possible to understand how a child’s intellectual ability compared to that of peers of the same chronological age. However, there were problems with this ratio approach to IQ and now IQ is assessed using the deviation IQ approach.
This approach assigns an IQ score by comparing an individual’s test score with the scores of other people of the same age range.
David Wechsler is primarily known for developing this technique and was applied to IQ tests that both he and his colleagues developed.
The test for early childhood is the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, or WPPSI.
The test for childhood and adolescence is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or WISC and the test for adulthood is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale or WAIS (“wace”).
An individual who takes any of these tests obtains a score that is compared statically to the scores of other people of the same age.
The Wechsler IQ test is widely used although there are many other intelligence tests being used.
IQ is assumed to be normally distributed around an average score of 100, with about 2/3 of the general population scoring between 85 and 115 and almost 96% of the population scoring between 70 and 130.
That leaves roughly 2% of the population scoring below 70 and another 2% scoring above 130, which is a popular cutoff point for defining giftedness.
Liberal Education, the University and the Truly Educated Person
The Board of Governors of the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) made history in June 2018 when it announced the appointment of the institution’s first Vice President and Provost, Dr. Livingston Smith.
It is quite fashionable for the new student, just entering university, to have the view that making lots of money is the imperative of education and so begins to focus on what he or she is to do, rather than who he or she is to become. A fixation on specialization as the key to this end may cause that student to miss out on an education. It may turn out that study gets in the way of education.
For the typical college student, a specialty such as accounting, computing, economics or marketing is pretty straightforward, but why, in addition, courses in literature, history, philosophy, psychology, etc.
Getting to see beyond mere specialization is the challenge of liberal education. The view that the education process should develop the person not just as a businessman, farmer or physician – but as a human being – is easily sidelined, especially in the context of globalization and the urgent need for ‘belt-tightening measures’ even in education
In lean times, the humanities come into question and so areas like languages, the arts history, cultural studies, philosophy and religion are usually hardest hit. The ‘idealistic’ notion that critical thinking, civic and historical knowledge and ethical reasoning, areas the humanities especially develop, are necessary for effective participation in a free democracy regardless of career choice, becomes sidelined for the ‘urgent’ and the ‘now’.
And, yet, the purpose of education must be to prepare the student to think, to adapt, to be creative, especially knowing that job skills learnt today soon become irrelevant. A liberal education is vital.
A liberal education is one that ensures that a person becomes more than a specialist or technician. It is education that takes the long-range view and so concentrates on what shapes a person’s understanding and values, rather than on what he can use in one or two of the changing roles he might later play. As Marshall Gregory says in his article ‘A liberal Education Is Not A luxury’ published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept.12, 2008, students overriding concern should be how to develop as fully as possible their basic human birthright: their powers of imagination, aesthetic responsiveness, introspection, language, rationality, moral and ethical reasoning, physical capacities and so on.
Liberal education focuses on developing the students as fully as possible as human beings, as human persons, reflective, thinking beings and as responsible agents thus ensuring that a person becomes more than a specialist or technician. It trains but it also educates.
In explaining its devotion to a liberal education, Yale University says ‘At Yale you are required to learn broadly and deeply. Depth is covered in your major. Breadth is covered in three study areas: the Humanities and the Arts; the Sciences, and the Social Sciences and three skill areas: writing, quantitative reasoning, and a foreign language.”
Yale University Website – Fareed Zakaria in his excellent book on the subject – In Defence of a Liberal Education, says that “A Liberal Arts education teaches you how to write, how to speak your mind, and how to learn, immensely valuable tools no matter your profession.
Technology and education are actually making these skills even more valuable as routine mechanical and even computational tasks can be done by machines or workers in low wage countries.”
‘Students are clamouring for degrees that will help them secure jobs in a shifting economy, but to succeed in the long term, they’ll require an education that allows them to grow, adapt and contribute as citizens. And this is why many schools are shaking up their curricula to ensure that undergraduate business majors receive something they may not even know they need – a rigorous liberal arts education.” The Atlantic, June 28, 2016.
“Business majors seem to be graduating with some of the technical skills they’ll need to secure their jobs, but without having made the gains in writing or critical skills they’ll require to succeed over the course of their careers, or to adapt as their technical skills become outdated and the nature of the opportunities they have shifts over time.” Yoni Applebaum – Business Majors and the Liberal Arts, June, 2016.
Because by our very nature, human beings desire to know, the first task of liberal education is to fan the spark and ignite the natural inquisitiveness. Arthur Holmes, in one of my favorite books on education, The Idea of a Christian College, explains that if the mind is to be formed, the imagination stretched, the vision enlarged, the intellectual powers sharpened, then courses in reading and writing are mandatory.
With reading, he explains, comes the gaining of input, the fertilization of imagination, conceptualization, and evaluation. To write trains one to become articulate, to express, to expound, to argue, to explore relationships, to have a sense of the whole.
Friendships, marriage, family, work, recreation, political involvement, social action, technology, etc, requires understanding and right values. These all need reflection informed not only by the natural and social sciences, but also by the insight and sensitivity about human affairs which the humanities afford.
So values and facts must be taught together. The student must be exposed to ethics, to social problems, to aesthetics and to the logical structure of value judgments.
In modern societies, career mobility, rather than a job held for a long time, is critical. Career preparation, therefore, requires large understandings, rich personal qualities and lasting values. A liberal education contributes greatly to this. It does this by attention to thinking and values and by its emphasis on breadth of education
These underlie the understanding of management processes; historical perspectives on sociopolitical institutions and values as a precondition to understanding labour unions, free enterprise and alternative economic structures; cross cultural awareness and foreign area studies are essential in firms that have international relationships; the humanities , especially literature and philosophy, demand clear thinking, precise writing, and scrutiny of one’s own values that prepare one for any career involving careful communication and continued self examination.
The broadly integrative character of liberal learning moves the student beyond narrowly focused analytic techniques to see the overall picture.
In the end, it is liberal education, steeped in the thinking that education should develop the human being as an entire person that is best able to produce an educated person. The truly educated person possesses moral virtues – the qualities of character such as love and fairness, integrity and the courage of one’s conviction.
It includes intellectual virtues – what Holmes calls qualities of mind, such as breadth of understanding, openness to new ideas, intellectual honesty about other views, analytic and critical skills, and a sense of history, freshness of imagination, independence and creativity of mind.
An educated person is characterized by his or her responsible action in all areas of life. This person is conscientious, helpful, decisive, self-disciplined and has the ability to correct his or her course and start afresh.
The educated person also possesses qualities of self-knowledge. He or she is capable of an honest appraisal of his or her strengths and weaknesses and harbours no false modesty or overconfidence. Instead, he or she is willing to address weaknesses, to invest in his own strengths and, importantly, to learn from others.
The educated person is widely read and alert to the issues of the day. He or she continues to read and to grow, aware that however large the circumference of his or her knowledge, just as large are the borders of his or her ignorance.
Arthur Holmes is dead right. At the end of the experience, the university education should sharpen the mind, heighten the imagination, deepen the understanding, broaden the sympathies and kindle new interests. It should produce in the student the anxiety to shoulder his load of responsibility for himself and society.
Individuals with Disabilities
Many children with disabilities around the world have either been hidden out of shame, misunderstood or mistreated.
Nevertheless, in the United States of America, the passing of the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-97), the re-authorization of this act in 2004 (IDEA-04), and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002, we can safely say that they are making considerable steps to the needs of their most vulnerable citizens.
Within the Cayman Islands, the Government and the general population has also been working diligently to make improvements were necessary in this regard and I strongly believe this will only facilitate more unity, hope and ambition for the people of the Cayman Islands.
His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Martyn Roper toured the Sunrise Adult Training Centre (SRC) in West Bay on Thursday (12 September) and gave a “surprise performance”.
The Pursuit of Intelligence
It is obvious that efforts to measure intelligence will continue and become more widespread in the future.
Gifted Children Continued….
Across cultures we see young children excelling in various pursuits, some mastering certain capabilities a lot faster than their peers.
When such children stand out, we call them talented or gifted and when they are performing at an adult level, we call them prodigies.
There are literally hundreds of books, dissertations or theses, and thousands of popular scholarly articles on the theory of intelligence, and other human cognitive capacities, such as creativity, expertise and genius.
A few years ago I acquired more information regarding making a valid will in the Cayman Islands.
The execution requirements for making a valid will in the Cayman Islands are set out in the Wills Law (2004 Revision).
It is also a requirement of Cayman Islands law that a testator must have testamentary capacity at the time of creating his or her will.
The test for testamentary capacity, known as the “golden rule,” was first explained in the English case of Banks vs. Goodfellow and it remains good law in the Cayman Islands today. Here are the facts:
(a) Does the testator understand the nature and effect of what he/she is doing;
(b) Is he/she aware, broadly, of the extent of his/her estate;
(c) Does he/she appreciate the claims of those who might reasonably expect to benefit from his/her estate; and
In summary, the Wills Law provides that a will must be in writing; it must be signed by the testator or by some other person in his/her presence, at his/her direction.
If the latter, the testator must acknowledge such signature in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time.
If the former, the testator’s signature must be attested to by two witnesses present at the same time in his/her presence.
Subject to only two exceptions for soldiers and sailors on active service, the execution requirements must be complied with; if not, it will be invalid.
Holographic Wills
Unfortunately, the Cayman Islands law does not, as a general principle, permit holographic wills.
Holographic wills are documents that are usually handwritten and do not comply with the strict requirements for proper execution as a will but have nevertheless been written as testamentary documents, often in extreme circumstances.
Famous Holographic Will
The most famous holographic will was that of Cecil George Harris, a Canadian farmer who in 1948 suffered the misfortune of becoming trapped under his tractor and fearing that he was about to die, carved a will into the fender which read, “In case I die in this mess I leave all to the wife. Cecil Geo. Harris.” The fender was submitted to probate as his valid holographic will.
Testamentary Capacity
Apparently in the common law tradition, testamentary capacity is the legal term of art used to describe a person’s legal and mental ability to make or alter a valid will.
This concept has also been called sound mind and memory or disposing mind and memory. Cool!
I also learnt that Testamentary intent refers to a testator’s intention with respect to a particular instrument that functions as his/her last will.
Testamentary intent is required for a will to be valid.
Then we have to consider the person’s legal capacity to enter a contract:
Here is a definition and example:
One of the elements of a contract is capacity. Capacity means that a person is legally able to enter into a contract.
There are several things that make a person legally able to do so, including age and state of mind.
A person who is in the end stages of Alzheimer’s disease probably does not have the requisite capacity to sign legal documents.
However, a person with a diagnosis of dementia may very well be able to sign legal documents. Generally speaking, capacity is usually analyzed situationally.
The other way to change your will is by adding what is called a codicil. A codicil is like an amendment or addition to your will.
Use a codicil to revoke part of your will or add a new provision.
To be valid, they must be dated, signed, and witnessed just like a legal will.
I learnt that it is extremely important to keep your will updated. As life changes, so do potential beneficiaries and heirs.
Updating Your Last Will and Testament
If you do not keep your last will and testament updated, it may not reflect your wishes given your new circumstances. The following are good situations in which changing a will may be wise.
Marriage:
When you get married, both you and your spouse should each create a new will.
Most states have laws that award a percentage of your estate to your spouse upon your death.
However, if you want to devise your will differently, you should specify this in your will.
Furthermore, adding your spouse to your will may change the percentage of your estate, or of a specific asset, that another beneficiary or heir was previously written to receive.
Changing a will should reflect this new proportion as you see fit.
Common Law Marriage:
The following information was all I could find that would classify eligibility:
Any person who has been married to a Caymanian-
v for at least five years immediately preceding the application, where the marriage took place prior to the 1st January 2004; or
v for at least seven years immediately preceding the application, where the marriage took place on or after 1st January 2004
v whose marriage is not a marriage of convenience;
v who is not living apart from his spouse under a decree of a competent court or under a deed of separation;
v who has not lived apart from his spouse for an aggregate period of three months
v out of the five years immediately preceding the application where the marriage took place prior to 1st January 2004; or
v out of the seven years immediately preceding the application where the marriage took place on or after 1st January, 2004.
v who is legally and ordinarily resident* in the Islands immediately preceding his application; and
v who has not in any country been convicted of an offence for which a sentence of imprisonment not exceeding twelve months has been passed other than for non-payment of a fine unless-
1. the conviction has been quashed on appeal or has been the subject of a free pardon;
2. the act or omission giving rise to such conviction would not be an offence if done or omitted in the Islands in similar circumstances; or
3. the conviction is one which, in the interest of justice, the Board directs to be ignored for the purposes of this section,
Obtaining a new partner, without marriage:
Only if married will your partner automatically receive assets from your estate.
So, if you find yourself with a new loved one, changing a will to reflect what you would like to leave that partner is necessary.
Divorce:
Upon divorce, some states revoke any gifts you leave your spouse in your will. Other states do not.
Changing a will upon a divorce is very important.
You will want to either specify what you want to leave your former spouse, or else specify how those gifts should now be distributed.
A new baby:
There are laws in some states that give children some portion of your assets upon your death.
However, not everyone wants their property to be distributed the way the state laws specify.
If you welcome a new baby into your family, be sure to specify what gifts, the baby shall receive, by changing a will.
Perhaps more importantly, be sure to appoint a guardian for the baby.
This will be the person who will care for your baby should anything happen to you.
New stepchildren:
Stepchildren are not automatically entitled to inherit a share of your property in many states.
Therefore, if you would like for your stepchildren to inherit any of your property, be sure to specify your wishes by changing your own will.
Moving from a community property state to a common law property state:
The laws governing what each spouse owns vary depending on whether the couple lives in a community property state or a common law property state.
Therefore, if you are planning on moving to a new state, check that states laws.
If it differs from the one you currently reside it, be sure to change your own will, according to your new property ownership status.
i.e. Persons of independent means:
The Cayman Islands Government offers five Immigration products for wealthy, private investors and senior executives who are seeking long-term residence in the Cayman Islands.
1. Certificate of Permanent Residency for Persons of Independent Means (Form R5) – Persons who invest a minimum of two million Cayman Islands’ Dollars in developed real estate in the Cayman Islands may apply for a Certificate of Permanent Residence for Persons of Independent Means.
As the Certificate title denotes, a holder has the right to reside indefinitely in the Cayman Islands.
A holder will also have the option of seeking naturalization as a British Overseas Territories Citizen and, thereafter, the right to be Caymanian.
A holder and his spouse may also have their permission to remain varied to allow the right to work in the Cayman Islands.
2. Residency Certificate for Persons of Independent Means Form R2 – This facility is for persons who wish to reside long-term in the Cayman Islands without the right to work.
Applicants will be required to demonstrate that they have invested a prescribed minimum amount in developed real estate in the Islands and that they meet certain financial standing requirements.
A successful applicant will be granted permission to reside in the Islands for a period of 25 years (renewable). This residence type cannot be varied to allow the right to work.
3. Certificate of Direct Investment Form R8 – The Certificate of Direct Investment is for persons who invest, or propose to invest, a minimum prescribed amount in a licensed employment generating business in the Cayman Islands and in which he/she will exercise substantial management control.
An applicant must demonstrate a substantial business track record or an entrepreneurial background, including specific professional, technical and other knowledge relevant and necessary to carry on the business.
4. Residency Certificate (Substantial Business Presence) Form R6 – This facility is for persons who invest in, or who are employed in a senior management capacity within, an approved category of business in the Cayman Islands.
A successful applicant is granted a Residency Certificate valid for 25 years (renewable) which entitles him to reside in the Islands and to work in the business in which he has invested or is employed in a senior management capacity.
Changing your mind about heirs: Of course, things can happen in life that cause people to change their minds about the way in which they’d like their property distributed. Changing a will to reflect these new wishes is important.
New or disposed of assets: Perhaps in your will you would like to leave all of your property or a percentage of your property to your heirs, then what you own changes and there is no need to change your will. However, if you have willed certain gifts to people in your will, and you no longer have those properties, be sure to remove said property from your will. Additionally, when you acquire new property, be sure to account for that in your will.
Ways of changing a will
The easiest way of changing a will is simply to make a new will. It is imperative that you revoke the old will.
To do this, simply write a statement in the new will that states that you revoke all wills and codicils that you have previously made.
This is sufficient to revoke any previous wills, but it is wise to also destroy any of your previous wills in order to avoid confusion or challenges to your new will.
The other way to change your will is by adding what is called a codicil.
A codicil is like an amendment or addition to your will. Use a codicil to revoke part of your will or add a new provision.
To be valid, they must be dated, signed, and witnessed just like a legal will.
Codicils were an efficient way of changing a will before there were computers and printing was a hassle.
Today, codicils should be avoided wherever possible. They can cause confusion, be lost, and are sometimes even a means to challenge wills.
That information is definitely worth remembering!
Changes to other estate documents
Much of your property passes by law to beneficiaries, despite what your will says.
Property such as retirement proceeds, life insurance proceeds, joint bank accounts, payable-on-death bank accounts, and stocks registered with a transfer-on-death form all pass directly to a specified beneficiary.
If you change your mind about who the beneficiary should be, change the names using the forms on which you named the original beneficiaries.
Do not change the named beneficiaries through your will, for it will have no effect.
Living trusts are also not affected by the terms of your will. If you decide to change the terms of your living trust, add an amendment to the original trust document. Then, transfer property in or out of the trustee’s name, accordingly.
You do not need to worry about having to revoke a trust and create an original one, like when changing a will.
Living Trust
What Is a Living Trust?
A living trust is a legal document, or trust, created during an individual’s lifetime where a designated person, the trustee, is given responsibility for managing that individual’s assets for the benefit of the eventual beneficiary.
A living trust is designed to allow for the easy transfer of the trust creator or settlor’s assets while bypassing the often complex and expensive legal process of probate. Living trust agreements designate a trustee who holds legal possession of assets and property that flow into the trust.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A living trust designates a
trustee to manage assets for the beneficiary, while the grantor is still
alive.
Trustees with fiduciary duty
manage trusts according to the beneficiary’s best interests.
Living
trusts can be either irrevocable or revocable.
How Living Trusts Work
Living trusts are
managed by a trustee who typically has a fiduciary duty to manage the trust
prudently in the best interests of the trust’s beneficiary or beneficiaries
designated by the trust settlor, also called a grantor. Upon the death of the
settlor, these assets flow to the beneficiaries according to the grantor’s
wishes as outlined in the trust agreement. Unlike a will, however, a living
trust is in effect while the settlor is alive and the trust does not have to
clear the courts to reach its intended beneficiaries when the settlor dies
or becomes incapacitated.
Types of Living Trusts
Living trusts can be irrevocable or revocable.
Living Revocable Trust
With a living revocable trust, the trust settlor can designate himself or herself as the trustee and take control of assets within the trust. However, this stipulation means the assets in the trust remain a part of the trust settlor’s estate, meaning the individual may still be liable for estate taxes should the estate be valued beyond the estate tax exemption at the time of death. The trust settlor also has the power to change and amend trust rules at any time. This means the trust settlor is free to change beneficiaries or undo the trust altogether.
Irrevocable Living Trust
With an irrevocable
living trust, the settlor relinquishes certain rights to control over the
trust. The trustee effectively becomes legal owner, but the individual would
also reduce his or her taxable estate. Once the trust agreement for an
irrevocable living trust is made, the named beneficiaries are set and the
settlor can do little to amend that agreement.
Wills and Trusts
Wills and Trusts are both estate planning documents used to pass assets on to beneficiaries at death. … Here are five ways in which a Trust is better than a Will to pass your estate to your beneficiaries. A Trust can be used to Avoid Probate – a Will cannot.
When you die, this creates a change of beneficiary or beneficiaries. The person or persons you named in your trust documents to inherit from you become the new beneficiaries upon your death. They now own the assets you placed in your trust, according to the terms you decided when you made it.
Advantages to using a Trust over a Will
Wills and Trusts are
both estate planning documents used to pass assets on to beneficiaries at
death. However, there are distinct advantages to using a Trust over a
Will. Here are five ways in which a Trust is better than a Will to pass
your estate to your beneficiaries.
A Trust can be used to Avoid Probate – a Will cannot. Probate is the process of changing the title on assets when someone passes away. Assets that are owned in a deceased person’s individual name and for which there is no named beneficiary are no longer accessible once the owner of the asset has died. In order for family members to gain access to accounts or other assets in the deceased’s individual name, they must file a petition with the probate court and wait for the court to approve the Will and appoint the Personal Representative. This can be a long and costly process during which bills cannot be paid and assets cannot be managed. A Trust is an excellent probate avoidance tool because assets that are owned in the name of a Trust are immediately accessible to the trust-maker’s designated successor.
A Trust can provide Creditor Protection for the Inheritance you Leave to Beneficiaries – a Will cannot. Many people worry that the inheritance they leave to their children will be lost to their children’s creditors such as a divorcing spouse, unpaid credit card bills, a bankruptcy, a business loss, or a lawsuit. Sadly, this is often the case when assets are distributed to beneficiaries via a Will. A Trust allows the maker to safeguard an inheritance from the reach of the beneficiaries’ creditors by keeping the assets out of the name of the beneficiary. Ownership of the assets remains in the Trust. The beneficiary will have access to the assets in accordance with the directions you leave in your Trust. You may also allow your beneficiary to serve as Trustee, allowing the beneficiary to manage her own inheritance. By leaving assets to your beneficiaries via a Trust rather than outright via your Will, you can ensure that the assets you worked so hard for will be available to your children and future generations.
A Trust can Protect Governmental Benefits for a Person with Disabilities – a Will cannot. If you have a child, grandchild or other beneficiary with disabilities, then a Trust is a must. If you leave assets to a person who receives needs-based governmental benefits via your Will, it will place your beneficiary in the difficult position of either losing those benefits, or transferring the inheritance into a Trust of which the state must be the beneficiary at the beneficiary’s death. Unless the inheritance you are leaving is so significant that the monetary and medical benefits available to the person through programs such as Social Security and Medicaid are no longer important, then making sure that those governmental benefits continue to be available is vital. Leaving assets to a person with disabilities via a Trust is the best way to ensure those governmental benefits are preserved and that the inheritance you leave will be available to pay for expenses that are not covered by these governmental benefits, which while vital to many, are limited in their scope.
Trusts can Reduce Estate Taxes – a Traditional Will cannot. Many married couples have so-called “I-love-you” Wills, which leave all assets outright to the surviving spouse upon the first death. If you have an estate of more than $1,000,000, then using “I-love-you” Wills means that money you think you are leaving to your beneficiaries will in fact be going to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the form of estate tax payable at the surviving spouse’s death. If you would prefer that your assets pass to your family, create Trusts to reduce estate taxes. Estate tax planning via Trusts for married couples is standard planning and permissible under both state and federal tax laws.
A Trust can Administer Assets for Minor Beneficiaries without Court Intervention – a Will cannot. Leaving money directly to a minor creates an administrative nightmare because the law provides that a minor does not have the legal capacity to receive assets. The parent of the minor also does not have the ability to act as the child’s legal representative until the court says so. As such, if you die with a Will that leaves money to minor beneficiaries, the court will need to appoint a Conservator to receive that inheritance for your children. The Conservator will be required to report annually to the court and the court will appoint an overseer (guardian ad litem) to make sure the Conservator is doing his or her job for your minor beneficiaries. This means huge costs and long delays in administering funds for minors. It also means that when the minor turns 18, he or she will be entitled to receive all of those assets and will be free to do with them as he or she wishes (think fast cars, spring break, and lots of shopping). Creating a Trust to receive assets passing to a minor, or even to a young adult beneficiary, is the best way to ensure that the court is not involved in the process, that the person you want to manage assets for the beneficiary is able to do so, and that the beneficiary can use the assets only for purposes you decide are important and/or at ages that you dictate.
These are just five ways in which a Trust is superior to a Will.
When There is no Will
According to Robert Mack, HSM Chambers, most people know that making a will is the “adult thing” to do, especially when children and other dependents are involved.
However, like most unpleasant things in life, we tend to put it off for as long as possible.
In some tragic cases life can end suddenly and unexpectedly, or a person can be struck down by illness and lose their mental capacity which would otherwise prevent them from creating a valid will.
Let’s also not forget that digital assets fall into two broad categories: valuable and sentimental.
Valuable digital assets include such things as cryptocurrencies, online investment/bank accounts, online store credits, intellectual property, and anything else which has a tangible dollar value attached to it.
Sentimental digital assets, on the other hand, include photographs, personal videos, blog posts, social media accounts, and information held in email messages.
So how can a Will manage these two distinct types of digital assets?
According to my most recent studies, the word school is from a Greek root word that means “leisure”.
In ancient Greece, famous teachers such as Socrates, Aristotle and Plato taught aristocratic, upper-class men who had plenty of spare time.
Plato (429-347 BC) was born in fifth-century Athens to a wealthy family. As a young Athenian of his station, he was expected to pursue politics and such worthy matters.
Instead Plato decided to follow the path of his mentor, Socrates (470-399 BC) and became a philosopher.
In ancient times Athens was home to some of the most extraordinary accomplishments of philosophy, art, and science in human history.
Plato was born in a time known as the city’s “Golden Age” in the fifth century BC.
I’m delighted to also suggest a movie I’ve watched years ago which I thought was magnificently created to depict what life must have been like during that time.
Even though the emphasis was placed on Sparta, which was a small city in the rugged mountains of southern Greece and was feared for its military might, we are still able to see the connection to their neighbors in Athens.
Leonidas (GERARD BUTLER) bids farewell to his son Pleistarchos (GIOVANI ANTONIO CIMMINO) and wife Gorgo (LENA HEADEY) as the 300 begin their march north in Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures and Virtual Studios action drama 300, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE STUDIO. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION
Based on evidence of the past and clear and continuous events experienced in the present, it has now been widely perceived that both politics and religion are still the most heated topics and note-worthy matters in our society today.
Many cultures around the world and their people are passionate about these topics.
The same has been reported to be true in ancient China, where famous philosopher Confucius (K’ung Fu-tzu) was known to have only shared his wisdom with a privileged few.
Speaking of China, guess what I found out? The Musuo is a very small society in China’s Yunnan province, in which women control most property, select their sexual partners, and make most decisions about everyday life.
The Musuo appear to be operating with the Matriarchy (“rule of mothers”) type of system. This is a form of social organization in which females dominate males and have only rarely been documented in human history.
I’ve mentioned that interesting fact only because further on I will explain what Patriarchy (“rule of fathers”) is all about and how that has affected equality in our world today.
However, I strongly and passionately believe that neither one of these systems should be the standard or the social-norm in our world today.
Did you know that the limited schooling that takes place in lower-income countries reflects the national culture? The way that country is view by the rest of the world?
In Iran, for example, schooling is closely tied to Islam. Similarly, schooling in Bangladesh (Asia), Zimbabwe (Africa), and Nicaragua (Latin America) has been shaped by the distinctive cultural traditions of these nations.
Unfortunately, all lower-income countries have one trait in common when it comes to schooling. There is not much of it.
Here are the facts- According to World Bank 2011, In the world’s poorest nations (including several in Central America), about one-fourth of all children never get to go to school.
Another fact- World-wide, more than one-third of all children never reach the secondary grades or high school. As a result, about one-sixth of the world’s people cannot read or write.
Research shows that reading and writing skills are widespread in high-income countries, where illiteracy rates generally are below 5 percent.
I’ve also learnt that in much of Latin America, illiteracy is unfortunately more common and one of the consequences are due to limited economic development.
Statistics also shows that in twelve nations-most of them in Africa- illiteracy is the rule rather than the exception. Many of their people rely on the oral tradition of face-to-face communication rather than the written word.
However, the following map below has more updated information regarding where we are now regarding actual literacy around the world.
So, based on what you’ve observed, do you agree or disagree and how can we help each other raise our standards?
However, saying all of that, you know what I have come to realize- its even greater odds to be educated if you’re a girl in certain countries.
Many poor families depend on the earnings of their children, and in places like India where child labor has already been outlawed, many children still continue to work in factories-weaving rugs or making hand-crafted items which limits their opportunities for any time or kind of education.
Patriarchy (rule of fathers) is a form of social organization in which males dominate females and is found almost everywhere in the world.
This type of system shapes Indian education and most Indians parents are joyful at the birth of a boy because he and his future wife will both contribute income to the family.
Whereas it is seen as an economic cost to raising a girl. In their culture, parents must provide a dowry (a gift of wealth to the groom’s family) and after her marriage, a daughter’s work only benefits her husband’s family.
Therefore, many Indians see less reason to invest in the schooling of girls.
Did you also know that education has not always been part of the way of life for the Japanese? Before industrialization brought mandatory education in 1872, only a privileged few attended schools.
Now, Japan is a force to be reckoned with and its educational system is widely praised for producing some of the world’s highest achievers!
Results continue to show that Japanese schooling continue to produce impressive results and in many notable fields such as mathematics and science, Japanese students continue to outperform students in almost every other high-income nation, including the United States. Wow!
I hope they make time for a love life eventually or there won’t be many of them left. Lol!
In Great Britain during the Middle Ages, education was a privilege of the British Nobility, who studied classical subjects, having little concern at the time for the practical skills necessary and needed to earn a living.
However, as the Industrial Revolution came around it became evident that there was a need for an educated labor force, and as working-class people demanded access to schools, a rising share of the population entered the classroom.
British law now requires every child to attend school until the age of sixteen. I like that!
Now we can’t forget the United States in this article- after all they were among the first countries to set a goal of mass education for their people.
Studies show that by 1850, about half of the young people between the ages of five and nineteen were enrolled in school (1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not quench the Spirit”).
Teddy Walker is a successful salesman whose life takes an unexpected turn when he accidentally blows up his place of employment. Forced to attend night school to get his GED, Teddy soon finds himself dealing with a group of misfit students, his former high school nemesis and a feisty teacher who doesn’t think he’s too bright.
And by 1918, all states had passed a mandatory education law requiring children to attend school until the age of sixteen or completion of eight grade.
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-24 (The Day of the Lord) says,
5 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brother and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet (Kind of like a Spartan Soldier).
9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good,
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
The United States history states that Thomas Jefferson thought the new nation could become democratic only if the people learned to read.
Today, the United States has an outstanding record of higher education for its people. Education is constantly being promoted in the United States and nearly all American’s dream of higher education and equal opportunities. National surveys show that most people think education is crucial to personal success, and more and more people are starting to believe the dream!
Everyone should have a chance to get an education, and it would be wonderful to receive one that is in line with the personal ability and talent of that individual.
However, we all know that is many people’s dream around the world but not the actual reality. And there are also many grown adults who sacrificed for a higher education and still bear the burden of existing student loans.
Many of the countries that I have mentioned above and others that were not mention but are definitely in the mix; realize the significance of education and its crucial importance to their economic development and increased equality.
So, what’s makes schools, colleges or universities so important? There are several variables.
Cool Reasons to go to School
Well, number one’s pretty easy.
It’s a good place to meet new people and interact.
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school’s pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai (Brittany Murphy) a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother (Paul Rudd) was right about how misguided she was — and falls for him
Now please understand, everyone is different, and some people may require or function more effectively in a different environment. We are all not the same.
After a spurned classmate curses him, an arrogant teen will be forever ugly unless he finds true love.
However, according to the definition of Sociology, which is the systematic study of the human society and the world around us, I can see such compounds as a great place to mix and mingle.
Alfred Binet was a psychologist who was commissioned by the French Government to devise an objective method for identifying children who were not doing well in school.
He designed the first comprehensive intelligence test in the early 20th century.
Then later on in 1916, Lewis Terman and his colleagues at Stanford University revised Binet’s test for use in the United States, resulting in the administered test gaining wide acceptance during the 1940s and 1950s.
From there, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was introduced and is still widely used. (Fourth Edition SB-IV).
IQ = MA/CA X 100
I was also intrigued to find out that as time progressed test researchers developed a formula for expressing a child’s intellectual level that made it possible to compare children of different chronological ages (CA), which apparently are expressed in how old in years and months the children are.
This measurement was called the intelligence quotient (IQ) and is defined as follows: IQ = MA/CA X 100
The computation of IQ made it possible to understand how a child’s intellectual ability compared to that of peers of the same chronological age. However, there were problems with this ratio approach to IQ and now IQ is assessed using the deviation IQ approach.
This approach assigns an IQ score by comparing an individual’s test score with the scores of other people of the same age range.
David Wechsler (Wechester, 1974) is primarily known for developing this technique and was applied to IQ tests that both he and his colleagues developed.
The test for early childhood is the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, or WPPSI.
The test for childhood and adolescence is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or WISC and the test for adulthood is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale or WAIS (“wace”).
An individual who takes any of these tests obtains a score that is compared statically to the scores of other people of the same age.
The Wechsler IQ test is widely used although there are many other intelligence tests being used.
IQ is assumed to be normally distributed around an average score of 100, with about 2/3 of the general population scoring between 85 and 115 and almost 96% of the population scoring between 70 and 130.
That leaves roughly 2% of the population scoring below 70 and another 2% scoring above 130, which is a popular cutoff point for defining giftedness.
Nevertheless, in the United States of America, the passing of the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-97), the re-authorization of this act in 2004 (IDEA-04), and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002, we can safely say that they are making considerable steps to the needs of their most vulnerable citizens.
Within the Cayman Islands, the Government and the general population has also been working diligently to make improvements were necessary in this regard and I strongly believe this will only facilitate more unity, hope and ambition for the people of the Cayman Islands.
“When self-respect takes its rightful place in the psyche, you will not allow yourself to be manipulated by anyone” Unknown
Have you ever rushed through the supermarket and in your haste bought a bad piece of meat? Rather than taking the time to appropriately examine the meat, you grabbed the first piece of meat that “looked good” and raced home to cook it.
In this hypothetical story, I am referring to “meat” as “men”.
Why do we chose some of the men that we do as women? Many of us women, know a girlfriend, sister, mother or even a grandmother who in her haste to find someone to love, continually dated partners who ended up like that bad piece of meat from the supermarket in my story.
According to Toby Thompkins who works as a life coach and professional speaker on the topics of personal growth, relationships and cultural and social healing, many of us are actually better at reading the labels and checking the expiration date on an actual piece of meat from the supermarket than we are at heeding the warning signs that can appear in a new relationship.
How effective are you at meeting, dating and starting healthy relationships with partners who will love, respect and honor you? Personally, I’m not that good at it, but I am determine to learn.
The reality is that in the Caribbean alone there are too many single women who end in unhealthy relationships or become single parents. Also, let’s not forget unfortunate societal issues such as STD’s and AIDS.
He knows your value- Remember men know when a woman doesn’t value herself and some will take advantage of it.
He must be honest- If you meet a man who is willing to put everything on the table, give him a second look. An honest man’s words should match his actions.
He can turn his dreams into a reality- A man’s potential is what he has when he isn’t doing anything. A good man is a man who is ready, willing and able to turn his dream into a reality.If he’s full of dreams but has not created a game plan and following through, take note. If he is only interested in complaining about why he can’t do what he is meant to do, watch out!
He can tell you when he is hurt- Practicing emotional self-care is not only for women. If you meet a man who cannot tell you when he is hurt, watch out! men who are abusive or prone to emotional and physical abandonment are typically men who are not able to deal with the hurt that has accumulated in their lives. See my previous article: https://teneishajohnson.wixsite.com/dream/smooth-criminal-love-the-way-you-li
He embodies compassion(my favorite and sexists quality). How does he treat other people?
Remember ladies, keep your eyes open!
Don’t waste time on Fantasy Relationships
According to Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schmeider, coauthors of The Rules I and The Rules II, when a man is interested in a woman-he finds some way to ask her out.
He will figure out some way to see her as often as he can. End of discussion.Full stop.
Fantasy Relationship #1
Your accountant calls you over the weekend to remind you to submit your tax forms before April 15. You think because he called you on Saturday at home instead of during the week at work, that he must really like you.
What does The Rules say?
Many accountants work on the weekend. The lines between work and home, during-the-week and weekends can get very blurry in their occupation. Unless he suggested dinner, don’t read into it.
Fantasy Relationship #2
You think the waiter at the restaurant you go to twice a week likes you. because he always remembers how you like your eggs and coffee. You think he is being more attentive to you because he likes you.
What does the Rules say?
Waiters/Waitress are in the service business. It’s normal and actually proactive to remember a regular customer’s preference as a waiter/waitress. Everyone likes to be made to feel special. If this Waiter/Waitress really likes you, he/she will let you know directly and ask you out on a date. End of discussion. Full stop.
I repeat, when a man is really interested in a woman, he will figure out a way to ask her out.
Please note however that I still believe in daydreaming and its okay to day dream about your sexy Financial Planner, but keep it to yourself.
The danger lies in thinking there’s a relationship there that does not exist. Women who are absorbed in fantasy relationships usually don’t have real ones.
Allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment over the years, whether substantiated or not, have frequently been discussed amongst the community and the places we each call home. It affects virtually all nationalities and religions around the world.
However, even one child or teen being abused by a priest/pastor (or by anyone else) is too many.
Most cases of abuse, although being reported recently, go back two, three, four, or even fifty decades. Unfortunately, there was much less knowledge of the dynamics of abuse then than there is available today. Many times, offenders would be allowed to continue in their ministries after going through a time of brief counseling.
I am not against restoration of an individual, however, I believe it’s worth mentioning that according to research approximately 70% of accused priest/pastors were reported to also be survivors of abuse themselves. Wow!
A psychopath is murdering women across the Midwest. The FBI sends Agent Clarice Starling to interview psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant, diabolical cannibal who could provide insight into the killer’s identity. Lecter agrees to help Starling only if she’ll feed his morbid curiosity with details of her own complicated life. Starling is forced to confront not only her own hidden demons, but also an evil so powerful that she may not have the courage – or strength – to stop it.
Statistics recorded that many of them had serious psychological problems such as substance abuse and/or mood and personality disorders.
You may also visit www.silentlambs.org for additional information regarding sex offenders.
Thankfully, we have elevated our standards and now members of the clergy are more mature when they begin seminary. They undergo intense comprehensive psychological testing’s that includes specific evaluation for sexual problems and risk factors, and they are extensively trained in how to manage sexual issues.
We live in a culture where the sexual abuse of children is not uncommon. There have been reported cases of public and private school children that have been sexually abused or molested by school staff or employees. Regrettably, research also indicates that a greater percentage of children have been abused by family members, rather than by the clergy or school staff.
The publicity surrounding sexual abuse has raised consciousness in many communities of faith, and many have established stringent and detailed policies for ensuring the safety of children and young people.
These often include such things as never having a child alone in a room with an adult; an open-door policy in classrooms; extensive screening and background checks on all personnel who come into contact with children, and detailed procedures for reporting suspected abuse and dealing with offenders.
Child sexual abuse is a complex and serious problem. A few years ago, I attended a Darkness to Light training session at the Red Cross Cayman Islands and was also informed that the training could also be completed online at www.D2L.org
At Darkness to Light, their vision is to have a world free of child sexual abuse. A world in which all children are loved, protected, and nurtured, able to grow up healthy, with their sexual boundaries intact.
Sins that bring Curses
We read in Deuteronomy Chapters 27 & 28 that curses are promised for sins in these six areas: idolatry, dishonoring of parents, dishonesty and deception, cruelty to the helpless, sexual sin of any kind, and disregard for the law. (Some references concerning the sins of the fathers are Deuteronomy 29:24-28; 2 Chronicles 7:19-22; 34:23-25; Ezra 9:4; 13-15; Nehemiah 9:1-3; Isaiah 65:6-7 and Jeremiah 14:20-22; 16:10-13).
“There is that unseen and mysterious connection between a father’s (also mother’s) sins and the path of their children. If the parent commits certain kinds of sin, regardless of their training, or the social, cultural, and environmental influences on them- the sin or iniquity that is committed is “passed down” to the children, to the third and forth generation. Each generation adds to the cumulative iniquity, further weaken the resistance of the next generation”.
PASTOR BURTON STOKES
However, Mr. Stokes also stated that he does not mean to imply that there is any deficiency in the power of the blood of Jesus, which redeems us from the curse of sin, or that believers today are bound to the letter of Old Testament Law. But if we rebel in our hearts and rebuild idols in our lives, we can be ensnared again by the same yoke of bondage from which we’ve been delivered (see Galatians 5:1, 16). Therefore, we again become susceptible to the curse.
Please note however that these insights are not intended to bring you into fear or bondage, nor cause you to attribute every problem in your life, habit, or bad character trait to a curse or a demon. Sometimes emotional and behavioral problems have physiological or biological foundation as I have come to realize.
If we take the time to look at the various issues we have in our lives and become aware of our vulnerabilities, I strongly believe with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can renounce the sins we’ve yielded to in our lives and strengthen our defenses against the evil one.
An example of a prayer may be like this:
“Father, we come before you to confess and repent of our sins and the iniquity of our forefathers. Forgive us for the sins of idolatry, witchcraft, rebellion, immorality of any kind, addictions etc.
According to Ephesians 6:12, we bind all principalities and powers trying to influence us or our family, and we forbid them to operate in the name of Jesus. We declare that our Family is under the blood of Jesus; we revoke any generational curses and say that they will go no further. Jesus became a curse for us, therefore we are a generation that serves God.
Father, forgive us for depending upon any source that is not of you. Pour out your supernatural power in our families, so we will not be bound by the things of the natural world. We ask you to send your warring angels to do battle on our behalf. We thank you in advance that our children will take their place in the body of Christ and fulfill your calling upon their lives.
Father, we submit to you, and our hope and expectations are from you alone and no other spirit. By the power and authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we declare ANY satanic influence directed towards our families destroyed and defeated by Jesus’ death on the cross.
We thank you for freeing us from the bondage of our past and cleansing us by the blood of Christ. We also would like to thank you for our faithful Christian heritage- for those ancestors who did follow you and prayed for us so that we may become stronger in you and the power of the Holy Spirit.
We thank you for your mercy and your grace and for the blessings you bestowed upon us and our families. Amen”.
Happy Father’s Day- Honoring Father’s and Fatherhood
Father’s Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. It will be celebrated on the 16th June 2019
Father’s Day is also celebrated in Burscough, Lancashire, North West of England
The idea for Father’s Day originated in the USA and has been officially celebrated there on the third Sunday in June since 1966.
The exact origins of what we now know as Father’s Day are disputed, though we do know the movement for a day which celebrated fatherhood began roughly 100 years ago.
While in the UK fathers can expect, at best, a breakfast in bed and handmade card and, at worst, the day to be completely ignored, elsewhere the festival is done a little differently.
In Germany it is called Vatertag (Father’s Day) but is also sometimes known as Männertag (or men’s day).
In China, Father’s Day used to be celebrated on 8 August as the Chinese for eight is “ba”, while a colloquial word for father is “ba-ba” – so the eighth day of the eighth month sounds similar to “daddy”.
The day has since been moved to the third Sunday of June, in line with the UK and US.
Satan’s goal is, through deception, to entice believers to sin or commit any act which quenches the Holy Spirit in their lives or dilutes their effectiveness in glorifying God through both personal conduct and Christian service. His desire is to find any areas in our lives where he can attach himself (See Ephesians 4:27). Through his demons he seeks to find any “sin handles” which give him access to influence us into actions of disobedience towards God.
Satanism is a big problem around the world and it is beyond anything that has been portrayed in the press or in movies. Every city, town or country has its covens, groups or community of people who directly worship and serve Satan.
After a spurned classmate curses him, an arrogant teen will be forever ugly unless he finds true love.
It doesn’t matter how you “pretty it up” and make it look glamorous, every religion that worships and serves demons is a form of Satanism. Some people refer to them as energies, vibrations, pagan gods, spirit entities etc.
Demons are masters of deceit. They have the ability in the spirit realm to “switch the sets” just the same as men do in the movie making industry. If you have ever visited Universal Studios, Warner Brothers (WB) etc., where many of the movies are made in America, you can walk down one street and be in the “Old West,” turn down the corner, and you are in 18th century England, turn another corner, and you are in a different time and country, maybe even on a different planet!
Demons can do the same thing in the spirit world and create all sorts of illusions, like modern day magicians for the humans under their control.
I have learnt that in some Eastern religions they center around gaining contact with the spirit world through meditation techniques to blank the mind. My scripture tells me that we are responsible for and should control our own minds at all times. (II Corinthians 10:5)
Visualization and guided imagery are also very old techniques but effective for gaining contact with the spirit world. Apparently, those techniques alone are responsible for thousands of Christians falling into the trap of using occultic practices.
It sounds like just another urban legend — a videotape filled with nightmarish images leads to a phone call foretelling the viewer’s death in exactly seven days. Newspaper reporter Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) is skeptical of the story until four teenagers all die mysteriously exactly one week after watching just such a tape. Allowing her investigative curiosity to get the better of her, Rachel tracks down the video and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery.
14th February 2011 at The University College of the Cayman Islands
Most important to note is that children go through a developmental stage where they use a lot of imagination and visualization.
During my ongoing extensive research, I was stunned to find out that there are many occultic games and toys for children. Parents should be extremely careful about the toys they buy for their children and the types of video games that they play.
The Bible says we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and just like a house, our temple should be guarded and protected from “unwelcomed doorways”.
What is a doorway? It’s a term used as a sin that defiles the temple.
Types of Doorways
Inheritance (Generational curses etc.)
Ouija board
Ritual sex
Tarot cards
General occult games
Animal sacrifice
Murder
Horoscope
Blood contracts
Witchcraft
Drugs
Kung fu
Karate
Human sacrifice
Drinking blood (animal & human)
Hypnosis
Incest
Palm reading
Yoga
Rock music
Occult & horror movies
Rebellion
Drunkenness
Multiple sexual relationships
Cannibalism
Astral-projection
Blasphemy
We can create many doorways and I’ve listed a few above however one such door way is sexual molestation.
Sexual molestation unfortunately is the most common childhood doorways. Apparently, it is always followed by a cycle of early sexual involvement on the part of the child with ever increasing involvement in sexual sins as the person gets older. This is usually because of the demons that may have been placed in the child at an early age.
Children are very vulnerable and should be protected at all cost! However, we adults are susceptible too and should be aware of the basic differences between the Occult and Christianity.
For example, the occultist will always try to control their contact with the spirit world and try to control the person or people within. If they do not do what the they are told, they are then punished. To a large extent, the Satanist appears to be controlling the power they are using for whatever purpose it’s being use for at the time.
However, as Christians, we are never in contact with the spirit world except for the brief occasions when the Holy Spirit allows such contact and we Christians do not and cannot control the power of God. We are simply his servants or vessels of honor, nothing more.
The Lord works through His servants as He chooses, not as we choose. Demons however, only cooperate with humans to give them power when that person wants it, and it is only used as a tool or I’d say a “carrot stick” to draw them even farther away from the Lord and into satanic worship.
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit
The gift of the Holy Spirit empowers us to be strong women of God, even in our moments of weakness. In the bible, Jesus promised his followers, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, or Strengthener) that He may remain with you forever; the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
The Work of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26-27)
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
John 16:1-15 New International Version (NIV)
16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Jesus Prays for His Disciples (John 17:6-19)
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers (John 17:20-26)
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
I pray that as we will continue to be careful in our walk by faith and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, we will not allow desires for power and greed to draw us into Satan’s deceitful traps.
Vision is so much a part of us that we tend to take it for granted. According to anthropologist Carleton S. Coon, “sharp-focusing eyes” are among the five physical gifts that have allowed human beings to rise to their present dominance of this planet.
Think about it? What if you had never seen one of the most natural phenomenon called the rainbow.
Some people say it’s one of the most beautiful sights our eyes can behold and it has been singled out in Genesis as a reminder of God’s mercy after the great flood.
There is another facet of human vision that has led not only to scientific knowledge of the way the visual system works but also to a global activity that is part art form and a money-making industry. Motion Pictures!
Though she’s been groomed for stardom all her life by an overbearing mother (Minnie Driver), singer Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is having trouble dealing with her success. Feeling unable to cope any longer, Noni tries to kill herself, but luckily Kaz (Nate Parker), the police officer assigned to be her bodyguard, thwarts her suicide attempt. Noni and Kaz feel an instant attraction, but those in their orbit oppose the romance for fear the pair will stray from the course planned out for both of them.
S.n.a.p.(Stop Now and Plan) program in the Cayman Islands
An early intervention program for children as young as 6 has been pitched as a new tool to help prevent school troublemakers in the Cayman Islands from graduating to more serious crimes.
According to the Cayman Compass, the SNAP program, developed by Canada’s Child Development Institute, seeks to identify children with behavioral issues and help them develop self-control and conflict management skills.
Leena Augimeri, scientific and program development director for the institute, said the concept of the program, which has proven successful in Canada, is to identify young offenders early and address the causes of their behavior.
SNAP, which stands for Stop Now and Plan, involves a 13-week behavioral modification program that teaches children with anger issues new ways of handling conflict.
The program, which also involves sessions for parents and follow-up sessions with counselors, has been shown in peer reviewed studies to reduce the risk of young offenders going on to more serious criminal behavior.
The program is based on the principle that there are many opportunities to change the lives of children before they become involved in the criminal justice system. Ms. Augimeri said research shows that children who became involved in criminal behavior at 14 had, in most cases, been displaying warning signs, such as aggressive behavior in school, since age 7.
Michael Myles, government’s at-risk youth officer and a board member of Youth ACT, said he was frequently faced with young children who were displaying “chaotic behavior” in school and at home.
“It is not a matter of identifying the kids. There is not a teacher, guidance counselor, principal or psychologist in this country that couldn’t refer multiple children to this program.”
Michael Myles
He said the SNAP program could provide the answer for some children. He hopes it can become part of the school curriculum or the Extended After School Program, with a full-time program coordinator overseeing a team of trained community volunteers.
Mr. Myles believes Cayman needs to start making an investment in dealing with the root causes of crime instead of just dealing with the consequences.
He believes investment in treatment and crime prevention from an early age can steer them in a different direction before it’s too late.
GREAT ART AT IT’S BEST!
Great art has been created in motion pictures and television. Studio Productions like Miramax, Paramount Vantage, Marvel Studios …… just to name a few, and people like Charles Chaplin, Orson Welles, James Cameron, Gary Ross and currently one of my favorite producers, Rebel Wilson have enriched our lives over many years and still continue to do so.
Even Walt Disney and other motion picture cartoonists offer a clear example of timeless art in all its stages and glory!
In the hilarious new comedy, THE HUSTLE, Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, who team up to take down the dirty rotten men who have wronged them.
THE COMPARISON GAME
It is very easy to get got up in the comparison game, partly because we learn by observing those around us. If I asked you to stop whatever you were doing right now and describe the impact you want to have on those around you and the world after your gone, it’s only normal and natural that you would think of women you want to emulate. Having successful women to model after is a true blessing.
So maybe in thinking about what you want to leave behind, you focus on the compassion of Mother Teresa, the courage of Rosa Parks, the beauty and determination of Halle Berry, the creative nature of Rosie Gordon Wallace, the authoritative and outstanding presence of Angela Bassett, Oprah Winfrey and so on.
Seriously, think about it! That sounds like a great recipe for success, doesn’t it? It’s like wondering through an art gallery or museum of great leading ladies and choosing colors and brushstrokes that you admire and want to incorporate onto your own canvas. Happily, there are just too many for me to name them all!
The danger arises when you set yourself up to be measured on their scale without their life experiences and circumstances, talents, beauty or even their personalities.
There will never be another Angela Bassett (How Stella got her groove back) and how I am planning to get my groove back. Lol!
There will also never be another Rosie Gordon Wallace (http://dvcai.org/), Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry, Beyoncé Knowles Carter, Gloria Jean Watkins a.k.a. “Bell Hooks” or any of the twenty-four Caymanian women from George Town, Grand Cayman who lead the charge for equal rights for women by writing to Commissioner Ivor Otterbein Smith on Election Day 1948, declaring, “That it is our intention to exercise our constitutional right to vote today, August 19th 1948 according to our conscience”.
“Without culture, without creative art inspiring to the senses, mankind stumbles in a chasm of despair and pessimism.”
Gloria Jean Watkins (born September 25, 1952), better known by her pen name bell hooks, is an acclaimed intellectual, feminist theorist, cultural critic, artist, and writer. She has authored over 30 books and has published works that span several genres, including cultural criticism, personal memoirs, poetry collections, and children’s books.
Her writings cover topics of gender, race, class, spirituality, and what she describes as their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and class domination. She also teaches and emphasizes the significance of media in contemporary culture.
The focus of hooks’ writing has been the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender. She has also published numerous scholarly articles, appeared in several documentary films, and participated in many public lectures. In 2014, she founded the bell hooks Institute at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. http://www.bellhooksinstitute.com/
We had or still have these amazing originals and don’t need replicas. Most important to note is that no one else can be you but you! Lol!
“People are born originals, but die copies”
John Mason, author of An Enemy called Average
You can observe and emulate without attempting to conform to someone else’s standards and achievements.
For instance, real money is considered money, usually coinage, as distinguished from paper money and is accepted as Legal Tender. Also called Hard Currency. Checks, drafts and other negotiable instruments would not be considered real money.
RATE OF RETURN
The yield obtained on invested capital also known as the Return on Equity (ROE), or Return on Assets (ROA), a measure of operating performance. Snap!
You have your own race to run, and while you can learn about pacing and breathing by studying those who have run ahead of you, only you can finish your race and reach the finish line God has established for your unique course.
QUADRATIC PRICING MODEL
The financial pricing model, indicating the optimal market for a new product or service, and the optimal price-yield of a new product. The highest profit potential is for a customized product made for a specialized group of clients, such as full-service brokerage, or private banking.
KEY MAN INSURANCE
Key Man Insurance Is an insurance policy protecting a small business or partnership against business losses from the death or disability of a principal owner. Lenders sometimes require partnerships of closely held corporation to take out such insurance naming the lender as loss payee before extending credit if they believe the loss of a key employee will hinder a firm’s ability to repay a bank loan.
KEY
Key is a set of instructions governing the encryption and decryption of electronic messages. Each financial institution participating in a wire transfer system or electronic funds transfer network, such as an ATM network, has a unique identification key, called an issuer’s key.
KEY CURRENCY
Key currency is currency used in international trade settlement, or as a reference currency in setting exchange rates. Key currencies are the U.S. dollar, or, more broadly, any currency issued by one of the GROUP OF SEVEN countries. Central banks hold a portion of their reserves in a key currency.
KEEFE BANK INDEX
Keefe Bank Index is composed of 24 money centers and regional banks compiled by Keefe, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a New York investment banking firm specializing in bank stocks. The index is an unweighted index of banks and bank holding companies that track s earnings, dividends, and market price performance of the group. It is used by securities analysts to monitor the relative performance of individual holdings of bank stocks.
KEY MANAGEMENT
Key management in data processing and electronic funds transfer, the control of identification codes unique to each financial institution in a network. Banks never transmit a key in the clear, that is in unencrypted form, but use a commonly accepted encryption formula to prevent unauthorized access. Periodically, banks change their codes, called issuer KEYS, for security reasons.
QUIET TITLE ACTION
Quiet Title Action is legal action brought to eliminate any interest or claim in a property by others. It is the procedure used to remove title defects from a real estate title when a QUITCLAIM DEED cannot be obtained.
Healthy and Nurturing Relationships vs Unhealthy and Destructive Relationships
Be careful who you let into your inner circle of friends. Believe it or not, who your friends are says a lot about you. So, the question therefore is, who exactly are you and what do you stand for? If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything? Remember that!
The community to which we become tied will always give us direction and rules of conduct. The rituals we perform subconsciously ties us to the communities. If we say a certain prayer in private or public, it automatically ties us to the group or members of the community that uses and believes in that prayer.
If we sing a certain song, like our National Anthem of this British Overseas Territory, “God save the Queen” or the Cayman Islands National Song “Beloved Isle Cayman” which was written in 1930 by Mrs. Leila Ross-Shier, it will or should connect us to the group or country that also feels, responds and believes in the words written.
Unfortunately, sometimes we become involved in some addictive and destructive relationships and with these relationships it can be hard to see the dangers when you have become the person in the middle of the chaos.
If you don’t know me by now, you will never know me. I’m always studying something or reading a book about something and I’ve recently learnt that addictive and destructive relationships are very superficial and most of the time are very private. The Addict inside does not care to be with people, but prefers to be alone or with other addicts who know, accept, and are not scared by their rites of addiction.
The alcoholic drinks alone or with “drinking buddies.”
The sex addict watches pornography or visits prostitutes where they are alone in a private addictive world of their own. If there is acting out with someone, it often takes place without words, but with addictive looks to communicate who will do what in the addictive rite. https://teneishajohnsondream.wixsite.com/dreamcreator/fifty-shades-of-play-happy-valentin
The bulimic’s or anorexics rite is a private act, but in another way this ritual is still a tie to a community whose members are secret to each other. Perhaps they will only meet when they band together in recovery to help each other fight their common enemy, food addiction. https://teneishajohnson.wixsite.com/dream/who-you-are-vs-how-you-look
The addictive gambler most often prefers to be alone, but can recognize other addicts by the way they act, the symbols they carry, and the places they meet. They often pass each other, recognizing each other’s presence in a silent way; if they talk, it is about their common interest in gambling.
Addiction is a negative form of worship through connection with one’s negative side, the Addict, at the expense of the Self. The “Self” or the person within witnesses the addictive ritual and is often sickened by what he or she is forced to participate in, but they are held captive by the power of the disease.
I’ve also learnt that it is very important for recovering people to understand their “Addict” has a preferred way of acting out and that there are dangerous areas, times and behaviors they need to avoid that may trigger another episode.
According to Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. and Craig Nakken, a recovering spending addict who has a ritual of acting out on Friday evenings, he or she will need to make sure they are around safe friends doing safe activities on Friday nights. A sex addict who use to cruise a certain part of town as part of his or her addictive ritual needs will need to stay away from that part of town.
Healthy rituals can also bind us to others, to family and to friends. Attending church as your able, volunteering your time or resources to one of the many great causes in our community and around the world etc.
If you think about it- healthy rituals bind us to people who care about us, where as addictive and sometimes destructive rituals are reverse rituals and their primary purpose is to isolate us from others.
Healthy rituals help us to have better relationships. They help us to feel pride about ourselves and others, addictive and destructive rituals cause shame.
Healthy rituals celebrate life, addictive and destructive rituals seek out death.
“Women, know your calling and embrace the work that will change lives. Have courage to walk away from the false comfort of an unactualized existence. Master the grit and tenacity to act on and live through your deepest desires (let me ‘Teneisha’ also inject fears). Share your best self with future generations. Generations to come will see your path and take the necessary footsteps to follow in your honor.”
Rosie Gordon Wallace
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is universally recognized as one of history’s greatest creative geniuses. Excelling in a variety of disciplines-painting, sculpture, architecture, music, engineering, and physical sciences- he is often deemed the quintessential Renaissance man. Wow!
He is famously known for paintings The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa.
The Mona Lisa, it is one of the most famous paintings in the world, despite its relatively small size and simple composition. The work which is painted in oil on a popular panel, measures thirty-one by twenty-one inches. Another interesting fact that I found out is Mona is a contraction of ma donna, Italian for “my lady” Love it!
Due to his genius and fame, da Vinci has served as a continuous inspiration for many artists. In more recent times, he has appeared as a character in a wide range of fictions, from the television series Star Trek to the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code which also became a movie.
KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS: Was Keynes another Renaissance Man?
Keynesian economics is an economic theory originated by the British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), and his followers. Keynes maintained that governments should use the power of the budget to maintain economic growth and stability, and overcome the recessionary cycles common in most western economies.
Towards this purpose, Keynes argued, in his work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1935) that governments become active managers of the economy, by manipulating taxation and spending policies. According to the Keynesian view, deficit spending stimulates private sector development in periods when the economy is under-performing.
Critics of Keynesian economics, especially the monetarists, say that economic stability is best achieved by controlling credit and growth in the MONEY SUPPLY. Monetarists fault Keynesian economics for relying too much on government spending and taxation policies, which they say over-stimulates the economy, causing high inflation rates and contributing to the boom and bust cycles in the economy that have occurred since the mid-1970s.
Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance artists five centuries ago also began using what was called the camera obscura (or pinhole camera) as an aid to drawing.
Some four centuries later, two Frenchmen, Joseph Nicephore Niepce and Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, hit upon the idea of placing a plate containing light-sensitive chemicals at the back of a camera obscura. Photography was then born, and to this day we call the instrument we use for making photographs after the old Latin word for “chamber”: camera.
Photography has since then quickly found use in journalism, art, science etc.
Photographs record the everyday world and allows the general public to see faces, places and scenes from virtually anywhere in the world. Photography brings us images of war and beauty, famine and high fashion, art and nature, love and romance.
Instant Photography
Edwin Land demonstrates Polaroid color instant photography. Fritz Goro/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images.
Created Camera which rapidly developed pictures. (Patent filed 3rd February 1948 and published as US 2543180) “
The Inventor, Edwin Land was still a physics student at Harvard when he succeeded in producing the first modern filters to polarize light. This has applications in sunglasses, headlights and other requirements in reducing glare. He created both a camera and the special film required for the development of dry black and white photographs in about a minute.
In 1932, Edwin Land and George W. Wheelwright, III (1903–2001), a Harvard colleague, formed Land-Wheelwright Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to manufacture polarizers and the company became public in 1937.
The company’s inexpensive polarizers were used in photographic filters, glare-free sunglasses, and stereoscopic products that gave the illusion of three-dimensional (3-D) images. 3-D movies were created by applying polarizers to projectors and viewing glasses. The company also invented a new product called a vectograph that combined two still images taken from slightly different positions and printed as oppositely-polarized images; using polarized glasses, viewers saw a 3-D image of the subject.
Fundamentally vision provides ten times as much information as hearing and compliments the famous saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
However, none of what I’ve stated above, would have been possible without the above- mentioned people having an actual vision and the ability to not only conceive an idea but to bring it to life.
Teneisha Johnson has a Dream 