Exactly Where I Need To Be - Jul 12

At the LORD's command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD's order and did not set out.
(Numbers 9:18:19)

Forgive me dear readers for not posting sooner. As of this writing, I'm now four weeks into my studies. Two modules completed (Word and Excel) with many more to come. Between my studies and my part-time job I've had little time for blogging. For me, there's a point of professionalism and a sense of pride in consistently maintaining a blog month in and month out. Here then are my musings on becoming a new/old student again.

Wanderlust

Many of us exclaim 'Oh, if only I was over there rather than over here! Surely I would be much happier then!' But is that really true? Most of the time we are thwarted in our ambitions to be 'over there' when our attention ought to be focused here. Even if you are part of that 'lucky' minority, who's to say that happiness will automatically follow once you're 'over there'?.

Important Questions I Had To Ask Myself

Does it not make more career sense to pursue this paralegal stuff right after high school? On the surface it does. I would've completed my studies (from a public college like Sheridan or Humber) and still end up working for Tipco. Truth be told, I wouldn't have been mature enough for such an undertaking that early in my life. But right now is a different. I guess you could say I'm your classic late bloomer. Just as my time in Tipco was readying me for this moment, my time being spent now as a student is serving me for my good.

Waiting for His Perfect Timing

The scripture I chose was read to me this Sunday morning at church. 'How appropriate!' I said to myself. So many of us are so self-willed that we want everything right now. Yet if I had started in April, I wouldn't have had the part-time Commissionaires job needed to make ends meet. In a larger context, had this layoff been significantly delayed by a number of years it would seem too late. And if I'd been laid off years earlier I doubt I would have had the wherewithal to properly deal with the situation.

A Biblical Parallel

The Israelites had to endure slavery in Egypt before they became a nation. When found guilty of unbelief, another forty years as desert nomads was sentenced upon them before they could enter the Promised Land. Even then they still faced obstacles from possessing their inheritance. Does that path sound similar to you? I find it true of my situation. Of course God could've given the Israelites everything up front. Yet how would that serve His purpose? His message for the Israelites was clear: You walk by faith and not by sight. When I tell you to stay, you stay. When I tell you to move, you'd better get moving!

God: Both the 'Irresistible Force' and the 'Immovable Rock' - But Only If We're Listening!

So if we move when we're supposed to stay and stay when we're supposed to move, nothing but disaster will be the logical result. Forty years of futility was the penalty God had to impose on His people. Israel was out of Egypt but 'Egypt' wasn't out of Israel! I wouldn't want anyone to have their precious time wasted due to disobedience. Accepting Christ and learning to move when He moves is the surest path to success and happiness.

Johnny Cash

Rust Never Sleeps (Ug99) - Jun 22

There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
(Matthew 24:7b-8)

Found in Uganda in 1999 - hence the name Ug99 - this virulent fungus is threatening the world's wheat supply. You can read the original article here.

Johnny Cash


In a St. Paul lab, scientists race to defeat a wheat famine 'time bomb'
By Karen Kaplan
Los Angeles Times
Updated: 06/20/2009 10:45:26 PM CDT

The spores arrived from Kenya on dried, infected leaves ensconced in multiple layers of envelopes.

Working inside a bio-secure greenhouse outfitted with motion detectors and surveillance cameras, government scientists at the Cereal Disease Laboratory in St. Paul suspended the fungal spores in a light mineral oil and sprayed them onto dozens of healthy wheat plants each day. After two weeks, the stalks were covered with deadly reddish blisters characteristic of the scourge known as Ug99.

Nearly all of the plants were goners.

Crop scientists fear the Ug99 fungus could wipe out more than 80 percent of worldwide wheat crops as it spreads from its home base in eastern Africa. It has jumped the Red Sea and traveled as far as Iran. Experts say it is poised to enter the breadbasket of northern India and Pakistan, and the wind inevitably will carry it to Russia, China and even North America — if it doesn't hitch a ride with people first.

"It's a time bomb," said Jim Peterson, a professor of wheat breeding and genetics at Oregon State University in Corvallis. "It moves in the air. It can move in clothing on an airplane. We know it's going to be here. It's a matter of how long it's going to take."

Although most Americans have never heard of it, Ug99 — a type of fungus called stem rust because it produces reddish-brown flakes on plant stalks — is the No. 1 threat to the world's most widely grown crop.

WORLD PRICE SPIKES

Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico estimates that 19 percent of the world's wheat — which provides food for 1 billion people in Asia and Africa — is in imminent danger. American breeders say $10 billion worth of wheat would be destroyed if the fungus suddenly made its way to U.S. fields.

Fear that the fungus will cause widespread damage has caused prices to spike on world wheat markets. Famine has been averted thus far, but breeders say it's only a matter of time.

"A significant humanitarian crisis is inevitable," said Rick Ward, the coordinator of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project at Cornell University. "We are at a stage where the equivalent of Hurricane Katrina is offshore and we are shoring up the dikes as fast as we can."

The solution is to develop new wheat varieties that are immune to Ug99. That's much easier said than done.

RACE AGAINST TIME

After several years of feverish work, scientists have identified a mere half-dozen genes that are immediately useful for protecting wheat from Ug99. Incorporating them into crops using conventional breeding techniques is a nine-to-12-year process that has only just begun. And that process will have to be repeated for each of the thousands of wheat varieties specially adapted to a particular region and climate.

It's a race against time that pits Ug99 against the coordinated efforts of agricultural scientists from around the world.

More than 500 million acres of wheat are planted around the world, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. "All the seed needs to change in the next few years," said Ronnie Coffman, a plant breeder who heads the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project. "It's really an enormous undertaking."

Stem rust destroyed more than 20 percent of U.S. wheat crops several times between 1917 and 1935, and losses reached nearly 9 percent twice in the 1950s. The last major outbreak, in 1962, destroyed 5.2 percent of the U.S. crop, according to Peterson, who chairs the National Wheat Improvement Committee.

The fungus was kept at bay for years by breeders who slowly and methodically incorporated different combinations of six major stem rust-resistance genes into various varieties of wheat. The breeders thought it unlikely that the rust could overcome clusters of those genes at the same time.

As an added defense, a key rust-resistance gene — known as Sr31 — was imported from a rye plant and was therefore completely unfamiliar to the invading fungus.

After several outbreak-free decades, it seemed that stem rust had been defeated for good. Nearly all the scientists who once focused on it switched to other topics, and the hunt for new resistance genes practically slowed to a crawl.

A new race, or strain, of stem rust was discovered on a wheat farm in Uganda in 1999. Scientists published a report on the fungus the following year in the journal Plant Disease.

"It didn't draw a lot of attention, frankly," said Marty Carson, research leader at the Cereal Disease Laboratory, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "There's very little wheat grown in Uganda."

Researchers in Carson's lab confirmed that Ug99 — named for the country and year it was identified — had found a way to defeat Sr31. But scientists still saw little cause for concern.

Within a few years, the Ugandan stem rust had devastated farms in neighboring Kenya, where wheat is one of the biggest crops. Then it moved north to Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen.

"There was a great deal of concern," Carson said. "Rust fungi are notorious for dispersing over very far distances in the wind."

FUNGUS IS MUTATING

To make matters worse, the fungus is becoming more virulent as it spreads. At least one version of Ug99 can defeat all six stem-rust-resistance genes, and several variants can defeat groups of them.

Now, the pressure is on to develop wheat varieties that are impervious to Ug99.

The first step is to identify Ug99-resistance genes by finding wheat plants that can withstand the deadly fungus.

Roughly 16,000 wheat varieties and other plants have been tested in the cereal disease lab over the last four years.

The tests have been conducted between Dec. 1 and the end of February, when the Minnesota weather is so frigid that escaping spores would perish quickly, Carson said.

These and similar efforts at a research station in Kenya have turned up only a handful of promising resistance genes, which crop breeders are trying to import into vulnerable strains of wheat.

Israel, Iran and Obama - Jun 16

'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia (Modern Iran - JC), Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.
(Ezekiel 38:3-6)

Something interesting has just happened in Iran. A massive presidential election has taken place with the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being returned to office. Best to wait for the dust to settle before we can properly gauge what's really going on. Here's an interview with Dr. George Friedman (CEO of Stratfor) giving his assessment of the situation.

Johnny Cash

Six Months Later - Jun 12

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
(Jeremiah 29:11)

Well its finally done. I went to TriOS college today to do all the necessary paperwork. My course starts on Monday with Microsoft Word for two weeks followed by Excel for another two weeks. After the Labor Day break is when I get into the heavier stuff. Should be fun!

Waiting On His Timing

I got back from my hectic morning and arrived at home just after 2:30 p.m.. I noticed the date was the 12th of the month. On December the 12th 2008 I was laid off and I also arrived home around 2:30 p.m.. 'Funny', I said to myself, 'It's exactly six months later to the exact hour and date since I lost my job to now where I've become a paralegal student.' The logic and symmetry of the moment struck me as profound.

The God of Monday Mornings is the God of Friday Afternoons

Do you remember Christmas Eve when you were a child? How much sleep did you get? Probably none! I reckon the night of the 14th will be similar. Monday morning will not be pretty!

People always say TGIF. I say 'Why wait til Friday to give Him praise?'. Giving God praise on Monday mornings may be difficult for someone like me but keep this in mind: There are unemployed people out there who will wake up Monday morning with nowhere to go. Not unlike my situation they may have just received their notice of permanent layoff despite years of loyalty. Unlike Mondays past, I'm now expected to be at an exact place at an exact time. Seen in this context, Monday morning is a blessing!

Not The End, But The End of the Beginning!

Amidst all this nervous anticipation and a frenzy of activity I noticed the receptionist picking up the phone and asking, 'How did you hear about us?'. I imagine the answer would've been 'over the internet', or 'through an employment ad'. These people were phoning in just as I was sort of coming to an end. My true end of course is 52 weeks hence! But for these people their journey was just beginning. When I was at Herzing (Yonge and Dundas) I remember overhearing a young lady who had graduated recently and was starting a new job. How excited she was! I couldn't help but be a little envious.

My point is this: If you're at the beginning, remember that others have preceded you and will help if you're willing to listen. If you find yourself coming to an end others likely will be following in your footsteps. If they come to you, help them. You were once a rookie at this! The old Christian command 'Love one another' as Jesus loved us is one that we should tirelessly promote at home, church, work and at school.

Johnny Cash