MY NEW RSS FEED

Please be aware that I have reverted back to blogger, so my feeds are all changed, my links too.   I am back at http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com

Thanks

Blogger.com

I have returned to Blogger.com for my blog hosting needs. You can now find me back at thehomelessguy.blogspot.com Thanks!

WordPress Is Good

Dang, how I love WordPress, especially the template choices.   And, Blogger and WordPress offer different functionalities, of which I prefer WordPress. But, after giving it some time, it is obvious that my blog posts get read more often, (for whatever reason), when I’m on Blogger.  and my blog has a better ranking on search engines, when I’m on Blogger.

I used to be listed on the front page of every search engine, and usually in the top five.  Now I am listed back on page 5, or farther, if I’m listed at all.

I am currently registering 300 or more readers a day, without much search engine presence.   When I’m on the front page of search engines, I register 500 or more readers per day.   This does make me wonder, also, how the original 300 are finding my blogs.

This blog will stay up,  and I’ll try to add things here when I remember to, but I’m going back to blogger for my main blogging tasks.

Come visit me at thehomelessguy.blogspot.com

Thoughts On The Bible

Christianity generally, and the Bible specifically, are subjects in need of exploring because a great many people respond to homelessness through them.   Can there be a more easily manipulated person, to a confession of faith, than one suffering the burdens of homelessness?   Some Christians will declare that during such difficult times, Christianity is in most need.  Yet others will declare that people become homeless through Divine intervention - a ruse by God to get wayward people’s attention.   I can’t tell you how many times a chaplain at the rescue mission chapel service will declare to the coerced attendants, “It is no accident that you are here tonight.”   Sadly, the rescue mission staff does not allow dissenting views to be expressed, on this subject, or any other.

Most people who feel compelled to bring Christianity to the homeless will declare the inerrancy of the Bible.  The justification goes thusly - if the Bible is perfect, and they are preaching “from” the Bible, then the words they speak as they preach are also perfect, to be considered dutifully, without question.   Such proclamations made so often at the begin of chapel services at the mission has caused many, including myself, to automatically turn off my attention, and dismiss whatever the chaplain is saying.   On the other hand, if the chaplain starts out on the right foot, with humility and practicality, I’ve give him a listen.  (and in this instance I use the pronoun “him” because women are not allowed to preach at the mission.  Although the rescue mission claims that it is non-denominational, only fundamentalist views are allowed to be expressed at the mission.)

The Bible is not perfect, and there is plenty of reasonable proof of its imperfection.   But, really, does the Bible have to be perfect?   I don’t think so.  God is still God, with, or without it.  For some, though, their faith is founded on the Bible.   In their twisted logic God can be proven to not exist, if the Bible can be found to be lacking.  What a terrible state they put themselves in.   Instead of having a relationship with God, they have a relationship with the Bible.  And instead of developing a life in relationship with God, they spend all their time trying to defend the Bible, defend their faith, defend “Christianity,” etc., etc.   But, God needs no defenders.  God is perfectly capable of defending himself, and desires for us to instead spend our lives doing His will.   A real Christian is not one who makes signs to the world that they are Christian, but is one who feeds the hungry, shelter the cold, provides for the needy, etc.   A person who spends all their time trying to convert the already converted, and ignores or neglects their needs, is nursing a dead faith.

I often wonder where the body of Christ would be if we didn’t have the Bible, if the words of 2000 years ago were never put into print.  I imagine that us “Christians” would be more alive in Christ, having a more dynamic relationship with God, because they are not confining their lives to the stories and few teachings found within the Bible.   When witnessing to non-believers they wouldn’t turn to the Bible, as they do today as a crutch, but would instead relay their own real and personal experiences with the almighty.  Churches and their doctrine would appeal more to the contemporary needs of people.

But today there is almost no accurate relating of God to people and their needs.  I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the story of the prodigal son at chapel services at the rescue mission.   But let me tell you, folks, the story of the prodigal son is not a story about homelessness.   There are no, sons-of-wealthy-land-owners, hanging out at the rescue mission after squandering their inheritance.  That story doesn’t apply to us homeless.  Please stop trying to make that square story fit into our round lives.

For an understanding of the story of the Prodigal Son, read - The Prodigal Son

Twitter

Yes, I am now on twitter with a new accurately spelled account.
http://twitter.com/thehomelessguy
Won’t you be my Twitter?

Tornados

Tuesday night a storm, with high winds and several tornadoes, ripped across parts of the United States, killing many people and destroying a great deal of property.  Much of that happened in my home state of Tennessee.   Actually, one of the tornadoes was in line to tear through Nashville, the city I live in.  But for whatever reason, it skipped over us.

People in this part of the country can be deeply biblically religious, and they will either give thanks to God for being spared from the storm’s devastation, believing their faith saved them, or they will call on God for the strength to carry on after suffering greatly, as the storm devastated their lives.  There will be some who will lose their faith in God because He did not protect them, as they felt He should.  And, they may chose to no longer believe in God, and may carry a heart of anger towards God for the rest of their lives. 

But, is any of this really about God?   Is it really about us humans?   Do the natural forces of our planet act against our immoral tendencies?   God is sometimes said to be capricious - that there is no rhyme or reason to His actions.  But perhaps that is because we give God too much credit for what happens in our lives.  Do we succeed because God likes us?  Do we win against others in the competitions of life because God prefers us to others?

When you compare all human lives you see that God does not judge by such narrow parameters.   Sometimes good Godly people succeed, and sometimes immoral people succeed.  Failure happens the same way.  At least as we define such terms at “good” and “immoral.”  But I don’t believe God uses our dictionary, not from all the evidence I’ve seen.   We humans put a great importance on labels, and statements, but God finds importance in conformity to His will.

Some people who label themselves “Christian” are as far from God as any heathen.  And yet some people labeled “heathen” will no doubt spend eternity with God because they have the will of God on their hearts and act accordingly.   Some people believe that the Bible is the only, and final, word of God. But, by limiting God to the confines of the Bible, they miss out on the fullness of a dynamic relationship with him.  

Declarations of the devineness of the Bible are incorrect, comely mostly from weak minded men in an attempt to make life easier for themselves.  Proof has been provided, again and again, that the Bible is of man, and God’s intervention in its creation is lacking.  In his book, Misquoting Jesus, Bart D. Ehrman shows, with easy-to-understand proof, the ordinariness of the Bible. Now, don’t get me wrong, the Bible is a powerful and important book which every believer should know and understand. But, just as we know today that the Earth is not the center of the universe - actually the earth is just an insignificant spec of dust on the edge of a might galaxy, and that galaxy is just an insignificant spec of dust in an infinite universe - on the same scale we have to admit to the smallness, and limitations, of our understanding of the fullness of God and his plans for us.  The Bible, in its limit of pages, can not get us there.  For all the good it is, the Bible is not magic, nor a miracle.  It is not God’s final word to us. Certainly, we can find as much truth in today’s writings, by today’s men and women.   It is important that we prayerfully consider everything we read - judging it to be from God, or not - whether it be in the Bible, or Christianity Today.  The Bible can be the beginning of our relationship with God, but not the end. By all means, let us grow to know even more about God, and grow closer to Him.

The taking, or giving, of life is not God’s measure of a person. Many great people, even on a Godly scale, have lives short lives. Although Methuselah lived for hundreds of years, Jesus lived only 33. Certainly, God has a purpose for us all. God takes us when He is ready. Regardless of what we think on the matter.

Matthew 5:45 - He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

I Love My Library

It is so cool to walk into the library to the sounds of a youth choir, angelic voices, singing songs most appropriate for the space. The first floor lobby has no ceiling, and can be viewed from the second floor, where art is hung, and where musicians take stage.

As I walked towards the elevators, immersed in the harmonies, I passed a young family entering the library. The children were wide eyed in amazement of the sound they were hearing, but not yet knowing where it came from.  Something I’m sure they’ve never heard before in their young lives, and something that seemed to please them immensely.   Such moments stay with a person forever. 

And the library wins over another generation.

btw, today’s choir was from the Nashville School of The Arts, Choral Music Dept.

Brick And Mortar And Behavior

It has been proven, time and again.  I’ve seen it work myself.   Environment effects people’s behavior.   Often I have seen homeless people, as they wait in the alley for Room In The Inn to begin, acting in all manner of offensive ways, but once they are out to a Room In The Inn church, their behavior completely changes for the better.   I have also seen it happen, that a Room In The Inn church provides an environment that is no better than the streets, and the homeless people’s behavior worsens.

Even Malcolm Gladwell, in his book, The Tipping Point, pointed out how crime in New York City subways declined remarkably after a crew cleaned all the graffiti off the walls and trains, repairs were made to old trains, new train cars were put into service, and a crew was hired to continually work at keeping the subways clean.  And the cost of doing this was easily offset by the dramatic drop in crime.   The subways were safer, so people started riding them more than ever.

The following article in USAToday discusses how changes in educational environment are helping students to learn more, and behave better.

Bricks, mortar and learning

Much of this country’s energy is expended on new educational theories, but I’ve seen firsthand that a new school structure can change behaviors and pave the path to learning — virtually overnight.

By Patrick Welsh
Like many public school systems around the country, the school system in Alexandria, Va., where I teach has seen scores of education theories come and go like viruses. Aside from creating the illusion that school administrators have the latest secret to educating kids, the impact of these theories has been negligible and often counterproductive.

But at last, I have seen something that really does help kids learn, and it has nothing to do with theory. It is simply a matter of bricks and mortar and glass — a new T.C. Williams High School built to replace the 42-year-old building.

Mark Burke, who managed the construction of the new school and has been involved in 60 K-12 capital school projects in our area, gets it right in tying the actual environment to the learning.

“Many school systems overwhelmed with new students resort to stopgap measures and try to do things on the cheap…. (But) doing things on the cheap for now will not only cost more money but will not help increase learning,” Burke says.

The biggest stopgap measure today is the “on the cheap” use of trailers as classrooms.

Space: Alexandria did nothing on the cheap in building our $100 million school, and the most obvious change is the additional space. While the number of students per class hasn’t changed, there is much more space outside the classrooms. The halls are wider, with the passageways from one hall to another twice the size of those in the old school. The ceilings in the library and cafeteria are three times higher. In theory, the new school could have been substantially smaller had the planners wanted to pack students into tight quarters. But as reported in a study in California, where 1.5 million children are said to be in overcrowded schools, stuffing students into schools has a dire effect on both discipline and learning, especially for low-income children.

Lighting: The new school’s most striking feature is the amount of natural light that floods the building. The new classrooms have wide floor-to-ceiling windows, and the walls of the most traveled corridors are mostly glass.

In 2001, the Heschong Mahone Group, an energy efficiency consulting firm in Fair Oaks, Calif., studied students from the same school district and found that those whose classrooms had the most natural light showed a 21% gain in learning rates than those in classrooms with the least natural light.

T.C. Williams sophomore Nikita Peterson says the natural light has what some might consider a supernatural effect: “It makes me want to come to school.”

Improved security and behavior: The new school has without question improved the behavior of kids, allowing everyone to focus more on the task of learning. Associate principal Tammy Ignacio, who has been at T.C. Williams for 10 years, says the school “is much calmer than it has ever been. There are far fewer confrontations.” Another bonus: Attendance is up.

In the same way that eliminating graffiti from New York’s subways a few years ago helped improve behavior and discourage crime, a new school building, with its immaculate environment, can instill greater respect and civility in students. But the 126 surveillance cameras can’t hurt, either. They monitor every hallway and common area as well as the area surrounding the school.

Of course, some students bristle at the use of cameras. Fine. But the mere presence of these devices makes them think twice about antisocial behavior. And if a fight should occur, administrators can pull up clear evidence of what happened.

Collegial cafeteria: The heart of the new school is its cafeteria. In the old school, there were two 50-minute lunch periods, and for years students had been allowed to leave campus for lunch. Now we have four 30-minute lunch periods, and no one can leave campus.

To my amazement, few kids have complained, and the cafeteria has created a sense of unity in the student body. Again, it’s all about the atmosphere and choices. Students have a varied menu, with seven food lines. They have the freedom to sit at booths, high “cocktail” tables or round tables. A separate quiet dining room is reserved for anyone who wants to study, and an outdoor patio welcomes seniors.

High-tech teaching: As a teacher, the new learning tools are especially important. Each classroom has an LCD projector that can transfer anything I can put on my computer — from a student’s paper to YouTube interviews — onto a 5 feet-by-7 feet screen. Even the most distracted students perk up when the LCD lights up.

The new environment can also be tailored to the subject matter. For example, earth science teacher Trisha Christopher is in a room twice the size of her old one, and it’s built specifically for the course. The lab area and the class area are separate — thus making accidents less likely. These types of small success stories are spreading across this high school.

For all the talk about back to basics in reading and math, school boards and community officials must remember that the most basic component of education is the building — the physical environment — in which students spend anywhere from seven to nine hours a day. Unless we are willing to make that environment as conducive to learning as possible — and invest the money to see this through — all the studies and tests and educational theories might as well be thought exercises. Because sometimes, it just comes down to the bricks and mortar.

Blessed Are The Cheese Makers

Have you seen that Monty Python movie, The Life of Brian?  There is much in that comedy to be learned about the Christian faith, if a person allows himself - as it is with all of life’s experiences.

In this particular scene, a group of people don’t quite hear Jesus correctly, because they are not quite listening, and mistake Jesus’ declaration, “Blessed are the peace makers,” for something that sounds like, “Blessed are the cheese makers.”

And, instead of questioning whether or not they heard Jesus correctly, they begin to justify the declaration that cheese makers are blessed.

Spectator I: I think it was “Blessed are the cheesemakers”.
Mrs. Gregory: Aha, what’s so special about the cheesemakers?
Gregory: Well, obviously it’s not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.

How often do we hear incorrectly, and instead of questioning our own ability to hear, we justify our ignorance and other failings?

Only by continually questioning ourselves, and being honest about our own shortcomings, can we truly grow towards a more correct life and relationship with God.

Can it always be that the “other guy” has gotten it wrong?

Forget the false humility of stating that you know yourself to be imperfect.  Actually find your imperfections and work to remove them.

Can you be that honest with yourself?

I knew you could!

Sentimentality Trumps Actuality

UPDATE:

The Truth Will Set You Free:  We’ve heard that said all our lives.  We believe it.  And yet we rarely exercise it.   We will do anything to prevent having to hear the truth.   In comparison to the truth we all fail miserably, and few ever want to face their short comings.  But to the extent that we listen to the truth, and accept it, we can improve ourselves, and thus, make the world a better place.   But, who is so brave to hear it, and heed it?

I’ve been in and around homelessness for most of my life.   I’ve seen a lot.  And I’m willing to share my experiences of homelessness.   But so many people don’t want to hear what I have to say about homelessness - and they don’t want anyone else to hear it either.   It’s a common practice for certain other bloggers to take exception to what I write here.  And on their own blogs they will tell people things about me and my posts that are not true.   Just so they can avoid what it is I actually say.  Even truth has an enemy.

Lately, I’ve been writing about some of my experiences with Room In The Inn.  And I plan to write even more about it.   I just ask you, kind reader, to read all of what I write, and judge it for yourself, and discern the truth for yourself, without bias.

Don’t get me wrong.   The Room In The Inn program is, for the most part, a great program.  But, there are issues with it that need to be addressed.   I’ll be addressing them here, like it or not.- end update.

It’s a sickness in America, especially in its churches, that honest critque is shunned. When any person or group declares itself as providing charity for another, it is taboo for any one, or group, to discuss how that charity fails to meet its stated goals.

Because a rescue mission declares that it works for the benefit of the homeless, then it becomes taboo for anyone to discuss how that mission does more harm than good to the homeless.

When a church, that participates in Room In The Inn shelter program, is so inhospitable that the homeless prefer going to the rescue mission, than to that church, the administrators of Room In The Inn, protect that church, instead of dealing with its shortcomings. They do this mostly by hand picking which homeless people go to that church, they pick those who are passive and unlikely, or unwilling, to vocalize their grievances. This practice assures that these churches never have to deal with their deficiencies. (This also has the very unpleasant side-effect of having the best behaved homeless people having to suffer the worst that Room In the Inn has to offer, while the worst behaved homeless are usually treated with the best hospitality.) Also, the staff of Room In The Inn are quick to chastise anyone who attempts to voice their concerns with these churches during the actual Room In The Inn functions.

I helped to create nashville’s homeless paper, The Contributor. For the first issue, I wrote an article about annual Homeless Memorial. In the article I wrote about The Homeless Power Project, and how they took ownership of the memorial, and how they were politicizing the deaths of homeless people. The powers that be, within the homeless newspaper, shot down that article. Although I wrote the truth, not just as I see it, but as many other homeless people see it, (and I provided undeniable proof) this criticism of the Homeless Power Project was not allowed in the paper. Since the homeless power project declares itself as an advocate for the homeless, the failings of the organization should not be discussed, especially in an open forum.

And this protection of declared charitable organizations isn’t just between other organizations, the general public chimes in on this as well. Whenever a critic, such as myself, speaks on a specific, or general, subject, they are quick to chastise the critic for doing so. And instead of discussing the actual issue at hand, the critic comes under fire, having to ward off character assassination attempts, instead of defending their statements.

In the capitalism driven world we live in, most businesses dedicate a good deal of time towards improving their offerings to consumers. They listen to their consumers, they hire consultants, and they welcome criticism. AND, they listen and respond. AND, for this they continually build the better mouse trap, constantly improving services, and meeting consumer’s needs.

Why don’t human services organizations operate under this paradigm? Why do they hide from their failings, why don’t they work to improve their offerings to their consumers? Why is it taboo for a consumer of human/social services to voice complaints and objections, and ask for improved services?

Just because some person, or organization, declares to work toward the benefit of others, doesn’t mean that they are actually benefiting anyone. And if they really aren’t being a benefit to anyone, shouldn’t we address that issue, and fix it?

Sleepless

Sleep is hard to come by these days.   For example…

I have sleep apnea, so I snore a lot, and loudly.   Tuesday night, I was sent out to one of the least favorite churches for Room In The Inn, a winter shelter program.   As hard as it is to believe, the conditions at this church are worse than at the rescue mission.  And for being sent out to this church, the dozen homeless men were in a foul mood to begin with.

As soon as I fell asleep, and began snoring, an other homeless man took exception to it, took it as a personal afront, and yelled so as to wake me up.  And every time I fell asleep, and began snoring, he yelled all the more.  I was eventually waking up to him threatening to turn over my cot, or to break my neck.

“You son-of-a-bitch, you start snoring again, I’m gonna break your fucking neck.”

Needless to say, such comments made it hard for me to fall back asleep. I may have gotten a total of one hour’s sleep that night. Of course, the less sleep I get, the worse my snoring gets. I had a hard time staying awake the following day. I spend my days in the library, and if the security guards catch you sleeping they will kick you out. And being that the weather has not been very pleasant lately, I didn’t want that to happen.

Still, with the weather bad, and getting little sleep, I did become susceptable to germs, and sure enough, I caught a cold. And my symptoms were obvious by the time I returned to Room In The Inn the following night.

The Father did give me some decongestants to take before being sent out to the church for that evening. The pills helped with the cold symptoms, but they also helped to keep me from falling asleep. Also, I’d been drinking lots of fluids, and my apnea was worse that night. So, although I was allowed by the Inn Keepers to have a room away from the others, I was still waking up every hour or two, and having to urinate. For this, I didn’t get any restfull sleep.

The following night, which was last night, I was unable to get into Room In The Inn. But, I was able to get one of the last remaining beds at the rescue mission.    Earlier that day, I’d decided not to drink any coffee, thinking that it wasn’t doing my cold any good, even though it would help me to stay away.   I drank lots of water instead, and some diet coke.  So, by the time I got to the mission, I had a headache - the kind you get when you suddenly stop taking caffeine.  And the headache was so bad that it kept me from falling asleep.   With all the noise and distraction and headache, I didn’t get to sleep until 1am, and then awoke by the noise of others at 4am.  My headache was gone by then.  But I could not get back to sleep.  And it really wasn’t worth trying to get any more sleep since the rescue mission staff would be waking us up at 5am anyway.

I do have a good ticket for tonight, so to get into Room In The Inn.  I just hope I get a good church this time, and can get some decent sleep.

Tramp Flu

I has it.
I did all I could to prevent it. But now that I have it, it will be around a while.
It’s raining now, and I have to go to the shelter. So, I’ll be out in it. I do have an umbrella, but it’s a mile walk. It is also cold outside.

Pray me rest.

Pit Bull Attack

So, I got into a heated debate with another blogger over the danger/viciousness of Pit Bulls. She said that a properly trained Pit Bull wouldn’t hurt anyone. I said that even properly trained Pit Bulls could easily turn on people.

Well, this has inspired me to start a small blog of news clippings about Pit Bull Attacks. You can get to it at pitbullattack.wordpress.com. Every time I read of a Pit Bull attack on a person or a pet or whatever, I’ll post it here. Perhaps over the long hall we’ll get some reliable information on trends with Pit Bulls, their owners, and their actions.

In 2005, one Pit Bull owner had this to say:

“I was always one that said pits are fine and they’re only mean if you train them to be that way,” Garrison said. “This thing made a liar out of me.”

Some Random Thoughts

Americans are obsessed with violence.  There are many exceptions, and some influential advocates for non-violent approaches to the world’s problems, who are citizens of this country.  But by-and-large, the population has an unhealthy attachment to things violent.   Even if it can be argued that each citizen should own several guns and rifles, and pit bulls, and rottweilers, there is nothing “required” by life for the amount of violence show in television and movies and video games.  That level of violence is gratuitous, and surely unhealthy for people.   And, really, the amount of things that people surround themselves with, “for protection” certainly outnumbers the actual need.   Just how susceptible to danger are people who live in the U.S., and how much protection do they really need?   Did you know that 50% of all dog attacks on humans were committed by pit bulls?  Did you know that pit bulls only make up 3% of the entire dog population?   Governments are now proposing a ban on pit bulls.  But owners of these dogs are up in arms over it.  They say that their own pit bull wouldn’t hurt anyone.  They say that dogs are only violent if they are raised to be violent.  Yet, after a pit bull attack, the owners of the dog that attacked always say their dog has never attacked before, and wouldn’t normally hurt anyone.  Again, pit bulls attack humans as much as all other breeds combined.   With this information, why would anyone pick a pit bull for a pet?  Perhaps it’s because they get some satisfaction from intimidating others, for the potential violence of their pet.

America is supposedly the bastion of freedom.  So, why do the citizens of this country spend so much effort trying to get others to conform to the status quo?   As evidence of this we have our ever expanding laws.    In Nashville, the city council just passed a law making panhandling illegal, if not tightly restricted.  This was done to to protect the citizens from the inconvience of having some strangers, most likely an alcoholic, to ask them for spare change.  Evidently, this one momentary event in a citizen’s life is something which requires protection from.  Yet, back to the violence thing - that same city council is about to pass a law making it legal for a person to bring a gun into a bar.    You know bars - they are places where people drink alcohol.  And you know what happens to people when they drink alcohol, they lose their inhibitions, and often become bellicose, combative, argumentative, and potentially violent.   So, now, a panhandler isn’t allowed to say, “hey buddy, can you spare a dime,” but a citizen can go into a bar with a gun, and get drunk.

What are these people thinking?

CompUSA Going Out Of Business

If ever there was a time to donate a laptop to a homeless guy, now would be the time. Get ‘em while they’re cheap!

I was having problems with my last laptop and unloaded it about a month or so ago - sold it cheap - the monitor was going out, the shell was cracked in a couple places - it wouldn’t be long before it wasn’t resale-able.

And it was good to take a break from computers - at least from the intensity I was at. I was always online, but not focused on the work I needed to do.

In the past couple months a homeless newspaper premered in Nashville. Though for a lack of interest, I imagine it wont last but a couple more issues, if that. Of course, the people in control of the paper decided to go another route, and lost my support. Still, they did benefit from my vast knowledge of homelessness and homeless newspapers, and were able to get it off the ground for it. They really should have stuck with me. But in actuality, I don’t think that was ever their intention. The people in charge of the paper have too many connections with people and organizations espousing a negative approach to homeless issues - especially with the Nashville Downtown Partnership. I had stated from the beginning that once the paper was off the ground, that the steering committee, responsible for launching the paper, should disband. Instead, the members of the steering committee have made themselves “editors” of the paper.

Now, Nashville’s homeless paper is being controlled by people with an anti-homeless agenda. Instead of the paper being the actual voice of the homeless, and homeless advocates, the paper’s content is being filtered - protecting the powers that be - and white washing the issues important to homeless people.

Well, most all homeless newspapers fail after 3 issues. When this one has gone bye-bye, perhaps I’ll start up my own. Or maybe I won’t wait. Perhaps some healthy competition can hasten that paper’s departure.

I’ll need a laptop to get started.