Catfish and Frog Legs

I'll let you draw your own conclusions....

DOT Commercial Vehicle Complaint

DOT Complaint Summary:

Carrier Name: DONALD MIKE ELLIOTT

US DOT #: 718433
Docket #: MC330552

Address:
184 BUNCOMBE ROAD
BELVIDERE, TN 37306

Telephone: 931-967-9785

Violation Detail

Motorist Complaint
 Witnessed a commerical motor vehicle following too close.
 Witnessed a commerical motor vehicle changing lanes improperly.
 Witnessed a commerical motor vehicle driving recklessly.
 Witnessed a commerical motor vehicle speeding.
 Witnessed a commerical motor vehicle passing improperly.

Comment
Truck # 246, light (sea)green cab w/ flatbed trailer, trailer license # 586644 was following me on [interstate omitted] between exits [also omitted] at approximately 5pm CST on November 2nd 2008. It was dusk and the truck driver was following me at an extremely unsafe distance (aprox 0.25 to 0.5 second following distance) with no headlights. The road was crowded and I thought he was going to run into the back of me when I flashed my break lights. I was in the left hand lane and going about 67 mph in order to maintain a safe following distance (aprox 4 seconds) from the car in front of me, and he went to pass me on the right. He was most of the ways past me and was still taking up space in the lane I was in so much so that I had to drive outside of my lane in order to avoid being hit. He then switched lanes pulling in front of me so that he almost clipped the nose of my car. After a few moments I wrote down his trailer number, and then pulled beside him in the right lane in an attempt to record his company name and truck number. I was able to see this information, but he swerved toward me and I had to swerve away from him to avoid being hit. There was an exit coming up, and I was able to take that exit in order to maintain my safety. After exiting I called 911 to report the driver as a danger to other motorists. The dispatcher asked me if it was a flatbed trailer. When I confirmed that it was she said that they'd already received multiple calls on this driver and that they were looking for him. I confirmed the trailer license number and gave her the other information I had.

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Oh, by the way, I did call Mike Elliot and relay the incident to him directly. I also let him know that I would be filing a complaint with DOT, and with my company personally. He said that he would "talk to" the driver, and that he did not put up with this type of thing. I asked him to send me a disciplinary report. It will be interesting to see if anything happens.

Drivers like this not only give trucking a bad name, they are downright dangerous. It is important that we raise our standards of safety and are not mediocre about the way we drive, or the type of drivers we tolerate. This is why certain companies have become the industry leaders not only in safety, but also in size among owner-operator based carriers. Safety is no accident, and I encourage anyone who reads this to take a little extra time while you're driving, and not to put up with the unsafe practices of other drivers.

AJTC - Mary and Cultural Celibacy

According to what I was reading a few moments ago, there seems to be some cultural background to take into consideration when looking at the possibility of Mary's perpetual virginity. Here's a few highlights:

The deuteronomic code teaches that a woman who is divorced by her husband and thereafter marries another man likewise cannot return to her former husband (Dt 24:1-4). As the Lord said through the prophet Jeremiah: "If a man put away his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, shall he return to her again, shall not the land (his wife's body) be greatly polluted?" (Jr 3:1; see Targum to Dt 24:1-4).

We know from the Gospel of Matthew 1:14 that Joseph the husband of Mary was a righteous man, a devout law-abiding Jew. Having noticed that Mary was pregnant and that he, her betrothed, had nothing to do with the pregnancy, Joseph had either to publicly condemn her and have her put to death for adultery (Dt 22:22-29) or put her away privately.

His decision was made when an angel appeared to him in a dream, saying: "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Mt. 1:20-21). The angel does not use the phrase for marital union: "go in unto" (as in Gn 30:3, 4, 16) or "come together" (Mt 1:18) but merely a word meaning leading her into the house as a wife (paralambano gunaika) but not cohabiting with her.

For when the angel revealed to him that Mary was truly the spouse of the Holy Spirit, Joseph could take Mary, his betrothed, into his house as a wife, but he could never have intercourse with her because according to the Law she was forbidden to him for all time.

We also have to take into consideration that when Mary was told by the archangel Gabriel "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus" (Lk 1:31), he also added that this was to come about because "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Holy one to be born shall be called the Son of God" (Lk 1:35).

By stating it in those terms the archangel declared to Mary that God would enter into a marital relationship with her, causing her to conceive His Son in her womb, For "to lay one's power (reshuth) over a woman" (Targum to Dt 21:4) was a euphemism for "to have a marital relationship with her."

Having been enlightened by an angel in a dream regarding her pregnancy, and perhaps further by Mary concerning the words of the archangel Gabriel to her at the Annunciation, Joseph knew that God had conducted himself as a husband in regard to Mary. She was now prohibited to him for all time, and for the sake of the Child and Mary he could only live with her in an absolutely chaste relationship.

Living a celibate life within marriage was not unknown in Jewish tradition. It was told that Moses, who was married, remained continent the rest of his life after the command to abstain from sexual intercourse (Ex 19:15) given in preparation the seventy elders abstained thereafter from their wives after their call, and so did Eldad and Medad when the spirit of prophecy came upon them; indeed it was said that the prophets became celibate after the Word of the Lord communicated with them (Midrash Exodus Rabbah 19; 46.3; Sifre to Numbers 99 sect. 11; Sifre Zutta 81-82, 203-204; Aboth Rabbi Nathan 9, 39; Tanchuman 111, 46; Tanchumah Zaw 13; 3 Petirot Moshe 72; Shabbath 87a; Pesachim 87b, Babylonian Talmud).

As the recipient of the great revelation that what was conceived in the womb of Mary, his betrothed, was of the Holy Spirit and that the Child to be born was destined to save His people from their sins, surely Joseph knew that he was called to take care of Mary and her Child, the Messiah, for the rest of his life, which is why the angel told him to take Mary as his wife.

If you want to read the rest of it, or read it in context, go to: http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/talmud.htm.