Friday - July 15, 2011

1. Rhode Island’s Ironman Gordon Dash
2. The Borat ETF?
3. We need a childlike, bulldog kind of faith
4. David Beckham announces baby name: Harper Seven Beckham
5. Miracle of the Day - Cancer


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Rhode Island’s Ironman Gordon Dash

The Ironman triathlon is considered to be one of the most grueling and physically taxing athletic events in the world. It requires both skill and incredible endurance in all three of its components- swimming, biking, and running. Athletes put in months and months of training to physically prepare for this event and are constantly pushing their bodies to the limit. To compete in the Ironman, you must possess tremendous physical strength, but even more importantly, you must possess mental strength. 

Gordon Dash, a Rhode Island native who grew up on the South Side of Providence has both. The 32-year-old engineer who now lives in Houston, TX returned to his hometown this weekend to compete in Sunday’s Providence Amica Half-Ironman and in the process, raise money for the South Side Boys & Girls Club, where he spent much of his childhood. He finished the 70.3-mile course in 5 hours 21 minutes, successfully accomplishing his goal of beating his last year time of 5:42:39.

Between the 6am swim start in Lincoln and the hours later finish in front of the State House, Dash kept calm and focused as he covered the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13.1-mile run through downtown Providence, the Brown Campus, Blackstone Boulevard, and the East Side. Dash advanced in his placing as the day progressed, gaining almost 250 spots in the bike portion of the race, which he considers to be one of his strengths and greatest area of improvement throughout the past year. His journey to the finish line yesterday is an incredibly impressive feat, but just as meaningful is his journey to the starting line.
A true child of Providence

Dash was born and raised in Providence and lived on the South Side with his two older brothers and younger sister until he went away to college. He received a Bachelor’s degree in engineering at North Carolina A&T University, and went on for a Masters at NC State, also in engineering. Dash has a close personal connection to the South Side Boys & Girls Club, having spent a lot of time there while growing up. Much of his love for athletics and well as success in life can be attributed to SSGBC.

The Boys and Girls club was a safe haven for him and his siblings, where his mom could drop them off after school and they could stay away from the streets. He describes the club as basically a “free camp”, where you could play and hang out, focus on homework, and learn survival skills as well. “It was the starting foundation block of my athletic career; we were always playing basketball there or swimming,” says Dash. “It always kept me active.”  Remember the South Side, giving back

Now a lead design engineer for a renewable energy/wind company, Gordon Dash returns 20 years later to his roots with SSBGC and uses the Ironman as an example of hard work and dedication to inspire the kids as well as his own family. He uses his own experience that you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it. His word of advice to the kids who currently are part of SSBGC is to “stay focused and positive, and don’t let any negative influences in your life get in your way."
From Classical High track to the Ironman

Based on today’s impressive performance, you would think that he is a veteran triathlete, but Gordon Dash is surprisingly new to the sport, having only completed his first triathlon exactly year ago at the very same Providence Amica Ironman 2010. A natural runner (and not just because of that great last name), Dash began his running career at Classical High School. He excelled in all three seasons: cross country, indoor, and outdoor track. Post-high school, Dash kept the sport in his life by competing in marathons. Always interested in keeping busy and having an active lifestyle, he came home one summer and heard about the Ironman and decided that he was going to do it.  Not an experienced biker or swimmer, Dash began coaching himself in all 3 sports, a big leap from just running, and crossed the finish line a year later. A few months after that, he completed his first full Ironman in Arizona.

Returning to do the Amica Ironman for the second time was especially meaningful to him because of his family and his connection to the area. His whole family gets together to cheer him on and uses it as a way of coming together for something good. Inspiring other people is so important to him and has helped him pull through injuries and tough parts of the race. “I originally wanted to pull out of the race because I was not nearly in my top shape," he says, "but I really wanted to provide inspiration to my family and friends. If you put your mind to something, your body will follow. I am extremely satisfied for completing this great event.” 

Looking to the future, Dash is going to recover from this race and then resume training compete in the Miami Ironman, which is on October 30. His long-term goal is to ultimately make it to the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, which is the dream of almost every long-distance triathlete. From his start as a kid playing hoops at the Boys & Girls Club, to crossing the finish line at the Providence State Capital, clearly this is someone who makes his dreams come true.

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The Borat ETF?

U.S. investors soon may have access to an ETF that holds firms based in Borat's "Glorious Nation."

On Thursday, Global X Funds filed for permission to launch 14 foreign, single-country exchange-traded funds, most of which are located in frontier markets, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Slovakia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Kazakhstan.

While Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, probably is most known to United States investors because of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's Kazakh character Borat who "starred" in the 2006 mockumentary film by the same name, the oil-rich nation in theory is ripe for an ETF, given its already-prominent role in energy production, along with oil and natural gas deposits that are believed to lie below Kazakhstan's portion of the Caspian Sea. And right now, few ETFs available to U.S. investors have any exposure at all to Kazakhstan equities, with the highest concentration (just below 5% of assets) coming from Guggenheim Frontier Markets ETF (FRN).

Global X's filing Thursday demonstrated that the firm is committed to pushing the geographic boundaries of the ETF world for U.S. investors. Several of the countries have single-country ETFs devoted to them that trade in foreign markets, but there are no single-country ETFs covering these nations that trade on U.S. exchanges at this time. (For example, as we recently noted in the ETF Weekly, Van Eck currently has a Nigeria ETF in registration as well.)

Global X did not detail expense ratios or ticker symbols for the proposed funds.

The proposed funds:

Global X FTSE Portugal 20 ETF
Global X FTSE Ukraine ETF
Global X Greece 20 ETF
Global X Hungary ETF
Global X Luxembourg ETF
Global X FTSE Morocco 20 ETF
Global X Czech Republic ETF
Global X Slovakia ETF
Global X Qatar ETF
Global X Kuwait ETF
Global X Nigeria ETF
Global X FTSE Bangladesh ETF
Global X FTSE Sri Lanka ETF
Global X Kazakhstan ETF

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We need a childlike, bulldog kind of faith

Evangelist Joel Osteen tells the story of how he came to promise his little girl a trip to Disney World.

She had been there before when she was younger, but now she was 12 and wanted to go again. As her daddy tucked her into bed one night, she asked him if they would ever go to Disney World again.

“Of course we will, sweetie,” her daddy said. “When?” she asked. “I don’t know, some day,” he replied. “You promise, daddy?” ... Without hesitation, Joel made that promise to his little girl and kissed her good night.

The next morning, Joel’s daughter didn’t miss a step in reminding him of his promise the night before. She wanted to know when they were leaving. Needless to say, Joel Osteen got a steady diet of “Daddy, you said! Daddy, you promised!” until reservations were made and her little suitcase was packed for Disney World.

That’s precisely the kind of faith the Father-God wants us to posses when it comes to receiving all He has promised us. That childlike, bulldog kind of faith that refuses to let go or give up on the things that are important to us. He wants us to stay in faith, believing daily He will come through for us.

We need to dump the passive, negative attitude that gets us nowhere but depressed and defeated and take hold of a bold, assertive, persistent spirit that brings victory and reality to our faith.

“Now faith is the confirmation, the title deed of things hoped for and the proof of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

It’s amazing! I have gotten such a revelation of this that every time I read a Scripture — or remember a promise my Father-God has made to me — and I say “God, you said,” it goes off on the inside of me with such conviction that I know that I know my promise is on its way. It has taken my faith to a whole new level in God.

God, you said no weapon formed against me will prosper! (Isaiah 54:17); God, you said by Your stripes I am healed (Isaiah 53:4-5); God, you said You are my refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble! (Psalm 46:1); God, you said Psalm 91 belongs to me; God, you said, even to my old age and when my hair is white, You will carry me and save me (Isaiah 46:4); I especially love God, you said You will show me specified new things, hidden things kept in reserve, which I have not known; they are created now, called into being by the prophetic word. (Isaiah 48:6-7). God’s word is full of “God, you saids,” and they all belong to us.

Get a revelation of this, saints. The Bible is God’s own personal love letter to us, full of promises and instruction. We can have what it says we can have; we can be who it says we can be; we can have peace that passes all understanding; we can prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers; we can speak to that mountain, be thou removed; and, yes, we can go to Disney World if He promises it.

Only believe ... have faith in God, folks. All His promises are yes and amen. Find your “God, you said” and take it straight to the throne room ... pray it, stand on it, present it as evidence ... argue your case, according to Isaiah 41:21. God is faithful, my friends. He will do it for you. He promised. If God said it ... I believe it ... that settles it!

There isn’t a problem or crisis under the sun the word of God does not have the answer or solution to. Only believe, He will fix it for you!
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David Beckham announces baby name: Harper Seven Beckham

First Natalie Portman reportedly based her baby’s first name on the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Now David and Victoria Beckham have given their daughter a middle name inspired by a number.

David Beckham announced on Facebook that he and wife Victoria Beckham have named their new baby girl — born Sunday morning at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles — Harper Seven Beckham.

“I am so proud and excited to announce the birth of our daughter Harper Seven Beckham,” the soccer star wrote. “She weighed a healthy 7lbs 10oz and arrived at 7.55 this morning, here in LA.”

The number of sevens in that sentence — not to mention the fact that Harper was born in the seventh month, and that David Beckham encountered more than a little luck as No. 7 when he played for Manchester United — may have inspired their baby (spice) girl’s middle name.

Personally, though, I like to think they took a little advice from “Seinfeld’s” George Costanza.

So what do you think of the name? Is your opinion more Costanza (pro)? More Susan (con)? Or split down the middle: pro Harper but con Seven? The comments section of this post awaits your celebrity baby name verdicts.

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Miracle of the Day - Cancer


I was told back in 1999 I had Cancer in my lower Bowels. They said that i had maybe 6 months to live. They wanted to go in and see if it was in a cluster form, if it was, they could remove it all.  I told them that God would make it that way which He did.

They went in just before Chirstmas and took it all from my body I know without God making it possiable it would have never happened. God healed my spine as well. I was told in 1995 that I would not be walking by 2004 and I am Healed and Set Free from all that. Praise God!



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