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In "The Alchemy of Turning Fiction into Truth" (Journal of Scholarly Publishing, [July 2008]: 354-372), David Henge examines the LC classification system and its treatment of "historical" works. Noting that works catalogued under the LC classification system's D-DX, E and F categories are generally assumed to be factually based, Henge demonstrates the error of this assumption. He opens by discussing four types of works devoted to studying the past—"history based on solid evidence and argument, history based on less acceptable forms of these, pseudo-history, and counterfactual history" (354)—but his key concern is with the cataloguing of the last kind of history. Counterfactual histories or "pretend histories"
immediately and unabashedly depart from accepted versions of the past in order to hypothesize about what the course of the past and present might have been., if only different events and outcomes had taken place. They never quite pretend that these alternative histories did occur, but they clearly often wish they had. (357-58)
Despite addressing themselves to a past that never occurred, these counterfactual works are more often than not given LC designations that place them among works of actual history. Such placement seems all the more odd if we consider that the LC system does have other categories that would better signal their status. For example, the HX806-HX811 call numbers represent Utopias, the Ideal State, and these categories often seem a far better fit for the titles Henge discusses (368). Although most of these works end up in history, a few have been correctly placed under the classification designations for fiction. That some do end up in fiction ironically boosts the factual nature of those fictional works that remain classified as history. Further clouding the status of these "pretend histories" is their frequent adoption of the trappings of authoritative scholarly work—the appearance of "maps, footnotes, numbers, and pictures with false captions" (362) as well as the imprint of a university press.
While Henge identifies general readers as the population at greatest risk for viewing titles bearing D-DX, E or F designations as credible and factually based, his study does address issues relevant to the creation of scholarly digital resources. Henge notes that although "guides to the LC classification scheme spend considerable time classifying history, they ignore the equally important task of defining it" (363). Similarly, building digital resources entails designing classification schemes, and it is important to make the logic of those systems transparent. Henge's article usefully reminds us that classification is an exercise in interpretation and that users must understand the rationale and assumptions behind the interpretative processes employed in the various classificatory designations. Even a cursory look at the description of the TEI header on the Text Coding Initiative's website makes the link between classification and interpretation abundantly clear.
From another, less technical perspective, the desired feedback sought by Julia Flanders and John Melson for "Exploring Reception History in Women Writers Online" represents the type of forethought necessary for anticipating users' needs and assumptions effectively and for creating the type of supporting contextual documents that will help lay bare the thought processes involved in creating a digital resource. In the process of discussing visionary failures of the LC classification designers, Henge points out that its originators assigned the essentially the same amount of classification space to the history of Asia as they did to the history of gypsies and labels this case "the most egregious example in the D-DX (history properly speaking) classes of the failure to anticipate growth" (360). While this decision seems inexplicable, generally it can be very difficult to predict future needs and build a resource capable of growth. This difficulty is compounded by the potential of digital resources to create new perspectives and new areas of inquiries not yet imagined.
The cataloguing of "pretend histories" as actual history that Henge identifies underscores that even accepted authorities like the LC classification scheme are not infallible. A parallel to Henge's critique, work by Jim May, Stephen Tabor and others on problems with the ESTC have already received attention on emob, and both cases suggest a healthy dose of skepticism is often warranted even when dealing with respected and well-established resources.


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Sadly, most Americans are pretty ignorant about our history, especially when it comes to our presidents; however, if we think of former presidents as characters (and many of them were!), they really come to life.
While he was actually born on February 22, Presidents Day is celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of our first President of the United States: George Washington. This year Presidents Day is today: February 20.
And while I am not a history teacher, I was feeling teacherishy, so I figured I'd give a little quiz to see what you might know about some of our former Heads of State.
• • •
Question 1:
Which President never lived in the White House?
Answer: George Washington. (It wasn't finished being built yet. Duh!)
Question 2:
Yankee Doodle was born of the Fourth of July. Can you name 3 presidents who died on July 4th?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both kicked the bucket on July 4, 1826. (How weird is that?) James Monroe died in 1831.
Question 3:
Who was the first president to have a beard?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln. Did you know he was the one to declare the last Thursday in November as the official Thanksgiving Day? It's true. This year, you can remember to thank Abe for the turkey.
Question 4:
Who was the first president to wear long pants?
Answer: James Madison. But it should be noted he was also the shortest president. Standing in bare feet at 5' 4", it's possible that he was a little too small for his britches, and perhaps started the fashion trend.
Question 5:
Which president put a little Dick in his mouth?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson had a mockingbird named Dick that took food from Mr. President's lips. (What did you think I meant, you pervs?!)
Other presidents born in February include Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809), William Harrison (February 9, 1773) & Ronald Reagan (February 6, 1911).
Which president was in office when you were born? What is your earliest memory involving a president?
Tweet this twit @rasjacobson

subset: commoncrawl


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By now you've undoubtedly started to notice quick response codes or QR codes. They're those little square grids printed on products and in ads, they're popping up everywhere. You point a mobile phone or device at them and they are able to interact with it in various ways. QR Codes are the future of marketing. At the moment they're also a novelty and a curiosity.
FACT: Almost everyone we meet has a cell phone or mobile device. Over 30% off those users already have a code reader installed.
That means at least one person in any small group is likely to have one. And people love using them! The QR Code can also store someone's personal data, like an electronic business card. And believe it or not, more than a few forward-thinking people have embraced the technology entirely and actually TATTOOED their scan code on their hand! This phenomenon has led others to speculate on whether the scan codes are the mark of the beast described in Revelations and a precursor to the end times. It's absolutely true. But most importantly, it makes for an interesting line of patter that will engage your audience's attention immediately!
The Apocalypse is all the rage, 2012 is on the tip of everyone's tongue and now Steve Fearson is helping you to get in on the act with Magic QR Code Tattoos. These high quality temporary tattoos are easy to apply and remain crisp and vivid for up to a week. They'll stay on through showering, swimming, etc. Each one reveals a playing card on the mobile device or cell phone when scanned. No internet connection is necessary.
If talk of a pending 2012 Apocalypse is a bit heavy for your Sunday brunch tableside gig you might want to stick with the less frightening but equally compelling "MIND SCAN" presentation. A card is selected and held by the spectator, hidden from your view. You tell the spectator that scanning the tattoo on your wrist with their phone will enable them to see your thoughts, and that you are going to attempt to visualize their card. They scan the tattoo and see that you were indeed thinking of EXACTLY their card! The tattoo is a great icebreaker, it will capture your audience's attention immediately. This revelation hits the spectator HARD because the tattoo can be introduced at the start and remains in view the entire time. If you can force a card you can do this.
But it also includes two DEVASTATING routines from Steve Fearson that really take it to the next level. Read the following carefully and try to visualize the impact it would have on the mind of the average human... You deal cards FACE UP onto the table one at a time. The spectator stops you at any time. The cards before and after the selection are seen to be different. It seems there is no way you could have known which card they would select. You introduce the code tattoo, they scan it and it reveals the name of the card they selected EXACTLY! And you can perform the effect again and again with a different card each time. This is devastating stuff. Or how about this? You ask a beautiful woman to simply THINK of a playing card. No cards are used, they just THINK of a playing card. When your tattoo is scanned, it matches EXACTLY! She accepts this as a sign that you are destined to be together and you both live happily ever after. It is time for all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive... The MARK.
Your package includes 9 temporary tattoos. 6 hand or wrist sized and 3 shoulder sized.


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY from Vern:
All of you Orange County residents who drink water should read the following important piece by John Earl, but since I know how DRY (paradoxically) reading about WATER policy seems to most of us, I'm going to summarize it a little up here.
In short, the proposed Poseidon desal plant in Huntington Beach is 1) unnecessary, and 2) is going to cause all of our water rates to go up, all over the County. If you want to understand why that is, then read John's piece below, go to Gus' site (with the evil water drop) and help the rest of us fight this scam!
I also want to respond up here to a comment MWDOC Poseidon pimp Brett Barbre makes below – he claims that those of us who oppose this Poseidon plant are simply doing it because we oppose "growth" or development. Well maybe some of us are opposed to further growth, maybe some of us aren't, but here's the deal, Brett: Very few OC citizens are so PRO-growth that they want to SUBSIDIZE it, subsidize developers and sprawl, by PAYING MORE ON OUR WATER BILLS. Am I right, people?
Because remember, that's all this expensive desalinated water is going to be necessary for – NOT for us, but for future towns and mobs that developers hope to squeeze into the last remaining open spaces of our county. Let the developers finance that themselves, not on OUR backs. Am I right?
And also, briefly WHAT WE NEED TO DO, because I'm a practical guy. John's article below that we need all our local water agencies and policy makers to refuse to sign these "take or pay" contracts with Poseidon, and that 50,000 voters are being targeted with a mailer campaign to that effect as we speak. But the first thing you and I can do is to click here, for a form that will automatically send that message to all YOUR local decision-makers. And that will also put you in the loop, so we can let you know what's going on in your area as this progresses, which we'll also keep tabs on on the Orange Juice Blog. Now heeeeere's John Earl:
'NoWaterDeal': Desal Plant Opponents Will Reach Out to Thousands of Orange County Voters
By John Earl
Surf City Voice
A growing number of county ratepayers, inspired by the late Gus Ayer, and opposed to a plan by Poseidon Resources Inc. to build an ocean desalination plant in Huntington Beach, have a message for the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) and its 28 member agencies:
No more secret negotiations or deals with Poseidon and don't make us pay an additional $5 billion in local water bills—$8,500 per ratepayer—over the next 30 years for water that we don't need.
Thirty years is the time period in which the water agencies that contract with Poseidon would be required to pay for Poseidon's desalinated water, whether it is needed or not, according to the water purchase agreement (WPA) made public by MWDOC in January.
The buyers "will agree to take (on a 'take if delivered' basis) [56,000] acre-feet per year of Product Water (the 'Committed Amount')," the WPA states. And if the buyers don't take that amount of water, they will, "nonetheless pay Seller a per-acre foot charge to be set forth in the Contract…"
The WPA is not final, but it is the culmination of a decade-long relationship between MWDOC, its water agencies, and Poseidon.
The opposition group, heralding online as www.nowaterdeal.com, plans to spend tens-of- thousands of dollars to inform other ratepayers in high propensity voting areas of the county about Poseidon's proposed "take or pay" contract, asking them to urge their local elected officials not to sign it.
Nowaterdeal is a coalition of members of Residents for Responsible Desal and other local ratepayers, including members of the Surfrider Foundation, League of Conservation Voters, and Orange County Coastkeepers, who at least until now had been fighting an uphill battle against Poseidon's well financed lobbying efforts and a marketing campaign (largely unquestioned in the county's major daily newspaper) that depicts its desalination plant as a future fallback point in case of prolonged drought or a natural disaster that would disrupt the flow of water to the public.
Poseidon would risk private investor flight without the guaranteed income, but take or pay would be risky for ratepayers if, as happened in drought drenched Australia, if the desalination plant were to sit idle due to lack of need. Currently, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), which sells water to MWDOC, has more surplus water stored up now (enough for 2.5 years) than ever before—testament to the ability to create backup reliability water without Poseidon.
Ocean desalination's high maintenance and construction costs—and much higher energy costs—make it too risky, nowaterdeal says. Stuck with higher water rates and an idle desalination plant, ratepayers would fall into a rate trap. "As rates go up, people use less water" and "lower demand results in even higher rates, with fixed costs of the entire system spread over fewer units of water."
The high cost-prediction is from information provided by Poseidon in the WPA and factors in conveyance and maintenance costs. With an inflation rate of 3.5 percent factored in, that means an estimated cost of $1,795 per acre foot for the desalinated water, compared to $285 per acre foot for local groundwater and $835 per acre foot for imported water, nowaterdeal says.
Acknowledging the higher cost of desalination, Poseidon VP Scott Maloni recently told the OC Register that Orange County residents have to ask, "What is the value of that reliability to them?"
But the underlying push for desalination plants along the California coast by the desalination industry and other development related business interests is not about drought relief alone, as MWDOC/MWD director Brett Barbre pointed out at a recent MWDOC committee meeting.
Barbre supports the Poseidon project and a smaller, less controversial, desalination project envisioned (but far from certain) for Dana Point in south Orange County. He also thinks that ratepayers throughout the county should have to pay for both projects on the basis that they would benefit everyone, even in water districts that say they don't want or need the water.
"I believe that desal is not only for reliability. It's also for growth," he said. "And there are folks on the environmental side who don't want any growth and they think if you don't build water projects you can conserve your way to provide enough water for everybody. And that's not ever going to happen."
Although most of Poseidon's opponents have always been concerned about the environmental effects of ocean desalination, the main focus of their current campaign is economic, while advocating for the development of proven and much cheaper water sources, including the Orange County Water District's (OCWD) groundwater replenishment system, capturing rainwater, and conservation.
To start, the group will focus on about 50,000 voters in 14 north county cities, including Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, La Palma, Orange, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Tustin and Westminster.
Twenty Orange County water agencies had signed non-binding letters of intent or memorandums of understanding with Poseidon to purchase, cumulatively, over 80,000 acre feet of water each year. Since those non-binding agreements expired in June, 2011, not a single agency has yet to renew.
As Poseidon works to form an agreement with MWDOC and its member agencies, it requires all parties involved in project discussions to pledge absolute secrecy at Poseidon's whim.
That lack of transparency and the overall elitist/exclusionary attitude at MWDOC and other OC water agencies, including their secret and arguably illegal meetings with Poseidon–all observed by a growing number of citizen spectators at water board meetings, as well as the company's financial support of an ethically challenged hit piece in the recent Huntington Beach City Council campaign, have inspired Poseidon's opponents, not only to challenge its political hegemony with a renewed vigor but to question the nature of Orange County water management as whole.
A temporary setback occurred for nowaterdeal when its chief strategist, former Fountain Valley mayor Gus Ayer, a master at crafting successful political campaigns in Orange County, died last week.
Earlier in the month, at a recent joint meeting of MWDOC and OCWD, Ayer praised the latter for its groundwater replenishment program and overall good management, but accused MWDOC of "mission creep" and "pimping for Poseidon."
He also questioned whether MWDOC should exist.
"It's time for OCWD to take a very close look at taking over these [MWDOC's redundant] functions and eliminating MWDOC," he said. Ayer expanded on that theme in a column written just before his death and published in the Surf City Voice.
Ayer's untimely death saddened his colleagues but his upbeat attitude continues to motivate them.
"Gus's last words to me were 'Give them hell'", recalled former Huntington Beach mayor Debbie Cook, who, during the past two years, has actively campaigned for greater transparency in water management.
"That was his way of saying that, if we don't participate in democracy, we deserve the inevitable results. Nobody can replace our friend's skill set, but he sparked a fire that emboldens us to carry on."


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I have come across a number of different blogs from Westerners who are following the path of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). Together they cover all the major sects of Hinduism; the four traditional sects of Saiva, Shakti, Vaishnava, and Smarta together with Neo-Hinduism. I am sure that I will have more blogs to add to this list in future.
The descriptions of each sect are brief and general. There is a lot of difference between sampradayas (schools) within each sect, so I have tried to put what is common to them all.
If you do feel the called to Hinduism, don't look at the sects and sampradayas within each sect to logically decide what most fits your world-view, your world-view and self-view will change on your journey. You don't choose the path, the path chooses you – or rather God has a path mapped out for you. Go with your intuition and your heart. If you go with what your mind thinks rather than what your heart feels you may well end up coming back to what felt right later.
I would highly recommend the book "How to become a (better) Hindu" , which is available as a free online text as well as a physical book.
The worship of Lord Shiva as the ultimate God, together with the great devas Ganesha and Murugan (Kartikeya).
Blog: Western Hindu
This blog! There since you are already here you know about it, but for completeness I am following the Kailasa Parampara Of the Nandinatha Sampradaya.
BLOG: Also Hindu
A new blog, I'm not 100% sure it's a Saiva blog yet but mentions the Himalayan Academy. There are some thoughtful and insightful posts.
Blog: Yatra
A blog by a gay Latino Hindu living in Philadelphia. He is a follower of Shiva and writes about his spiritual journey.
Blog: Hilltop Anthology
This highly personal blog is the story of the spiritual journey of a woman in Kentucky. The blog conveys thoughts and ideas in a poetic style.
Blog- Mahaprana: Sanskrit, Yoga Philosophy & Transpersonal Counseling
This is a blog by Joshua Michaell a Saiva Hindu who teaches Sanskrit, Yoga, Philosophy, and Meditation. He writes about his travels, tea and a wide variety of subjects with a spiritual connection
Blog: jnana.nanda
Jana.nanda is a blog by "jnana shiva", who describes herself as "a 54 year old woman living in the little big town called Las Vegas Nevada". She is a follower of Kashmiri Saivism. Her colourful blog illustrates as well as describes her spiritual journey. In addition to this blog she has a poetry blog, spanda.nanda, which shows her level of spiritual devotion to Lord Shiva.
Blog: Barefoot Justine
Barefoot Justine is a veteran illustrator and author of graphic novels whose work has appeared in DC Comics, Dungeons & Dragons products and numerous other publications. She describes herself as a Hindu, and writes:
For years I had been lost to agnosticism and had sought relief in Taoism, Buddhism, revisited Christianity, and had eventually given up on spirituality altogether. I was no longer seeking, then, quite unexpectedly I was called by Lord Shiva. Here is where I will tell that story and share those thoughts. Om Namah Shivaya!
Her blog includes many of her illustrations, including Hindu-related images.
Shaktis worship one of the divine feminine forms such as Parvati, Durga, Kali, Amman, or Rajarajeshvari.
Blog: Adorations to Amma
A blog by Stacy who is following the Shakti path. She follows Amritanandamayi Devi, known as "Amma, the hugging saint". Her original "myspace" blog has now been removed but she continues to show a very colourful and personal web presence on this flickr page.
Blog: Insights of an American Shakta
A blog describing the discovery, devotion and experiences of an American-born devotee of Devi. He describes how after years of intellectual searching an encounter with Maa Durga put him on the shakti path, realising that:
The Divine Feminine Reality Whose Cosmic Play Ever Reveals and Conceals Herself, stepped out of the web of maya made manifest by Herself, and was revealed to me within my heart of hearts, from where She had always existed.
This relatively new blog looks very interesting.
Blog: theyuha
This blog is by Daniel, a Western follower of Amma. He used to practice Catholicism and in addition to his Hindu blog theyuha he has another blog Catholicism where he tries to correct wrong teachings about Hinduism within the Catholic church.
An interesting blog from a follower of Lakshmi. She has some interesting posts with beautiful pictures. Though she describes herself as "new to Hinduism" she has an understanding – and more important a feel – for the meaning of Hinduism as a way of life.
Vaishnavas worship Vishnu, or one of his avatars. Worship of Shri Krishna and Shri Rama is particularly common.
Blog: Volara
This is a blog by Allegra, who is a student at Princeton University and a follower of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Gaudiya Vaishnavism is usually associated with ISKCON, and Allegra's path has taken that direction so far, though there are other linages within this tradition. She writes about both about her studies and her personal spiritual journey. She also feels sympathy for Muslims in America and writes about Islam.
Blog:A Western Sri Vaishnava
This blog, by written by Kodanda who is following the Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya. The posts are clear and insightful and show how he came to follow Sanatana Dharma.
Blog: Rolling With Vishnu
The Rolling With Vishnu blog is by treadmarkz, a paraplegic devotee of Vishnu. He writes "My Wheelchair is my chariot and Lord Vishnu is my charioteer as I fight the battles of life". Treadmarkz is inspired by Swami Vidyadhishananda Giri and Paramahansa Yogananda.
Blog: My Journey into Sanātana Dharma
This blog by is by "Aashna Namaste" who is at the beginning of her spiritual journey, and is guided by Shri Krishna and Shri Ganesha. Unfortunately this blog does not seem to allow comments.
Blog: The Anglo Hindu
A blog from an English follower of Sanatana Dharma who now lives in Florida. He has an affinity with Krishna and other Avatars. His blog is aimed at people who are new to Hinduism.
Blog: Why I love Hinduism
This blog is by Jura Nanuk an American with Eutopean and Native American ancestry. He writes of seeing a picture of MahaVishnu:
I saw a picture of Mahā-Viṣṇu reclining on the Causal Ocean emanating universes from his pores, and for me it was the moment when all the Western science I studied came together with all the complex imagery I had seen.
He appears to have a vedic philosophy with a vaishnava outlook. I have only just started reading his comprehensive blog.
Smartism is a traditional sect that follows the teachings of Adi Sankara. I hope that these will be useful to any westerners called to Hinduism. popularised the ancient Smarta five-Deity altar–Ganapati, Surya, Vishnu, Siva and Sakti–and added Kumara. From these, devotees may choose their "preferred Deity," or Ishta Devata.
Blog: The White Hindu
Aamba considers this blog to be complete, though it is currently inactive it holds a wealth of articles. This is a blog by Aamba, who crossed spiritual paths with me by starting off by reading a Himalayan Academy publication and ended up following the Chinmaya Misson West. She is a truly prolific blogger who has written as many posts in six months as I wrote in two years!
The author of this blog is a woman who was born in the West Indies, who describes herself as a black Hindu. She writes under the name T.A.H, and describes her spiritual path from a Catholic and Seven Day Adventist upbringing to Hinduism. Like me she has visited other faiths on the way! She mentions feeling at home with vedanta philosophy, so I think that her blog probably belongs in the smarta section, but I will leave it here until I have read more.
Blog: Rāja Haṃsaḥ
This blog by Ananda is an extended study and comentary on the Aparokshānubhuti , a short text by Ādi Śaṅkara. He says that he will be "presenting what, in my opinion, are the most relevant verses as an aid to self-inquiry.
Blog: Sons of Gods: The Mahabharata
Blog: Sādhanā Day by Day
These blogs are by Aruna Sharan, a black Hindu who grew up in Guyana, South America. The blog "Sons of Gods: The Mahabharata" is mainly about her monumental effort to produce an English version of the Mahābhārata story which is "a book the length of an average novel, a continuous story distilled down to its vital essence but dramatised so as to captivate the reader, with living, breathing characters, spiritually alive and written in an accessible style yet retaining the powerful spirit of the original". It is an established, well written blog and well worth a visit. The blog "Sādhanā Day by Day" covers spiritual practices, general philosophical questions.
You need to request access to these private blogs.
Blog: ardhanarishwar
The ardhanarishwar blog by Dhrishti clearly describes the concepts behind the non-dual Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism. He has an interesting style, not writing directly about himself but relvealing a lot indirectly by the way he describes things. He is clearly influenced by "The Seven Stars of Hinduism" by Dileep Thatte.
Blog: brhaspati's pilgrimage to India
This blog by brhaspati, who is a follower of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. He has travelled extensively in India and this blog is about his pilgrimage in 2010.
Neo-Hinduism, also known as Hindu Rerform, liberal Hinduism or Neo-Indian Spirituality is the most difficult to define. Any movement that denies the authority of the vedas or excludes core beliefs such as samscara, reincarnation, God, or the atman (soul) could be classed as Neo-Hinduism
What one person might consider to be a neo-Hindu movement another may consider to be one of the major sects; for example Veerashaivism is often considered a branch of Saivism, but could also be considered as Neo-Hinduism.
At the other extreme some people consider new-age religions that include worship of the Hindu Gods to be neo-Hinduism, whereas others believe that their beliefs are so different that they are essentially non-Hindu.
Blog: Bamboo Thoughts
This blog by is by Art who follows the Ramakrishna Vedanta tradition. He describes what this path means to him and always responds to comments thoughtfully.
This is a blog by Philip Miner, an American who came to Hinduism through his encounter with Shre Shri Ravi Shankar at the Art of Living Foundation. Starting with meditation and yoga to help with depression, this proved to be the start of a spiritual journey. I can recommend the article "On (Not) Being a Beautiful and Unique Snowflake", which explains the title of his blog and describes the start of his path to Hinduism.
Blogs Yet to be Classifiedt of
Sometimes blogs are hard to classify, usually because they are new. These blogs will be moved into other sections when the Hindu tradition they follow becomes clear or if the author requests it.
Blog: Western Sanātana Dharma
This is a blog by Alicia, a high-school student in New York State. Her blog is relatively new and she describes her first steps in Sanatana Dharma. She appears to have an affinity with Ma Durga and Shri Ganesha.
Blog: ridiculously reverent
This blog is by kāmya, an American woman living in Canada. I may need a new section to classify her blog, as she is a vedic Hindu, a devout devotee of Indra. She writes as a devotee to share her love of Indra and her ideas.
Blog: Rajanaka Sammelana
The Rajanaka Sammelana blog is an established blog by Douglas Brooks, am a professional scholar and a teacher of the traditions of Rajanaka Yoga. He explores the path of Tanric yoga, as taught by Rajanaka Gopalaiyar Sundaramoorthy. He discusses many subjects in depth, including Sanskrit, the Gita, Kashmiri Saivism.
Blog: English Wife, Indian Life
Lauren left a comment saying: "I am also a white British Hindu. I am married and living in India". Her blog "English Wife, Indian Life" tells the story of personal journey of her and her husband's path. This is a very romantic story. She writes
"India instantaneously felt like home, probably because home is where the heart is…
True love has no boundaries
Blog: mariawirthblog
This blog is by Maria Wirth, a German who learned about Hinduism on a holiday after finishing her psychology studies at Hamburg University. She continued to live in India and followed the Hindu tradition after meeting Sri Anandamayi Ma and Devaraha Baba.
She sees is concerned that the concerted efforts of missionaries to prevent the great spiritual and cultural traditions of Hinduism from being passed on to future generations.
Blog: Lakshya Yoga Blog
The lakshya yoga blog is by Lakshya, a yoga instructor, follower of vedanta, and advocate of natural and organic living. Her guru is Pujya Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Coimbatore, India, where she is currently studying.
Se writes about Vedanta, well-being and natural living, and yoga and meditation practices. This is a fairly new blog but it has some interesting, clear, and straight to the point articles.
Blog: Writings from the Banks of Mother Ganga
This is a blog by Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, an American woman now living in Rishikesh. She is a devotee of Chidanand Saraswati, and spends most of her time in sewa and meditation. She writes comprehensively and informatively of her life in the ashram.
Bloggers Influenced by Hinduism
These are blogs by people who have incorporated significant aspects of Hinduism into their spiritual life. These are listed on the page "Westerners Influenced by Hinduism".
Blog Activity
You can see the recent activity of these blogs on the page Western Hindu Blogs. A summary of this information is also available in the sidebar in the section of this blog under Posts by Western Hindus.
I hope that this page will be useful to any westerners called to Hinduism. If you are a westerner following Sanatana Dharma and have a blog, please let me know via a comment or the contact page. I will include any suitable blogs on this page.


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- Not vehicle specific. Customer is responsible for confirming this product fits their vehicle.
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Since 1968, ARP has been engineering bolts, studs, nuts, and other fasteners for engines, cylinder heads, headers, wheels and transmissions. The company is the world leader in automotive fasteners and many top engine builders rely on ARP racing products to hold their engines together.


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Delaine Derry Green (born Delaine Anna Derry, Galion, Ohio, 1970) initially created My Small Diary autobio comics in 1993, a year after receiving her BFA from Auburn University. The strips were initially sent for publication in such zines as Brave New Tick and White Buffalo Gazette. The first compzine of My Small Diary strips came out in 1995. Not My Small Diary, a compilation of other artists' auto-bio comics, was first released in 1996. Still going strong, these comic zines have attracted a diverse, talented contributor base including such names as Ed Repka, Andi Watson, Hilary Barta, Carrie McNinch, Missy Kulik, John Porcellino, Dave Kiersh, Brian Buniak, Edward Bolman, Jeff Zenick, Ian Carney, Jonathan Edwards, Jesse Reklaw, Dan Moynihan, Donna Barr and hundreds more.
As of late 2006 there were thirteen issues of NMSD and three issues of MSD available. These zines have appeared in the following museum shows: "Dark Matter" at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 2004; "Art of Zines" at the San Jose Museum of Art, 2004; "Dear Diary: The Autobiographical Comic Book" at the Athens Institute of Contemporary Art, 2006. The Small Diary zines have ridden aboard the Mobilivre traveling bookmobile. They appear in several library collections including ones in Denver, Seattle and Utah among others.
Widely praised for excellent layout and design, the Small Diary collection has been well received by reviewers and readers the world over. NMSD and MSD have appeared on the Favorite Zine list of the now defunct Zine Guide publication. The books have been sold in stores such as Atomic Books, Quimby's and Tower Records as well as through several distros.
Over the years Delaine has contributed artwork to a number of zines and books including I Keee You: A Collection of Overheards by Atomic Books, Strum & Drang by Joel Orff, Fun Facts by Eric Lyden, SemiBold by Kathy Moseley, Back of a Car by Judith Beeman, Potluck and Low Hug by A.J. Michel, Unicorn by Dave Kiersh, Hungover Gourmet by Dan Taylor, Tearjerker by Misun Oh, Java Turtle by Lynne Lowe, White Buffalo Gazette by Maximum Traffic, Food Geek by Carrie McNinch, Scout Zine by Scout, Driver's Side Airbag by Michael Halchin, Brave New Tick by Paul Normal Dion-Deitch and more.
In her spare time Delaine creates fine art inspired by vintage dress patterns (50's, 60's 70's era). Her work includes acrylic paintings, mixed media pieces and 3-dimensional functional art. Her work is carried by Naked Art Gallery in Birmingham, nakedartusa.com.
Delaine belongs to an APA called Cartoon Loonacy, is a member of AIGA and has attended small press conventions such as APE, SPX, Fluke and Zine-a-polooza. She is currently working on MSD 4.
External Links
- More information can be found at http://www.mysmallwebpage.com.
- Delaine's Small Diary egroup is at the following address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SmallDiary/


text: I swear that we were civilised earlier in the day. Scones, tea and photos with the grandparents. It's the red carpet that brought out the worst in everyone. Or it could have been the fact that everyone was drinking at midday. That time slot is usually reserved for alcoholics but we booked it for our … Continue reading A Minor Problem


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I was going to write a post declaring how very stupid it is that someone has developed something very similar to Pinterest and is trying to make its USP that it's 'built for men'. But, really, if you can't instantly see how stupid that is, then I'm not sure I have the energy to try and convince you. (But seriously: 58% women is too much for some men? Do they know that they world is 50% women already? Do they realise how badly represented women must be for just a few extra to freak them out so much? Should we all just sign up when we can and post nothing but pictures of Barbie dolls just to annoy their mods?)
Ahem. Instead, I'm going to talk about how Pinterest led to macaroni and cheese. Ah yes, women talking about food! Because women belong in the kitchen, right? And therefore Pinterest is for women! Keep walking…
(And if you hadn't noticed already, the catering industry is phenomenally male-dominated. Take a look at this list of Michelin-starred restaurants or even just watch a single episode of MasterChef in any country and tell me otherwise.)
Anyway, there I was on Pinterest, following
several men lots of feeds about food, and I saw this recipe for slow-cooker macaroni and cheese. And I repinned it. And thought about it. And thought about it some more. And then made it.
The Good: cheesy, cheesy tasty goodness. And because it's not a strong-tasting meal in the first place, the slow cooker can't really reduce the favour. Also, no stirring! I stole the idea of adding some tomato and oregano, which was lovely, and also the toasted breadcrumbs on top.
The Not Quite So Good: I doubled the recipe to feed six people and got the timings off, so I left it too long and it became a 'set' mac and cheese instead of gloopy. Still totally edible, but not quite as comforting. I like something in-between stove-top gloop and totally set, for preference.
Of course, I dished it up with the best possible accompaniment for macaroni cheese: broccoli. Cooked al dente. And Ramona loved it, so despite my mistakes, a win all round.


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Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God's law. – (Romans 13:10, NLT)
Love doesn't hurt others. So loving is the same as obeying all the law. – (Romans 13:10, ERV)
Does love hurt anyone? Absolutely not. In fact, love achieves everything the law requires. – (Romans 13:10, VOICE)
All of the commandments can be summed up and obeyed if we choose to do one thing with fidelity. If we love as we are loved by God, we will not do wrong to others and ultimately fulfill the requirements of God's law. This is far more easily said than done, as love is a choice that we must make, again and again and again. It is easy to give love when love is given to us, but an entirely different challenge when we must choose love in spite of what comes our way. Though there are times that it is seemingly impossible to choose to love, when we seek the Lord and His strength, we find grace and compassion that can only come from Him and are able to love as He loves in the most trying of circumstances. May we ever pursue our Provider in every situation and circumstance, so that we may love without doing wrong to others, just as we are loved by Him.
Love does not choose hurt,
Nor try to do harm;
Instead love gives grace,
Is faithful and warm.
As we choose to love,
By grace we achieve;
What God's laws require,
Good given, received.
So in everything,
Let love be our choice;
For love multiplies,
Reason to rejoice.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that when we choose love above all else in what we do and say, we are fulfilling that which You require us to do. Forgive us for the times that we have chosen anything other than love. Teach us to trust You more, so that we would seek Your wisdom and strength as to how we are called to love others best in every circumstance. Show us how to love as You love us. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we seek Your strength to love like You. Amen.
© Shannon Elizabeth Moreno and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present
The joy of the Lord is your strength. – Nehemiah 8:10


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Today I have a guest post from Sharon Lynn Fisher, author of Ghost Planet, a science fiction romance which had a premise I loved, which is that everyone that lands on Ardagh 1 eventually has the ghost of someone they once knew attach themselves to them. She's also the author of the recently released The Ophelia Prophecy that takes place on Earth in the aftermath of genetic research gone awry. The Manta, products of human and insect DNA experiments, are now the dominant culture, and this story is about a Manta and a human getting thrown together and the resulting clash and fallout — another great premise. I was quite excited to hear from Tor about hosting a stop on her blog tour, and actually very pleased she picked the question I'd asked about world building. Enjoy.
(Tor has also offered 3 copies of The Ophelia Prophecy to give away to 3 readers of this site, so check that out at the bottom of this post).
I'm going to start off this post with the terrific question provided by Janicu:
I imagine that writers, like a lot of creative people, are like magpies that save little bits of something from the world, internalize it, and remake it, rearrange it, add a whole lot of their own magic, and voila. What would you say are little pieces of inspiration that went into the making of this new story? (If you wanted to mention ECHO 8, I wouldn't mind hearing about that too)!
World building is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I've mentioned in a few interviews how I used to hate it. I found world building really intimidating, and thought of it as the stuff that happened between bits of "real" story (action, dialogue, romance).
I have since become disabused of that oversimplified understanding. World building is so much more than descriptions of setting (though that part is pretty important too). It fuels just about every other aspect of the story. It helps develop character and motivation. Drives creation of the plot.
But moving on to this magpie thing, because Janicu really hit on something there.
In my current release, THE OPHELIA PROPHECY, I built settings based on real-world locations. Places I had visited and wanted to return to. Sanctuary, the last human city, is located in the otherworldly landscape of Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. After Asha, the heroine, is abducted from Sanctuary by the hero, Pax, their next stop is Connemara, in County Galway, Ireland. Connemara is one of my favorite places on Earth (based on what I've seen of it so far). Dramatic and often bleak landscapes, and a living sky, constantly shifting from sun to rain to wind. You can feel its history. You can almost hear the voices of the people who've lived and died there. No wonder Ireland produces such amazing writers.
But the real showcase setting of OPHELIA is the Manti capital in Granada, Spain. The Manti are the human/praying mantis transgenic organisms that all but destroyed humanity with a targeted plague. I needed a location suited to them — exotic and sensual, with a complicated history. This Moorish city is charming just as it is, but I depicted the fictional version as enhanced by the Manti to included living, organic architecture inspired by Gaudi structures I'd seen in Barcelona (and then finished it off by layering on some political and religious conflict). One key location, a tavern called Debajo, was inspired by an image I came across on the Internet. A stone, squat, clearly medieval building situated among the more graceful architecture of the Albayzin. This tavern peddles a drug inspired by a flower I saw and learned about on a trip to Costa Rica.
As my hostess mentioned ECHO 8 — my third book from Tor, due out early next year — I'll say a word or two about that. That book is set in current-day Seattle, and also on an alternate Earth that has been devastated by an asteroid strike. The primary location is an old school building visible from I-90 on the way out of Seattle. I used to drive past the circa 1900 building with its boarded-up windows and thought what a shame it was that someone was going to tear it down eventually. But they didn't. It was renovated and converted to an African American history museum, with affordable housing on the upper floors. For ECHO 8 it became the Seattle Psi Training Institute. Another key location is the creepy decommissioned ferryboat, Kalakala, which has a very colorful past. I once lived in a tiny house on a dock on Lake Union, near downtown Seattle, and this massive derelict was parked there for a time. I always wondered about it, and when I started writing ECHO 8 I did a bunch of research, and it became a setting (and almost a character) in my book.
But the book of mine that best illustrates the magpie idea, I'm working on now. I don't want to say too much about it yet, as it's still in the earlyish stages, but it's set in Portland and features an artist heroine and a physicist/warrior poet hero. The heroine, Neve, IS a magpie. She collects bits of garbage she passes on the street, and she turns them into art books. She sees meaning and beauty in discarded objects as ordinary as a dry ballpoint pen or a popped balloon.
Writers are just like that. It can be things or people or places or even garbage. They are captured and cataloged every day of our lives. And they decorate our mental landscape. I remember one day I was walking down a busy street in downtown Seattle, near the Pike Place Market. I saw a woman walking toward me carrying a box. As she came closer, I saw she was wearing a fairy costume, and she looked annoyed. As she passed, I noticed her wings were in the box. There she was, a whole story walking down the street in broad daylight. And nobody seemed to see her but me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist and a three-time RWA Golden Heart Award finalist, SHARON LYNN FISHER lives in the Pacific Northwest. She writes books for the geeky at heart—sci-fi flavored stories full of adventure and romance—and battles writerly angst with baked goods, Irish tea, and champagne. Her works include Ghost Planet (2012), The Ophelia Prophecy (2014), and Echo 8 (2014). You can visit her online at SharonLynnFisher.com.
This giveaway is closed!
- This giveaway is for U.S./Canada only
- Contest ends: Wednesday, April 30th.
- One entry per person please!


text:
Stanton strains hamstring in 10th, put on DL
Marlins calling on outfielder Ozuna, who will make MLB debut Tuesday
MIAMI -- Wins don't come more painful than what the Marlins experienced on Monday night.
After rallying past the Mets, 4-3, in 15 innings in a game that lasted five hours and 31 minutes, the Marlins announced Giancarlo Stanton would be heading to the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring.
Injured while sprinting to first base on a ground ball in the 10th inning, Stanton will have an MRI taken on Tuesday.
"We'll find more in depth tomorrow," Stanton said. "But any time you go down, it's not good."
The Marlins are placing Stanton and first baseman Joe Mahoney, also with a right hamstring strain, on the disabled list. The team is recalling outfielder Marcell Ozuna from Double-A Jacksonville, and he will be making his MLB debut on Tuesday.
The Marlins used seven pitchers on Monday night, so to add depth to the bullpen, left-hander Brad Hand has been recalled from Triple-A New Orleans.
One reason Ozuna is getting the nod is because he already is on the 40-man roster. A power-hitting right fielder, Ozuna is batting .333 (14-for-42) with three doubles, a triple and five home runs at Jacksonville. He also has 15 RBIs in 10 games.
"He's on the roster," Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said. "We just saw him play at Double-A. He's looked good. Defensively, he's very good. We have a choice of outfielders, but right now, Marcell is the guy."
Ozuna has power potential, and he is being asked to help fill the void for Miami being without Stanton, who was starting to heat up at the plate.
The 23-year-old Marlins slugger pulled up and stumbled after crossing first base on a groundout against the Mets at Marlins Park.
Facing Bobby Parnell, Stanton tapped a slow roller in front of the plate. In full sprint, the All-Star was thrown out. As he crossed first base, he reached for his right hamstring while tumbling to the ground.
Marlins trainer Sean Cunningham dashed out to check on the slugger, who out of frustration pounded the ground with his fist before walking off the field.
Off to a slow start, Stanton belted three homers in two games, including a pair against the Cubs on Sunday.
Stanton, 0-for-5 on Monday, is batting .227 with three home runs and nine RBIs.
"Obviously, we knew it was an injury that he was going to come back," manager Mike Redmond said. "We're enjoying this win tonight, but at the same time, tomorrow, the reality will set in that Stanton is not in the lineup anymore."
Greg Dobbs moved from first base to right field in the 11th inning, and Chris Valaika filled in at first base.
Earlier this season, Stanton missed five games with a bruised left shoulder.
"We're bringing up a young kid," Redmond said. "We're going to let him go out there and play. Ozuna is an exciting player. Hopefully, he will come up and provide a spark."


text:
photo from here
"Dad? May I be excused?"
"Eat a couple more bites of your broccoli first."
"But I'm done."
"You need to eat your vegetables to get big and strong."
"But I don't want to be big and strong and grown up and have kids. I don't know how to that. How do you even do the have kids part?"
"You just figure it out as you go along, buddy."


text:
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Lockheed Martin Completes Captive Carry Tests with LRASM, Future U.S. Air Force and Navy Missile
- Posted On
Naval Defense Industry News - USA
Lockheed Martin Completes Captive Carry Tests with LRASM, Future U.S. Air Force and Navy Missile
Lockheed Martin recently completed a series of Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) captive carry flight tests at the Sea Range in Point Mugu, Calif., advancing the research program toward its first missile release and free flight test later this year.
An LRASM launches from a VLS (Artist Impression)
(Picture: Lockheed Martin)
The captive carry missions were flown aboard a U.S. Air Force B-1B from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The primary mission objectives were to collect telemetry for post-flight analysis, verify proper control room telemetry displays and simulate all the test activities that will occur in later air-launched flight tests. All test objectives were met.
"Collecting telemetry data while flying in the B-1B bomb bay significantly reduces risk ahead of the first launch," said Mike Fleming, LRASM air launch program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Initial assessments indicate the missile performed as expected."
A U.S. Air Force B-1B launches a JASSM. LRASM is based off the JASSM and share the same body
(Picture: Lockheed Martin)
The LRASM program is in development with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research. After a competition in 2009, Lockheed Martin's LRASM was selected to demonstrate air- and surface-launched capability to defeat emerging sea-based threats at significant standoff ranges.
LRASM is an autonomous, precision-guided anti-ship standoff missile leveraging the successful Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER) heritage, and is designed to meet the needs of U.S. Navy and Air Force warfighters in a robust anti-access/area-denial threat environment.
Armed with a proven 1,000-lb. penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, LRASM employs a multi-mode sensor, weapon data link and an enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System to detect and destroy specific targets within a group of ships.


text:
Showing Collections: 1 - 1 of 1
Erminie M. and John T. Nave Papers
Identifier: SCU-SCPC-EJN
Erminie McKnight Nave and her husband John Thomas Nave were active leaders in Republican politics from the 1960s to the early 1990s, chiefly in Greenwood County but also at the district and state levels. Mrs. Nave served as chair of the Greenwood County Republican Party and of the Third District Republican Party. Mr. Nave served as Mayor of Greenwood, Greenwood County Republican Party chair and as state executive committeeman.
Dates: 1916 - 1998
Found in: South Carolina Political Collections


text:
He kept at true good humour's mark
The social flow of pleasure's tide:
He never made a brow look dark,
Nor caused a tear, but when he died.
(Thomas Love Peacock.)
I don't talk much about myself. I do and I don't. I don't go in to practical, actual facts, or any great specificity beyond memories distant enough not to hurt when shared. That is the opposite of what this thought experiment was supposed to be. When I thanked everyone for joining me in the last two years, it forced me to confront the fact that I purposely stopped explicitly talking about or analyzing myself at some point along the way, when the original intent of this journal was as an unflinching self-audit. I'm going to try to sort of get back to that from time to time, as well as I can stomach it. But this is not going to become some bullshit vanity plate — I'd hate that. I'm sorry, but you're never going to know real names of my friends and family, nor see pictures of me slutting it up on here or even obligatory self-held head and shoulder shots with oh-so-quirky expressions. I know I'm kind of hokey with a sweet rack and that my name starts with E. You just have to take my word on it.
I bring up all this by way of explaining that I'm going to talk about myself for a sec, here. If you are not down, I am totally okay with that: skip down the page to the fun stuff. I'm not in the least bothered. This I'm writing for me, because I'm supposed to be doing that and not shying away again and again. No excuses.
So, some shit has gone down for me emotionally in the last few days. I keep the entries of the journal queued up a bit ahead of real time, most of the time, when I'm not being a lazy wretch, so this has happened in the interim of the regularly scheduled posts' appearances. But the Liberated Negative Space below, in the previous entry, really jolted me, and galvanized me to discuss something immediate that's been affecting my life: namely, the death of an old friend, with whom I used to be very close in school. I was told about it yesterday, around the early evening.
On the way to my eight-and-some-odd hours examination today, I took the road he was driving when the wreck which killed him happened. I purposely looked straight ahead and listened to my music, focused on the road: I didn't want to look at the sides of the highway in case I saw pieces of his Mustang. I thought very clearly, I come this way far too often to let this have power over me. I could never drive if I thought of it every time I pass past these spots. This is the strategy I always employ with things that make me feel Ways: I staunchly use deliberately dodgy methods to keep from letting any inanimate thing like a song or stretch of highway get power over my feelings, because I'm not supposed to have those, right?
But on the way back home, maybe due to the security blanket of the divider in the center so that I could not see the other-bound direction of the road anymore, or perhaps due to the unwanted stress of the exam being off my shoulders, I thought that my earlier deliberate ignorance was actually cowardice, and, if there were ever a time for me to step out of my expressionless shellac vis-a-vis facing down hard feelings, this was the time. This is no thing to put off wading through, I told myself. This is different and deserves better treatment than what you usually give emotions.
Here is what happened: I have a friend named B, B-Dub he liked to jokingly be styled, a good friend of about twelve years, who died in a horrific car accident in the early hours of Friday morning. He was driving his 1998 Mustang along a nearby highway, when, while attempting to pass a slow semi-truck, he lost control of his car and hit the center divider of the road. Not wearing a seatbelt, he was thrown from his car and then run over by a tractor-trailer, after which he died almost instantly.
I know, right? Who the fuck does that actually happen to? It is gruesome as hell. That is action movie shit right there: that is not something that happens to someone who's squeezed your hand during a pretend seance, or nursed your spins before taking you home. Just unbelievable, unimaginable even. The idea that my friend is dead is hard enough to wrap my mind around, let alone his last seconds of life.
Hang loose? Is that still a Thing?
I don't really care to go in to safety and hazards in the details of the accident, etc, just now. Those are obvious, I think we can all agree. What I want to say is that, of all my old friends, and I am blessed to have more than I ever dreamt in my lonely childhood I would — which makes them all the more special to me — B was one who was a true comedian, a really blithe spirit. In late adolescence, it seems like some people are very, very funny and still have that dark or serious side off of which you feed while you pick things apart and explore your latent sarcasm and rage. Not B.
Heading out to a call for emergency.
B was all right with listening to you complain, but he was much more evolved than to do so himself, due to his, I came to realize as we grew close, well-chosen and informed, mature good nature. There was no naivete to it, and he never played the fool. He was just a joyful man, a sprite or leprechaun who burst with comic energy and always lifted your spirits. He genuinely loved to make others happy. That he would die in such a way has seemed particularly cruel to me. But why, I ask myself. It's not a death that "fits" anyone. Doesn't everyone remark on how vivacious and free-spirited the deceased was in their elegaic, closing remarks? Does any death suit anyone?
No. Christ, of course not. But we don't get to live forever, at least not that I can tell as yet. People keep saying things to me like, "It just reminds you to live in the present, express your love to those who matter, live life to the fullest, because you never know," etc., but it's not very comforting. I guess what they really want to say is, "People die" (which I have already painfully learned) and "– your friend did. You can't change it" (another thing I know) "So find a way to get okay with it."
Why not get amped over snack treats?
And I'm going to try. I'm going to listen to my heart instead of suppressing it. I'm going to acknowledge what I'm feeling. What I'm feeling is exactly what everyone tells me, which I want to reject: ie, that my friend is dead, and that there is nothing that I change about it. And as I said, I'm trying to get okay with it.
And I have started by saying I'm pretty fucking well upset about it.
For some moments in life, there are no words.
(Willy Wonka. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Mel Stuart, 1971.)
That is all.


text:
A hacker today admitted to stealing personal information and email addresses from about 114,000 users of Apple's iPad. According to a press release issued by U.S. prosecutors in New Jersey, Daniel Spitler plead guilty today to identity theft and conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers. The 26-year old San Francisco-born hacker faces up to five years in prison for each count and a $250,000 fine. He's scheduled to be sentenced on September 28. Andrew Auernheimer, Spitler's alleged cohort, is still facing charges.
"Computer hackers are exacting an increasing toll on our society, damaging individuals and organizations to gain notoriety for themselves," U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statment.
"Hacks have serious implications – from the personal devastation of a stolen identity to danger to our national security," Fishman continued. "In the wake of other recent hacking attacks by loose-knit organizations like Anonymous and LulzSec, Daniel Spitler's guilty plea is a timely reminder of the consequences of treating criminal activity as a competitive sport."
According to authorities, Spitler and Auernheimer wrote a program that targeted a security weakness in AT&T's servers and allowed the pair to mine personal data from users of Apple's 3G-ready iPad. Included in the purloined data were the email addresses of heads of major corporations, government officials and celebrities. Spitler and Auernheimer delivered the data to the blog Gawker, which published it in a redacted form, causing no shortage of embarrassment for AT&T.
According to prosecutors, Spitler and Auernheimer were members of a loose confederation of hackers that operated under the name Goatse. Spitler reportedly confessed to being a member of the group as part of his guilty plea. Auernheimer left police custody in March after posting $50,000 bail.
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text:
What will the continued stagnation of the United States and developed economies in Europe mean for aspiring multinationals based in booming emerging markets?
Traditionally, developed markets have helped these emerging giants learn to fight developed-nation multinationals on their home turf, tap into the growth potential promised by prosperous economies, gain access to the latest technologies, attract the best talent at home, and validate themselves as truly global players.
But how will the logic of globalization change for corporations from countries such as India, China, Indonesia, Brazil, and Turkey if the growth opportunities in emerging markets continue to far outpace those in developed economies?
One company that has considerable experience with that question is Natura Cosméticos, the Brazilian beauty giant that for some 30 years has been attempting to move, with decidedly mixed results, into developed markets even as the opportunities in its region have grown stronger and stronger. Along the way it has discovered just what a double-edged sword a robust regional base can be for an emerging-market multinational.
In successive attempts to move beyond its borders, Natura has found itself having to weigh the pressure to devote scarce managerial resources to challenging adventures abroad against the imperative of focusing on burgeoning opportunities close to home. Ultimately, it discovered, as its counterparts in Latin America and Asia may increasingly find, that the payoff from slow and patient investments in its neighbors was not a consolation prize for failing to reap sufficient returns in developed markets but was itself a successful globalization strategy. To realize that, Natura had to stop equating "the world" with "the developed world"—a fundamental change in mind-set that was decades in the making.
Growing Up in Brazil
Just 20 years ago, the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan accounted for two-thirds of the world's market for cosmetics, fragrances, and toiletries. Today Brazil is the third-largest segment of the $308 billion global beauty market, China is the fourth, Russia the eighth, and India the 14th. This growth has not, however, translated into success for most domestic firms. The Chinese, Russian, and Indian markets are dominated by Western and Japanese giants such as France's L'Oréal and LVMH; U.S. behemoths Procter & Gamble, Avon, and Estée Lauder; the Anglo-Dutch Unilever; and Japan's Shiseido, all of which are ever on the lookout to acquire emerging-market firms with attractive brands.
Against that background, Natura's success is exceptional. By any measure it is a giant in the industry: Its 2010 net revenues of R$5.1 billion ($2.8 billion) rank it among the world's top 20 beauty companies. Its R$1.2 billion ($660 million) in pretax profits, which represents a stunning margin of 24.5%, puts it among the most profitable (well above Avon's 12%, Estée Lauder's 18%, and L'Oréal's 19%).
Unusual among emerging-market multinationals, Natura sells not low-end but premium mass-market cosmetics and personal-care products to middle- and upper-class consumers. It does so through a direct-sales network of more than 1 million independent, mainly female sales consultants, about one-quarter of whom sell Avon and other competitors' products as well. Natura has been the market leader in Brazil since overtaking Unilever in 2004, holding fully 14% of the highly competitive market in 2010 (Unilever, at number two, held 9.7%, and Avon, number three, 9.1%).
Like so many emerging giants, Natura evolved in a way that took advantage of its home market's economic experience. In 1969, 27-year-old Antonio Luiz da Cunha Seabra founded Natura as a small lab and cosmetics shop in São Paulo. Five years later, after experimenting with various distribution models, he followed the example of Avon, which had been successfully operating in Brazil for nearly a decade through door-to-door sales. Such direct-selling networks are costly and time-consuming to establish because relationships have to be forged one by one. But once in place, these networks allow a company to expand at low marginal cost even in times of economic adversity.
Natura found itself at a distinct advantage, then, when most of the department stores and pharmacies where so many of its competitors' beauty products were sold succumbed to the rampant inflation of the 1980s. Rising prices and tight exchange controls prompted most international companies to leave Brazil or halt investments during what many referred to as the "lost decade."
Yet Brazilian culture continued to place a premium on self-image. Rather than depress demand, the rising prices spurred large numbers of Brazilian women to enter the workforce, swelling Natura's ranks. With the stars aligned, Natura's revenues grew at a breathtaking 43% compound annual rate from 1979 to 1989. That year, Seabra and two Natura executives—Guilherme Leal and Pedro Passos—bought out the other shareholders to form Natura Cosméticos. The trio articulated a vision for the company that has informed its competitive advantage but has posed some fundamental challenges to its global ambitions.
In an industry that has for decades been criticized for creating—and then preying on—women's insecurities, promoting racist stereotypes of beauty, instilling the fear of aging, and overselling the (sometimes entirely nonexistent) functional attributes of its products, Natura's founders wanted to foster a company ethos and operating model based on healthier relationships—between the company and its customers, its customers and its million-plus sales consultants, the company and its suppliers, and, more broadly, society and the environment.
Following this ethos, Natura became a pioneer in the natural cosmetics market, a determined opponent of animal testing, and the first Brazilian company to adopt the Global Reporting Initiative's sustainability reporting framework. In 2012 Natura ranked second (behind Novo Nordisk) on Corporate Knights magazine's annual list of the 100 most sustainable corporations in the world. The Ekos line of cosmetics Natura launched in 2000 is emblematic: The products are made from raw materials gathered through sustainable methods from the Brazilian rain forest. A decade before Unilever launched Dove's iconic Real Beauty campaign, Natura in its Truly Beautiful Woman campaign, which featured ordinary women over 30, had already moved to equate beauty not with the anxious pursuit of youth but with increasing self-esteem.
Beyond Soccer and Samba
Natura's first move outside Brazil, though, was not destined to fulfill or even advance any of its goals. Back in 1980, Seabra was already entertaining notions of global expansion. Walking down New York's Fifth Avenue that year, he was struck not only by the immense competition in the cosmetics market but also by the feeling that "there was a place for Natura in the world."
But where to start? Go after the riches of the U.S. market? Enter a wealthy market, such as Portugal, where consumers speak your language? Stay close to home?
Like many emerging-market powerhouses, Natura tried all three approaches. But having found success at home with a value proposition that was in many ways ahead of its time and a sales network that was very time-consuming to start up in new markets, Natura was at a disadvantage in moving beyond Brazil. With no compelling economic reason to venture abroad and limited managerial talent to spare as they were building the business at home, Seabra and his cofounders approached international markets halfheartedly, intent on protecting their core operations.
Natura entered Chile in 1982 by forming a partnership with a local distributor, which sold Natura's products less than enthusiastically through its own direct-selling network. A year later, the company allocated $100,000 to create Numina—a brand of cosmetics for export to Florida and Portugal—and hired people the company knew or who had previously worked for Natura to run the local operations.
In beauty, as in wine and cheese, country of origin matters. If Paris and New York were the globe's beauty capitals, Brazil was equated in much of the world not with rain forests and biodiversity but with hyperinflation, deforestation, soccer, and samba. This competitive handicap, combined with insufficient management attention, proved too great to overcome. The Florida and Portugal operations were entirely abandoned, while the Chilean business limped along unprofitably even as Natura attempted to start developing its own network in conjunction with a second Chilean partner.
Some five years later, as inflation abated, economies all over Latin America were beginning to grow. As they did so, many neighbors sought to scale up commercial ties with Brazil, which enjoyed a reputation in the region for being big, powerful, and innovative. Consumers in many parts of Latin America shared Brazilians' emphasis on beauty, and, propelled by mass advertising, they were becoming more sophisticated in their use of beauty products.
But with its home market heating up, Natura was loath to devote resources to establishing and building sales networks abroad, and so it moved into Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina with the same model it was using to ill effect in Chile—setting up networks through partnerships with local distributors.
It soon became apparent that Natura had underestimated the differences not only among Brazil's neighbors but also between Brazil and those countries—differences that went well beyond the fact that Spanish, not Portuguese, is the mother tongue of all other countries in the region. In Chile, for example, consumers were more inclined to use the country's strong retail channel than to shop through direct-sales representatives. Product formulas and labels needed to be adapted to local regulations and tastes in all four countries, and some entirely new product lines were launched. But without direct management, relationships between Natura and the sales reps remained too shallow for them to forge strong bonds with the brand or to allow enough information about local preferences to flow back to the production facilities in Brazil. The brand identity became diffuse. For a decade none of Natura's foreign operations turned a profit.
Finding Success in Latin America
Increasing revenues at home simultaneously made the prospect of investing in other markets less attractive and allowed Natura to bear the cost of unprofitable operations for years. And so it was that the company did not devote serious management attention to its international operations until 1999. Alessandro Carlucci, then Natura's sales director and now its CEO, was sent to Argentina with the resources and authority to build a sales network that was truly committed to the brand and the company's values. To keep turnover low, the company built strong relationships with its sales consultants in Argentina. It also improved logistics by opening a distribution center there. Revenues from the Argentine business grew by about 30% a year from 1999 to 2001.
Finding markets outside Latin America that are compatible with Natura's direct-selling system, its community values, and its focus on sustainability has proved tricky.
Then, at the end of 2001, Argentina plunged into recession after devaluing its currency by 40%, and Natura learned a vivid lesson about the wisdom of sticking to its values and vision. In response to the devaluation, most competitors raised prices. But Natura chose to keep its prices steady and forgo short-term profits, focusing instead on reducing costs through efficiencies gained from the $110 million state-of-the-art integrated logistics, production, and R&D facility it had built on the outskirts of São Paulo the previous year. "The idea," Carlucci says, "was to create a social pact among suppliers, employees, and customers, showing the Argentine market that we were there for good and we expected profits [only] in the long run."
The strategy paid off. From 2002 to 2005, revenues increased sixfold, and the number of sales consultants grew from 7,000 to 20,000.
The company quickly transferred the lessons learned in Argentina to other markets in the region and took steps to ensure that its sales networks became fully committed to the brand and the company's values. Investments in marketing shored up brand awareness in Peru. Seasoned managers from Brazil replaced local managers in Chile. Natura's executives closely monitored the distribution network in Bolivia. Logistics were improved and local warehouses established. Revenues increased 30% in Chile from 2001 to 2003 and 85% in Peru in the same period.
With its confidence growing and its coffers brimming from an oversubscribed IPO on Brazil's Novo Mercado in 2004, Natura followed the path of other successful Brazilian firms in setting its sights once again on developed markets. In 2005—which happened to be a year of celebration of Brazilian culture in Paris—Natura opened a two-story flagship store in the elegant neighborhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Although France was not as open to direct selling as neighboring Great Britain and Germany, Natura had long-standing ties with France as a source of packaging, some raw materials, and knowledge. Moreover, Paris was the capital of the beauty world.
The Paris store offered only the Ekos line and was viewed as a chance to test different sales models. The second floor functioned as a space where customers could sample Natura's products and learn about Brazilian culture, and Natura in turn could learn from highly sophisticated consumers. No one at Natura, for example, had been aware of the controversy surrounding the use of parabens in cosmetics until a visitor to the Paris shop asked about them. The company subsequently removed the preservatives from its products. It also began to consider internet sales.
Bolstered by their forays into foreign markets, Natura's leaders felt they had developed sufficient managerial expertise to enter Mexico, a country they had long recognized as a more natural fit with the company's business model. Mexico shared Brazil's passion for cosmetics and strong direct-sales tradition, and it had a similar economy and demographic structure. But Natura was a latecomer: Avon had been operating there since 1956. In fact, Avon's largest market outside the U.S. was Mexico, where it sold not just beauty products but also jewelry, toys, and cooking utensils.
Drawing on its experience in Paris, Natura not only began establishing a direct-selling network but also opened a store it dubbed Casa Natura in the upscale Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City. Unlike the Paris shop, though, the store sold no goods. It was less a shop than a clubhouse—a place for sales representatives to meet one another and exchange experiences, test products, and receive training. Natura saw this as a hybrid of the direct-selling and retail models, which could be replicated at a fraction of the cost of building a comprehensive retail-store channel. This hybrid model—which the company began to use in Brazil in 2007—helped Mexico become the company's biggest international market (by 2012 Natura had opened five Casa Naturas there). Its success in Mexico seemed to pave the way to the U.S. market.
The Decline of the West?
Now, five years later, Natura has not gone to the U.S. or, in fact, to any other new market outside Latin America. The French business remains small, unprofitable, and the only one in the developed world (see the exhibit "Beyond Brazil: A Regional Pattern of Expansion"). Finding markets elsewhere that are compatible with the company's direct-selling system, its community values, and its focus on sustainability has proved tricky.
Beyond Brazil: A Regional Pattern of Expansion
In 2005, for instance, the founders traveled to Russia, where the fast-growing market for cosmetics and toiletries had topped $6 billion. Direct sellers Avon and Oriflame were thriving, as the market share of direct-sales beauty companies there soared from 5% in 1999 to 19% in 2004. But as the three founders watched focus groups of Russian consumers from behind one-way mirrors, it quickly became apparent that these people not only knew virtually nothing about Natura, or even Brazil, but also were not much concerned about environmental sustainability. A poor fit, the founders concluded, and they pursued the opportunity no further.
The firm's commitment to environmental sustainability also played into the decision not to enter China, where regulations required cosmetics to be tested on animals. Natura's commitment to sustainability and the highest ethical standards also figured into its walking away—sometimes after months of negotiations—from acquisitions that might have greatly extended its reach in developed markets. At the same time, mainstream beauty companies were energetically acquiring leading natural cosmetics businesses around the world: L'Oréal bought Britain's Body Shop in 2006, Colgate acquired Tom's of Maine in 2009, and the Japanese direct seller Pola Orbis purchased Australia's Jurlique in 2011.
Did Natura's decisions limit its growth? A case can be made either way, though Avon's recent problems in China—where allegations of bribery of local officials have tarnished its brand, damaged relations with sales representatives, and made possible a takeover bid by Coty—lend some weight to the founders' insistence that the company's values remain a fundamental source of competitive advantage.
Meanwhile, recognizing that Natura's lack of management expertise has been a continuing impediment to regional expansion, the company steadily worked to build up its international management ranks in Latin America. It established the Natura Management System to capture and disseminate lessons learned. It began recruiting Brazilians and other Latin Americans from top MBA programs in the U.S. And it worked to balance its predominantly Brazilian management with executives from other countries in the region. Even so, the company's 2007 annual report announced its intentions of entering the U.S. market—a testament to the hold developed markets have on the aspirations of emerging-market multinationals.
In 2008 the financial meltdown conspired to make developed markets far less alluring and Natura's home market and region even more lucrative. Since then, the company has stopped talking about U.S. markets in its annual reports. Instead it has focused squarely on Latin America, entering Colombia in 2007, increasing the efficiency of its logistics, and tailoring its products and communications to local conditions. (Perfumes evaporate more quickly in the higher altitudes of Chile, for example, and Mexican consumers prefer drier products than their Brazilian counterparts.) In 2010 Natura engaged in manufacturing outside its home country for the first time, through a partnership in Argentina, and in 2011 it entered into manufacturing agreements with partners in Colombia and Mexico.
These investments are a reflection of the slowly changing economic equation of globalization. Even as the U.S. beauty market grew by an anemic 1.1% in 2010 and Japanese demand by a microscopic 0.2%, demand in Mexico grew by a healthy 7.5%; in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru by 10.9%; and in Brazil by 13.3%. Natura's net revenues from its operations in Argentina, Chile, and Peru, while small compared with those from Brazil, grew a hefty 27.7% to R$256 million ($139 million) from 2009 to 2010, as EBITA ballooned 44% to R$13 million ($7.1 million). Although Colombia and Mexico, where the sales networks have had less time to develop, are not yet profitable, 2010 revenues from the two countries jumped 69.9% to R$98 million ($53 million).
The Changing Equation
As Natura negotiates a world in which the economic importance of the West may have reached a plateau while the commitment to environmental and ethical issues is rising, it is finding itself in a position that Seabra never envisioned as he walked down Fifth Avenue 30 years ago. In the long run, Carlucci says, although the company has not abandoned plans to enter the U.S. or expand in Europe, the goal isn't to go to any particular place but to have a global portfolio that can be constantly adjusted to reflect the knowledge acquired in different markets. Just as its customers are moving beyond stereotypes of youth, straight hair, and light skin, Natura is moving beyond stereotypes of globalization, recognizing that winning in Chile, Argentina, and Mexico can be an entry onto the world stage every bit as effective as conquering Paris or New York.


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The holidays are fast approaching, so I'm having a Silver and Gold Filigree KAL during December. My Filigree scarf is a quick and easy project using one skein of fingering weight yarn (about 350 yards), perfect for gift knitting, or an accessory for yourself.
Why silver and gold? I wanted the KAL to be festive for holiday knitting. I was thinking of Filigree, and metal, and suddenly "Silver and Gold" was running through my head. Do you remember this song that Burl Ives sang on the children's classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?"
Now it's running through your head, too. You don't have to knit in silver or gold if you don't want to; any color will do. Whatever makes you happy.
I asked Adam, KAL master at Twisted, if I could do a Filigree KAL there, and he thought Filigree would be perfect for their Selfless Knitting theme during December. If you want to knit along in person with me, the KAL runs on Friday evenings from 5-8 p.m. at Twisted. I'll be there tonight just to say hi, but beginning December 7 I'll be knitting my Filigree there.
I'm using Knitted Wit's Shine merino/tencel yarn, color Moon Shadow. Looks like silver to me!
Are you interested in knitting along with Filigree? You can knit along and comment and/or ask questions through the blog, my Facebook page, my Ravelry group, or in person at Twisted. To further entice you, I'm having a sale on the pattern through Ravelry: Use the coupon code silverandgold for $1 off the pattern through December 24. Here's a direct link for order plus coupon if that's easier for you.
I'll have a prize drawing for KAL finishers at the end of December. Come join in the fun! It's an easy and intuitive knit, and a lovely gift.


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This is a relly cool country track with some mandolin playing and live drums, live bass and live guitarr.
WANT TO USE MY WORK?You are more than welcome to use my preview audio in your, portfolio, videohive items or whatever comes in your mind. Just send me an email with the link to your project so that I can link to it from my page.
And make sure to follow me here for the latest updates
Check out my website for news and updates – Webbdesign made easy


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God created everything. He created this earth and everything in it, including you and me. He created us in his image meaning we are smart, we are willful, we have emotions, and we have an internal compass that helps us intuitively know right from wrong even if we were never taught these things. God created us to be holy too, because He is holy. Holy means to be set apart, to be pure. We once were fully 100% holy and pure. But remember, God made us willful and smart in his image. Even though he created us, we somehow decided we knew better. We were deceived into thinking we could control our lives without God; that we were right, and his commands to us on how were were to live our lives were optional, so we did our own thing. We went left, when God clearly asked us to go right.
That one decision to live outside of God's will (the rules he set for us) caused us to no longer be pure. We were now on our own. No longer able to be with God. We willfully separated ourselves from God in a selfish act of desiring to be our own master, our own god. Through this departure from God brought massive consequences of sin. No longer were were following the righteous will of God, but the sinful will of our own flesh. Sin became the outpouring of who we are. Sin, while often thought of as an act, is the essence of who we ARE. Sin is our state of being. Sin means we are no longer holy, we are separated from God, on our own, living for ourselves 100% of the time.
This sin state of being has horrendous ramifications. It manifests itself in different ways for different people. For some, sin shows in big ways that we all know and hate such as murder, rape, and grand theft. However, for the majority of us it manifests in small ways, such as white lies to get out of a parking ticket, stealing office supplies from our work, "borrowing" music and movies illegally on the Internet, cheating just a bit, or a lot on our taxes, making false insurance claims to get a better outcome, gossiping about a friend to make ourselves look better, all in an effort to live a life that seems to be free but is full of bondage. Sin is a lifestyle marked by self-serving behavior. Again, sis not an act, but it is who we are. It is the very fiber of our being.
If you were to vote for a new judge for the Supreme Court Justice, I would bet you would not vote for one who uses the slogan, "Vote for me, All go free!" That would defeat the purpose of a judge. We want the most impartial judge. Our souls still cry for justice when we, or a fellow human being are wronged. God is the ultimate Judge. He created you, He created me. Because He created us all, that means He has ultimate ownership, authorship, and He can do what he likes with us regardless of what we think because that is fair. When I create art, a meal, a child, I am in charge. I am the authority over that creation. I decide where it goes, what it does, and how it moves forward. I am in an authoritative position over anything I create (within moral reason with a child, but I hope you get where I am going here).
It is the same right of God. If you agree that God is the Creator of this world, including you and me, then we must agree that God has an authoritative right over all of His creation. Ultimately that is why sin is considered, by the vast majority, to be a bad thing. It must be punished. Sinful acts are an outpouring of our sin nature. Our desire to be in charge and our desire to do what we want rather than what God, our Creator has asked us to do, deserves punishment. We do not deserve a get-out-of-jail-free card simply because we are "pretty good". He is holy, yet we are no longer holy. We cannot be in the presence of God without judgement. There needs to be a reconciliation in order for us to be right before God again. A created thing that goes rogue, deserves to be found and put down. We deserve death, which would be our jail sentence. That is what Hell is all about. Hell is our prison cell. We get a glimpse of what it is in the Bible, and believe me, you do not want to go there. Just a few descriptive words about it are enough to make your skin crawl: eternal damnation, weeping, gnashing of teeth, eternal fire, unquenchable thirst. This jail cell is where we are all headed for eternity because of our separation from God.
Here is where the reality of our state gets wildly interesting and almost too incredible for words. God is love. He is not just loving, He does not just love us, but he IS love. He is the very source of love. He knows we are weak. He knows we need Him. He knows our flesh is strong. He stepped in and did the one thing we could never do. He came down to live among us perfectly. He sent his only Son, Jesus, God in the flesh, to live a perfect life. Something none of us could ever do. He lived literally a perfect, sinless life. He was our proxy. Then, in an inconceivable act of mercy and grace, He died the very death each and every one of us deserve to die. He was guiltless. He lived the life we never could only to die the death each of us should. Death on a cross. A horrendously humiliating, excruciatingly painful and draw-out death. He reconciled my life, He reconciled your life to God through His death. He paid our penalty. He satisfied the Judge. He stepped in for us!
As if that were not enough, Jesus came back to life. He defeated death. He defied nature. He is a living proof of what we get to experience some day. It almost seems too good to be true! It seems like a great fairy tail. But it is real. The veracity of the Bible, the actual life, death, AND resurrection of the man Jesus has been documented and proven even by those outside of the Christian faith! So why are there millions upon millions of people who still don't believe and may never give their live to Christ? Our sin nature is so deeply rooted and woven into the fiber of our souls that we want it not to be true. God still gives us a choice. He still gives us our will. Our will wants to satisfy ourself. Our soul cannot and will not bow to another. The throne room of our hearts already has someone firmly seated on it's seat: ourself. There is hope, however!
God calls His children. One by one, His Holy Spirit convinces and convicts us of our sin, of our need for holiness and righteousness, and He presses on our heart the very heavy burden of our sin and need for judgement. The Holy Spirit works in us, quickening our heart to desire after God's heart. He shows us the reality of our sin and the glory and splendor of what it means to be free of that burden. The simple yet profound act of placing our life in the hands of the Almighty God becomes a 180 degree shift from self to God. We must turn from our idol of self and turn to a life where Jesus is the only One able to sit on the throne of our heart. We must raise the white flag, admit that we were wrong, seek forgiveness from our sin, and admit that ownership is not ours, but our Creators. We must trust fully in Jesus. We must follow hard after Him knowing others will despise us. As a follower of Jesus, we now recognize the futility of living for our "self" and realize the beauty of a grace and mercy-filled life of living for God.
Friend, if you are on the wrong side of this, I implore you, by the mercy of God, to get reconciled to God. Place your trust and faith in Him alone. Turn away from your sin and yourself and turn to God. The peace and love and mercy and grace will wrap around your heart and give you courage and strength to follow hard after Him. There is no magic prayer. There is no "ticket to Heaven" only to go back to a self-serving life. If you have raised the white flag, read the Bible. That is how God speaks to us. Pray all the time, talk to God, ask for Him to forgive you of your sin. Ask Him to give you faith and wisdom to do His will. Share with others what you have found!


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Pre-Orders are Becoming a Way of Life!
To find a high-end air gun in stock is becoming more and more of a miracle. This is because there is no USA manufacturers making them; so that leaves quality foreign manufacturers like Air Arms, Anschutz, Beeman, DayState, Evanix, Feinwerkbau, FX, IZH, RWS, Sam Yang, Sumatra, Walther and Weihrauch (Y-Rock).
Something a lot of people don't know is that practically all of the countries in the world have power restrictions of approximately 12 foot pounds… about enough power to put a pellet through a piece of cardboard or maybe drop a barn swallow or a small rat.
These foreign manufacturers are tooled up to make these 12 foot pounders for a huge already established European market. At the same time they also have to try to make special high power models for the unrestricted US market. Top that with growing firearm restrictions and the scarcity of live ammunition and you have more and more people world wide turning to air guns. As a result, oversees air gun manufacturers are having great difficulty keeping up with the massive flood of US orders.
Orders are placed by the US distributors and then appear with little or no advance lead time. It does no good to constantly ask dealers for a projected delivery time because they honestly do not know for sure.
The best defense against this growing demand is timing. The "I want it now" mentality can actually work in your favor. Those that are not aware of what is going on will wait for the elusive "bird in hand" and wind up like the punk who forgot his Fortune Cookie. Getting on the front end of the demand curve by paying up front (placing a Pre-Order) will let you outsmart the short supply. Placing a Pre-Order does not guarantee delivery but it does increase your chances because there will be those who will drop out and push you higher up the waiting line. Before you know it, I will be sending you the tracking number and you will have prevailed over the status quo. Timing is everything… It is a simple matter of the law of supply and demand.
The newest power upgrade to the FX Impact is the addition of the FX Power Plenum. This exciting new addition will take the FX Impact to whole new level. Shoot a wider range of airgun projectiles (especially airgun slugs) at great velocities.
A plenum in an airgun, is the chamber of compressed air located before the transfer port. The air it contains releases when you pull the trigger. The air then rushes through the valve opening behind the projectile and propels it out of the barrel. The amount of air pressure combined with the volume of air is one of the key aspects to achieve velocity.
The benefits of the FX Power Plenum are threefold:
1. Higher velocities: The factory tuned .22 caliber FX Impact achieved 32 ft lbs. of muzzle energy with standard pellets. With the FX Power Plenum added to the Impact, you can now shoot heavier slugs at 60 ft lbs.
2. Increased shot count per fill: The 75 shots per fill that the standard tuned .25 caliber Impact achieved, is now increased to 110 shots per fill.
3. Lower regulator pressure required: You get the same velocity result with lower regulator pressure due to the FX Power Plenum. Lower pressure will also result in less wear and tear maintenance to your rifle.
The new FX Impact MKII with the FX Power Plenum brings airgunning to a whole new exceptional level.
- 3-Year Limited Warranty
- Weight: 6.1 lbs
- Cocking System: Forward positioned sidelever
- Stock: Hogue rubber grip
- Length: 635 mm
- Barrel: Smooth Twist X
- Muffler: None
- Barrel Length: 500mm
- Magazine Capacity: 28 Shots
- Air Capacity: 300cc
- Air Cylinder: Carbon Fiber
- Fill Pressure: 250 BAR (3,625 psi)
- Charging: Foster QD
- Trigger: Adjustable Match
- Regulator: Externally Adjustable AMP
- Optics Rail: Weaver/Picatinny