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It's been a while since I've been able to spend any time with my WP family. I have missed your posts and writing my own, as well. So much has been happening in the world of late, honestly more than I can keep up with some days.
The Supreme Court has been quite busy. I must admit, I am happy with much of what they have done. What other people do in their own lives that doesn't affect me shouldn't be any of my concern, or anyone else's. Same-sex marriage, the Affordable Care Act, and abortion rights in Texas, among others, were all championed by the justice system and reasonable thinking.
Don't get me wrong, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) needs some work, especially in the states that refused to assist its citizens by setting up a state marketplace. But, by and large, it was the right thing to do. When I heard Ted Cruz signed his family up, I thought had you supported a state exchange in Texas, the prices would've been more reasonable – but Ted was against the ACA, vehemently if I remember correctly. Is that irony?
There's been all kinds of racial incidents with the police. I was truly shocked and saddened by the church shooting in South Carolina. The victims families handled it with such grace and dignity, from what I saw, though I have truly tried to limit my intake of the news lately.
Then there's the escaped convict incident – I was surprised when someone said to me, regarding the first escaped convict's shooting death, "I hope he had a gun, you know since he was white and all." (Not touching this one . . .) I can say so much, but just can't right now. He WAS an escaped convict and he did have a shotgun.
I keep hearing all over the place that jobs are up and unemployment is down. I can't help but ask myself, "Where the hell are they getting these numbers? Where are they looking?" My husband is still unemployed, as are many others I know that are in my age group. And that's just in my neck of the woods and what I hear from my contacts nationwide. I was working part-time, but my little part-time gig is about to come to a close in two weeks – no money coming in.
My daughter gave me a Starbucks gift card for Mother's Day and I had one more coffee left on it and stopped in at my fav Starbucks, which is inside my grocery store, so I see the baristas frequently. The lady working that day is about my age and got laid off from her good job a year and a half ago. While we were chatting, she shared that they hired a new lady last week who's real nice, has a Ph.D., but got laid off from a government contractor over a year ago and this is the only place she could get hired. She, of course, is in my age group, and is now making $7.56 an hour.
Does anyone realize what's happening here . . . the age discrimination, much of it involving insurance coverage. The insurance companies HEAVILY influence hiring decisions, it's not just the employers. I think we would be amazed at just what all the insurance companies have influence over!
Our age group has a huge effect on the economy with our traditional buying power. But many of us are living on our retirement savings 10-15 years before we are supposed to, and paying a penalty for it, though it is against our will and our better judgment – it's done out of survival. Many were expecting to make up for lost years over the next decade and have nothing left to fall back on.
When cars are repossessed and houses are foreclosed on, and this group is now reduced to government aid to survive – more people now on what is often referred to as government "socialism" – this country's backbone is going to begin to start to crack, splinter, and break. And if these 50+ year-olds are unfortunate enough to not be able to afford COBRA or the ACA, many will fall into the category where they don't fall into the age group that can get Medicaid or Medicare. People in this situation and age group are SOL and better hope/pray that nothing serious happens, or they could be most majorly screwed . . .
Though I will admit, I have not done my homework regarding the actual statistics; I can't help but believe this is the one of the first times in history where fifty-plus-year-olds have been singled out to be extinguished from the workplace. (If I am wrong, please educate me!) If this trend continues, I see some serious hurt for the future of this country – I'm not an economist, but common sense and history tells the story that what may come is unprecedented and could be catastrophic.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Regarding my gig . . . well my instincts proved to be correct. Definitely too good to be true. The guy I was working for isn't too motivated, canceling every training session we had scheduled for really lame reasons like, "It's been a rough day, I worked setting up your email, and I need a drink, so I'm outta here." Or early one Saturday morning, "Sorry I cut out, my neighbor needed help and I said I would, not sure why 'cause I'm usually not that neighborly." You know that kind of stupid shit.
When it came to him selling policies to the appointments I made on these mostly 2-8 year-old leads, he canceled and we rescheduled a few for reasons that were not important. I had a list of about 35 people I had talked to that he needed to speak with for various reasons – high risk, specific questions not related to exact cost but involving health issues, etc. He finally got appointed to sell the high-risk policies he found were best and last Saturday he told me he was calling them all. When I showed up, he said he couldn't call them because he had set up the online account to access what he needed to quote them prices, but forgot the password and wouldn't be able to get it on a Saturday. Seriously . . .
Then when he told me a few days later he couldn't afford to pay me any longer, but if I wanted I could still make calls and he would give me my commission – but he couldn't afford to pay me for calling.Then he had the nerve to tell me that now he was really going to have to hustle and start working his book business. I'm thinking, dude, why haven't you been doing that all along.
Long Term Care coverage is his specialty, but it is not cheap, typically. I'm working leads that are years old, and he had me listen to training tapes that were on cassettes and 20 years old – what does that tell you. During our discussion I reminded him that things have changed in the last 20 years – people don't think the same, communicate the same, research purchases and purchase the same, and marketing and sales have changed considerably. Yeah, he didn't want hear that – he's four years younger than me and living in a bubble of some sort.
Anyway, now I have two avenues to explore – my established career, and my new inexperienced career. Maybe one of them will get me somewhere. It's been two years – I need a break . . . a real one. I don't consider any of this wasted time, as I have now learned many new things and have earned licenses and certifications in new areas.
Oh, and the fig tree is a monster producer. I have canned over 50 jars so far of various fig jams and preserves. It was fun and I think I have another two weeks or more. My kitchen is covered in figs in various stages of ripeness and jars everywhere – and I am growing weary!
Oh!! And what about that Bill Cosby – TV's All American Dad and his fondness for Quaaludes, among other things?? Wow, so TV and real live aren't the same?? (YES, I am laughing at that fucking piece of irony in the midst of all else . . .)
Anyway, just some things I was thinking about . . . (and my mind still reels, but this post is already wayyyy too long . . . but got something else coming soon . . .)

subset: commoncrawl


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It creates false teaching!
A pious, fraud, megalomaniac, Bible teacher can come in and say whatever he would like. And, because of his personality and charisma and our lack of knowledge, we believe whatever he says.
Thus, Bible illiteracy prevents us from thinking, processing and applying to our lives what is actually in the Bible. Instead, we get our feet caught in the gopher holes of this dysfunctional, bad teaching. We have seen this with the "little gods" phenomena that has spread like cancer with the false teaching crowd. What about all the end times' books and speculations that led countless Christians no nowhere in faith or practice, or the overzealousness of a particular Bible translation and thus no biblical transformation results, or the rabbit holes on which we place our tent of faith that distracts us from God's true Truth. We may think our pursuits are good, but in fact, we are just distracted from what God has for us and our church!
It creates mindless speculations.
Too many Christians get so captivated and fixated on speculations and things that Jesus told us not to, like the timing and arrangements of His second coming, that they miss the main point of Matthew 24. His coming again is not about when or how, but what we are doing to prepare for it. That preparation has to do with our faith formation more than anything else-not our ideas of when and how. It has nothing to do with a rapture or not a rapture; a pre-trib/post-trib/ no trib/pan trib, but through all the argumentations and conjectures, the Truth and point are missed. Christ wants us to be loyal and obedient to His Word in precepts and call. He is calling us, His people in His Church, to Him!
What we do instead is take Bible passages out of their context, string them together to satisfy our whims, and fight to the death to make our obtuse points. How sad that is!
It creates shallow Christians and pretentious, incompetent leaders.
The result? Shallow people and a faithless church, moving away from the Bible and embracing anything but Him and His Word. I am not talking about liberalism, although this is a problem too. Rather, I allude to conservative and Reformed churches moving away from the centrality of Scripture and the disciplines to learn and grow, substituting cheap stories without substance, shallow messages without challenge, and pride replacing love and fruit to be the icing on the cake of pretentiousness.
It creates emptiness and hurt!
Because it keeps us away from God and the blessings and opportunities He has for us. The Bible contains God's voice; so, do you hear Him clearly or do you just hear your voice and think it is His? God spoke! God speaks to His Son and to His people through His Son. In Hebrews, we have the "prophetic revelations" such as Moses and Isaiah where His voice was heard and written down for us to hear too. This has become our Bible, which contains His Word, instructions, and call for us to heed. As great as this was when first heard, it was incomplete and waiting for a culmination and fruition; now, through Christ, His revelation is clear and complete and audible for us to hear. So, why do we not desire to hear it more (Acts 2:17; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 10:1; 13:20; 1 John 2:18)?
We create an inability to learn from our lives, failures, and hurts.
Sometimes, God has to get our attention though adversity; sometimes, we have a willingness to listen. He has to break our pride and call attention to our misplaced priorities. The key Jesus uses is His explanation to us of how we are able to receive Him. Are we able and willing to understand? Sometimes, that may not come until eternity as it was with Job.
Our key to Exegesis (drawing out from the Bible) and Bible literacy is to trust and know that He is in control and He will be there with us carrying us through. It is not just about understanding ourselves; rather, it is our understanding Christ. Ask Him to show you His deep, hidden treasures and be willing to listen and grow.
Filed under: Bible Issues, Research | Tagged: bad teaching, Bible, Bible Illiteracy, Bible literacy, Bible teacher, biblical transformation, dysfunctional, emptiness, Exegesis, false teaching, fraud, hurt, incompetent leaders, megalomaniac, mindless speculations, pious, shallow Christians, speculations | Leave a comment »


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The premise of Love Child, HBO's latest feature-length documentary, doesn't leave much room for moral questions or shades of grey. It opens with the 2010 story of a South Korean couple who met through an online video game, had a child, then neglected it in favor of playing said game. The baby girl died three months later of malnutrition; the couple found her the morning after they'd spent 10 hours (their typical session length) at a "PC Bang" gamer café.
The aftermath of that story, especially as it's presented in this film, is pretty cut and dry: babies good, game addiction bad. Thus, this documentary (named after the baby in question, whose name, Sarang, translates to "Love Child") doesn't offer many surprises in perspective. It casts a particularly negative light on the gaming world and the rapid expansion of Internet access throughout South Korea.
As a result, the film's attempts to humanize its subjects—Kim Jae-beom and his wife Kim Yun-jeong—are uneven and hard to swallow. To the filmmakers' credit, that choice comes off as wholly intentional. Love Child paints the couple's story in pity and sadness as it tries to make sense of how gaming, technology, and depression combined in a story that, tragically, has become a cornerstone in conversations about its nation.
Gold farmer's daughter
The film, which will debut on HBO on Monday, July 28, opened with interview footage of the father, filmed shortly after his initial arrest. Kim said he was being held because his baby had died, but when asked why that happened, he didn't take responsibility. "I'm not sure. She was a premature baby from the beginning."
Viewers learn more about the death in fits and starts—some TV newsreels, a distraught police officer, the sole journalist at the hearings, the couple's public defender—and the details got worse every step of the way. The wife, denounced by her family for her choice of a much older husband, had to leave home to stay in the relationship. The couple fell into "gold farming," meaning they mostly played MMO games for a living (gathering virtual coins in games and selling them for real-world currency).
In many ways, the couple's sad story boiled down to poverty, like the mother's malnutrition and inability to go to the hospital at any time during the pregnancy. In others, the issue was sheer negligence, proven by disgusting discoveries like rancid milk bottles.
The Kim story was frequently interspersed with a crash course in South Korea's progressive Internet infrastructure. Experts and locals alike spoke at great length about a heavy investment in nationwide broadband and the establishment of CDMA networks, but Love Child didn't poke through the history section with any talk of leaders or political regimes pushing for that investment. As far as Love Child was concerned, someone waved a magic wand and poof: Internet!
But where other news reports and movies tend to film South Korea's most tech-loaded cityscapes, shining and glistening in a sea of screens and neon, Love Child pulled the camera back with a stress on long, slow shots. Empty hallways, PC Bang lobbies, shopping malls, skyscrapers, and other scenes filled the screen with a stress on inactivity and even desolation. (Lots of blurry, slow-motion security cam footage appeared, as well, including a disturbing shot of Sarang found in her parents' apartment. While it was blurred, it was still incredibly troubling.)
Sometimes, a blast of upbeat K-Pop music played in contrast to a quiet or somber scene, but for the most part, the soundtrack sounded as dystopian as the scenes looked—especially the film's odd, semi-animated sequences in which people are rendered as messy bursts of polygons. Assumedly, these were meant to contrast with frequent shots of Prius, the MMORPG that the Kim couple met through and played endlessly.
Reports in 2010 wasted no time in pointing out the central irony of their gaming addiction—namely, that Prius's quests revolved around taking care of a childlike companion, called Anima, whose powers and skills would change based on how people played the game. To drive this point home, Love Child includes a few lengthy, unedited game sequences. The most troubling one sees the Anima sacrificing itself to keep heroes alive, shouting, "I cannot watch you suffer!" (Minutes later, the Anima returns to assure players that she'll come back to life "if you earn enough experience points.")
A different kind of shaman
No case like this had come before South Korean courts, and the Kim family's lawyer managed to successfully argue that this "involuntary manslaughter" was the result of "gaming addiction," thus reducing the couple's sentences.
According to Love Child, the Kims were far from alone in their affliction, counting over two million gaming addicts in the nation. After telling us this—and showing news reports about other deaths attributed to games like Starcraft—the film walked into a gaming addiction therapy center, where one patient wore 3D glasses while watching footage that alternated between nature scenes, gaming videos, and "aversive" content full of screams and glass-shattering sounds. "This makes patients have a more negative attitude toward video games," a doctor said, but the whole thing looked like a half-baked imitation of Clockwork Orange.
The film's perspective on games was far removed from the likes of Video Games: The Movie, showing no rowdy, laugh-filled sessions (with the exception of one congratulatory tournament starring Korea's most popular competitive game, Starcraft). Instead, stone-faced PC Bang customers stared into monitors while doctors commented on the hobby. One doctor said that video games were comforting for the depressed and those who "lack vigor. They become like a hermit, because they do not come from a supportive environment."
In fact, only one time were games talked about in a decidedly positive light, when a researcher compared Korea's love of gaming with its religious origins as a shamanistic society, as both invoke the notion of avatars going on great quests against evil-doers. This was followed by the story of a tranquil, peaceful online game designed to cheer the parents of children killed at a school's fire: "The game's makers gave all the parents affected by this tragedy an avatar of their child. They could take these avatars for walks around these forever peaceful landscapes."
The film didn't have any answers for what Korea could, or should, do in light of continued gaming-addiction stories. Beyond an official designation of gaming as an addictive hobby equivalent to vices like tobacco and alcohol, and a curfew restricting children from playing games between the hours of midnight and 6am, most of the film's talking heads had no substantial answers to the problem. The consensus was that more research is necessary. (In a striking moment, staffers at a gaming addiction facility admitted to playing hours of games themselves.)
That fit Love Child's "show, don't tell" take on the subject, which meant in spite of the generally sad and somber tone, none of the film's major speakers ever denounced online gaming outright. One PC Bang staffer even became misty-eyed when he recalled the Kim couple falling in love at his shop: "They were so happy lost in this game together."
That willingness to detach and avoid preachiness—and aim a humble, sad camera on Korea's tech boom, as opposed to a wide-eyed one—was Love Child's saving grace. Its biggest stumble, truly, was that by telling a 2010 story of online gaming, the rise of smartphone games has already changed the nature of how players can consume or get addicted to the hobby. Even so, the film's tight focus on South Korea's rapid tech explosion, and the culture that has awkwardly grown through it, was timeless enough.


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I'm all for DIY cooking ways and what not better way to bring some fun, by being able to create S'mores at home. The weather is bad? No problem, as this Sterno S'mores Maker has no limitations. You can make S'mores it indoors, outdoors and at any hour. Yup, party any time and this is not just limited to giving kids smiles, you can even make "Gourmet S'mores" that are easy and even make it less messy. No longer do you have to try to hold the candy bar piece, you can literally make a chocolate bark topping that stays……yes, stays put on top of your graham piece.
The S'mores Maker is brought to you by Sterno Products, the company that has been bringing heat to campers and the like for decades. They have created a nice line of products and kits, which make not only Summer funner, but you are not limited by the seasons when entertaining.
The kit includes:
- 2 Roasting Forks
- 1 Roasting Safety Screen for even roasting and protection from flame
- 2 integrated S'mores Making Stations for an easy and clean way to make s'mores
- Includes 1 can of Sterno S'mores Heat™ (also available for purchase separately)
I decided to make chocolate barks and all you do is make a ganache and/or melt chocolate and add toppings. Ganaches, use Heavy Cream and produce a more velvety texture and by using a 75% ratio of chocolate to 25% cream, the product firms up enough to not fall off the graham or cookie of your choice. You can also melt chocolate on low heat and then simply smear the chocolate on one part of the cookie, add your toppings and you are now pre-making S'mores! When guests arrive, half the work is completed. I also find this controls messes. Nuts, coconut shavings and so forth can get sloppy when you are building the Ultimate S'mores sandwich. This way of building S'mores makes sure the tables and floors do not suffer from runaway toppings!
The toppings are endless and you can satisfy any picky eater by using these easy tricks:
Now, this is how the set up looks and it took me an hour to pre-make all the cookies. I had guests coming as I made them and my chocolate chip mini cookies were eaten up, but you can use more than just graham. Even Shortbread minis!
The Sterno S'mores Maker heats evenly no matter the size of marshmallow. Hey, I was worried the Giant ones (found at Aldi's) would not heat up and melt in the center, they did and with ease. The normal size ones that look like miniatures compared to the gigantic ones, those I purchased at Trader Joe's.
I was super excited and started purchasing ingredients before the maker even arrived. Then it arrived!! It was beautiful and easy to assemble, meaning none was needed. The red portion (holder) is dishwasher safe and because you can by the cans again and again, this means having a S'mores party is endless. We will be trying more creations in the future and I can't wait. This is a must buy and at $35.16 currently at Amazon, it's perfect for 4th of July or really anytime. Make your own fun and creations. The refill fuel cans retail for $6.99 and that is for two cans! Each can lasts for about 45 minutes. It's a cinch to clean up and everyone had a blast.
Connect with Sterno and checkout the S'mores Maker at:
- Online
- Amazon S'mores Maker Link
- Amazon Fuel Cans Link
- YouTube
- #Tryazon #SternoSmoresMaker #SmoresMaker
I received the above product(s) free of charge from Sterno and Tryazon. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.


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After the latest fatberg was discovered in London's sewers in Whitechapel in September 2017 – a 130 tonne monster that covered 250 metres – the Museum of London moved fast. While most of the fatberg was broken down by spades and high-pressure water and then converted to biodiesel, the museum was able to preserve two smallish sections for analysis, conservation and display. Fatberg! duly opens at the Museum on Friday February 9 and runs until July 1. It's a terrific example of a museum thinking on its feet, responding quickly to events and then producing a short, snappy display that covers an important topic without resorting to hectoring or over-thinking. It covers the environmental impact and what can be done to reduce fatbergs without lecturing or wagging fingers, but also shows that London is facing a growing problem that people need to be aware of before they flush anything down the loo.
There isn't a great deal to see, which isn't a bad thing. There are some displays explaining precisely what a fatberg is, why they are problems, how they are formed and why the museum decided to collect a sample – apparently because they are "disgusting, fascinating things which mark a particular moment in London's history". The museum also proudly announces that 'there is no precedent for collecting a fatberg". Thames Water are co-sponsors and there's a short video, some photos of the sewers, the tools and hamzat suit used by workers who have to break down and remove the obstruction, samples of biodiesel and then two chunks of fatberg themselves. One has broken into smaller pieces, the other is a solid and fairly hefty piece of native London fat.
Although I was slightly disappointed I couldn't take home a small slice of fatberg for the mantelpiece, having to settle instead for some fatberg-branded fudge and a book about sewers, I was able to talk to somebody who'd handled the real thing. Andy was involved in the scientific analysis. He touched the fatberg when it was first retrieved from the sewer and says it was greasy and waxy, but has since dried to the consistency of a pumice stone and also lightened in colour as the moisture has evaporated. It's also very light. Andy showed me photos of the museum's fatberg sample from soon after its recovery – it was originally brown and damp, like dinosaur poo, with finger marks where people have prodded it.
The fatberg is 62%, of which 53% is the palmitic fat found in cleaning products and olive oil. The remaining 38% is 19% ash and grit, 10% water and 9 % other, which presumably includes solids such as wet wipes, nappies and condoms – all of which are a major problem for our sewers. London has suffered from an increase in fatbergs in recent years because of the age of our sewers, our changing habits, a growing population, carelessness and also possibly the fact we don't use that much water – Americans apparently use three times as much as us – so there is less chance to flush away deposits or dilute them.
Nobody seems to know how precisely a fatberg forms or how long it takes for one to develop. Andy told me that a scientist at Cranfield University is hoping to raise sufficient funds to construct a replica London sewer where she can grow her own fatberg. This seems a wholly worthwhile enterprise and one I fully endorse. Until then, we'll have to make do with studying the dried remains of London's fatberg at the Museum of London.
Fatberg! at Museum of London until July 1.


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Last Friday, the eve of Yom Kippur, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks gave the introductory speech before Pope Benedict addressed and interfaith gathering in the chapel at St Marys University College in Twickenham.
Rabbi Sacks seems to have invested a great deal of time and import to the visit. He first prepared his own Jewish community in a message conveying the importance of the event, he then issued a message to the British newspapers, and finally he gave a third message before the religious leaders assembled in the chapel waiting to hear Pope Benedict's message. In total three messages about the Pope's visit before Yom Kippur.
Atonement and Forgiveness was his message for the Jewish community. In this talk, he starts with the persecutions of Judaism by Christianity, but he segues into the Jewish need to recognize the Christian change in attitude and their sincere reconciliation. Catholic and Jews are now friends. The chief rabbis applies the message of Yom Kippur of atonement and forgiveness to the Catholic Church and seeks a healing of the relationship of the two faiths.
Selections from "Atonement and Forgiveness, still have the power to transform relationships"
The story might have continued were it not for the darkest night of all, the Holocaust. In the wake of that event, a very great Pope indeed, Pope John XXIII, who had helped save many lives in the war years, began to reflect on the history of Christian attitudes toward the Jews, and came to the conclusion that those attitudes must change.
In 1962 he convened the Second Vatican Council, setting in motion what became three years later, though he did not live to see it, the declaration Nostra Aetate, "In Our Age." It redefined the relationship between the Catholic Church and other faiths, especially Judaism and Islam. It was one of the greatest acts of reconciliation in religious history, and today Catholics and Jews meet not as enemies or strangers but as friends.
And by one of those coincidences that seem providential, the night of that meeting, this Friday, will be the beginning of the holiest day of the Jewish year, the Day of Atonement, our festival of forgiveness. How moving it will be, this year, to bear witness to how those two ancient ideas, atonement and forgiveness, still have the power to transform relationships and heal the wounds of time.
Rabbi Sack spoke in the chapel as the representative of all non-Catholic faiths. He praises the Vatican for its important Nosta Aetate and its instrumental role in creating an ecumenical environment. Sacks considers the secularization of the Seventeenth Century as due to the inability of religions to live peacefully together. It is interesting to note that Sacks does not quote Torah, rather John Henry Cardinal Newman, and Pope Benedict's own Caritas in Veritate. In seeming appreciation nd agreement with the Pope, he quotes: "the development of peoples depends . . . on a recognition that the human race is a single family, working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side."
Sacks gives his own theology when he states: "We celebrate both our commonalities and differences, because if we had nothing in common we could not communicate, and if we had everything in common, we would have nothing to say. " We all have commonalities in faith and we have difference neither side should be ignored. There is one monotheistic God, but we should give dignity to our differences as enriching the world.
Some of the commonalities of Judaism with Christianity and other religions is that: "We believe in marriage as a commitment, parenthood as a responsibility, and the poetry of everyday life when it is etched, in homes and schools, with the charisma of holiness and grace." He continues, "In our communities we value people…for what they are, every one of them a fragment of the Divine presence. We hold life holy. And each of us is lifted by the knowledge that we are part of something greater than all of us, that created us in forgiveness and love, and asks us to create in forgiveness and love. His further expansion of the ideas of faith itself as important and that we can relate to one another at a universal level of the God in the soul, which encourages engaging the other. "we recognize in one another the presence of faith itself, that habit of the heart that listens to the music beneath the noise, and knows that God is the point at which soul touches soul and is enlarged by the presence of otherness."
Sack as a firm believer in having an Establishment Church assumes that "one of our commonalities is that we surely all believe that faith has a major role in strengthening civil society."
Finally, Sacks concludes with the need to show honor to the Pope who has lead all of us "with wisdom and generosity of spirit, and may all
our efforts combine to become a blessing to humanity and to God."
The entire Opening address at Interfaith gathering for Papal Visit
We welcome you, leader of a great faith, to this gathering of many faiths, in a land where once battles were fought in the name of faith,
and where now we share friendship across faiths.
That is a climate change worth celebrating. And we recognize the immense role the Vatican played and continues to play in bringing it about. It was Nostra Aetate, 45 years ago, that brought about the single greatest transformation in interfaith relations in recent history, and we recognize your visit here today as a new chapter in that story, and a vital one.
The secularization of Europe that began in the seventeenth century did not happen because people lost faith in God. Newton and Descartes, heroes of the Enlightenment, believed in God very much indeed. What led to secularization was that people lost faith in the ability of people of faith to live peaceably together. And we must never go down that road again. We remember the fine words of John Henry Cardinal Newman, "We should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend," as well as your own words, in Caritas in Veritate, that "the development of peoples depends . . . on a recognition that the human race is a single family, working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side."
We celebrate both our commonalities and differences, because if we had nothing in common we could not communicate, and if we had everything in common, we would have nothing to say. You have spoken of the Catholic Church as a creative minority. And perhaps that is what we should all aspire to be, creative minorities, inspiring one another, and bringing our different gifts to the common good.
Britain has been so enriched by its minorities, by every group represented here today and the intricate harmonies of our several voices. And one of our commonalities is that we surely all believe that faith has a major role in strengthening civil society.
In the face of a deeply individualistic culture, we offer community. Against consumerism, we talk about the things that have value but not a price. Against cynicism we dare to admire and respect. In the face of fragmenting families, we believe in consecrating relationships. We believe in marriage as a commitment, parenthood as a responsibility, and the poetry of everyday life when it is etched, in homes and schools, with the charisma of holiness and grace.
In our communities we value people not for what they earn or what they buy or how they vote but for what they are, every one of them a fragment of the
Divine presence. We hold life holy. And each of us is lifted by the knowledge that we are part of something greater than all of us, that created us in forgiveness and love, and asks us to create in forgiveness and love. Each of us in our own way is a guardian of values that are in danger of being lost, in our short-attention-span, hyperactive, information-saturated, wisdom-starved age. And though our faiths are profoundly different, yet we recognize in one another the presence of faith itself, that habit of the heart that listens to the music beneath the noise, and knows that God is the point at which soul touches soul and is enlarged by the presence of otherness.
You have honoured us with your presence, and we honour you. May you continue to lead with wisdom and generosity of spirit, and may all our efforts combine to become a blessing to humanity and to God.
The third piece that Sacks wrote was an op-ed message to the Pope about how the loss of faith in Europe has led to its loss of vitality and decent into a decadence without family, with poverty, suicide, and depression. Sack's answer is to return to the 19th century values of Newman. A subtext is that the Pope can accomplish more as an intellectual and public religious figure, kinda like Sacks himself, than as the monarch over the Church.
selections from General message to the Pope
Times Op Ed – The Pope will find more glory without power
The current Pope is more than the leader of the largest religious community in the world. He is also a significant public intellectual with a strong sense of history
.According to Save the Children, 3.9 million children are today living in poverty, 1.7 million of them in severe, persistent poverty. 4000 children call Childline every day. 100,000 children run away from home every year. 20 per cent of deaths among young people aged from 15 to 24 are suicides. In 2009, 29.4 million antidepressants were dispensed, up 334 per cent from 1985. During the same period, Samaritans answered 4.6 million calls from people in distress. An estimated one million elderly people do not see a friend or neighbour during an average week.
These are the kinds of social problem that cannot be solved by government spending. They are the result of the breakdown of families and communities and the loss of trust and social capital. In the broadest sense, they have to do with culture and the lack of a shared moral code. Having lost much of its Christian heritage, Britain does not seem to have found a satisfying substitute.
Yet in the nineteenth century it became re-moralized in a process in which John Henry Newman, the man Pope Benedict XVI has come to beatify, played a significant part. It was a joint effort of churches, temperance movements, Sunday schools, charities and friendly societies. It was, admittedly, an imperialistic age, but it also saw the abolition of slavery, the birth of universal education, and campaigns against inhuman working conditions and cruel punishments. It showed that national decline is not inevitable. A culture can be renewed Britain
The Pope himself was equally enamored with Rabbi Sacks who was specially invited to give the address. He wished Jews "a happy and holy celebration of Yom Kippur." And resonated with Sacks' universalism. "I would like to begin my remarks by expressing the Catholic Church's appreciation for the important witness that all of you bear as spiritual men and women living at a time when religious convictions are not always understood or appreciated."
Pope Benedict paraphrased one of Rabbi Sacks ideas in his own speech. Sacks talks about working side by side in making the world better as well as face to face in dialogue. "As followers of different religious traditions working together for the good of the community at large, we attach great importance to this "side by side" dimension of our cooperation, which complements the "face to face" aspect of our continuing dialogue." Then Pope Benedict translated the two aspects into the Church's official PCID four aspects.
Ever since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has placed special emphasis on the importance of dialogue and cooperation with the followers of other religions. In order to be fruitful, this requires reciprocity on the part of all partners in dialogue and the followers of other religions…Once such a respect and openness has been established, peoples of all religions will work together effectively for peace and mutual understanding, and so give a convincing witness before the world.
This kind of dialogue needs to take place on a number of different levels, and should not be limited to formal discussions The dialogue of life [a form of "side by side" dialogue] involves simply living alongside one another and learning from one another in such a way as to grow in mutual knowledge and respect. The dialogue of action [another form of "side by side" dialogue] brings us together in concrete forms of collaboration, as we apply our religious insights to the task of promoting integral human development, working for peace, justice and the stewardship of creation. Such a dialogue may include exploring together how to defend human life at every stage and how to ensure the non-exclusion of the religious dimension of individuals and communities in the life of society. Then at the level of formal conversations ["face to face" dialogue], there is a need not only for theological exchange, but also sharing our spiritual riches [formally known as a "dialogue of religious experience" ], speaking of our experience of prayer and contemplation, and expressing to one another the joy of our encounter with divine love.
My dear friends, as I conclude my remarks, let me assure you that the Catholic Church follows the path of engagement and dialogue out of a genuine sense of respect for you and your beliefs


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Oct. 15, 2008 — -- Terry Moran is a co-anchor of ABC News' "Nightline" and covers the Supreme Court for the network from his base in Washington, DC. At "Nightline," Mr. Moran has led the program's distinguished coverage of many of the major news stories over the past several years.
Moran extensively covered the 2012 election for "Nightline" where he reported on the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, election night and the 2013 Inauguration. Additionally in 2012, he reported for "Nightline" and all ABC News programs on the Supreme Court's historic ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act.
Moran has led Nightline's coverage of the Obama administration and the extraordinary presidential campaign of 2008. He has conducted nine one-on-one interviews with Barack Obama, dating back to 2006, giving him a unique insight into this president. Among his groundbreaking interviews are an exclusive and wide-ranging conversation about race in America just after then-Sen. Obama's major speech on the subject in Philadelphia in March of 2008; an exclusive interview in Baghdad with then-Sen. Obama in August, 2008; and a July 2009 interview in Florida with President Obama on health care, Afghanistan, and the power of prayer in the president's life.
Throughout the 2008 campaign, Moran crisscrossed the country, interviewing and spending time covering the campaigns of Sen. John McCain, Sen. John Edwards, former Gov. Mitt Romney, former Gov. Mike Huckabee and Gov. Bill Richardson. He anchored the broadcast from Iowa, New Hampshire and other primary battlegrounds.
In March of 2009, Moran underwent DNA testing to discover whether he carried genetic markers associated with Alzheimer's disease, which runs in his family. The resulting story was an emotional account of the toll the disease takes in America, and a powerful call to action.
Moran has reported extensively from overseas for "Nightline," covering the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He has traveled to both war zones for the program.
In 2013, Moran had a rare look from within the war-torn country of Syria and reported on the conflict that exists in the chaotic capital of Damascus. In May of 2012, he traveled to Bolivia to interview an American man who was imprisoned and went uncharged by authorities after accusations of money laundering. His report revealed the corrupt judicial system that exists in Bolivia and the chaos that exists within an unguarded prison.
In May of 2009, Moran reported from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on the raging drug violence that has brought the country to the brink of chaos. His interview with a confessed hit man in one of Mexico's most notorious gangs exposed blatant corruption of U.S. law enforcement officials in the multi-billion dollar cross-border drug-trafficking business.
In June of 2006, Moran traveled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a week-long "Nightline" series on the American detention facility there and the controversies surrounding interrogation techniques, conditions and the legal status of the 200-plus men held there as "enemy combatants." He was at Guantanamo Bay when the Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling on the rights of the detainees, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, and he reported on the case and its impact for all ABC News programs.
Among the major domestic news stories Moran has covered for "Nightline," he led the program's coverage for a week from Blacksburg, VA, covering the tragedy at Virginia Tech; he spent a week reporting on the California wildfires in the fall of 2007, hosting "Nightline's" critically acclaimed one-hour special from the fire zone; he was on the scene in Los Angeles reporting on the huge immigration rallies there in May of 2006; and he has chronicled the continuing struggle of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He was on the Gulf Coast when the storm slammed ashore in 2005, reporting for all ABC News programs.
Moran has interviewed a wide range of celebrities, musicians and authors, including Kanye West, Keira Knightley, Khaled Hosseini (author of "A Thousand Splendid Suns"), Natalie Portman, Francis Ford Coppola and Ryan Seacrest. Prior to co-anchoring "Nightline," he was ABC's Chief White House correspondent for six years, covering the administrations of President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush. In 2006, he was honored by the White House Correspondents Association with the Merriman Smith Award for excellence in presidential reporting on deadline. In 2007, he received the George Foster Peabody Award for his work reporting and anchoring the one-hour ABC News documentary, "Out of Control: AIDS in Black America."
In 2004, Moran was named anchor of World News Tonight Sunday, a position he held until joining Nightline.
A key member of the ABC News team covering the events of September 11, 2001, Moran continued to report on all aspects of the war on terror while covering the Bush administration. He reported from the White House throughout the war with Iraq during the spring of 2003. In November of 2003, he traveled to Baghdad to report on the U.S.-led occupation and the violent insurgency against it.
Moran covered Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign. He traveled extensively, reporting on the primary battles between Gore and Senator Bill Bradley in Iowa, New Hampshire and on Super Tuesday. During the hard-fought general-election campaign, he logged thousands of miles with Vice President Gore and spent Election Day in Nashville, where he reported on the historic events that night. For the next 35 days he covered the legal battle for the White House, and on the chaotic night the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Bush v. Gore, it was from listening to Mr. Moran's clear explanation of the Court's opinion that Vice President Gore himself learned he had lost the presidency.
In 1999, Moran traveled to the Balkans to cover the war in Kosovo and its troubled aftermath. From the refugee camps in Macedonia to the Roma ("gypsy") neighborhoods of Pristina, he investigated war-crimes stories and reported on the human impact of the ethnic-cleansing campaigns launched by both Serbs and Kosovars.
Prior to covering politics and policy, Mr. Moran spent ten years covering law. From 1998-1999, he was the primary ABC News correspondent assigned to the U.S. Supreme Court. He filed stories on several major cases, including Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, a case that raised the issue of schools' liability for student-on-student sexual harassment. Other legal stories he has covered for ABC News include the murder trial of British au pair Louise Woodward in Cambridge, Mass.; the fourth trial of Dr. Jack Kevorkian; the trial of the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski; the Microsoft anti-trust case; and the Portland, Oregon, trial of anti-abortion activists sued for contributing to a website that the jury found illegally threatened abortion providers.
Prior to joining ABC News in 1997, Mr. Moran was a correspondent and anchor for Court TV. He received critical acclaim for his nightly coverage of the day's events in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson and for his extensive reports during the trial of Erik and Lyle Menendez, when the Los Angeles brothers first faced charges for the shotgun murders of their parents. He also traveled to Bosnia and The Hague to cover the first international war-crimes trial since World War II—that of a Bosnian Serb named Dusko Tadic. In addition, he was Court TV's correspondent for the Supreme Court confirmation debates over Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Before joining Court TV he was a reporter and assistant managing editor for Legal Times.
Mr. Moran has written for several publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Republic Magazine—where he began his career in journalism.


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It's the first thing I want to see every morning. I'm drawn to it like Jen to Brad, like Brad to Angie, like Angie to voodoo. Usually I could find it in the dark, with my eyes half-closed and make it work its magic, but not this morning. This morning, the worst thing has happened, my Keurig is on the fritz.
My Keurig coffee maker has been my morning happiness for over five years now. I see it and Om, which is the exact opposite of my state at present. I'm desperately opening the front hatch and closing it, ineffectually pulling out the plug and restarting, but so far, my dealer won't deal. I shake it. Where's my cup full of happiness, damn you!!!
Wild-eyed, I'm staring at the little coffee pods, trying to figure if I can open one, dump out the grinds and just add hot water. It could work, I reason. I'm in the process of ripping off the top of one with my teeth, when Tyler catches me.
"Whatcha doing mommy?" Tyler asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Maybe he'll just think mommy's madness is a bad dream. "Nothing." I say in a high pitched voice. I sound wired, when I am anything but. "I just can't get this dang thing to work." I fake a weird laugh. Now I'm Snow White meets Marilyn Manson.
"Oh." He is unaffected. "Can I have breakfast?"
"Sure." I distractedly put a bowl, a carton of milk and a box of cereal on the table in front of him and turn my aggravation back toward the machine.
Two minutes later, I'm still futzing, repeating the same obsessive tactics to no avail when I again hear, "Can I have breakfast?"
I turn. "Tyler. It's right in front of you."
He doesn't even look at it. "But you usually pour it for me and everything."
I do? Hmmm. Suddenly even with the fuzzy, caffeine-withdrawn head, I'm having a moment of clarity. "Uh baby, you're 10. I think you can pour your own cereal."
"But you do it better." He almost whines but manages a cute, sleepy smile again.
Two other boys bound in. "Hi mommy!" They chime. "Mommy I want pancakes! And bring them in the TV room. With milk." Michael orders. "Me too." Julius mimics. "And I want cereal too. All kinds, mixed together."
They bound out. I look around confused. Did they just place their order as if I am their waitress? I look to Tyler for validation. He looks at me with an equally dumbfounded expression, then says, "Uh mommy. I'm waiting. And you forgot the spoon."
Wow. I'm still reeling from the breakfast orders when Howard strides in, talking full steam ahead. "You've got to pick up the dry cleaning today. And do you know where Tyler's chest guard is? If it's in the dirty laundry you need to have it clean by tonight. I might need you to pick me up at the train and bring a sandwich or something. And remember the bags and water and stuff."
I nod absently as he rushes out, places a quick kiss on my cheek. "See you later." He pops his head back in. "We also need crickets for Smiles." Then he's gone.
I'm processing my second set of orders when there's a yell from the other room. "Mommy! Where are my pancakes!"
"And cereal!" a little voice adds.
Tyler is still looking at me expectantly. I ignore him. I'm having a moment. I might explode. All it will take is one more…, "Mommy," Tyler interrupts. "Did you charge my iTouch last night?"
That was it. He has no idea what he's in for. I'm about to tell him that that if he can't pour his own cereal, he certainly can't have an iTouch that he can't even be responsible to charge! He needs to start doing things for himself. I can't believe I let this go on so long. What was I thinking?!
"Tyler," I open my mouth to speak and simultaneously hear the sound of liquid dripping into a cup. I quickly cock my head like a soap opera character listening to her contemplative inside voice. Something is calling me. I cannot resist. I move in and smell the warm, rich aroma filling my cup. Breathe. Breathe. I watch it gurgle to its finish, add a splash of milk and sip. Mmmmm. Om. Happiness. I lean up against the counter, hearing nothing, seeing nothing, just enjoying my moment. I am right next to the silverware draw. Unconsciously, I pull it open and take out a spoon for Tyler. It's all good.


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RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — John* had his comfortable American life all arranged. Moving up the corporate ladder, he was successful in a plywood company and looked forward to his next opportunity.
"I planned on being somebody," John said. "Money and recognition were my main motives for getting up every day."
But he spoke to a missionary appointment service Nov. 10, he had a different story to tell.
"I was planning on making a name for myself in the corporate world," John recalled. "But God showed me … that it was His name that really mattered."
John and his wife Anna*, who will work in Central Asia, were among 68 new IMB missionaries appointed during a service at Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.
For Max* and Lucy* from San Angelo, Texas, heading to the mission field in East Asia also means leaving behind a comfortable lifestyle afforded by a civil engineer's salary.
They said they are now ready to pick up God's vision for the nations. "We serve an amazing God who's willing to use ordinary people to bring glory to His name," Lucy said.
Through tears, another new missionary, Sherry*, told how God broke her heart for women trapped behind the veil of Islam when she was a journeyman (two-year service term). Her husband James*, a university administrator from Rome, Ga., has joined his passion with hers to reach the people of North Africa and the Middle East.
IMB President Tom Elliff joined the missionaries' tears, joking he was the one IMB hired to come to these meetings and cry.
"I started [crying] when I walked in looking into the faces of these new missionaries who will go soon to the very ends of the earth," Elliff said. "And I probably won't stop until I get back to the hotel tonight, if then."
As he preached from 2 Timothy 1:8-12, Elliff praised the willingness of the appointees to reject the idea of a "suffering-less brand of Christian faith." Quoting the apostle Paul, Elliff said the new missionaries could expect hardships, but they would never be sorry they made the choice to face the darkness.
"This road you have chosen leads to an intimacy with Christ that can only come through faith," he said.
Elliff also encouraged the new missionaries by emphasizing God's promises throughout Scripture: "He can handle anything you bring Him."
His words weren't reserved for the new missionaries, however. He spoke to those gathered in the church auditorium to look for their own calling — to pray, to give their blessings to those who are going, to give sacrificially to support the work. Inviting people to pray at the close of the service, Elliff asked those in attendance to commit to embrace the next thing God showed them about missions.
As the crowd gathered at the front of the church to pray, Elliff voiced a prayer that hearts would be joined in reaching the darkness, no matter the cost.
"God is asking you about your life: 'Is it going to be Mine or is it going to be yours?'" Elliff said.
*Names changed. Marie Curtis is an editor and writer for IMB. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).


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Nashville, Tennessee, iPhone Shots, June 27th, 2016, photo © 2019 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
View of downtown Nashville on a road trip with Liz. We stopped in Nashville to tour Jack White's Third Man Records on the way to visit my dad and his wife. I lived in Tennessee for a few years as a child, but had never been to Music City. We also visited Ann Patchett's bookstore Parnassus Books; we try to visit independent bookstores wherever we travel. We were lucky to have made the trip from Minnesota that June because my dad passed away unexpectedly eight months later. I am thinking of him because his birthday is August 15th. We are grateful for the time and cherish the memories. His ashes are scattered near Morristown, Tennessee, the place he was born.


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Blog post by Reed from Washington, DC
I am in London today for the wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine. The royal couple invited me to volunteer during their wedding celebration. I will be helping pour champagne for the more than 650 guests at the reception.
OK, that was a lie. I'm not in London nor have I been invited to volunteer at the royal wedding (although if they want to reach out some time for me to do some volunteering that would be cook too.) I did however think that it would be appropriate to either get a Kindness Investor from the UK this week or do a blog post focusing on a British organization helping individuals volunteer.
Do-it, a volunteer portal operated by YouthNet, claimed to be the first national database of volunteer opportunities in the UK when it was founded in 2001. Since then it has grown to be a leading connector between good organizations and people doing good.
The majority of opportunities on Do-it come from local volunteer centers in England. These organizations secure the hardware, software and training so that they can upload their vacancies onto the Do-it database. In addition, some large national and international organizations post on Do-it as well.
So when all the pomp and circumstance is done over in Old Blighty I hope my English readers will check out Do-it and find a cause that they feel passionate about and find out how they can help them! Trust me, it's easy.


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I have twice before used this blog to foray into the strange world of film reviewing; something that I enjoy, given that I enjoy cinema, but am usually unable to make a stable source of material since I don't generally have the time (or, given a lot of the films that get released in my local cinema, inclination) to see too many of them. My first foray was a rather rambling (and decidedly rubbish) examination of The Hunger Games, with a couple of nods to the general awesomeness of The Shawshank Redemption, whilst I felt compelled to write my second just to articulate my frustration after seeing The Dark Knight Rises. Today, I wish to return to the magical fairy kingdom of the big screen, this time concerning something that I would ordinarily have never seen at all; 70s crime flick 'The Sting'
The Sting is quite clearly a film from another era of filmmaking; I am not old enough to remember the times when a stock 'thump' sound byte was inserted into the footage every time an object is put onto a table, but this film contains such cinematic anachronisms in spades. Similarly, this is the first film I have ever seen starring Robert Redford and my first from director George Roy Hill, but age should be no barrier to quality entertainment if it's there to shine through and thankfully it's basic plot and premise lend it to a graceful aging process.
The plot can be fairly summarily described as uncomplicated; a young confidence trickster who ends up accidentally making a small fortune from a fairly routine con is pursued by the mob boss whose money he has now lost, so teams up with an experienced 'old head' to bring him down. So Ocean's Eleven with a simpler character base and more realistic motivations. Where the two differ, however, is in their dedication to their subject material; whilst the Ocean's films are generally content to follow some rather formulaic Hollywood scriptwriting, placing their emphasis heavily on interpersonal relationships and love interests, The Sting goes out of its way to be a true crime story to its very core. Set in the golden age of organised crime (1930s prohibition-era Illinois, real-life home of Al Capone) with a memorable ragtime soundtrack to match, every stage (illustrated explicitly through the use of old-fashioned title cards) of the film's overarching 'big con' plot takes the form of a classic confidence trick, from an old-fashioned money switch to a large-scale rigged betting house, incorporating along the way possibly the finest played (and cheated) game of poker ever to appear on screen. Every feature, facet and subplot from the cheated cop to the seemingly out-of-place love interest all has its place in the big con, and there was nothing there that didn't have a very good reason to be. Not only did this create a rollercoaster of a focused, central plot without unnecessary distractions, but the authenticity of the tricks, characters and terminology used built a believable, compelling world to immerse oneself in and enjoy. Combine that with a truly stellar portrayal of the seen-it-all genius conman Henry Gondorff by Paul Newman, and Robert Redford's evident gift for building a very real, believable character in the form of naive youngster Johnny Hooker, and we have the makings of an incredibly immersive story that you often have to remind yourself isn't actually real.
However, by putting such focus on its central con, The Sting puts itself under an awful lot of pressure, for without any extraneous components (hell, there aren't even any proper action scenes, despite the not infrequent bouts of gunfire) it has got nowhere to fall if its central plot fails. Thus, the success of the film very much rests on the success of the con it centres around, not just in terms of execution itself but in making its execution fit its style. The Sting is not about coming up with something on the fly, about something unexpected coming up and winning through on the day- it is an homage to planning, to the skill of the con, of hooking in the mark and making them think they've won, before turning the ace in the hole. To turn successful planning, what was intended to happen happening, into compelling drama is a task indeed for a filmmaker.
And yet, despite all the odds, The Sting pulls it off, thanks to the extraordinary depth director Hill packs into his seemingly simplistic plot. Each subplot put into play is like adding another dot to the puzzle, and it is left to the viewer to try and join them all to formulate the finished picture- or alternatively watch to see the film do so all with staggering aplomb. Every element is laid out on the table, everyone can see the cards, and it's simply a matter of the film being far smarter than you are in revealing how it pulls its trick, just like a conman and his mark. You, the viewer, have been stung just as much as Robert Shaw's mob boss of a mark, except that you can walk out of the room with your wallet full and a smile on your face.
This is not to say that the film doesn't have problems. Whilst the basic premise is simple and well-executed enough to be bulletproof, its 'setup' phase (as the title cards called it) spends an awful lot of time on world-, scenario- and character-building, filling the early parts of the film with enough exposition to make me feel decidedly lukewarm about it- it's all necessary to remove plot holes and to build the wonderful air of depth and authenticity, but something about its execution strikes me as clunky. It also suffers Inception's problem of being potentially confusing to anyone not keeping a very close track of what's going on, and one or two of the minor characters suffer from having enough of a role to be significant but not enough characterisation to seem especially real. That said, this film won seven Oscars for a reason, and regardless of how slow it may seem to begin with, it's definitely worth sticking it out to the end. I can promise you it will be worth it.


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My Latino College Roommate Stuck His Hairy Cock In My Ass
College Dudes has a new video up featuring Gabriel Isaacs and Jude Michaels. Jude is a young and innocent white boy while Gabriel is an experienced Latino. The two of them were assigned a room together during their freshman year in college. After the first few weeks of living together, the sexual tension between the two was intense. The first time they actually hooked up was last week. Gabriel and Jude start making out and that's when Jude grabbed Gabriel's cock and pulled it out of his boxers. Jude gets on his knees and starts sucking on that hairy Latino dick. He's a pretty good cocksucker — he got that nice piece of Latino nice and hard as he deep-throated it. Gabriel pushed Jude back on the bed and wanted to taste some white dick. He takes Jude's cock in his mouth and tongues it all over while licking his lips. Jude really wants that hairy dick in his ass, so he lowers his butthole over it and slowly let's it enter his virgin hole. Jude can barely take that Latino cock up his ass, but once he gets used to it, this white boy starts bouncing up and down on it. Gabriel then pushes Jude over and starts doggy fucking that white ass hard and deep. Jude is getting fucked so hard that he shoots cum all over himself. Gabriel pulls out and tells Jude to lick his nut sack while he jerks off and cums all over Jude's mouth and face. College freshman are such sluts! Fuck yeah… make sure to check out this hot video.
Click here to watch these college freshman fucking in the dorm gay sex video and hundreds more amateur gay porn videos at College Dudes.
Click here to watch these college freshman fucking in the dorm gay sex video and hundreds more amateur gay porn videos at College Dudes.


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77 years ago the distribution of free milk to 5500 primary school children in Auckland begins (14 October 1935)
This world first began as a temporary measure in Auckland for primary school children up to Standard 4 (year 6). The experiment, paid for the Auckland City Council, was closely watched by the government.
Initially, over 1500 litres of milk was distributed each day to 18 schools in the city.
Each child received half a pint (just under 300ml) of pasteurised milk in a glass bottle, like the one pictured above, with a cardboard lid. The lids had holes in them for drinking straws. Later the caps often carried promotional messages such as 'Make a good start. Drink milk every morning' and 'Full Marks to Pasteurised Milk'.
The free milk scheme was prompted by concerns about the low rate of consumption of milk, which meant that New Zealanders were degenerating into 'a B grade people', according to Dr E B Gunson. Depression conditions and the associated poor diets and health of children were also causing anxiety.
This pilot scheme in Auckland was launched just before the election of the first Labour Government (led by Prime Minister Michael Savage, below), which became synonymous with the implementation of universal social security initiatives.
Concerned with creating equal access for New Zealanders to basic health, education and welfare, this government made free milk available to all New Zealand primary school children in 1937. This was complemented by other health measures for children such as free dental care at school dental clinics. School dental nurses continued to stress the importance of milk in children's diets.
The school milk scheme continued under successful governments, both National and Labour, until October 1967.
Read more about the government's involvement in children's health, the Depression and social welfare measures on the Slice of Heaven website
See nzhistory.net.nz for more details about the school milk scheme
Read more about the beginning of the school dental clinics and nurse on previous Te Papa's blog


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Simcha Jacobovici recently claimed to have discovered the nails used to crucify Jesus. I have written a critique of Simcha's documentary entitled, "A Critique of Simcha Jacobovici's Secrets of Christianity: Nails of the Cross" for Bible and Interpretation.
Here's a snippet:
Simcha makes two bold claims to say the least: the first is that the lost nails of Jesus' crucifixion have been recovered, and the second is an implicit assertion that the IAA covered it up. Unfortunately for Simcha, his theory has a problem, and its name is Legion, for they are many. Any one of these problems renders Simcha's theory impossible, and their aggregate renders the theory preposterous.
Read more and comment.
Filed under: archaeology, bible, israel, Jerusalem, pseudoscience, religion, robert cargill | Tagged: Arabic Infancy Gospel of the Savior, Émile Puech, Barrie Wilson, bible and interpretation, Caiaphas, crucifixion, David Mevorah, Gabriel Barkay, Garo Nalbandian, history channel, iaa, israel antiquities authority, Israel Hershkowitz, James Tabor, Jerusalem Peace Park, Jessie Pincus, Jesus, joe zias, joseph, nails of the cross, Nicu Haas, ossuary, Qafa, Qayafa, Qofa, robert cargill, ronny reich, secrets of christianity, simcha jacobovici, son of Caiaphas, Vassilios Tzaferis, Yehohanan, Zvi Greenhut |


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Copyright © 1996-2019,2022 by Thomas E. Dickey
bcpp indents C/C++ source programs, replacing tabs with spaces or the reverse. Unlike indent, it does (by design) not attempt to wrap long statements.
bcpp was written by Steven De Toni. I've based this on version 1.8, December 1995.
I made several changes (not a rewrite, since there is much in the original design that I wish to keep). This version improves the parsing algorithm by marking the state of all characters, recognizes a wider range of indention structures, and implements a simple algorithm for indenting embedded SQL.
See the changelog for details:


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Here are some quick thoughts on Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah's speech this evening, which I live-blogged here (see here for another English translation).
Firstly, I found Nasrallah's discussion of the terms of the Syrian-Saudi initiative to be quite interesting. If Saad al-Hariri really did agree to the opposition's demands that they (a) withdraw the Lebanese judges; (b) stop funding; and (c) abrogate the cooperation agreement with the STL, then this is noteworthy. What were, I wonder, al-Hariri and the Saudis' demands? It seems unlikely to me that al-Hariri and his allies would have agreed to these three demands, which amount to essentially torpedoing public trust in the STL, even if it would not have brought the actual Tribunal to a close (as Nasrallah pointed out).
Secondly, the fact that Nasrallah is able to make so much hay out of the false witness issue is entirely the fault of Hariri himself and his political advisors. As I've argued in the past, Hariri's people have failed miserably in shaping the debate on the false witnesses, while the opposition has basically taken the issue and run with it. Even as we speak, the al-Jadid recording is changing minds in Lebanon, even though it more or less confirms what March 14 politicians have consistently (but poorly) articulated, namely that Siddiq was not fed information by Hariri's people.
Thirdly, Nasrallah did an excellent job of framing the resignation of the opposition in terms of their dissatisfaction with the Hariri government on a number of fronts (corruption, lack of transparency, incompetence, false witnesses, vulnerability to foreign pressure, etc.) rather than just its commitment to the STL. Earlier in the day, Michel Aoun had similarly made a persuasive and typically belligerent case against Hariri's government, articulating the reasons that the opposition had decided to abandon the national unity path. The question is: does Nasrallah know something that the rest of us don't, with respect to Nabih Berri's nomination decision? All of this will become clearer in the next couple of days.
Finally, allow me to reiterate a basic point that I've made several times before: can anyone doubt that the opposition has the big guns (rhetorically speaking) in Lebanon? Here we have Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of a conservative religious-political party and a militia stronger than the Lebanese army that is about to be accused by the United Nations of masterminding the assassination of a Sunni prime minister, and he sounds like the most reasonable, rational, straightforward politician in Lebanon. Note that I am not agreeing with the content of what he said (which was, let's face it, just another shade of demagoguery like everyone else's talking points), but simply pointing out the obvious: Hizbullah would be in a vastly different position in Lebanon today were it not for the leadership of Hasan Nasrallah. No one else would be capable of reconciling the manifold contradictions in Hizbullah's projected identity and framing their program in as capacious and catholic a manner as Nasrallah. To understate his role is to misunderstand the rise of Hizbullah completely, in my opinion.
The floor is open.
UPDATE: Trella.org has the transcript of the second Al-Jadid recording. And here's the actual recording on YouTube.


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サンノゼ・シャークスのファンサイト、Sharks Site によるチャイナ・シャークスのChris Collins 元GMとのインタビューです。シャークスの長期的目標はチームとリーグをもっとプロ化させる事で、各連盟の影響を無くしてビジネスモデルとしてアジアリーグとシャークスを成功させる事だったそうです(現状から考えると夢物語みたいですね)。その為には、短期的にはシャークスは外国人選手に頼り(今季のチーム構成は中国人7人、元NHL選手5人-エンディコットとパーピック含む-と残りは日本人選手になる予定だったそうです)、中国人選手育成の為のファームチームを作り年間75-95試合を韓国、日本と北朝鮮のアマチュアチームと試合を組ませる予定だったそうです(合理的に見えますが、スポーツ省の権力者は自分の選手をトップチームに入れたかったそうです、ボロ負けする事になっても)。あとリーグの為にはオフィシャルの質の向上も欠かせなかったと言っています、今はレベルが低すぎると。NYアイランダーズのオーナーCharles Wang 氏が中国北部で行っている、ユース・プレーヤー向けのProject Hope との連携は全く無かったのは残念です。Collins 氏はまた条件が揃えばシャークスは中国へ戻れると語っていますが、スポーツ省の現状を読む限り、両者の思惑が一致するのは難しそうです。アムールとバイキングスに続き、アジアリーグはまた残念なパートナーを無くしました。
[Q] Can you tell me about the San Jose Sharks ending their affiliation with the China Sharks this summer, a team which has been renamed the China Dragons?
[CC] In China, nothing is as it ever seems! We proposed a plan for total Chinese solvency financially and on the ice at the development and Asian League level. The Chinese ice hockey Association and its Jr. ministers in charge wanted things to remain 'status quo' which we deemed unacceptable. In the end I gave Greg Jamison and Mike Lehr, my two supervisors and partners, the opinion that we should not go forward in the Asian League with the Chinese until the Chinese Ice Hockey Association and its operatives were removed from our partnership. The (China Sharks) and the Asian League were asked by us NOT to use any of our "marks".
[Q] Is there still a relationship between the Sharks and the Chinese Ice Hockey Association, and moving forward does the San Jose Sharks organization have future plans for China in general or the ALIH specifically?
[CC] There is a fabulous relationship between the Sr. Director of the CIHA, Mr. Zhou and SVSE as we look forward to working with them in the future. Our main goals now are developing coaches, players and on/off ice officials with Sr. officials in the Minister of Sports office in China. This level is going to affect change in China and help our work and expertise reach the people as opposed to any game playing at the lower levels we've tried to avoid.
[Q] I have read hockey is historically popular in certain regions of China. In what parts of the country was hockey already played? How did the Sharks work to increase the development of new players? How quickly did Chinese fans or the Chinese media adapt to a new team and a new sport being played in such an urban location? How was that reception compared to other teams in Japan or Korea?
[CC] Hockey in China is well known despite the results under the current regime of the CIHA. Hockey is mainly popular in the North mostly because of the influence of the Russian border. The sport with the influx of rinks nationwide is growing in unconventional areas weather-wise as the South and West will see rapid growth in the game in the near future. This is vital to the games survival if for no other reason than to get the game away from the grips of the same old "dinosaurs" in the north of China who have taken the game the wrong direction while using it as a game where development of coaches, players and officials (was non-professional).
The Chinese media covered our team and results because the team is incorrectly classified and created as the official 'National Team' of China for financial reasons that has no benefit for people like us or those who play the sport. Because the players level was so poor due to bad development and bad coaching and training, the Chinese media were and are 'brutal' towards the sport, especially the Men's team.
This season we were only going forward in the Asian League in a commercially run team where the Jr. ministers and their local (associates) would have no say or affect on any players we picked, trained, paid and developed. Of course the CIHA was vehemently against this proposal as it basically boxed and blocked any influence they would have, so our investment in China of developing coaches, players and officials would be expedited two-fold.
You must understand that the rules in creating the team are set for Jr. ministers and their buddies to keep everyone happy by selecting teams that their (associates) ask them to pick. Of course for one season we did not allow this and the team was more successful than it had ever been. This created chaos for the very few 'obstructionist' in the local northern region, as the game was changed and those responsible for the destruction of the Chinese so called 'product' were left out in the cold. Their players of choice who have led China to the B division of group 2 at the WC, and have led the country to be the laughing stock of international hockey were all told by me and my coaches 'thanks but no thanks' as we were rebuilding the team from top to bottom.
The crowds in Songjiang where we played last season (about 35 minutes outside Shanghai with no traffic) were good as we averaged just over 3000 per game. Mostly college kids and young families as they were loyal and vocal about the Sharks! Sadly this season they've lost their first 6 games in a hapless situation where on average 350 people have been let in free to watch this… collection of kids being led down a path of more failure.
Chinese (fans) are obviously not very kind to the Japanese teams as a whole and maybe like the South Koreans a bit more. Other sports mainly feed this rivalry like soccer, table tennis, badminton, volleyball and basketball.
[Q] In an interview, Claude Lemieux mentioned a few thousand fans in attendance during one of the games in China. How was the turnout and the atmosphere during the China Sharks first season? Which was the toughest building to play in?
[CC] Atmosphere in the building was great. There are plenty of YouTube clips from fans at home games last season in Songjiang as we enjoyed our time there and the community.
God Bless Claude and his family for letting him come over as he was and is great. He is one of the best people I've ever known as he is the consummate professional, and like Mac and Flats gave our team and league a sense of being. I will forever be indebted to my friend Claude as should all hockey people as the game needs more talent and character like Claude.
The toughest building for the China Sharks to play in was Anyang, home of the Halla team in South Korea. They seemed to be the only team who prepared as if the NHL Sharks were on the ice (laugh). We liked our partners in the AL as we hope to be back soon under a completely separate structure than what is currently in place and unacceptable to us an ownership group.
[Q] The San Jose Sharks brought a few China Sharks forwards to Oakland Ice for an offseason hockey clinic. San Jose also brought several foreign-born players to China to help solidify the lineup, including player/coach and former San Jose goaltender Wade Flaherty, and 6-foot-7 defenseman/coach Steve McKenna. How difficult was the process of bringing in foreign-born imports to China and the ALIH? Flaherty was named the best goaltender in the league last year, former Stockton Thunder forward Brock Radunske lead the league in goals (29) and points (57), and Jason Beeman lead the China Sharks with 15 goals. How much of an impact of did foreign-born players have on the ice and in the development of the ALIH players elsewhere and in China? Were there any other players that you contacted, or that contacted you, about playing in China or the ALIH?
[CC] Many ex-NHLers I know want to come to China as the numbers this past off season were very high as we would have been a favorite to win the AL had we gone forward. My plan was two stage: One was to field a development team playing 75-95 games while playing exhibition schedules all season against AL teams and Asian hockey colleges in Japan and South and North Korea. This team would have been 99% Chinese. The AL team would have been 7 Chinese tops with the other 13 players half import and half Japanese. Because of the Sharks name, and because of the exoticness of China, acquiring players was not a problem.
Import players are China right now which is what is wrong with the current people running Chinese men's hockey. They do not understand the concept of 3 steps back in the long run equals 15 steps forward. Whether its because of financial interests or ignorance is not important, the Chinese men will never grow until a proven researched national strategy, like what we invested millions in, is fully implemented and the troublemakers are pushed aside.
This season we would have had 5 former NHL players on the China Sharks roster had we proceeded.
[Q] Steve McKenna might have the most interesting post-NHL career story of any hockey player to date, going from England to Australia to Italy to Korea. Can you describe how he came to the China Sharks? He also mentioned a persepctive shift when he and Flaherty were riding bikes through the University campus on the way to work. Is an open minded and adventurous mindset needed for former North American or European players to enjoy themselves in the ALIH? What are one or two things that a player might have to deal with playing in China that he would not expect prior to coming over?
[CC] The minute we were announced as taking over the AL franchise, which by the way was never our goal as we came to China to develop players, coaches and officials and still see this as our mission, I targeted Mac as I knew him well. After our first season when we realized how dysfunctional the system currently in place was I called him and said 'Mac, you must be in China next season'… I think we agreed to a contract on that phone call. The fact Mac is the national team coach of Australia and has won a World Championship at the helm there also fit our needs of playing and assisting Derek.
YES, players must be open minded and adventurous to live and play in China… (laugh). The bicycles were my idea as I thought it would be great to have these big guys in their suits riding to and from the arena daily in front of hundreds of thousands of college students.
Communism and its effects on people in a society that is quickly changing into a full fledged democracy in some ways is a major eye opener. It seemed to me that the players got it very well while the Jr. ministers did, but wanted no part of it and its affect on the average person… (laugh). The absolute lack of understanding of the team game is another. How the game of hockey is really coached and taught is another. How people eat team meals and travel and what is socially acceptable and what is not is another major eye opener. If you factor in what communism's principals are and add them to these equations you get some very entertaining and interesting results. I am saving the juiciest stories for my book that I am writing on China and team sports.


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Design submitted by Cory from the USA.
Cory says: Hull plating on fictional space stations always has such interesting patterns. I thought it would be fun to do an analog watch with an asymmetrical pattern that resembles hull plating.
The lines that radiate out from the center correspond to the hours of a clock face, simply find the place where the line changes to check the hour. The three dashes at the edge of the watch face denote minutes, specifically the center dash.
Tokyoflash fans who enjoy analog designs that are complex-but-simple to read may enjoy this design. As would anyone living in a deep space vessel who needs to keep track of time.
The asymmetrical shape of the hour 'hand' and the three dashes at the edge, along with a semi-symmetrical watch case creates an interesting look in both IPblack and Stainless Steel.