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It may be that time of the year again when AMD starts refreshing its Ryzen processors if Twitter user Patrick Schur's information is accurate. There is a precedent of AMD refreshing its Ryzen processors, nevertheless, we recommend you approach the news with caution.
Unless AMD pulls a rabbit out of its hat, the new Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer) processors will in all likelihood acquire the XT moniker, following in the footsteps of the prior Ryzen 3000 XT-series. Everything should remain unchanged under the hood. The processors will continue to come out of TSMC's 7nm oven and arrive with the same, powerful Zen 3 cores that bring an impressive 19% IPC uplift.
AMD's last refresh has shown us that the amount of cores, L3 cache and TDP (thermal design power) limits remain intact. Instead, the refreshed Ryzen 5000 chips will likely offer marginal boost clock speed improvements. Once again, the chips will slot into the AM4 socket so existing AMD motherboards should only require a small and simple firmware upgrade to leverage the fresh Ryzen parts.
AMD Ryzen 5000 XT Specifications
|Cores / Threads
|Base / Boost Clock Speeds (GHz)
|L3 Cache (MB)
|Ryzen 9 5950XT*
|16 / 32
|3.4 / 5.0
|Ryzen 9 5950X
|16 / 32
|3.4 / 4.9
|Ryzen 5 5600XT*
|6 / 12
|3.7 / 4.6
|Ryzen 5 5600X
|6 / 12
|3.7 / 4.6
*Specifications are unconfirmed.
Schur referred to the two mysterious Ryzen processors as being the B2 stepping for Vermeer. There are two codenames that are being thrown around. Given the specifications, the 100-000000059-60_50/34_Y is probably the Ryzen 9 5950XT, while the 100-000000065-06_46/37_Y likely alludes to the Ryzen 5 5600XT. Assuming that AMD follows the same path as the previous XT-series, we should see a Ryzen 7 5800XT as well. However, that might not be the case. AMD skipped the Ryzen 9 3950X last time, and it appears that the chip maker might give the Ryzen 9 5950X the XT treatment this time around. AMD is clearly switching things up.
The Ryzen 9 5950XT may just arrive with a 5 GHz boost clock, 100 MHz higher than the standard Ryzen 9 5950X. The thing is that many Ryzen 9 5950X samples can already reach or surpass the 5 GHz barrier through AMD's Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) technology. Therefore, we're unsure how the Ryzen 9 5950XT would fit in the picture. Furthermore, Schur listed the Ryzen 5 5600XT chip with a 4.6 GHz boost clock, which is the same for the existing Ryzen 5 5600X. These are probably specifications for early engineering samples, though, so don't take them to heart.
AMD launched its Ryzen 3000 XT-series lineup last year in the month of June. If the chipmaker respects the same time frame, then we could see the Ryzen 5000 XT-series as early as next month. If we were betting men, the processor launch would possibly be accompanied by the X570S motherboard announcement.


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Palm Springs pays $3M more to Wessman Development, post scandal
The pricetag for the public portion of the Palm Springs redevelopment project keeps climbing, promising more angst over the beleaguered development company at the heart of the project.
The City Council unanimously approved payments of more than $3 million to Wessman Development for upgrades to the existing parking structure, improvements related to the site for a new downtown park, among other projects.
Corruption charges
The development firm and its former president John Wessman are at the center of public corruption charges by the Riverside County District Attorney's office alleging Wessman paid former Mayor Steve Pougnet $375,000 in bribes between September 2012 and September 2014 in a scheme that also involved fellow developer Richard Meaney. Wessman has since stepped down from his company, elevating his son in-law Michael Braun to the top leadership post.
RELATED COVERAGE: Palm Springs' path out of corruption scandal winds through a tarnished middle man
Work previously approved
The additional work items on the project "are not part of the original scope of the work," reads a city staff report. "And were first identified as part of a change order process initially undertaken in November and December 2014."
The work was "specifically requested by the city to accommodate the city's planned construction of the downtown Palm Springs park... as well as further improvements related to the parking structures and Palm Canyon Drive street improvements," the staff report continues.
The work was originally approved by the council in 2014. The action taken by the council Wednesday was to finalize the payment, which will come from the city's Measure J Capital Fund.
Public-private partnership
Back in 2011 when the city entered into a public-private partnership with Wessman Development to redevelop the site of the defunct Desert Fashion Plaza, the deal was that city would put up $43 million to be used to purchase and refurbish the existing parking garage, as well as purchase the new public streets which are currently under construction, along with easements for sidewalks and public restrooms. In short, $32 million was earmarked to purchase the "public assets," which include items like existing parking structures, and $11 million would fund "public improvements," such as the needed upgrades to the parking garages. That $11 million portion was placed into a "public improvements escrow" account.
The city hired Mike Fontana as its representative on the job-site to ensure the work on the publicly owned portions of the project are complete according to specifications.
"As the work is undertaken, as the work is completed, those invoices are submitted to me," Fontana told the council.
RELATED COVERAGE: Palm Springs officials: Downtown development holds potential
More money
The additional public improvement costs – which total $3,060,582 – are on top of the original $43 million.
"The $3 million change order from 2014 was earmarked from Measure J at that time, (2014) and is in a city purchase order pending payment when the work is completed," explained City Manager David Ready.
The added costs could turn out to be yet another sore spot for community members who have grow weary of a redevelopment project years behind schedule and also marred in scandal.
Robert Stone, a resident, encouraged the city to seek bids for the work.
"The cost for much of this work remains to be determined, so let's bid this out," said Stone. "Is this a $3 million job, or a $1 million job?"
Councilwoman Ginny Foat said Stone's view of the process is not entirely accurate.
"This is payment for work that has been done, on property that we own," said Foat.
Roughly $9 million remains in this escrow account, said Ready during a February City Council meeting.
RELATED COVERAGE: John Wessman owns a lot of the desert – strip malls, vacant land, plazas, developments
Documents on website
More than a month ago, Ready said all of the documents related to the public escrow account would be placed on the city's website for anyone to inspect.
"Everything that we know, you have a right to know, and you should know," Ready told the community during a special City Council meeting on Feb. 27, intended to address questions related to the scandal.
Part of that document trove is now available on the city's website under the heading "Downtown Development Project Public Payment Information" on the Economic and Community Development section of the website.
"As there are literally hundreds of pages of documents – staff is working to get them all posted," said Ready, noting all of the documents should be available in the coming days.
"The issue here is that all along, the taxpayers have been promised an accounting of where our money was going," wrote resident Roxann Ploss in an email to The Desert Sun.
Corrections and clarifications: A previous version of this story reported that $43 million was placed into a city "public improvements escrow account." The correct amount placed into the account was $11 million.

subset: commoncrawl


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What a year 2020 has been! If ever there was a year that needed a little cheering up, this is it. So we made a campaign for Lidl that focused on the fun, the joy and the old-fashioned magic of Christmas.
Tag: Elf
LIDL: Christmas 2019
Eager to see what Christmas is really like, a Lidl Elf stowaway gets a tour of one family's festivities – to the delight of everyone but Dad. Following on from our Big Save campaign, Nick the Elf stocks up on everything he needs for Christmas at LIDL.


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Revert back to iTunes 10 from iTunes 11 (Mac Edition)
[UPDATE 2015-01-17] New Article: How to make iTunes 12 look and act more like iTunes 10
Thanks to Danny Rolnick for this very detailed and helpful explanation and for his permission to post it here on Randosity. His steps came in as a comment. However, because my previous Randosity article on this topic was clearly geared toward Windows, I thought this one deserved its own topic, especially as thoughtful and well written as his comment was. So, without further adieu, here is Danny's very detailed explanation on how to rock and roll back to iTunes 10 from iTunes 11, if you're using Mac OS X.
To go back to iTunes 10, I am happy to show you the way — By Danny Rolnick
I happily regard myself an expert now on how to downgrade iTunes 11 back to 10 on a Mac. Having found a straightforward and logical way of doing so, I thought it my duty to share with others. I can't express what a relief it is to have version 10 back again. See the method at the bottom. Feel free to jump down there if you want to get started. Let me know how you got on in the comments below.
My view on the experience I have had of using iTunes 11
I have been a mac obsessed devoted fan all my life (I'm 46), never used a PC and got my first mac back in 1988. Until just the past few months I wouldn't hear anyone say anything derogatory about anything Apple. However, a few things are rocking my 'religious like' devotion. Most of all, I have been dumbfounded about issues of the recent iTunes evolution in version 11.
I am also obsessed with music, movies and music videos. It's not just a hobby – I am a DJ and Video DJ by profession. iTunes, since the very first release, has been the backbone of the way I organize and store all my digital media. I never had any need to seek an alternative and have also enjoyed the integration it provides with my iPhone and other iDevices etc etc.
My library is huge. I don't mean to brag but aside from my digital music collection of 40,000 + tracks, either purchased from the iTunes store or imported from my CD collection, my music video collection is over 10,000. I am a proficient iTunes user and I often have reason to need to re-tag my files within iTunes or sometimes I use MetaX.
Until now, I have never resisted installing any available Apple updates and even feel some excitement in anticipation of the improved features. etc. iTunes version 11 has changed all that now. iTunes 11 is, without question, an inferior version to 10. Anyone who feels otherwise is probably only using iTunes in a basic way, and for this reason I have always thought there was a market for a pro version of iTunes for people like me.
iTunes 11 simply doesn't work
I click to play a track, click again because it hasn't started and click another time. Only then do I hear the track play. It takes ages to build links to external files, just as long as it takes to actually import them to the media folder. Tagging takes ridiculously long to the point you would need to leave the tagging to be done overnight. I could go on, but you are probably reading this because you have already experienced your own issues concerning version 11.
Before following the method below, I tried to seek alternatives to iTunes all together. I briefly tried Double Twist and Song Bird among many other software packages, but the truth is that iTunes is better for my personal purposes.
The most disappointing thing about version 11 is the silence from Apple about the obvious problems. It is this specific fact that has aggravated me so much. Maybe I am romanticizing, but I can't help imagine that Steve Jobs would have ever let version 11 go as far as actually being released.
Steps to revert to iTunes 10 from iTunes 11
Here are the Stages and Steps for Mac OS X only. Thank you to Bogoss on MacForums for help with this article.
Stage 1 — Uninstall iTune11, Reinstall iTunes 10
Note: Any changes you have made to your music files since you used last used version 10 will be lost but any purchasses you have made in the time since can be downloaded again if you can't find those purchasses in your media folder. If recently made playlists are of particular importance you could export the lists to somewhere for later.
- Back up your iTunes Folder(s) just in case.
- Download these apps
- AppZapper: http://appzapper.com (the free version will do).
- Pacifist: http://www.charlessoft.com.
- Download iTunes 10.7 (last version before 11). Check your download folder, it might still be there. You can also get it from the 10.7 Apple Support Web Site (Click the big download button)
- Using AppZapper, simply uninstall iTunes 11. Before you drag the iTunes icon from the Application folder to the window you will need to open the preferences of AppZapper and deselect the box next to "Keep Apple applications safe"
- Open the 10.7 dmg file, you will see the pkg file (usually you would double click it to install), but now, this time drag it out somewhere (e.g. Desktop).
- Open Pacifist
- Drag the pkg iTunes 10.7 file to Pacifist and then click install from the menu bar
- During installation, click replace every time a window pops up.
- Installation finished, iTunes 10.7 is back!
- Don't open it yet!!!!
Stage 2 — Recover your Library
See this video that explains the process to recover your library here:
- In FINDER – go to your iTunes Music Folder located in (Your User Account)=>Music=>iTunes
- Within it, open the folder called Previous iTunes Libraries.
- Identify the most recent backup. It has the date at the end.
- Duplicate it. Move it to the desktop.
- Rename it as 'iTunes Library.itl'. Basically remove the date from the file name.
- Go back to your iTunes Folder and rename the file there which is already named 'iTunes Library.itl' to 'iTunes Library.itl.old'.
- Now move the 'iTunes Library.itl' file from your desktop to this location.
- Now open iTunes 10.7. If it can't find your iTunes library, select choose library and navigate the application to the new 'iTunes Library.itl' file you created.
- Breathe a sigh of relief, you're done!
- Copy this and post it to help others. Only come back to me to say Thanks, not for more support.
Sony PS4 announced.. blah blah blah
So Sony officially announced the PS4. But, before I say anything, let's let their specs do the some talking:
Main processor
- Single-chip custom processor
- CPU: low power x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", 8 cores
- GPU: 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD Radeon™ Graphics Core Next engine
AV output
- Analog-AV out
- Digital Output (optical)
- Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
- IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth® 2.1 (EDR)
Optical Drive (Read only)
- BD 6xCAV
- DVD 8xCAV
Super-Speed I/O USB (USB 3.0), AUX
Hard Disk Drive Built -in
Memory GDDR5 8GB
In addition to the actual console specs, Sony also announced a Dual Shock 4 controller with a touch surface on the controller. Nothing like the Wii U controller, mind you, but a finger touch surface (like a glide pad on a notebook).
Wait.. What? Is this real?
Let me start by saying whoopee! =sarcasm off= My first thought after reading this spec sheet is, "WTF? Is this for real? This has got to be a joke, right?" And then it sank in, this wasn't a joke and it is for real. This hardware is so 5 years ago. It's basically a glorified PC with 8 cores and a reasonably slow one at that. I'm definitely not impressed. This is most definitely not what I expected to see from Sony. A glorified PC with a Radeon card as the new PS4?
So, why is this a problem? Let me count the ways…
1) No backwards compatibility to the PS3. The AMD chip is in no way compatible with the PS3's cell processors. So, unless Sony has asked AMD to build in cell core backwards compatibility, the best we can hope for is emulation. And, with emulation comes slowness and games that feel sluggish, choppy and crappy. Sure, they might play, but they're not likely to play WELL. That's the difficulty with emulation.
B) It's a PC. I'll say that again, it's a PC… and not a particularly great one at that. The graphics card might be somewhere close to a mid to mid-high end card in today's market, but again Sony has trapped themselves into outdated graphics before the console is even released. Unless they plan to release this 'PC' in the next 3-6 months, this thing will be outdated and worthless when it arrives. Sure, it may be faster than the PS3 today, but what difference does that make in the grand scheme? If a then $300 netbook runs rings around the PS4 in speed, it's a DOA device. Sure, I love consoles, but I want them to be cool, sleek and unique, not mundane and something I could buy anywhere.
What Sony should have done here is ask for a modular slot for a graphics card. Then, when the card gets outdated, pop in a new updated card. This does two things for Sony. 1) A modular slot allows the console to remain relevant independent of the processors. The processors will remain relevant far longer than the graphics processor. In addition, the GPU can be used for game processing. 2) A modular graphics card slot would allow for many uses all across the board. Placing components into modern PCs should become easier and also allow upgrading graphics cards in such devices as netbooks and notebooks easily. This is a pioneer and innovative approach to creating a new device.
iii) Ok, so I have to concede that it will be compatible with PC games IF Sony doesn't blunder the PC part of it. That is, if they license Windows (of any variety) from Microsoft, they can at least pull in all of the PC game titles that get released (or at least have them ported much more easily). But, that's not necessarily going to save this turd… ahem, console.
Sony's day is Done
Sony has been the odd man out in gaming recently and their lack of innovation in gaming is very much apparent. What Sony needs is something innovative, and the PS4 isn't it. The Wii U is innovative. Sure, it's got issues due to launch immaturity, but that will be corrected through updates. Sony's product is immature and it will clearly remain that way throughout its life. You can't turn a Hyundai into a Tesla. That just doesn't work. Sony's product is clearly a crap attempt at a new console.
Sony, take this idea, rework it and make it loads better. Then come back and re-release the specs. This is a crap first attempt at a new console. Let's start from here and make it better. Otherwise, your current PS3 lackluster sales will turn into no sales when the PS4 arrives.
Right now, the only thing Sony has going for their entire gaming market is the PS Vita. They better damn well hope they can get some decent games out for the Vita because the PS4 is even less attractive than the PS Vita.
Next Gen Gaming
This is definitely not what I expected to see for a next gen gaming platform. We need to move towards more realistic 3D gaming, not towards commodity hardware. The Wii-U definitely heads in the right direction with innovation. It's not going to take much for Microsoft's new Xbox to kick it out of the ballpark. In fact, if Microsoft can in any way integrate a Surface tablet into the gaming experience of the new Xbox, it'll be a whole lot more innovative than this Sony console has any hope of being. Sony, take it back to the drawing board and rethink it. I think I'll call it now, the Playstation home console brand is now officially dead. Sony better hope the PS Vita can carry SCEA onward.


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Women bakers, patissiers and chocolatiers rock the town! Everyone loves cakes, pastries and chocolates, and almost always we celebrate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and any triumphs in our lives with a beautiful cake. More and more people are moving towards cakes, pastries, fancy breads and chocolates, now more than ever before.
A published author working on her second book, Sonal worked for many years as a journalist in The Indian Express, The Asian Age and DNA Newspaper where she regularly reviewed restaurants and wrote about food. She worked in Nairobi as a general manager of a group of restaurants in another era. She loves experimenting with food but is also known for her Biryanis and Kababs and even her baking skills. She likes travelling to little known places and if she finds quaint eateries it just makes the trip more fun. Currently based in Ahmedabad, she is happy with the growing awareness of gourmet food in the city.


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Clyde Fishermen's Trust raise over £37,000 to help in recovery operation of two missing fishermen on Loch Fyne
The Clyde Fishermen's Trust have started a crowdfunding page to help in the recovery operation of fishermen Duncan MacDougall and Przemek Krawczyk who have been missing since their boat Nancy Glen capsized on Loch Fyne on Thursday (18 January). Duncan MacDougall and Przemek Krawczyk from Tarbet, Strathclyde, went missing on Thursday (18 January) when their 40ft fishing vessel Nancy Glen capsized on Loch Fyne. >click here to read< >click here for crowdfunding page on JustGiving<09:37


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|Volume 18 Number 7 July 2016
Page 10
Daniel Rogers
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. (Acts 17:10-12)
Before we embark on a discussion of why these were "more noble," we need to decide who the "these" are. It is evident from verse 10 that the "these" are Jews who were living in Berea. We have more information, however, as to why the people that were "more noble" were Jews. When Paul would go into a new area, he would first teach the Jews in the city before going to the Gentiles. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). Why were these Jews from Berea more noble? The answer is in verse 11. They received with all readiness of mind and they searched the scriptures daily.
The words "readiness of mind" indicate zeal and eagerness. These Jews were not close-minded people. They were willing to humble themselves and accept the hard truth that there may be more to the Scriptures than they had realized. They understood the importance of humbling themselves when they came to the Scriptures and didn't have the attitude of "my way or the highway."
John encouraged us to have this attitude as well, "…believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God…" (1 John 4:1). Paul often talked about the necessity of being as Jesus said, poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness" (1 Corinthians 3:18-19).
It is important to note that being humble does not eliminate common sense. It is not a willingness to accept just anything anybody says, but to be willing to hear someone's case – as the Bereans did.
Some take this attitude too far. "For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing" (Acts 17:21). On the other hand, some were unwilling to reason at all. "Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord" (Acts 7:57). Where are you on the "readiness of mind" scale?
Searched the Scriptures
Once more we have to define our terms. What Scriptures did the Jews search? This question may seem silly to ask, but it is an important one. First of all, they were Jews so it can be implied that they studied from the Old Testament to test what Paul and Silas were teaching.
Secondly, 1 Thessalonians was one of the first New Testament books written, with exception of possibly Matthew, Mark and James. First Thessalonians wasn't written, according to scholars like Franklin Camp in his class on Romans, until A.D. 52 from Corinth. Therefore, the Scriptures that they searched weren't the Scriptures of 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which can include the entire Bible, but were the Old Testament!
What profit did studying from the Old Testament have when dealing with the authenticity of Paul's teachings? After all, what does the church, salvation through Christ and other New Testament teachings have to do with the Old Testament? Let's hear what Paul had to say. "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come" (Acts 26:22).
Note also Luke's account. "And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening" (Acts 28:23).
Do you want to be noble like the Bereans? Then you need to try studying the New Testament teachings in conjunction with and not divorced from the Old Testament.
Russ Vickers
I have donated blood often in my life. I know some are afraid of needles and don't donate at all, however, blood is always in demand. Often we hear that the Red Cross or United Blood Services is in short supply of blood because of a large-scale crisis or because not enough blood has been donated. Sometimes, the Red Cross will give out statistics on blood and blood types to read while one gives blood. Here are some percentages of those who have different blood types.
O Positive 39%
A Positive 34%
A Negative 7%
B Negative 2%
AB Negative 0.5%
Unknown 17.5 %
AB Negative is the rarest of all blood types with only 0.5% of the population having this blood type. The blood collectors love to see me in the blood bank. Why? I happen to be AB Negative. Yet, in an emergency, AB Negative is not there when it is needed.
We read in 1 John 1:7, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." It was the death of Christ, the shedding of His blood, that satisfied the demand of a holy God as restitution for our sins (Hebrews 9:12-22). So now, whenever someone obeys the plan of salvation (faith or belief, repentance, confession and baptism), that person obtains salvation by the blood of Christ. Jesus gives us salvation when He takes away our sins. I am so thankful that the blood of Christ is never in short supply.


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Fall means Regional Championship time! After the opening weekend of the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Regional Dressage Championships kicked off in Regions 2 and 8 (which you can check out here) it was time for the other Regions to get involved. From coast to coast, equestrians headed down centerline, hoping to cap off a wild and crazy 2020 with a winning ride. Region 7 took center stage first, holding their Championships September 24-27. The following weekend (October 1-4) was a busy one, with Regions 3, 4, 6, and 9 all hosting their competitions. Finally, Region 1 capped off Championship season October 8-11 with their show. Our social media followers were eager to share about their experiences.
Region 3
Held at Ocala, Florida, the Region 3 Championships showcased riders that call Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee home. Here are some of the sights our social media followers shared with us from the show:
Region 4
Lake Saint Louis, Missouri was the host of this year's Region 4 Championships, bringing in riders from the Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota area. Here are a few sights from the competition:
Region 6
Due to COVID-19, the Region 6 Championships experienced a venue change. It was held at Auburn, Washington, with riders from Alaska, Idaho, West Montana, Oregon, and Washington being eligible to compete here. Check out are some of the sights our social media followers shared with us from their championship:
Region 7
Heading west for the next region, riders from California, Nevada, and Hawaii were ready to take center stage at the Region 7 Championships. Held this year in Del Mar, CA, see some of the sights from the show:
Region 9
Last, but certainly not least, we check in with Region 9. Held in Katy, Texas, the Region 9 Championships were open to equestrians from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Here are some of the highlights our followers shared:
Want more photos from Regional Championships? Check out our recent gallery from Regions 2 and 8 here.
Thanks to everyone who submitted photos to share their championship experiences with us!


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Keys To Homemakers Idea Club Success: Episode 4
Learn the Homemakers Idea Club Top Earner Keys to Success
Click Here to Watch the Controversial Video Your Upline Doesn't Want You to See
Homemakers Idea Club Success Key #4: You Must Always Have a Plan, and You Must Work It!
A strategic business plan is crucial in its function of helping you to build your Homemakers Idea Club downline. Yes, you only get paid when products are sold in this business, but if you want income regardless of hours worked, you need to be able to respond to the following questions:
A. How much revenue have to flow through your network for you to make your desired income?
B. How many days is it until my deadline? What is my conversion rate? How many presentations must you make daily to meet your deadline?
C. In the time I have allotted daily, how should I spend my time; what are my income producing activities?
Once you've identified the targets, your tools available and your daily method of operations, you are on a collision course with Homemakers Idea Club success "IF" you Take Massive Action!
These 4 tips we have discussed are the foundation to the success of your Homemakers Idea Club business and when you focus on operating by these guidelines, you will soar to the highest heights of Homemakers Idea Club, walking the beaches of the world with the 3%'ers and having the life that you dreamed of as a child!
This concludes module four in the series "Four Pillars Of Homemakers Idea Club Success". I hope it proves valuable to you along your journey.
Learn the Homemakers Idea Club Top Earner Keys to Success
Click Here to Watch the Controversial Video Your Upline Doesn't Want You to See
To Your Success,
Nate Jackson
Email: Email Me
Phone: 281-815-4229
Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net
p.s. Are You Tired of Chasing Your Friends and Family, Wasting Gas Going Back and Forth To Homemakers Idea Club Meetings to Meet Prospects that Never Show Up, Prospecting Strangers in the Parking Lot, and Spending a Bunch of Money on Leads Who "Don't Remember Filling Out Any Form?" I Was Too Until I Discovered the 7 Online Business Secrets to Get More Leads, Sales, and Sign-Ups…and how to Magically Make Money from Every Prospect You Talk To…Enter Your Email Below to Get The 7 Secrets!
Was this post useful? Make sure you check out all our posts about Homemakers Idea Club


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Do you remember your school years? I'm not talking about the new box of crayons, the smell of books, or even the new clothes your parents bought. Do you recall the new academic elements you struggled with and thought you'd never get a good hold on how they worked? Where did you turn? Of course an older sibling who achieved straight (A's), your very-best friend who would do anything for you or your favorite teacher who spent time with you after school was out. Someone held your hand, that's what Reedsy has been for me these last few weeks.
Reedsy has answered many questions for me. Granted I'm a newbie there, but so far I am advancing forward to my end goal of being self-published. What can they provide? Just about everything. In the weeks ahead I'll cover their services. Does everything cost me something? Not everything, there are several free articles which can help a writer to understand the process of self-publishing. If an author chooses to acquire professional help Reedsy has it. That help comes in a multitude of services. All you need to do is request a service from five professionals out of several, wait for their quotes and pick who fits your needs best. I believe, Reedsy is an endlessly pool of help.
"Our community is home to the best publishing talent on the planet."Reedsy
By next month the cover to my book, Jemi's Noble Quest, will be finished by a Reedsy book cover designer. I connected with her after requesting quotes from five different designers. At first, I was confused which way to go about picking the right fit for me. I prayed. One by one as I reviewed the individuals who I had requested (their bio, samples of their covers and quotes) I decided on the person I felt I could work with the best.
Stay tuned… I'm excited to share more about Reedsy in the weeks ahead. We're on this adventure together!


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Set sail from Seward for an amazing wilderness adventure. Cruise the Inside Passage and gaze at the spectacular scenery and wildlife of Hubbard Glacier; take the reins of a dogsled in Juneau; ride a jet-powered catamaran in Ketchikan; and take a train ride on the White Pass and Yukon route in Skagway.
I will contact you back as soon as possible!
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You'd have thought i'd be chomping at the bit to get my story out quickly beings as though I'm convalescing at home; Covid, my ailment, paracetamol, water and Bombay mix my medicine. But, I'll be honest with you Rochelle, I'm absolutely worn out, everything is a hassle even after walking many many miles on my Cornish Holiday last week; Its amazing how life can turn on a sixpence. Anyway thanks for keeping this thing going and thanks to Penny Gadd for the pastoral photo, lets see if I can shake some life back into my old self.
On My Marks…
Get Set…
I remove my finger-smudged glasses, I can see the opaque verdant lushness of what I assume to be a forest; the type of trees that faces look out from. But I can't see them.
The water rushes by, babbling over the shallower stretches, offering echoes, resonances I can't work out. Like the stream is trying to tell me something, but nothing comes to mind.
Days in Isolation were dulling the senses, drifting in and out of consciousness, punctuated by the dog barking at the postman, my daughter coughing, my son shouting at his Xbox.
Covid destroys the creative process.
There we are 100 words on where I am at the moment, with covid, in bed, shit times.


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CHANCE HELLO KITTY (Rubis brut)
Golden plated (18 carats) necklace with a raw ruby engraved with the drawing of the one and only, Hello Kitty!
This exclusive edition is offered in a limited edition.
Length of the chain : 60 cm + an extra-chain (about 5 cm).
Diameter of the stone : 3 cm.
Each stone is unique. Their color may differ from one to another.


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Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
So last week I received a 50% off coupon to Red Velvet NYC. This company sends you the ingredients to make gourmet desserts in your kitchen. Since I am terrible at baking, I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't really take pictures of my process because I have to concentrate when I am… Continue reading Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting


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- Director: Erika Cohn
- Type: Documentaries
- Year: 2021
- Language: English
- Length: 82 minutes
This is a featured presentation of our A Look at Health program area.
The pastoral farmlands surrounding the Central California Women's Facility, the world's largest women's prison, help conceal the reproductive and human rights violations transpiring inside its walls. A courageous young woman who was involuntarily sterilized at the age of 24 while incarcerated at the facility, teams up with a radical lawyer to stop these violations. They spearhead investigations that uncover a series of statewide crimes, primarily targeting women of color, from inadequate access to healthcare to sexual assault to illegal sterilization. Invoking the weight of the historic stain and legacy of eugenics, Belly of the Beast presents a decade long, infuriating contemporary legal drama.


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Having read these three books in short succession, I thought it is useful to consider their scope and conclusion together.
Toby Ord ranks the risk for humanity from, what he calls unaligned artificial intelligence, as the highest among the existential risks that he surveys in his 2020 book The Precipice. In his words:
In my view, the greatest risk to humanity' s potential in the next hundred years comes from unaligned artificial intelligence, which I put at one in ten.
(The Precipice, page 203)
He estimates the risk that AI will cause our extinction or at least destroy our long term potential as a civilization within the next hundred years to be 10%. The next biggest risks he sees in an engineered pandemic (3%) and another, unforeseen anthropogenic risk (3%). The risk that climate change jeopardizes our survival, is around 0.1% in Ord's assessment. He is not alone to worry about AI. A number of scientists and public figures from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk have raised concerns, and several books and many articles have been written on the subject.
The three books reviewed here take different approaches and draw partially overlapping, partially contradicting conclusions. James Barrat relays the views of scientists that have studied and researched the topic for years and interviewed many of them. Nick Bostrom's book is a systematic, comprehensive study, carefully discussing and assessing all relevant aspects of AI, even using differential equations to model the process of intelligence explosion. Lee doubts that machine can ever be truly like humans because humans are analog while machines are digital and he posits that this difference may matter. He is much more optimistic, seeing humans continuously coevolving together with the machines towards a common future.
The main concern is about the emergence of Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), not so much about artificial human-level intelligence or narrow AI, which excels only in a narrow field of expertise like chess playing, Jeopardy or car driving. ASI is able to reason about all aspects of the world at large with an intelligence that exceeds human-level intelligence by orders of magnitude.
While the three books reviewed here approach the topic in different ways and reach partly contradicting conclusions, it is curious that none of them puts much effort in making clear what they mean with terms that are absolutely central to the questions raised: what exactly is intelligence? who is the agent that is intelligent? And what are the human values that should be preserved?
The closest James Barrat comes to defining intelligence is on page 25:
For the time being it's enough to say that by general intelligence we mean the ability to solve problems, learn, and take effective, human- like action, in a variate of environments.
If we take away the word human from this definition, it basically applies to any animal, from single cell amoebae to insects, fish and mammals. On closer inspection it even applies to plants since grass, algae and trees also solve problems of nutrition supply and procreation, they learn and adapt to their environment, and take actions to react to changes of light, weather and seasons, and to invasions of hostile insects and microbes. So every living creature fits the bill. Adding the word human severely restricts the class, but it is not useful because human-like is not defined or explained and it seems to be anybody's guess what human-like intelligence might be. This is particularly unhelpful because an AI will most certainly not be human-like.
Bostrom offers no different or more illuminating definition of the term, as discussed in the review of his book.
Edward Lee does not define intelligence, or human intelligence, either, but he discusses in detail several aspects that he seems to consider core aspects of human intelligence: Free will, consciousness, an analog body. Lee is not very explicit if these concepts are essential elements of intelligence or what else is required, but he expresses doubts that digital machines can acquire or have these capabilities, because of their digitalness. Because of this vagueness and the fact that consciousness and free will are neither defined nor pinned down in explicit terms, Lee also leaves basically open the question what intelligence is.
The question who is the bearer of intelligence is even less explicitly discussed. All three books mention in passing that the ASI could be distributed or a "cloud service", whatever that is, and at least Bostrom discusses at length the copying, duplication, uploading and downloading of an AI, but none of the books tries to localize or delineate the bearer and agent of intelligence. Why is it relevant? Because it is not at all obvious and it is important to know who to deal with.
Part of the AI may be confined in hardware devices or robotic bodies, but most expressions of intelligence will be distributed over many hardware devices on server farms in the vastness of the internet. Does it have to be embodied and able to interact with the physical environment, as some argue, or can it be pure software just living in cyberspace? If AI is vested in software, what properties distinguishes AI software from ordinary software? Software is not easily delimitable, since it can dynamically recruit new software to do a task or to obtain some information. It can grow and shrink and transform itself. How can we assign an identity to software? This is relevant because only software with some specific identity and immutable goals qualifies as an ASI, as e.g. Bostrom elaborates at length. But neither he nor the other authors discuss where the ASI may be located and what kind of identity it may assume.
The third curious omission of all three books is the definition and discussion of human values. Barrat and Bostrom are explicit that an ASI may not be interested in or preserve human values, but they do not spell out what exactly those values are and why they should be preserved. Bostrom at some points mentions that
[h]umans value music, humor, romance, art, play, dance, conversation, philosophy, literature, adventure, discovery, food and drink, friendship, parenting, sport, nature, tradition, and spirituality, among many other things
suggesting that these are part of the human values that are endangered when an ASI rules the world. But they are more like cultural habits that many humans enjoy rather than values independent of humans. If humans go extinct, there seems to be no specific benefit that these habits are still entertained by some ASI. It seems to me that the main, or only, value that at least both Barrat and Bostrom have in mind, is the survival of humans in a form that these humans can still have a good life, i.e. they are not slaves and enjoy some leisure time when they can freely interact with other humans. It is understandable that humans want humanity to survive; that desire is built into our genes. But beyond survival there is really no value that is worthy to survive even after humanity's extinction. I think it would have helped and directed the discussion in Barrat's and Bostrom's books if this had been spelled out explicitly, because then the discussion could have more productively focused on human survival.
Lee does not discuss human values worth preserving because he assumes that human culture will evolve, essentially absorbing AI to form a combined culture that includes both humans and AI. Presumably all the cultural expressions of today will change; and they will change with the consent of humans.
The lack of clarity regarding what intelligence might be and who is the bearer of intelligence makes all three books limited to scenarios where AI is like humans only much faster and smarter. If superintelligence of the future is very different, these books will not be much of a guide. This is particularly relevant to Barrat's and Bostrom's since they discuss at length effort how to prevent ASI from becoming hostile. If we have the wrong understanding of what the ASI is, we will have little chance to influence its development and properties.
Barrat and Bostrom are very concerned about a future ASI, and their concern does not become invalid just because they have not considered all possibilities. Quite on the contrary, we should be even more concerned because the uncertainty is so much bigger than what Barrat and Bostrom expect. We should double our efforts to study all those scenarios that we have not yet thought about.
Lee's conclusion is much more relaxed, as he assumes that our culture will simply continue to evolve, but in the future substantially enhanced with AI. However, it has not become clear to me what his optimism is based on. To start with, coevolution can only work if both partners evolve at similar speed. But if one species, the AI, evolves a thousand times faster, coevolution breaks down quickly and the AI becomes the dominant part. This is exactly the core of I.J. Good's argument for the intelligence explosion which is the basic assumption for Barrat and Bostrom. Lee does not discuss the speed of the coevolution and brings no arguments, why the evolution of human culture and AI should develop in a lock-step manner. So, although coevolution has certainly shaped the last century and is relevant for the discussion of a future AI, it seems unlikely that harmonic coevolution will continue un-disrupted.
While the future remains uncertain and even the big trends are hard to predict, we have plenty of reason to study possible trajectories of AI development.
(AJ October 2021)


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Change has been forced upon the population. Humanity faces another pandemic. This time it's global!
The fault is not in the stars but in ourselves. We were sold a bill of goods.
For better or worse, the entire world became a small village. Air travel made it possible to be exposed to all kinds of new experiences.
Ultimately this includes our health. Now we face potential utter collapse.
Once upon a time there was the political idea of a 'Great Society'. A social safety net in times of need.
Decades were tossed away to never ending corporate gain which has resulted in deep inequality.
Healthcare for profit has been a disaster. Why are we so short on medical supplies?
Why are we still occupying Afghanistan?
Last week I wrote about the consolidation of media power. This week just take a look at how this pandemic is being reported.
Social distance is one thing. Canceling an entire culture is quite another. I tend to see the big picture.
Closing theaters, postponing primaries, and telling a supposed free people to stay home is not a long-term solution.
Democracy means nothing if we do not live up to the ideals of land of the free, home of the brave.
Here in New York City no resident could stay home for a long period of time. The living spaces encourage outdoor activity.
Why are our leaders allowing the economy to drop so rapidly? This crisis can be the pathway to 100% employment.
By hiring and training people to convert malls, armories, and former retail spaces into medical facilities we could employ hundreds of thousands.
This conversion must happen now. Later will be increasing numbers of infected people with no beds in place; no quarantine spaces.
In just a few weeks the nation went from debates over socialism to wondering how they can cover daily expenses.
Our government is going to provide mortgage relief. A little bit of socialism can go a long way in this imperfect system.
We must put public pressure on our officials to sit down to do the hard work of forming a smarter agenda.
The idea of The Great Society was to provide healthcare as a right. Create new pathways to economic stability. And face the original sin of slavery.
Just think for a moment if you can see a brighter future for every citizen if we continue to feed deep inequality.
If we profit off the sick and infirm and ignore the treatment of prisoners as not human can we claim to be moral?
The environment is shared universally around the world. We the people need to step up to demand this issue be taken seriously. Our money means nothing if an entire population is drowned by rising sea levels.
I feel strongly the best we can do for ourselves is to reach out through Skype or Zoom to fellow citizens to debate these ideas. We must challenge our leaders.
I also think less TV news is a must for people. If you have to look at the headlines use factual outlets.
Cable news is probably the worst source for facts.
NPR and WNYC radio are solid outlets in the Big Apple. The New York Times provides updates, just don't stare too long.
Grassroots organizing is still the best way to bring together the new ideas for galvanizing a culture that has been taught for generations how to be non-political and compliant with the worst possible agenda.
Take your daily walks/exercise, read a lot, and learn to think for yourself how we can better this now literally sick society.


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Weight Watchers.
Yesterday, for the first time that I can ever remember, I bought size 12 pants. Even before Cushing's, I was bigger than this. Maybe it was just the company that makes them, cuts them more generously than others but still.
I've been a *bit* off-program since the summer but this will inspire me to get back with it. I want to buy more 12s…and maybe 10s sometime.
Filed under: Thankfulness | Tagged: 40 Days, Cushing's, MaryO, Thankfulness, Weight Watchers |


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At the Bressingham Narrow Gauge Exhibition I noticed that a trader was selling a jig to make tree armatures. The trader Norfolk Heath Works was selling a kit that included the jig, reel of wire and a jar of latex. I duly purchased a kit and the next day out came the jig to 'have a go'. The jig is graduated in feet for the height of the tree from ground level, this covers N Gauge, OO Gauge and O Gauge. The kit costs £15.
You simply wind the wire around the steel pegs until you have done enough for your chosen height, remove from the jig and the cut the tops of the loops. It is then a case of twisting the wire into the trunk and branches. when satisfied keep coating with latex until you are happy with the thickness and shape. Even after coating with latex the armature is fully bendable.
Below are some photo's of my first attempts of various types and sizes of armatures. I will post further when foliage is added.


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Melania Trump Posted A Photo For New Year's That Has Everyone Asking One Major Question
It's kind of a New Years's Eve tradition to spend the holiday with those closest to you, or at the very least, to think of the end of one year and the beginning of another as a time to reflect on your relationships and show appreciation to the people you love. So it is precisely because of this New Year's practice of having gratitude for loved ones, that Melania Trump's New Year's 2019 tweet is, to put it lightly, a tad bizarre. It has the whole world asking one question, in fact: Who the heck did she crop out of her celebratory photo?
Yes, the first lady posted a (slightly pixelated, let's be honest) black and white New Year's pic of her smiling face on both Twitter and Instagram with the caption:
Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year! ✨
Nice, right? Or nice enough? The whole thing starts off just fine at first glance. Yes, it really all seems pretty normal, until you see the bottom right hand corner of FLOTUS' picture, where she appears to have cropped someone out. All that is left of what was once the full face of a human being is a little hair, an eyebrow, part of a glittering 2019 Instagram filter, and one youthful, inquiring eyeball.
Well, hello there! Yes, this mystery person seems completely unaware that they are soon to be cropped right on out of this smiling New Year's shot all together, with the world left to wonder who exactly they are.
For now at least, no one is certain of this cropped-out person's identity, but most of the internet, myself included, are assuming that it's a portion of the face of Melania and Donald Trump's son, Barron.
But why would a mother crop her own son out of a picture, particularly when she seems to be quite happy in the shot, and cropping it would not only mean losing his face, but losing the '19 in 2019 on her Instagram filter?
Well, your guess is as good as mine, friends. Perhaps it is for the sake of Barron's privacy. But then, I must ask: Why not just choose another picture? One where you can't see his little eyeball staring right the hell at you?
So many questions, y'all. So many questions.
Either way, it's no surprise that Twitter took to cracking the case immediately, and most people simply could not believe that she chose so very clearly to crop someone out. Particularly if that someone was, indeed, young Barron.
The Trump family's holiday celebrations have already made several headlines, which is really no surprise. And things seem about as chaotic and disturbing as ever in Washington D.C., as President Trump is apparently just now agreeing to begin negotiations on the government shutdown, according to The Guardian. Yes, 2019 might continue to be just as much of a rollercoaster as 2018, at least in the White House. And if Melania Trump's New Year's Eve post is any indication, the Trump family's internet presence will continue to be just as strange and difficult to decipher in 2019.


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NBCUniversal is making sweeping changes, restructuring its broadcast, studio and digital operations and assigning new roles to a number of the company's top TV executives, including Bonnie Hammer, Paul Telegdy and George Cheeks.
Universal Television and Universal Content Productions will move under a single business unit named NBCUniversal Content Studios, with Bonnie Hammer at the helm. Hammer, who had been spearheading NBCU's upcoming streaming platform Peacock as Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises, will assume the new title of Chairman, NBCUniversal Content Studios. She will report to Steve Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal.
Matt Strauss will join NBCUniversal from Comcast as Chairman of Peacock, which launches in 2020. Strauss will also add the Digital Enterprises group to his purview, and report to Burke.
George Cheeks, Co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment, will become Vice Chairman of NBCUniversal Content Studios, reporting to Hammer. Known as a strong dealmaker, he will also continue to oversee late-night programming for NBC.
Pearlena Igbokwe and Dawn Olmstead will continue in their roles as head of Universal Television and Universal Content Productions respectively, jointly reporting to Hammer and Cheeks.
Paul Telegdy, most recently Co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment alongside Cheeks, will become the sole Chairman of NBC Entertainment, reporting to Jeff Shell, Chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment. Telegdy will also continue to oversee syndication and Universal Television Alternative Studio as Universal Television's scripted series operation moves under Hammer.
Mark Lazarus continues as Chairman of NBCUniversal Broadcast, Cable, Sports and News, overseeing the cable entertainment networks, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Sports, the owned-and-operated local stations, and affiliate relations. He will no longer oversee UCP.
"Bonnie's great taste, deep Hollywood relationships, and strong track record of generating popular and award-winning programming make her ideally suited to oversee this new division. With our studios being a main pipeline for Peacock's original content, she will continue to be integral to the future success of our streaming business," said Burke, who announced the restructuring in a company memo. (you can read it below).
He added, "I worked with Matt for many years at Comcast Cable, and know firsthand that he is one of the most talented leaders in our company. He has great experience with video, digital technology, and streaming and is the right person for the role at this juncture."
Prior to joining Peacock, Hammer had executive oversight of the cable entertainment portfolio, including USA Network, Syfy, Bravo, E! Entertainment, Universal Kids, and the cable studios.
Strauss was most recently EVP of XFINITY Services for Comcast Cable, where he oversaw the video, Internet, home, and voice businesses.
Unlike Hammer, Strauss has no programming experience. Seasoned Universal programming executive Bill McGoldrick has been overseeing development for Peacock. He will now report to Strauss in that role and will continue to report tp Lazarus in his cable networks role.
NBCU is the second conglom to put an executive with no programming experience at the helm of its upcoming streaming platform, joining Disney+'s Ricky Strauss
As Co-Chairmen of NBC Entertainment for the past year, Cheeks and Telegdy were jointly responsible for overseeing all aspects of primetime, late-night, and scripted daytime programming for the NBC network.
Here is Burke's memo:
I am writing to announce some organizational changes that are part of the company's evolving strategy to address the changing media landscape.
With the increase in places to view content, including the launch of Peacock, it has become increasingly clear that we need a single television studio group to produce for a variety of platforms. Therefore, today we are announcing the creation of NBCUniversal Content Studios, bringing together Universal Content Productions and Universal Television in one division, and I have asked Bonnie Hammer to lead this new unit. Bonnie is a great creative executive and the perfect leader for this key role. I want to thank Bonnie for getting Peacock off to such a fantastic start by doing what she does best – developing a strong brand and powerful programming slate.
I also want to give a warm welcome to Matt Strauss, who will be joining us from Comcast Cable to lead Peacock and Digital Enterprises. Matt brings a wealth of distribution, digital, and streaming expertise to NBCUniversal, which will be invaluable as we continue to build our direct-to-consumer business.
Additionally, George Cheeks, who has done an outstanding job along with Paul Telegdy leading NBC Entertainment, will become Vice Chairman of the new studio business. NBC Entertainment will remain in great hands with Paul as sole chairman.
We are fortunate to have such strong leaders across our organization who can seamlessly move into these roles. Please join me in congratulating them and see the press release below for more information.
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One week later and Bugs is a part of the family.
Ian calls him Continue reading "A Week in the Life of this Foster Mom"
Our adventures as a foster dog family
One week later and Bugs is a part of the family.
Ian calls him Continue reading "A Week in the Life of this Foster Mom"
I'm earning that crazy-dog lady label this week. The house is full to bursting – four dogs and three puppies, but remarkably, it's a quiet crew. No serious barkers (God's cutting me a break here).
On Friday night, we picked up three darling pups who are one half of the "Breakfast Pups". Adding to the carb theme (the other pups are Waffles and Pancake), we have Biscuit, Muffin, and Grits. These pups are chocolate colored houndish lab-looking dogs (basically dogs with long tails and long ears and plenty of happy energy who have seriously powerful noses).
Their super short, sleek coats glisten. They arrived pretty smelly, so before we'd even been properly introduced they landed in the mudroom sink. Thankfully, they like water and didn't mind the baths at all. This was especially good as I was bathing them at 11:30 at night (two and a half hours past my bedtime).
They are joyful, sweet pups who love toys and romp, wrestle, and sometimes argue, but snuggle together in a little spoon line when they sleep.
My favorite feature of this litter Continue reading "Crazy Dog Lady's House"
I've never been a believer in unicorns, but…..I've got two in my puppy room right now!
When I posted a few pictures/videos of my newest foster puppies on Facebook, another OPH volunteer commented, "You've got unicorns!"
So true. It is rare to see hypoallergenic dogs in rescue, rarer still to see hypoallergenic puppies. These two are miniature poodiley pups who remind me of the shitzu we had when I was a kid, but minus the bulging eyes. They are tiny and precious and without all that fluff, they'd be no bigger than large rats (but much cuter).
In the pictures, they look much larger than they are – the camera and the fluff add serious bulk. The Suess Boys are Continue reading "Unicorns!"
I don't want to stand in your way, so let me get right to it—puppies!
This little bunch of puppies is beyond cute. Maybe it's because it's been a year since I had pups this young, but somehow Continue reading "Inside the Chocolate Factory"
Finally! A new foster pup is on his way to us! Bronson (or Buford as he was called in his previous foster home) is a black and white colored lab/hound/possibly Catahoula mix depending on whose report you read. Any way you mix him, he's pretty adorable, even in a bad shelter picture, see?
Just last night, Frankie snuggled with Nick watching the Eagles win, softly gnawing on his arm, and Nick said, "He needs somebody his own size to chew on."
Gracie has no patience for insistent puppies, and here's the only way he can safely play with Gala (who LOVES him beyond reason or restraint): Continue reading "Dog-Saving Justice League"
This time adoption day was a little weird for me. After all the puppies were adopted…..
Instead of cleaning out the puppy room, putting my feet up and opening a bottle of wine…. Continue reading "Frankie and OGGA"
Arriving home from the vet's office, where I had just deposited Gala, I called Nick to tell him what was going on and said, "She just can't catch a break."
Later after picking her up and watching her sleep off her sedative, I thought more about it. Maybe Gala's stream of mishaps and misfortunes have more to do with how fully she lives her life than any kind of black cloud hovering over her.
My little brother was the same way. He broke at least five bones (maybe more I lost count) when he was a kid – falling out of a tree house, taking a header over an unexpected wall, pretending to be Evil Knievel. Seems every summer he had a plastic bread bag over his casted arm as we swam at the beach. As a teen he totaled at least three cars. And later he became a fighter pilot in the US Airforce, flying F-15s all over the world including Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I always enjoy his company because it's never boring and he usually has me laughing so hard I pee myself. Tommy lives his life full-on.
That's how Gala lives. She has an exuberance for life that may sometimes lead her into trouble, but Continue reading "Looking for Lucy"
First, the good news – Gala is muzzle and cone free!
Her jaw has 'knit itself back together' as the doctor put it. She's cleared for all activities – running, playing, even eating regular dog food!
The transformation was instantaneous. On the drive down to see Dr. Walker, she stood nervously behind me in the back seat. The last time we took this trip, she had a crate to ride in, but my big crate didn't fit in the only car available for me to use and she refused to stay in the 'way back' where she would have been more comfortable. She fretted and I worried she would hurt her jaw being jostled around back there, but eventually she fell asleep as close to me as allowed. (I promise I took this picture while stopped at a light and not driving!) Continue reading "Starting Over (Again)"
Life sure is fun when you have six lab puppies in the house. I know I say this every time, but these pups are special. They are incredibly loving and sweet. Never mind that they are beyond reasonably cute – completely off the charts of adorable.
Bug is the tiniest pup and she is beautiful, smart, and sweet and has the softest ears!
Dart is busy, confident, fearless, and so crazy cute. Continue reading "Life in the Fun House"
Gala. The million dollar dog.
Okay, not a million, but certain the several thousand dollar dog. Between her rescue, heartworm treatment, four months of foster care, and now the broken jaw, this dog is costing some serious money.
I've been thinking about this fact. Why do we pour all this money into a stray dog from South Carolina? She's just one dog, and a difficult one at that.
And then I think—it's just money.
That's the same thing I tell myself when my children cost a fortune or we lose money on something stupid or we need an expensive repair on the car or the house.
Because it is just money. And doing right by this dog is far more important than money.
A noble thought, but it won't pay her bill. She's not the most expensive dog OPH has rescued, not by far. I've watched much more expensive efforts be made by this organization to save a life. Not that they throw money around willy-nilly; they certainly consider each penny before it's spent and they've made more than a few hard decisions. But it's rare that money is the only consideration.
Dogs are expensive. That's a fact that seems to slip the minds of plenty of people. And for whatever reason – ignorance or arrogance—there are plenty of people out there who don't think a rescue dog should cost a lot. After all, a purebred dog could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. There's a mindset that since you're saving a dog no one wanted or possibly a dog someone threw away, you shouldn't have to pay for it.
OPH's adoption fee is $335 ($375 for puppies, but you get a $60 rebate after you spay/neuter). This includes spay/neuter, vaccines, wormings (with puppies this can be 6-8 times or more), and microchip, not to mention the expenses most adopters don't consider like the original health screening and treatment, transportation, and food. And with many dogs there are other expenses.
Dug had to visit the vet and be treated for demadex mange this week.
(And before you freak out at the word, mange, Continue reading "The Value of a Dog"


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For Easter Sunday, I had the opportunity to teach on the peace the Resurrected Jesus offers all of us in Luke 24:36-49. In this message, I explain what peace from God looks like and a few practical ways to enter into His peace.
As usual, we will be meeting on Wednesday night (April 7th) at 8:30pm via Zoom to go deeper into this text. The connection information can be found on our website (www.renovationchurchsd.com) and the "Sermon Discussion Guide" can be found below the message.
Easter Sunday – Luke 24:36-49
Before working on this discussion guide, please do the following:
1. Watch the message from this past Sunday if you were unable to attend the online service. You can find the message on our Facebook Page and on our website (renovationchurchsd.com).
2. Spend 5 minutes or so in prayer. You can either pray through the "Lord's Prayer" or simply share what is on your heart. It is also good to spend at least 1 full minute in silence so that God can quiet your heart and mind as you prepare to study the Scriptures.
Discussion Questions
1. Read slowly and prayerfully through Luke 24:36-49. What themes stand out to you? What questions do you have about this passage?
2. The first Easter morning was not a time of celebration for many of the disciples but instead a time of mourning because Jesus did not meet their expectations of what they thought the Messiah would do. First, what did many of the Jewish people expect out of the Messiah? Second, what are some things many people in our culture expect out of the Messiah/Savior?
3. In the midst of their fear and uncertainty, Jesus proclaims, "Peace be with you." This peace goes in three directions: vertical, horizontal, and internal. Explain these three kinds of peace in your own words.
4. One of the ways we enter into Jesus' peace is by meditation on his wounds (Luke 24:37-39). Read through the Passover story in Exodus 12:1-12. What stands out to you? How should the Passover point us to Jesus?
5. In Luke 24:45, Jesus opens the minds of the disciples so they can understand the Scriptures. This implies that, apart from divine enablement, we cannot understand the Bible. Read through 1 Corinthians 2:10-14 where Paul explains this in more detail. What stands out to you?
6. In Luke 24:48, the disciples (and, by extension, all of us) are witnesses of "these things" – namely, the person and work of Jesus Christ. What are a few practical steps we can all take to better witness about Jesus in our families, workplaces, and communities?


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Memos of Contemplation
Everything of value is vulnerable
Colors bloom with difficultly on the palette of black and white
Mixed Media 20 x 27 cm
The 300 works are distributed by issuance to art lovers at various places and times, as an artistic approach of the refugee path, which is determined by the capriciousness of fate.
This image is not meant to reflect anti-religion or cultural sentiments. It's a pro-rights plea for every human regardless of their gender or where they are born, to be able to explore and develop their talent.
#SarinaEsmailzade #MahsaAmini #Iranian #activist #Masih Alinejad #Assita Kanko #Marilyn Monroe #protests #Iran #Burka #Afganistan #suppression #ayatollah #submission #taliban #movies #beauty
Colors bloom with difficultly on the palette of black and white
Mixed Media 20 x 27 cm
Firm lines and decayed lascivious spots on plastic sheets. Hanging over vivid colors on burlap.
Exciting and at the same time pleasantly confronting. The dynamic interaction between the classical and the contemporary.
© 2020
kenneth e. beeker (b'ker)
All rights reserved.


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Eleanor Friedberger-Last Summer
We have a bit of a connection between yesterday's post and today's, an unusual occurrence for us. Eleanor Friedberger hails from Oak Park, IL. That happens to be where The Welcome make their music. Who would have thought that one good musician would come from Oak Park, let alone whole bands (and don't forget Betty White, Bob Newhart, and Ernest Hemingway)! Like it's own little … Continue reading Eleanor Friedberger-Last Summer


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The people have spoken, and they've crowned a period drama about British royalty as the most popular picture at TIFF. The 35th edition of the festival wrapped today with an awards brunch, and Tom Hooper's The King's Speech—starring Colin Firth as George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his Australian speech therapist—won the oxymoronically named Cadillac People's Choice Award. Part of the TIFF ritual is to launch Oscar-pedigree films, and the audience prize has become a bellwether of Academy recognition—its past three winners have been Precious, Slumdog Millionaire and Eastern Promises.
But even without this coronation, The King's Speech was already touted as a clear Oscar contender. I didn't see it, I'm afraid. Faced with a schedule conflict, I opted instead to see Black Swan, a decision I still don't regret. Missing The King's Speech was just one casualty of the festival's insane opening-weekend crunch. In fact, despite running myself ragged seeing films (I logged 54 out of 300), for the first time in 25 years of covering this festival I managed to miss every damn one of the award-winners.
They include Deborah Chow's The High Cost of Living, which took the $15,000 prize for Canadian feature debut, and Denis Villeneuve's Incendies, which received the $30,000 award for best Canadian feature. Chow thanked the award's sponsor, Sky Vodka, "for saving me from working at Starbucks next week." Then Villeneuve trumped that by saying, "I don't work at Starbucks, but the federal Canadian income tax agency keeps calling me, so I won't go to jail." Which echoed a comment he made last January upon receiving the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award at the Toronto Film Critics dinner—when Rogers Vice-Chairman Phil Lind handed him a $10,000 cheque for Polytechnique, Villeneuve said he could now pay his Rogers cable bill. I was secretly hoping for Bruce McDonald to win the TIFF prize for Trigger, because I loved it, but also because the last time I saw him pick up some prize money he promised to buy a giant lump of hash.
As for Chow, she told me later that the Starbucks line was a joke: she spent five years working on The High Cost of Living, supporting herself with web design and graphic design. The Toronto-born director shot it in her current home town on a $1.8 million budget. And like so many Canadian features this year, it has an American star, Zach Braff. It's about the unlikely relationship between a drug dealer (Braff) and a woman expecting her first child (Isabelle Blais). Based on the play by Wajdi Mouawad, Villeneuve's Incendies is a drama of twin siblings in search of their brother and father after the death of their mother. Villeneuve's film has been sold for U.S. distribution to Sony Classics, which also picked up Barney's Version. That's great news for Canadian cinema.
Other TIFF awards:
• People's Choice Documentary Award: Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson.
• People's Choice Midnight Madness Award: the vampire movie Stake Land, by U.S. filmmaker Jim Mickle.
• Best Canadian Short: Les Fleurs de l'âge, by director Vincent Biron.
• FIPRESCI Special Presentation Award: L'Amour Fou, s documentary about late fashion designer Yves St. Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, directed by France's Pierre Thorreton.


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- Overview
- Programs
- Our Team
About Cadence Academy Preschool
Cadence Academy Mallard is a mile south of the I-85/I-485 Interchange in North Charlotte and was previously known as Gateway Academy. Our childcare center is conveniently located a couple blocks east of I-85 at the northwest corner of Mallard Creek Church Rd and Mallard Glen Dr.
Cadence Academy Preschool is proud to be a part of the Cadence Education Family of Schools. One of the benefits of working with Cadence is that it gets us access to programs that you won't find at other preschools. We utilize proprietary programs such as Kindergarten Club, Kind Child, and the Ascend Curriculum in our classrooms because they help us prepare children socially, emotionally, physically, and academically for success in elementary school. Testing confirms that our students are more than ready for kindergarten!
And, as elementary schools are altering schedules, we are here to serve your needs and the needs of your school-aged children with enhanced programs to help with virtual learning sessions and more. We also participate in the Meck Pre-K program which provides quality preschool education for qualified families. To learn more and to apply for the Meck Pre-K program, click HERE.
Childcare & Preschool Programs
- Infant Childcare (ages 6 weeks to 1 year)
- Toddler Childcare (ages 1 to 2)
- Early Preschool (ages 2 to 3)
- Preschool (ages 3 to 4)
- Pre-Kindergarten (ages 4 to 5)
- Kindergarten Club (ages 4 to 5)
- School-Age Program (ages 5 to 12)
- Summer Camp (ages 5 to 12)
Ascend Curriculum
The Ascend Curriculum recognizes that young children need much more than cognitive development during their first few years of life. Our curriculum takes a balanced approach that focuses on the development of creative, socio-emotional, and physical skill. Skills within nine different learning domains such as Mathematics, Literacy, Physical Education, Cultural Understanding, and Kind Child are progressively introduced throughout all of our preschool programs and fine-tuned just before kindergarten in Kindergarten Club.
Kind Child
Kindness is the foundation of our school's culture and an important part of our Ascend Curriculum. We want every child that walks through our doors to feel welcome and valued and Kind Child is designed to elevate every child's emotional well-being and enrich friendships. Our teachers focus on the development of social-emotional skills each month and a character trait like Responsibility, Thankfulness, and a Positive Self-Image every two months.
School-Age Program
Cadence Academy Preschool, Mallard offers a variety of childcare options for local kindergarten and elementary students. We provide care before and after school, during the summer at Summer Camp, and on public school holidays. Transportation for Before & After School Care is provided to and from Mallard Creek Elementary, Parkside Elementary, University Meadows Elementary, Bradford Preparatory School, Stoney Creek Elementary, and Croft Community School. And, as elementary schools are altering schedules, we are here to serve your needs and the needs of your school-aged children with enhanced programs to help with virtual learning sessions and more.
Programs Offered
Our Team
Patrisce Hicks
I've been at Cadence for more than 10 years. I come from a big family. I have 3 boys at home, and 1 grandson. I love to read and enjoy traveling and shopping. I enjoy working with children watching them grow into their own person. Helping them to learn and play, getting them to interact throughout the day. Being a teacher has made me a better mother to my 3 boys and a grandma to my grandson.


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Admittedly, I'm pissed about this myself. And I work for the damned company.
What is it that I'm talking about? A few days ago, "Lumines", a small Tetris-like game, was released for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace – the convenient online portion of Xbox 360 that allows you to peruse, shop, and try out/demo games, purchase add-on packs for existing games, or download video clips. It was priced at 1200 Microsoft points, which is essentially $15.
Okay. No big deal right? $15 for a small addictive game with great sound and graphics that you can play in 1080i on a next-gen system… that's little "up there" but if it's a quality well-developed game, which it is, it's probably worth the price of 3 Starbucks Carmel Macchiatos.
Or is it?
Upon further inspection of your game, (which by the way I will remind everyone that you can download and try out FOR NO COST before you buy it) a gamer realizes that there are entire segments of the game that appear to be flat out missing. For example, if you look at the interface, you see that there is:
- a "Mission mode"
- a "Puzzle mode"
- an "Advance mode"
And they're all completely inaccessible… even when you PAY $15/1200 Microsoft points for it.
Lumines Live!… Q Entertainment's recently buy-by-the-module Xbox Live Marketplace game
In order to get access to the "advanced mode" a more complex version of the basic play mode, you need to pay an addtional $10. And in an obvious attempt to compel people to buy the "advanced" pack by sticking an untouchable selection in the middle of the game screen that reads "advanced mode", they've essentially baited the game to get people to buy these "microtransaction"-based add-ons.
It gets worse. It turns out that even though you can't see them, there are even more packs that you "get the opportunity to buy" to add to Lumines:
- "Artist" Pack – For more music to play in the background
- "Vs CPU Mode" Pack – For more computer players
Note to Q Entertainment, Xbox Live, whomever it is that did this…
…Seriously. Not. Cool.
I mean really. Xbox Live Marketplace has been kind of a great forum for purchasing stuff you like, and not purchasing stuff you don't like. This however is the first instance of a product that people DO like however the manner in which it is served to the consumer is frankly insulting.
The key here is that Lumines' creator, Q Entertainment, by pricing the game as one of the most expensive products on Xbox Live Marketplace, is essentially acting like that big brother that used to tease you by holding a your favorite Hot Wheels car over your head and saying, "What's the matter? Don't you want your car? If you want your car, why don't you come and get it?"
Then after you've grovelled, begged, pleaded, and said he's the greatest guy in the world and no other brother is better than him… blah blah blah… he then proceeds to physically remove the tires off the car, and hands you the body saying, "There! I gave you your car back. Aren't you happy?"
You little snivelling ingrate.
And on top of all of this… "The Cherry"
The cherry on top of this big ice cream sundae of fun is the fact that a lot of content has actually been stripped out of the game, in comparison to the original version of Lumines on the Playstation Portable. Lumines was originally a launch title for the PSP and out of the box the PSP version comes with 40 puzzles. Not so for Xbox Live's version: It comes with FIVE… with the opportunity to buy the other 35 and a new feature called "mission mode" with a "Puzzle Pack" which is probably going to be $10 at a minimum, bringing the total to $25 or 2000 Microsoft points.
Also skins as missing. The Xbox Live version comes with only 12 skins. The PSP version came with tons of skins. Again, the "Artist pack" will likely fulfill this empty portion of the game… for the low low price of $10 again. Now were up to $35.
Now let's just put it all to bed by telling you that the PSP version with all it's features and all it's portability is $19 for a brand new cartridge at BestBuy. Compare this to the $15 "disabled" version that you download and buy online which a) doesn't have any physical medium for Q to pay for, and b) doesn't have to be stocked on shelves and distributed, being that there is a very negligible cost for moving bits instead of physical discs.
I should point out that Lumines for Xbox 360 has a multiplayer feature that can be used locally or over Xbox Live. There is also a Time Attack mode that allows you to attain Xbox Live achievements which is good.
However the question is not, "Is the new UI and these new features worth the $15 difference?" The question is more like, "Why does the customer get positioned to feel like they were sold a bill of goods?" At the end of the day, all because the game clearly has been "partitioned out" for upselling, and the missing components have been laid before the user in as obnoxious a way as possible, the user feels like he bought an incomplete product – especially if they're used to the PSP.
The "You don't have to buy it" Argument
Now for the record, I respect Larry Hyrb. He's a great guy and he's answered several of my questions personally over our internal network and he's even volunteered to fly down and talk to one of my customers. The poor guy must be incredibly busy.
That being said, his argument around the Lumines/Microtransaction debate is simple:
"You don't have to buy it. You don't have to buy any of the add-ons."
This is where historical perspective I think provides me with a little bit of a benefit. This is the same line we've given to consumers about a lot of things we sell. Internet Explorer = "You don't have to use it." Windows XP Professional = "You don't have to buy it." "Office Professional = "You can buy Standard Edition"
From my vantage point, this is the wrong tactic and approach for pissed off users/consumers. These folks aren't like corporate customers – every nickel matters. They're not ones to blow things off… to them, it's personal – not business. We have a great deal of goodwill built up in Xbox Live Marketplace. People like it and people look forward to new content that they can download on the console over the Internet. And for many people, I think they believe we're pissing all over them by insulting their intelligence and selling them a "shell" of a game.
We're selling them a proverbial dinette set with only 1 butter knife, 1 dining fork, a bowl, and a bread plate. We then go tell them that they can buy the salad fork, the soup spoon, the stirring spoon, the steak knife, the wine glass, the water glass, the dining plate, the placemat, and the napkin separately… only as they need them.
YES, you're damned right you need to buy them.
I mean seriously. How many people are going to buy the "base game" then not want the additionals. Case & point: Xbox 360 Core System sales vs Premium System sales. People are willing to pay a little more, but don't go nickeling & diming them right in their faces with "unavailable features" that they can only unlock if they cough up another $10.
I'm talking about Lumines… not other Xbox Live products
Now to be clear, I'm talking about Lumines specifically here. There's some debate about the viability of lame add ons like "Horse Armor" for your horse in Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion that's basically just an aesthetic upgrade. This is a $5 purchase that's just stupid and really shouldn't have been posted. I'll bet they made less than 1000 sales of that dumb upgrade.
However Larry makes the point that Oblivion was worth EVERY PENNY of the $60 you likely paid for it at the store so if you ended up paying a little more for a microtransaction for ANYTHING you might be interested in that's posted on Xbox Live Marketplace, so be it. The game was worth far more than the $60 paid for it and had far more content in the game than anyone could have really gone through. I know folks that simply never expect to "finish" the game it's so expansive. And I agree with him on this point.
But Lumines? The inclusion of "unavailable options" in the main Lumines game download, combined with $10 downloads for every add-on just smacks of greed and insults the gamer at large.
What should they have done?
Hindsight is 20/20 however I believe they should have:
- Made the game $20 and included everything in the PSP version + multiplayer & Time Attack. It would have been a shocker but folks that aren't used to $20 XBL games but they'd get over it. It is a killer game.
- Made upgrade areas "invisible" unless you actually purchased it from XBL in which case the option "appears". This would be less like link-baiting, and more like a real software "expansion pack". Right now, the "unavailable options" that are listed in Lumines just taunt the player that just coughed up $15 for the game.
- Apologize. Concede that while it is within the right of Q & Xbox Live to set prices to whatever they want, this was an experiment that wasn't received well and that this was a mistake. Product marketing misjudged people's perceptions of value of the product.
Continue to sell Lumines for $15 temporarily & make the Puzzle Pack available for FREE immediately to people that buy Lumines today. Then after say 11/15, either reset the price of the Lumines game to $20 and continue to have the Puzzle pack a free download, or reset the price of the Puzzle pack but make it $5, not $10. Everything other add-on can remain a microtransaction.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. Here's a video debate on the topic brought to you by G4TV.
VIDEO: G4TV – Are you being ripped off by microtransactions?


text: Our bozo for today learned there's a difference between leaving evidence behind and leaving EVIDENCE behind. From West Sunbury, Pennsylvania comes the story of bozo Brent Harrison who planned to break into the garage of a neighbor and steal some gasoline. The first step is to jimmy open the garage door, which he was in the process of doing when the neighbor heard a noise and caught him. Our bozo was able to flee but, unfortunately for him, he left his jimmy tool behind. And even more unfortunately, the jimmy tool happened to be one of his own credit cards Oops. He's busted!


text: On July 3, 2021, students and faculty members from the ELCIR Theological Institute traveled with Rev. Kudryavtsev to the Church in Vuoksenranta/Ozyorskoye, Leningrad Oblast, for a worship service, a short recital, and a visit with architectural restoration students who are doing their summer practice there. Original post in Russian & photos … [Read more...]


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Solarized By Neanderthal Speedway Frank Kozik Limited Edition Print 46cm x 61cm (18" x 24")
Product Description
Limited Edition Art Print: This poster of neon splendor is advertising Neanderthal Speedway's album, 'Solarized' and is the creation of famous poster artist, Frank Kozik. With a space-age feel throughout this print it is sure to blow your mind and transport you out of this world to a place filled with edgy rock music! Lose yourself in the grunge tones of Neanderthal Speedway with this fantastic poster which is a masterpiece of both the band and the artist. This signed and numbered print is too good to miss so grab it while you still can.
- Size: 46cm x 61cm (18" x 24")
- Stock ID: 13409
- View all Prints…
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The Young and the Restless' Kate Linder (Esther Valentine) celebrates as special milestone. Learn more here--->>
Esther Valentine has been in Genoa City for the last 39 years. Kate Linder who portrays the role celebrates her 39th anniversary with the show today April 8, 2021.
On April 8, 1982, Linder made her way to the daytime screen playing the role of Esther. It was initially supposed to be a one-day, one-line role, but Linder was asked back to the show on a recurring basis. Linder was later put on contract in 1985 and who would've thought that the "dinner, is served" character would become a very integral part of the show.
In the initial stage, her character was unnamed but it was the late Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor) who came up with the name Esther which was later used on the show. Esther received her last name after a national contest was held to come up with one. Throughout her tenure, her role as the captivating Esther Valentine has been through some emotional highs and lows on the show. Though she spent years as "Mrs. C's" housekeeper, their relationship was tested when Esther's first husband murdered her bosses husband during an attempted robbery. Esther has been a comic relief for many fans, to say the least, and we love her! Happy 39th anniversary Kate, we look forward to many, many, many more years to come.


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Congo Rebel baby, Congo Rebel! I really don't know much about this groovy band called Extra Classic, but I do like their sexy sounds. Haling from, uh, everywhere … I wish I could tell you more about these kids but I can't even so much as find a bio on them. They opened up for both Citay and the Fruit Bats at the Echoplex, but unfortunately I wasn't at that show. The only song listed on their Myspace, "Congo Rebel" is all sorts of soulful-exotic! Check out the photos from their show below!
Photos: Craig Parker


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Jan 19, 2007
A precursory comment on cussing
This is a response to a blog post and the discussion (http://www.challies.com/archives/002318.php) regarding where, in the course of a dis'cuss'ion, a very esteemed and influential pastor, John Piper, said something to the effect, "sometimes God just kicks our asses" – and the fact that he vigorously apologized and a well known, respected theologian, Wayne Grudem, responded as well; weighing in on all the reasons why saying "ass" in a sermon – and not meaning a donkey – was inappropriate. So many people were completely agh'ass't. Umm – well, hell, I sure wasn't. Here is why…
I understand and appreciate all the things that have been said about this issue. I also understand and appreciate all the scripture that is also referenced. But as I was reading through the various conversations revolving around the three letter word that Piper used, a term kept coming to mind, a term that J. Gresham Machen was often heard to say in regards to Prohibition: Overblown Pietism. It is one thing to walk in pietism – but can it in fact be overblown? I am willing to stake out the position that it in fact can be – and truthfully often is.
At one point in time I was an adamant prohibitionist in regards to alcohol consumption. A natural disposition towards sincere scriptural study, over a period of time, forced me to believe the whole notion was a theological house of cards. I slowly reversed myself and have had a somewhat Saul/Paul conversion on the issue. I have adamant tendencies to theologically grill/excavate those who still hold to that position; but I am digressing. Needless to say I hang out with a great number of Christians who share my own transversal history as well as those who grew up in strong christian households where it was taught that is was always to be used with responsibility but never that is was inherently evil. Those who lack my background are often heard to say: "regarding all of 'that' – I just don't get it". You have to have been against it to understand why and even how you could be against it. To those who have never been – your contestations are what they are: Overblown Pietism, and they have the utmost accompanying vestiges of spiritual neurosis – so profound that when you see and understand the needless anxiety for what it is in the eyes of those who don't and have never felt it – not because they were spiritually ignorant but conversely because they were actually brought up spiritually stronger then you – you feel like you need to fall on your knees and say "God forgive me for worrying about things that were important to me but really did not matter that much to those that I really wanted to reach for you". Profanity might be a huge issue to saints who would purport themselves to sport gilded crowns – but to the rest of the world, they just say "whatever dude". I know of an individual who makes great mention of the fact that they are a Christian and used to cuss like a sailor until they 'became a Christian' – but in the eyes of other people they are derided for other issues that the individual is no doubt spiritually blind to see. Others in this same group of people speak much more highly of another individual who's life actually reflects more Christ-like attributes, yet who's language at times can be somewhat salty. Conventional Christians might judge these two individuals one way – but the people who both of these people are trying to reach, judge and esteem them each in markedly different ways. Just food for thought…maybe something even to cuss about.


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Danger reliably averted: cathodic protection for well casings
Most well casings for oil, natural gas and water are cemented in order to anchor the pipes in the earth and protect them. If the cementation of the casing contains chloride ions or defects, the cementation's protective effect is lost and the casing is exposed to an acute corrosion risk. Cathodic protection (CP) is a reliable method of averting the significant risk that casings have of corroding. Steffel will assist you in setting up a CP installation. Our services range from calculating the protective current required and designing the system to installing and servicing the installation.


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Memorial Day Hot Sauce Sale - 20% off 2 or More - Code: MD2023 // FREE USA Shipping On Pepper Seeds // FREE INT'L Shipping On Orders Over $75
The former World's Hottest Chili Pepper topped the pepper rating scale at a SHU rating of 1.463.700. This Trinidad scorpion variety produces heaps of nuclear hot pepper pods with a very characteristic shape and sharp pointy tail, resembling its scorpion namesake. The pepper matures from green to red.
Heat level: 1,463,700(SHU)Scoville Heat Units – Insane heat.
Flavor: Fruity, Slightly Acidic if you can taste through the insane heat.