text:
- Peter Emer
- New York, NY
- United States
The Lil Project
This conversation is closed.
Is God Real?
Its human nature to seek superiority and its human nature to seek an authoritative entity to take responsibility and control of one's life. So i often wonder if God is just that idea. The idea of a god that is all powerful and all knowing and just superior in everyday than any human being, is the very idea that makes me question the legitimacy of a God. We tend to subscribe to a divine command or an authoritative figure. The creator of the universe gets to set the rules and do anything it likes with its creations like sending them for eternal punishment.
And lastly, everyone that believes in a divine command gets the same satisfaction from believing in something that everyone else gets no matter what they believe in.
I am just interested in the TED community's input on this. I am a student of life, so i take no biases even if it sounds like it sometimes. :)
Daryl Roche
Feb 23 2013: the belief in god, anywhere in the world, at any time in history to the present, in any religion, is completely dependent on one single common factor….the believer was taught to believe, indoctrinated at the very earliest stages of his or her psychological development. If we as children were not indoctrinated in this way, then God would be relegated to the shelves of mythology with Zeus, Jupiter, and the rest. I know and believe this 100%
- +3
Feb 25 2013: Probably 95℅. In the end you need to be exposed to dogma to join a faith. Others might form a more personalised amalgam of different ideas from outside mixed with their own personal insights.
Funny, many say you can know god if you open yourself to it.
But then everyone comes up with different gods depending on their experience.Mar 5 2013: Mankind invented the idea of God, an omnipotent, omnipresent being that created us in his image. This alone should tell you what religion is all about, and if God is real or not. Those that can't bear to live with doubts and questions about our existence prefer to turn to simplicity: it's easier to believe a magic creature created everything and that we have a purpose, than to believe we are the product of what appears to be a random chain of event, then try to take that 100,000,000,000 pieces puzzle and put it together.
The idea of God (and gods in general, throughout history) is to answer the questions we don't understand, and to control the populace. What's an earthquake ? What's a lightning storm ? What about northern lights ? Wait, if I don't worship God I'll suffer for eternity ? This king has a divine right to rule under god, I should listen to him! When you have no way of figuring it out, it can be pretty scary. I'd probably be a religious man if I was born in an era of scientific ignorance.
In this day and age, everything that God is has pretty much been disproved and everything now relies on blind faith alone, however the grip of religion weakens with every passing generation.
Mar 8 2013: I've seen a similar attitude with reincarnation.
"they must have been good in past lives to be born into power and money.
They deserve it
And I must have been bad in a past life, I deserve to be poor.
Different ways to justify inequality.
Peter Law
Feb 21 2013: If there is no God then surely we are the most irrational of creatures. No other subject has moved individual lives & world history to such an extent. So if there is no God, then why all the fuss ?
- +2
Of course God exists; He's my best mate!
Feb 22 2013: So there is a God, because, ah, we are assumed to be, rational creatures and, these "fuss" should have a reason.
Cool opinion.
In my philosophy, it is called "Reverse Engineering God". You need something, you just make it. Demand and supply.Feb 25 2013: Yes we can be be pretty irrational.
Is it rationale to think your particular theistic interpretation is the right one when there are so many others.
The more we understand about the human mind/brain, group dynamics, history and anthropology the more we see how we can be mistaken. Cognitive bias. The assumption of agency. Cultural programming.
About half of human children have imaginary friends. It's not surprising adults can also build a belief system and interpret psychological experiences as evidence for their version of gods or spirits.
I guess a Muslim or believers in other gods has similar experiences to you and assumes they have some sort of contact or relationship with god.
Do you see your best mate god regularly. Are there two way conversations like we have with human mates? Or is it a bit more one sided and obscure. Did you get him on film or record his voice, or is it possible this is just going on in your head?
Feb 25 2013: Hi Obey,
What you are looking for is a god in a box. Neatly labeled & packaged. If I was to ask you to prove to me that your wife loved you, you couldn't do it. You would present a list of circumstantial evidence, which convinces you, but I could easily dismiss. God is not a one night stand. He takes time & effort to build a relationship with. That relationship is unique & sacred. In your present state of mind, you just won't get it.
Good to hear from you again.
Feb 25 2013: Hi Peter. I'm just looking for reasonable evidence that your god concept exists independent of your mind and cultural programming. It doesn't need to be perfectly packaged. Just a little empirical or compelling evidence.
Concepts are not physical but they do exist within our minds. Just like your god concept exists in your mind. The missing ingredient is any proof that it exists independently of your mind. I'm not claiming love is a person that exists independent of our thoughts.
We might argue whether the evidence that my wife loves me is sufficient, but I guess there would be sufficient evidence my wife exists independent of my mind. Not so your god.
My point is really there is evidence my best friends exist independently of my mind, but not your personal god buddy. And the process you used to get to your god belief is the same process and similar type of subjective experiences others use for completely different gods.
If you spend years reinforcing a god pattern in your mind and interpreting life through a religious lens, reinforced by subjective experiences, its not a surprise that construct becomes unique and profound.
we know humans have the cognitive machinery to create imaginary friends, so it is highly plausible your god concept, just like all the other different ones other people hold is just a personal mental construct. I can not tell if your god concept, or a child's imaginary friend exists independent of your mind. But neither can you I guess.
Any way you are free to belief in your god. Doesn't seem to harm others significantly and seems to bring joy to your life and relationships. Fair enough.
I just suggest there is not much evidence your best buddy god exists independently of your mind, and as a cultural construct more generally.Feb 26 2013: Hi Obey
We've been through this before elsewhere.
To me the whole universe cries out of design & intelligent manufacture. I am totally unconvinced by just-so stories of chance over millions of years. The bible is way too complex to have been written by man. Among other things it relates human history over the whole lifespan of the universe.
That keeps me happy, plus I get to experience God in my daily life
We both have faith, just depends where you put it.
Feb 26 2013: The bible or quran, ink on paper, looks exactly like what you would expect men to produce.
Now if god made a giant floating crystal of some indestructible material that magically answered all questions or carved the words on the moon, now that would give me pause.
Even with all the codes etc its fairly mundane.
I suggest we both have beliefs. I might just have less speculative ones in the supernatural department.
To me life cries out the evolutionary tree of life, where animals survive by eating and killing other living things, And the natural universe is complex beyond human comprehension, but it totally does not look designed.
If you roll the dice 10 times you will get a series that has a probability of 1/1024 of occurring, but one of those 1024 possibilities had to occur. What is the chance of your parents and their parents and their parents etc meeting. Pretty low. But it happened and its not magic.
Any way I agree deja vu. All the best.
Linda Taylor
Feb 20 2013: I think the experience that people call 'God' is real. As to some omnipotent vengeful authoritative being, I doubt it.
- +2
Feb 20 2013: If your good you get a toy, if your bad you get a chunk of coal; he knows when you've been naughty or nice; If your good you go to heaven, if your bad you go to hell…don't see the difference...
Feb 20 2013: What god is that you are describing sir?
Feb 20 2013: Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Allah's Vengeance upon the Enemies of His Messenger will surely come to pass
Allah further says:
(And even if We take you away, We shall indeed take vengeance on them.) means, `We will inevitably wreak vengeance upon them and punish them, even if you pass away.'
(Or (if) We show you that wherewith We threaten them, then verily, We have perfect command over them.) means, `We are able to do both,' but Allah will not take His Messenger (in death) until He gives him the joy of seeing his enemies brought low and gives him power and authority over them and their wealth. This was the view of As-Suddi and was the opinion favored by Ibn Jarir.
That guy.Feb 21 2013: I think its "real" because we choose to believe it is. And we choose to attribute it to be "God", a divine all powerful being that will take care and handle life's obstacles for us as long as we live our lives in his eyes.
Feb 22 2013: Experiments show if a human be alone for a long time, he/she feels imaginary ants, bees, ghosts, phantoms, etc. around himself/herself. When we need something and we don't have it, we make it. In real world or in our imagination. Imaginary friend. Imaginary lover. Idols.
If you need something, don't assume it exists, dude. If you have other reasons, I respect. But they are millions of atheists who defeat their needs. Don't reverse-engineering your God.
Comment deleted
Mar 9 2013: Interesting perspective man. Just a quick question, this is a little off topic but i just want know what you think about. Do you think we will lead ourselves to self destruction?.....if we are not on that path alreadyMar 9 2013: I don't think the so called god particle is anything to do with theistic gods from a scientific perspective.
Just one of the final sub atomic particles theorized. A type of bosun I believe. The higgs bosun.
It's a figure of speech, or a glorified label, based on a book title I believe and the media loved it.
Sorry to disappoint. Still no compelling evidence of gods even if they do create and detect a Higgs Bosun. Unless you think atoms are evidence for gods.
Agree we can do a better job living on planet earth.
Mar 9 2013: The Higgs boson has nothing to do with diety. The author of the book wanted to title the book "The God-___ Particle," because of its being the last missing and elusive piece in a model that was otherwise working well.
The editor or promoter encouraged the change of title to something more catchy. As you say, the media loved it and people have been misled by that label ever since.Feb 22 2013: G'day Peter
Do you exist & are you real? There's your answer. To me God isn't of man but consciousness itself.
I found the creator through science, I was on this science site & I asked the science minded people where did the matter & antimatter come from? The answer I got was it was just there, pretty lame so this sealed it for me.
Feb 24 2013: Just like you might assume god is just there.
It seems a common argument.
After 300 years of modern science the best of our super monkey brains haven't got it all figured out, therefore magic is a reasonable hypothesis. While I understand some aspects of the universe and its origins do our heads I just don't get that resorting to a supernatural explanation is intellectually fulfilling. It's like a magic plug for our ignorance not to different from blaming weather, earthquakes and disease on invisible agents or magic before understood things a bit better.
Seems like an argument from ignorance. Possibly special pleading and doesn't actually explain how it happened. Answering a question with a larger unfounded mystery. And is not actually evidence of a god, just evidence of our ignorance and being content to resort to the supernatural to plug gaps in our understanding with magic.
Glad we can agree to disagree.Feb 21 2013: If you believe there is, just say, "for me, there is."
If you don't believe, just say, "for me, there isn't."
Knowing is the only way to be sure. If one feels or thinks they know, then fine, know, but keep it.......
to yourself. You cannot prove it and since that is the key for either side, let it stay that way and stop talking about it.
Proof of "knowing" can only come one way.
Do you trust it no matter what, and no longer worry about anything?
Because if you worry, you don't trust it and if you don't trust it,
you don't know it. You only believe it. There's a difference.
A good guide is this: do you ever become afraid?
pat gilbert
Feb 21 2013: Since what is real is determined by what we agree to and that we use his name in vain so often how could he possibly not be real?Feb 20 2013: Of course it is. Aren't dream, love and poetry real?
- +1
Feb 25 2013: So is god a dream or another word for the concept of love?
Feb 25 2013: If one agrees to accept that God is an idea created by humans, it can be thought of as a source of everything good, kind and compassionate - that's pretty much the essence of love, so why not? Such a personal god does not have to be any less important than the God of religions, may be more because we will not place the burden of the creation or the duty of a conductor of everything but will still seek solace and inspiration from. This god is blissfully real - a friend.
The God of books, however, is an authority who watches over you for your every act and sends you to eternal damnation if you don't obey his commandments. This god is a ruler.
Feb 26 2013: I would agree that it is most likely that the typical god concepts are man made and do not exist outside our minds as independent beings.
The word god is fairly loaded. If you are using it as the substitute for concepts such as love or goodness, that's your choice, but it seems reasonable to be suspicious that the intent is to attach more to it than this.
If you start assigning agency, or personifying this concept without reasonable evidence than we diverge.
I agree this is just as valid as more conventional monotheistic, polytheist or Deistic god concepts i.e. a human concept with no compelling evidence it exists as an entity in itself.
You are welcome to imagine and personify this concept, call it friend, add meaning to your life, but if you want to demonstrate it exists independent of your mind, as anything more than a human construct, you'll need something more than wishful thinking.
Personally I value the truth and try not to knowingly delude myself. The natural universe is difficult enough to understand, without inventing gods. Anyway, if it does no harm, fair enough. Perhaps there is an argument that this type of subjective thinking holds us back or leads to negative consequences that outweigh any benefits. Perhaps not.Mar 20 2013: Are you real? Once you know your own existence in you own terms, then you will answer the question of God.Mar 15 2013: It is true that many Christians believe so, not because of their own searching, but because of others in their life who pressure them or because it is simply easier. I am a Christian and I have tried my hardest to not be like this. I personally believe that God would rather someone passionately not believing in Him than passively believing in Him. So I think that, in a way, everyone needs to start from scratch. They need to get rid of assumptions and just see the truth.
One thing that is clear for me is that if you seek, you will find. If you honestly, open-mindedly search then I think God will reveal Himself. Not in a physical way but in a Spiritual wayMar 15 2013: no, none of the gods of man are real, and why this isn't obvious is a mystery
start by defining terms.
If one asks is this god real, and as part of the question gives various attributes of the god, it seems to me that it is much easier to answer because how one arrives at claims of specific attributes, and hence their validity, can be rationally challenged.
If one can't assign attributes then one has to wonder what the person is asking. It would seem to equate to - Is this being, which I cannot describe in any way, including whether it is even an intelligent being, real? seems meaningless.
10,000 gods
pick 1
or better yet
noneMar 12 2013: "if God is just that idea" that seems to originate or matter of interest only to those who at least know a language or can communicate using it - so the question seems to have little deeper query too - Is the language real? or another, Is their a language that makes God Real? if so Am I aware of that language that makes God Real or Am I using a language where God originates as an idea ?Mar 12 2013: Gods are not real, but the mental sickness associated to believing in Gods is very real. Our history is full of mentally sick religious leaders who like to infect others, And those 'others' are the people who are least capable of defending their mental state,,children.Feb 26 2013: I wish to take on the questions asked by Peter.
"Its human nature to seek superiority and its human nature to seek an authoritative entity to take responsibility and control of one's life. So i often wonder if God is just that idea."
It's not human nature to seek superiority, it's human nature to seek camaraderie.
It's not human nature to seek authority, it's human nature to seek authenticity. And it's not for shifting responsibility and control of one's life but it's human nature to love and let go of control with trust so that the self can relax and rest.
God with capital 'G' is the product of the innate human confusion and directionlessness.
The idea of eternal punishment is as anti-human as it can get.
God, by definition, can jolly well mind his business. We need more humanity to mind ours.
Feb 26 2013: Probably a mix of cooperation and competition.Feb 26 2013: @Obey no1kinobe : Very valid warning. But what gets missed is that such ideas are strictly personal and private. There is no intention to demonstrate it.
It is next to impossible to live meaningfully without believing and imagining. Our idea of self is in large part imagination. Atheism is arguably another belief system having it's own extremists and fundamentalists. For one who finds it difficult to live without an idea of purpose, spiritual enlightenment and equanimity a personal god is a better choice than a religious god.
The argument that this type of subjective thinking holds us back is questionable. The traditional science, at least a substantial part of it, is the contribution of scholars and scientists deeply religious. There is no clear evidence that atheists are better predisposed towards science.
That leaves only Truth. The nature of Truth is, IMO, not absolute and it's philosophical basis has been debated time and again. The god of books makes use of this human confusion. A personal god, I think, is a safety release against that pressure.
Feb 26 2013: Hi PM, I agree we all have beliefs, world views etc based on our education, experience, reasoning, intuition, and limited senses and mind. However, not all beliefs are equal. Some are closer approximations to the truth than others. And contradicting beliefs can not all be correct.
I get your point about atheism being a belief system. I would suggest atheism may be part of belief system but perhaps is not as broad or dogmatic as deserving to be called a belief system compared to a particular religious belief system. Perhaps even more narrow than an individualistic spiritual belief system.
After all its only not being a theist.. Everything else is open from ghosts, afterlife, reincarnation, karma to views on abortion etc. Some may use this as a linchpin on which to hitch additional views or reflect a similar skeptical outlook, but there is no dogma, no necessarily shared world view.
Personally I consider myself a reasonably open minded skeptic, left leaning on many social issues and somewhere in the middle economically. I would identify myself as an atheist only when it is relevant to a particular topic such as this.
Whether a tendency to subjective, intuitive thinking in general is net negative to human development is an open question for me. I haven't considered it deeply. But it has no role in confirming scientific hypothesis. Perhaps with coming up with ideas and hypothesis but science is empirically validated rather than left to the subjective. Many spiritual or religious folk can still apply the scientific method and accept the outcomes, I agree.
I would point out in the US, one of the most religious developed nations, more than 30% (from memory) deny evolution and believe the world is about 6,000 years old. Dogmatic religious views also have negative social and health impacts e.g .Taleban, caste system. So I would suggest there is a case that these kinds religious views based on subjective experience can hold us back. Not all spiritual views but many.
Feb 26 2013: I seem to like the way you think :) And there is not much disagreement in essence, I'd say. I also like it that you made clear your stand. Without that being cleared, a lot of debate becomes waste of time.
I make a clear distinction between God with a capital 'G' and god that I am proposing to be personal and private. I am not religious at all and the simple reason is that I can go about in life and make a meaning of it without the necessity of a God, a super natural intervention, a creator or a keeper of morality as religious texts dictate. But I am certainly spiritual and I make a distinction between religion and that.
I believe that over time our societies have acquired reasoned, secular, liberal and democratic value sets such that dispensation of social issues on the basis of religious texts that were written thousands of years ago create conflict and negative impacts on our values.
However, if someone internalizes the apparent conflicts of life in the form of a core source of peace, joy and happiness with no conflict with the outside world or somebody else has same core source as a pleasurable quest with reason, curiosity and awe with no conflict with the outside world, I'd call both a personal god (I have no apathy towards that name). And it's very real to me. Just like love or poetry.
Sure all belief systems are not equal. But honestly, I am not sure if only one of two contradicting beliefs has to be true. For life as a biological process, I sometimes wonder if we are living or dying on a daily basis. What do you think?Feb 25 2013: I attend the local church in my town ever Sunday. But when i go, I go to see friends and meet new people. I also go to listen to the Bible scriptures. I do not necessarily believe in the one they call "God," but I do believe that the scriptures have fables in them. There are stories and parables in the Bible that have helped me through alot of tough times. I think of God as a role model that demonstrates one specific way to live a life.
Feb 26 2013: Fair enough KP. I guess many different religious or spiritual traditions contain some good stuff. I guess humans have not changed much over a few thousand years in regards to some aspects of the human condition. In some ways life is easier in many places, but we all lose friends and loved ones, we grew old, get sick, suffer along with some joy.
I just find there is a lot of stuff to avoid in Abrahamic books as well.
But a discerning person can separate the good from the barbaric.
Yahweh or Jesus as the role model? Yahweh seems a nasty character. Jesus, more of a reformer and apocalyptic preacher. At least according to what was written about him decades after he died.
I lived in a Buddhist country for some years and investigated some of their beliefs. Some of it is very insightful into the human condition. Some less so from a 21st century perspective.
Judaism - seems to be about the covenant with their tribal god
Christianity seems to be about salvation from a fallen nature
Islam - Submission
Some good insights in all I guess.Feb 25 2013: Just as a side note Peter, and anyone else, have you read " American Gods" by Neil Gaiman and the sequel Anansi Boys, fiction and highly entertaining on the subject...
Feb 25 2013: Hi Daryl,
No I haven't but if you recommend it I will definitely get myself a copy as soon as I can. Thanks for that(:Feb 26 2013: Sounds a bit like Terry Pratchett's small gods. Looks worth a read. Ta.
Feb 26 2013: Though not familiar with Pratchett's book I did read a plot summary of it and it's not quite the same. American Gods is much more related to your question here than that...
Mar 8 2013: Similar idea where a gods power and ultimately its existence comes from the belief of its followers. Some gods are nearly forgotten are barely voices in the desert wind.Mar 8 2013: AH, then your right, it is very similarFeb 25 2013: If by "God" you mean: an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent entity, and by "Real" you mean: scientifically proven fact (currently or in the future), then I'm sorry to tell you that you question has no answer, which means both answers (yes and no) are equally valid (or more accurately: equally invalid). If you include omnipresent on your definition of God, then, there is simply no room for scientific proof or disprove. An omnipresent God may or may not exist, but the only truly 100% scientifically verifiable fact is that we will never know, never ever.
I almost forget a very important point, if you don't include "omnipresent" in your definition of God, that necessarily and automatically excludes omniscient, and omnipotent, which leaves you with a God who is not everywhere, does not know all and is not all mighty.
So, Is God Real ?... that depends on you definition of "God", and on your definition of "Real".
Feb 25 2013: Hi George :)
Thanks for the comment, when i say God, i mean an omnipotent being that as religion puts it, takes care of our needs not our wants. And by real i mean visibly and tangibly real as a separate entity from your conscious. As in its not a creation of the mind and it consciously exists in space and time.
Feb 25 2013: Realize something: there is no possible way for God to be omnipotent if it is not omnipresent, and if God is omnipresent then it is necessarily and automatically invisible to our senses, and intangible to our minds, because its essence cannot be separated from physical matter, if God is omnipresent, then each atom that forms you is part of God, that means God cannot be separated from you, so...: how could you separate it from you conscious if you cannot separate it from your body???. Like I said, an omnipresent God is necessarily invisible and intangible. There is simply no way you can see, feel, touch, taste or hear an omnipresent God. That is the reason why you cannot proof or disprove its existence. I even dare to say that if you define God as omnipresent then any argument in favor or against its existence is invalid by definition.
Feb 26 2013: That is one perspective.
To me all knowing is just a human construct, a concept, and very hard for a human mind to really comprehend. Probably impossible in reality.
What that means in regards where the entity is located is pure speculation.
I don't have to be everywhere to see a lot, hear a lot, etc outside my body. You could invent a god concept that knows everything via a super god sense, while it sits on my coffee table.
I suggest you can not prove its existence, because there is no emprical proof and most likely its just an idea humans made up.
If there is an entity somewhat like this then we still have no reliable way of knowing whether it exists or anything about it. It might as well not exist because it is outside our senses, outside our capability to detect.
You can not disprove it because it is constructed in a way that is impossible to disprove.
But is the same way you can not prove much of anything about its nature or intentions because there is no information other than the concepts some humans latch onto.
Did you there is a transcendent invisible immaterial toaster. You can not prove or disprove these sorts of human constructs, but you can assign as much meaning or dogma as you like via subjective so called "spiritual" experience and revelations of your own or recorded through history or philosophised into existence.
Actually you could assume this being has 3 different aspects, is triune in nature or 7, or 113 if you like.
Sometimes the attributes tagged onto god concepts are a bit contradictory. Not sure how you can be all merciful and all just.
And defining something as all good is like defining circles as the perfect shape. Or that the universe is perfect. It's just a definition that leads to circular thinking and contradictions with conflicting all good god concepts. It seems like nonsense.Feb 24 2013: Seems to be a monotheistic bias below and in the question.Feb 24 2013: Which particular concept of a god. What about beliefs in goddesses.
The processes by which people develop gods and experience these seem unreliable.
For me personally, I have not come across any compelling evidence for any gods, so far.
Agree psychology and science in general helps us understand religious experience. We do seem primed to assume agency, and even today religious belief has a strong correlation to where you are born.
Feb 25 2013: Hmm, Great input Obey. I am just curious mind, so if my question's seems to have a bais, please forgive it. It was not intended and in my mind i have no bais only curiosity. As for me, i havent seen much evidence for a God and in fact when i think about a God, i cant help it think of my beliefs as the same beliefs as i had in Santa or the boogie man. Only difference is that we have been primed and conditioned to hold the belief in God as the fabric holding together our identity. And without it people would go into anxiety. So i am just a curious mind that wants to explore the basis of the question
Feb 25 2013: I understand peter. I've been there too. Then I went to college.Feb 24 2013: People have been creating god since our existence, I guess that is because we try to figure out how we were created and how the things around us were created as well, and then, after questioning ourselves many times, we came into a conclusion like that, and we create a god or gods to explain it, but actually we don't have this answer yet. the science still searching for an answer everyday. So, Religions and science, they both still not knowing these answers, so we can't say which one is wrong, science or religions, because we don't know what actually is truth, if there is one truth.Feb 22 2013: Is Life "real"?
The answer to your question "Is God Real?" is dependent on your responce to... "Is Life "real"?"
because the answer to both questions can ONLY be relavent to how "Alive" and aware you are....not to anyone elses answer.
By the Bye this is the second "most asked question" that keeps coming up at TEDFeb 21 2013: I've always encountered these sort of questions before and the outcome of such conversations are not always pretty as one might say.We all believe in something.That something could be anything.Whose to say whether that something exists or not. Personally, I believe in the existence of a supreme being.I am a Muslim.
However, my question would be : Why does it matter so much that it becomes a subject of vigorous debates, wars even.Can't we just get along? extremists are everywhere, I won't deny that.Why don't we all just stop discussing unnecessary topics and start to cooperate to build a more peaceful world.
Trust me, my experiences tell me that discussing this topic wouldn't give us a solution that would satisfy all.
Feb 25 2013: Good point. I suggest intellectual discussion on the topic is not mutually exclusive to working for a more peaceful world.Feb 25 2013: there is reason for discussion.
That reason is children. Namely indoctrination. I don't care what an adult believes or why s/he believes it as long as that choice is consciously made. Religions have figured out a way to make people think that it's the default state to be a believer if they're born in some place rather than another. I was born and raised as a muslim. I would've probably stayed that way if it wasn't for my travelling and seeing different cultures. I don't mind a person being muslim or anything else as long as they chose it...not because someone said it or they were brought up that way because of societal norms. If religions were treated the same way as everything else - treated is disbelief and required a reason to believe in them, then I bet they'd be far less popular. Religious organizations have huge impact on societies and disregarding them or keeping quiet about them is just making it easier for them to do whatever they want. We've had enough of that (Crusades, wars, indulgence, tax exemption and many more). No more.
Feb 25 2013: I agree. With my daughter we have been careful not to brainwash her, to discuss the different points of view. My wife believes in a god, so she can hear different sides.
But I can understand if you believe in hell or there are social expectations its a big ask to expect a theist not to indoctrinate the child. Its a bit sad but I don't think you can make it illegal to teach whatever values or religion parents want. But you can keep religion out of government, public schools etc.Feb 26 2013: At the end of the day, our cultures, experiences and upbringing are all going to differ from one another.It is a fact that we all must accept to live together harmoniously.The only way I can view this conversation positively is that it might teach us our differences and that we might accept them as it is.I sincerely doubt it would give a final solution to all regarding the question of whether God exists or not .My travelling and seeing other cultures made me choose Islam as my way of life.My view is that we do not have to be similar to be treated equally.You can think or be whatever you like as long as you don't cause anyone trouble.
Feb 26 2013: It'll be unchanged if everyone accepts it. I refuse to accept indoctrination as some kind of unavoidable path. The best solution imo, is to expose children to other cultures and let them decide. I agree, we won't know for sure whether God exists or not, and that's not the issue. The issue is, that parents, who don't know themselves, for some reason think they know it well enough to have their children identify with the religion of their choice.Feb 26 2013: I suggest there are strong arguments for the separation of church and state, along with personal freedom of and from religion, freedom of speech, equal treatment of sexes and sexual orientations, races etc.
I agree broadening experiences is generally positive. Let people come up with their own conclusions, but let human rights and secular government take precedent and not force people to believe or indoctrinate, keep religion out of schools and other state institutions.
I agree with your last two sentences.Feb 21 2013: We have too short a life span to see anything in action and what's worse is people are realizing this and don't like it. I watched someone today crash into the car in front of him because his eye's were down lost online. I see people walk up to traffic lights push the button and flick! up comes the phones, about twenty people all standing there with their phones up. I wanted to take a picture but realized i had washed my phone with my jeans and destroyed it last week. There is no God but then there is no reality, just trudge up to the next stop then transport back into the new heaven.
We can't physically get out of our heads and float around and see then jump back in and neither will you find the answer anywhere while stuck in this biological form.Feb 20 2013: This whole question rises or falls with the existence of spiritual experiences. By this I mean feeling the presence of God. When you have felt Him it is no longer a question anymore. You know. These kind of experiences need not be rare, fantastic, or weird. I can tell you how to have them yourself. You don't need a background in Christianity or any prior experience with religion. I've taught people who have never really believed before how to do this. It's not science by any means, but it is repeatable and measurable, at least to you. All that's really necessary is a sincere desire to know if He's there or not, and an open mind. The problem lies in these two conditions. The reason why many people have never even heard of this is because most people don't want to know. If they knew, they might have to change their lives, and that's scary. They might have to change their beliefs, and no one wants to do that. (I'm guilty of that too, I know) And yes, once you build a personal relationship with God it changes your life. It's not an easy thing sometimes. It puts you in an interesting position: either it's all true or you're a raving lunatic. I can't deny the many experiences I've had, along with the hundreds of other people I personally know who have had them. There are many others I don't personally know, but I can tell you where you can read their stories. I don't think I'm a lunatic :).
I can't logically prove or disprove to you the existence of a God. I can't scientifically prove or disprove it. I can't philosophically prove or disprove it. That's the point. Nobody can. That's why the debate has raged on for thousands of years. But the people who really want to know, know.
Feb 25 2013: I wonder if personal experiences are similar for believers in a whole bunch of different gods.
I wonder if they might be just psychological experiences, profound but mundane in the sense that there is no real evidence for supernatural interpretations.
I note sincere people searching for the truth about gods might end up believing in very different concepts or not believe in any.
It's a bit like saying if you try to be a Christian, learn the framework and interpret life within that framework, spend years cognitively reinforcing those beliefs you might end up seeming real. Same for Islam or Zoroastrianism etc or whatever new age beliefs.
I suggest the experiences are real, but the interpretations are an open question, although perhaps we know enough that the natural explanations are probably the lead candidates.
I suggest the gods and natural spirits of others feel just as real as your God. But it is highly unlikely they all exist and impossible for conflicting interpretations to be correct.
I admire your honesty that in the end it comes down to how you interpret your personal psychological experiences.
I wonder what makes you think your interpretation is any better than the 6 billion other supernatural interpretations and others people held in the past?
Feb 25 2013: You know, you'd think that'd be the case, that many different people would have radically different experiences. However, in my experience I haven't actually met anyone who's had spiritual experiences that differ greatly from mine. Always the same feelings, the same general conclusions. Particulars did vary, of course. I was a missionary in Japan, and over the course of two years I talked to over ten thousand people about religion. (That's about 15 real conversations a day. I met many more than that, but I had actual conversations on this subject with about that many.) Those of them who had had spiritual experiences before in the past knew exactly what I was talking about, and they certainly weren't Christian. However, the sense of the One behind it was the same. Same attributes, same Person, in essence. Japan is nominally Buddhist, but it's more ritual than anything else. Regardless of formalized religion, the experience is more or less the same. I certainly haven't talked to all the people in the world, maybe that's just Japan. But as I've seen it, it's the same God talking to all people who'll listen. And yes, I believe if you do listen He'll guide you to a certain church, His church that Christ set up. Those people who did listen more to our message usually agreed that it correlated with the experiences they'd had, regardless of whether or not they joined our church or not. Other religions aren't wrong, just incomplete. Maybe that's a study you can do Obey, trying to correlate all the different spiritual experiences people describe and pointing out the similarities and differences. I look forward to your data.Feb 20 2013: please read more carefully. I was saying my position on fallibilism/agnosticism of not benig 100% sure about not being 100% sure about everything else is a belief. I've said that I do not BELIEVE in GOD. I do not know whether s/he/it exists or not. I do not BELIEVE i can be 100% sure that it does or it doesn't regardless of the amount of information given to me. Now it doesn't mean that nothing in the world could change my belief in god or nature of knowledge. I don't know that. I know my beliefs, I look out to the world and consider my beliefs in accordance with evidence, plausibility as well as my personal liking. I was referring with regards to fallibilism that not being 100% sure about its truth doesn't make me feel like a hypocrite.
Feb 21 2013: Your chosen religion is called Arational Atheism. It is defined as: "Believing there is no rational basis for not believing in God, but exclusively choosing to not believe anyway." Are you sure you do not belong in the Agnostic religion which is defined as: "Believing God might, or might not, exist and avoid making an exclusive choice of either possibility."?
Academic note: If you wish to reply to a post which has no "REPLY" button, scroll up to the next post by the person to whom you wish to reply which does have a REPLY button. Click-on that button and begin your reply with, "RE: "[quote a few of the opening words from the post to which you are replying here]". If there is no REPLY button available for the person then create a new post and begin it with, "@ [enter the name of the person to whom you wish to reply]".


text:
Recently added item(s)
You have no items in your shopping cart.
SKU:P63.135 | Black Onyx LEATHER
1 Review(s)
Write a Review
A stylish pen is great, and a matching case is even better. But what beats both? Our Rollerball Pen & Case Set. Yep, that's right - we've got a stylish pen and matching case all in one! Leatherology has teamed up with Retro 1951 to bring you one of their stainless rollerball pens with black ink and a durable leather case to go with it. Whether you just need something new for yourself or are looking for a gift for a coworker or recent graduate, this Rollerball Pen & Case Set is a great option.
Casual yet distinctive, our Timeless collection is one of our favorites. This leather boasts a polished finish and a soft hand feel, making it a great choice for any leather connoisseur. And with the variety of colors it comes in, it's easy to find a shade that appeals to you or matches with your other accessories. As the name implies, our Timeless collection will hold up through years of use while aging gracefully every step of the way.
Please note: textures in this collection range from light grain to a lightly pebbled grain depending on which part of the hide it's from.
Beautifully crafted, the monogram is very distinctive, and the price is right. Gave it to my wife as a 3rd anniversary gift, she loves the way the rollerball writes.
Whether you are treating yourself or giving a gift to someone else, we want you to have an amazing and memorable experience. All items will be shipped using our signature gift packaging. Depending on the type and size, your item(s) will come wrapped in our signature microsuede sleeve, drawstring bag or soft velour bag (each with black tie accents), and be packaged inside a high-density bronze gift box. You will also have the opportunity to add a personalized gift note when you place your order.
All of this extra attention to detail is complimentary.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Gift Baskets
Sweet Gift Express is located on Madison's West Side and specializes in sweet gift baskets and boxes for personal and corporate gift giving. We offer a variety of candies, chocolates, nuts, cookies, coffees, and more. At Sweet Gift Express, sweet gifts are always a good choice no matter what the occasion.


text:
|Amount Per Serving
|% Daily Value
|Vitamin C (as Ester-C®, calcium ascorbate)
|100 mg
|5-Loxin Advanced™
(Boswellia serrata Extract [resin])
|100 mg
|Turmeric Root 4:1 Extract
(Curcuma longa) (equivalent to 200 mg of root)
|50 mg
|UC-II® Standardized Cartilage
(providing 10 mg Undenatured Type II Collagen)
|40 mg
|White Willow Bark 5:1 Extract
(Salix alba [bark]) (equivalent to 175 mg of bark)
|35 mg
|Ginger Root 4:1 Extract
(Zingiber officinale) (equivalent to 140 mg of root)
|35 mg
|Pepper Spice Complex
Cayenne Pepper (Capsicum annuum [fruit]), Bioperine® (Black Pepper Extract) (Piper nigrum [fruit])
|27 mg
If you are pregnant, nursing, taking any medication or have a medical condition, please consult your healthcare practitioner before taking any dietary supplement. Avoid this product if you are allergic to aspirin. Discontinue use and consult your doctor if any adverse reactions occur. Not intended for use by persons under the age of 18.


text:
Penfold wrote:Ghost wrote:thank you very much frightening story shortly after I took the picture of the theatre
(the building with the giant dragon mural on it)
my camera slipped out my hands and clipped the wall in front of me
and the lens froze open for half and hour till I learnt how to reset the programming on it
building material was defecated in that half hour
I know that feeling. I once dropped my wide angle lens onto concrete and feared a £700 bill to replace it. Fortunately (and a good reason for not buying cheap third-party lenses), the lens is well built and escaped damage other than a few scratches on the lens cap. I'm glad yours survived as well.
I now use the wrist strap ALL THE TIME no exceptions


text:
Q & A: National Football League Labor Negotiations
Matthew T. Bodie, associate dean for research and faculty development and professor in the School of Law, shares some insight into the NFL labor negotiations, which have been threatening the upcoming professional football season.
Q: What is the current situation with the NFL regarding the labor negotiations?
A: The NFL owners' lockout means the players and teams cannot conduct NFL business. Players can't practice, at least not with their teams, and coaches can't coach. We keep hearing that a settlement is close, but we've been hearing that for about a month.
Q: Can you explain the process of labor negotiations such as these, and why it takes so long?
A: It doesn't have to take so long. The two sides could have met and kept things largely the way they are, with a few tweaks. A lockout is a longer-term strategy. Employers use it to force employees into caving in once they start missing paychecks. But NFL players don't get paid until the season, so you were not going to see the pressure start to work until then. And the owners had signaled for a while, beginning even years ago, that they were intending to opt out of the previous agreement and lock the players out. That gave the players time to prepare.
|Mattew Bodie Photo by Jay Fram
Q: What are the major issues being negotiated?
A: The owners and players split the total revenue of the NFL and the owners want a larger portion. That's essentially it, although the details are pretty complicated. The owners already take a big chunk of revenue off the table to pay for certain expenses before the money is split and the owners want to make that chunk significantly bigger in order to pay for stadiums and other capital improvements. Players want more protection for their careers, particularly in the face of the very troubling evidence about concussions in football.
Q: Why are these issues important to the NFL as an employer and the players as employees?
A: The NFL cannot replace its players. It's been done before, and fans just don't accept the downgrade in performance. And NFL players have extremely short careers - shorter than any of the other sports leagues. They want to get back on the field.
Q: How do these issues compare to those that other organizations encounter?
A: These issues are extremely unique. Only sports leagues have (1) monopolies over their industry, (2) a lot of money in endorsements and television revenue, and (3) a labor force with extremely rare (and therefore largely irreplaceable) talents.
Q: What must happen for a resolution to take place and what are the possible outcomes?
A: The owners went into these negotiations with a very aggressive strategy. They locked out the players and made it clear that they were going to fight for a dramatic change in their economic relationship. But the players have done a terrific job in rebuffing that. Their litigation strategy has really put the scare in the owners. Even though the injunction against the lockout was rescinded by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the league is still potentially liable to the players for millions in television revenues and antitrust damages. It would take a while for that litigation to work its way through the courts, but I have to think the league is terrified at the prospect of an antitrust regime applied to their labor relations. And individual players have generally stayed on message and have supported the group's themes. That's why the two sides are talking now - the owners have realized they have much more to lose than they expected.


text:
BFUHS will fight revocation of permit for athletic field lightsBy Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer | February 15,2013WESTMINSTER The Bellows Falls Union High School board voted Thursday evening to pursue an appeal with the state Environmental Court over a decision that revoked the permit for the new lights on the schools baseball and football fields.
Fred Yates, the executor of the estate of Alvin Southwick, the Westminster businessman who left money in his will for the project, said the board agreed to pursue a dual strategy in an effort to resolve the lighting problem.
He said the board agreed to formally appeal the decision by the Westminster Development Review Board, but also sit down with Westminster officials to try and work out an agreement to make sure the lights can be used this upcoming baseball season.
This way they can come up with a solution so the lights can go on, said Yates, who said he was pleased with the decision by the School Board. The beneficiary, he said, will be the schoolchildren of the area.
Westminster officials say the lights that were installed last year were not the lights described to them during the permit process, and two Westminster residents had filed complaints about the glare from the lights.
Yates has been working on the project for his friend since 2011, shortly after Southwick died at age 85.
Southwick worked for St. Johnsbury Trucking for more than 30 years, and for a second trucking company another 20 years, Yates said.
He was frugal and invested his savings carefully in banks, not the stock market, said Yates.
Southwick belonged to many fraternal organizations and he wanted to leave money to the local American Legion ball club. Yates said he suggested lighting the local ball field as one of Southwicks legacies. In fact, Southwick left money to more than a dozen local groups and schools.
Yates said he approached the local school officials about whether they would allow the ball field to be lit. They agreed and the plan was included in Southwicks will, Yates said Thursday.
So far more than $300,000 has been spent on lighting the ball fields at Bellows Falls Union High School, Yates said.
Yates, acting on behalf of the Rockingham School Board, which actually owns Hadley Field, the athletic field adjacent to the union high school in Westminster, had obtained the permit, but Yates said Thursday he didnt realize all the details involved in the permit process. Im new to this, he said.
Yates said the detailed information about the lights was taken mistakenly from a brochure of one lighting company he was considering. He said he ended up choosing another company because its bid was $52,000 cheaper, a savings that he was able to use to light the nearby football field.
But Westminster officials, with two complaints in hand from two adjoining landowners to the ball fields, revoked the town permit for the athletic field lights last month, giving the Rockingham board, or its designee, the Bellows Falls Union board, 30 days to file an appeal or not.
Westminster Town Manager Matthew Daskal said Thursday the lights that were permitted were not installed.
While Daskal praised Southwicks generosity to the people of Westminster, its children and the region, he said the town had to act on the two complaints about the lights.
Aside from the different brand of lights, he said there were other problems with the installation of the lights, including that more lights were installed than originally outlined. And he said the light poles were also higher, and not properly inspected.
Daskal said one resident, Ruth Gale, who lives on Kissell Hill, said the baseball field lights shine into her bedroom and she is unable to sleep because of the glare from the lights.
Another resident, Christian Blake, who owns woodlands adjacent to the football field, has also filed a complaint, Daskal said.
Daskal said Gale and Blake didnt have to abide by a 30-day appeal period, because they werent appealing the permit, but seeking enforcement of the existing permit.
Yates said Gale has refused to take suggestions of new shades on her bedroom windows, and also rejected an offer of a new fence and landscaping to shield the light.
Yates said only about 20 nighttime games were at issue, and the lights went off by 10 p.m., or 10:15 p.m. at the latest.
Earlier in the week, Chris Kibbe, superintendent of schools, said the School Board would meet, likely behind closed doors, late Thursday afternoon to discuss whether to appeal the Development Review Boards decision. He couldnt be reached for comment Thursday.
@rutlandherald.comMORE IN Southern VermontBENNINGTON — Ask author and Bennington College graduate Charlotte Silver if the title of... Full StoryPresident Calvin Coolidge was remembered in all sorts of ways Saturday on the 143rd anniversary... Full StoryPresident Calvin Coolidge was remembered in all sorts of ways Saturday on the 143rd anniversary... Full Story
- Most Popular
- Most Emailed
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day 1739, 'Richard Palmer' identified in prison at York Castle as the notorious outlaw DICK TURPIN; IN 1836, Battle of the Alamo begins near San Antonio de Bexar, Texas; 1896, the Tootsie Roll invented by LEO HIRSCHFELD.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1472, Orkney, Shetland islands put up as collateral by Norway to Scotland in lieu of dowry for MARGARET OF DENMARK on her marriage with JAMES III, king of Scotland; 1962, JOHN GLENN first American to orbit Earth.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: City mayoral candidates debate campaign issues; Hartford, Conn., woman still missing; Neal Goswami reports attempts to legislate suicide; local woman loses 100 pounds through TOPS program.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1878, JOHN TUNSTALL murdered near Lincoln, New Mexico, by the outlaw JESSE EVANS; in 1930, ELM FARM OLLIE first cow to fly in aircraft, first to be milked airborne; 1955, nuke test WASP; '79, snow in Sahara.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Rutland Herald News Editor Alan J. Keays and staff writer Gordon Dritschilo discuss stories planned for the February 18, 2015, edition of the newspaper: Winter budgets maxed, legal marijuana, Springfield bank job, USPS slowdown
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1249 AD, ANDRE of LONGJUMEAU is dispatched by LOUIS IX of France to meet the KHAGAN, ruler of the Mongol Empire; in 1804, during 1st Barbary War, STEPHEN DECATUR scuttles the pirate-held USS Philadelphia in Tripoli.


text:
Toll-Free 855-321-GUNS (4867)
DPMS Panther Arms A3 Flattop 22 LR Upper 16" Bull Barrel Chrome Moly Steel - BA-22-16
DPMS Panther LR-308T Rifle 7.62x51 (.308 Win.) 16" Chrome Moly Steel Heavy Barrel Raised Picatinny Rail - RFLR-308T
DPMS Panther 7.62 Sportical Rifle 7.62 X 51 (.308 Win.) 16" Chrome Moly Steel Barrel Raised Picatinny Rail - RFLR-WCP
DPMS AR15 Lo-Pro Classic Barrel Assembly, 5.56 Nato, A3 Flattop Receiver, Fluted 16" Chrome Moly Barrel - FTBL-LPC-A3- Fluted
DPMS Panther Lo Pro Classic 5.56x45mm (223 cal) AR15 Rifle 16" Heavy Barrel Optics Ready Flat Top - RFA2-LPC
Wildlife Technologies Mighty Atom Max MA-MAX Electronic Game Caller, 126 Sounds, Remote Control - MA-MAX
DPMS Panther Arms Compact Hunter Rifle 7.62NATO & 308 Win. 16" Teflon Coated Stainless Steel Barrel A3 Flattop Optics Ready - RFLR-C308L
DPMS Panther Arms AR-15 Barrel Assembly .223 Remington A3 Flat Top Upper 16" "Sweet 16" Custom Fluted Stainless Steel Bull Barrel FTBL-LR-03-Fluted
DPMS TAC2 Upper Assembly, 5.56 Nato, 16" Chrome Lined Barrel, M111 Modular Handguard, A2 Front Sight, Magpul MBUS Rear Sight - BA-TAC2
DPMS Panther AP4 A3 Flattop 22 LR Upper 16" Chrome Moly Steel Barrel - BA-22-AP4


text:
How to Apply:
-Dab a small amount of face exfoliating scrub onto clean, damp skin and gently massage in upward circular motions
-Completely avoid the eye area
-Concentrate on the T-Zone area of the nose, forehead and chin until the desired cleansing effect is attained
-For further exfoliating effects, allow the treatment to remain on skin an additional minute or two without scrubbing
-Remove with a damp lukewarm facial cloth or sponge
-Follow with the appropriate Kiehl's toner and moisturizer for your skin type
BROH-meh'-lane / BROH-meh'-lihn
Found in pineapple, Bromelin is a protein-digesting enzyme. It is commonly used to gently break down dead surface skin cells.
Papain is a papaya enzyme with the ability to gently dissolve dry skin or hair. It is used as an exfoliant in face masques as its protein digesting properties allow it to dissolve necrotic (dead) skin cells.
SEH-sah'-mee OY-il
Sesame Oil, which is a refined moisturizing oil derived from Sesame Seeds, has the same emollient properties as other nut and vegetable oils and is commonly used as a carrier oil for skin care products. Absorbs easily and softens the skin.


text:
Alberta Ballet, Canada's third largest companies recently performed on the world stage as part of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Opening Ceremonies and is recognized worldwide for its powerful, groundbreaking choreography, performances and its commitment to the advancement of the art of dance.
Each season, Alberta Ballet offers a repertoire that balances classical works with contemporary creations. World-renowned conductors, choreographers and other guest artists are often featured in the company's performances.
Alberta Ballet operates and performs in both Calgary and Edmonton, with a season that lasts from September to May. Main stage productions in Calgary take place at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium.
Madame Butterfly - September 26 to 28
Sleeping Beauty - October 31 to November 3
The Nutcracker - December 19 to 24
Up Close - January 21 to 25
Ailey II - February 20 to 22
Giselle - March 20 to 22
Joni Mitchell - April 30 to May 3
- 10 minimum group
- 2 hr viewing time
- Coach parking
- Family friendly
- Group booking
- Group rates
- Visa
- Wheelchair access


text:
|Bob Allen is the nation's premier manufacturer of quality accessories and clothing designed specifically for clay target shooting.
Bob Allen Company was started in a parachute shop on the tiny Pacific atoll of Tinian towards the end of World War II. Bob Allen was a young, nationally known clay target shooter before the war, who later parlayed his aerial gunner instructor duties into a combat assignment in the South Pacific. Bob's first product design was a long billed cap that helped keep the sun out of bomber crews' eyes on their long flights to mainland Japan. Trading a ration of wartime Scotch to the riggers in the parachute shop for each of prized hats, the Bob Allen Company was born. After the war, the hats found favor with shooters and soon Bob was selling hats, shooting vests, pouches and bags from the trunk of his car as he traveled the shooting circuit.
Bob Allen is part of the Boyt Harness Family of outdoor products, which includes Boyt gun cases, hunting accessories and apparel, Secure Vault handgun and personal security products and ADG hard-sided gun cases. Corporate headquarters are located in Osceola, Iowa.


text:
When Judy Brown swam to the shore and walked up to the beachside bar she was calm. Mary Henson remarked at the strength of the woman who asked to use a phone, but Brown had already made a couple calls before Henson put it all together.
"I said, 'well you're the one they've probably been looking for,'" Henson recalled Tuesday.
She was one of them. Brown and her Richard Smith, of
Smith and his 'signifcant other' Brown had taken a personal watercraft to
"When we left we didn't realize they had stayed on the beach," Smith said.
Smith was driving and he noticed their companions weren't around. It was about 4:30 p.m. Smith, an inexperienced personal watercraft operator, was attempting to turn the craft around when it capsized.
They couldn't right it.
Brown and Smith are in better-than-average shape than their peers, they said, but Smith later credited their survival with their ability to remain calm as they hung on to the craft for the next several hours; Smith said he takes after his mother's side of the family that way.
Brown said she's less patient than Smith, but she agreed with him, mostly.
"We kept our cool," she said. "Actually, I fussed at him."
Their companions had returned to
MBPD put a boat in water to search. So did the Gulf
"Everybody on the beach knew that we were looking for them," Norris said.
But, for several hours Smith and Brown hugged that capsized personal watercraft, which, unfortunately, was jet black underneath. They watched rescuers pass by and overhead, but could not flag them down. They knew people were looking for them.
They had life preservers, but they didn't have any kind of emergency signal. They had been in the water for hours when the sun started to set and Brown made the decision to swim for shore.
"After a few hours — I'm a social worker, so — I said I've got to do something," she said. "I'm not very patient so…"
She considered taking off her life vest, but when she did she realized how weary she'd become and left it on. It took about an hour to get to shore.
"I don't know how many miles I swam," she said.
Smith stayed behind with the personal watercraft for a while longer.
"I was worried about her more than anything," he said. "I was just praying to be honest with you."
After a while Smith decided to swim for shore too, but he couldn't make it in. The currents kept pulling him out. From the water he could see flashing lights.
"I saw the blue lights up on the beach, and I knew that she had made it, and they found her," he said.
She tried to direct rescuers to the general area where she'd left Smith and the personal watercraft, but Smith had started swimming. It was about an hour before he saw a passing search party and called out to them. They heard him.
Smith was checked out by medical professionals. It had been about six hours since they went into the water. He was exhausted but fine.
By then, Brown had been checked out and cleared too. She was at the motel, where staff brought her blankets, food and Hensen got her something to drink. She was heartened by the community's response.
"Really it's a much better world than I thought it was sometimes," she said.
Brown was pretty casual about the experience. She called it "just one of those things that happens."
But FWC spokesman Stan Kirkland thought it was more than that. Swimming to shore against the tide was impressive, and finding a swimmer in the Gulf after dark was more than that.
"It's just a miracle that they found him,"


text:
IBM Customer Experience Suite and IBM Intranet Experience Suite help organizations delight customers through a consistently exceptional web experience and empower employees with the social business tools they need to drive better business results. IBM Customer Experience Suite features rich, integrated capabilities for managing web content, real-time social communications, robust customer and commerce self-service capabilities, business analytics and mobile device delivery.
Rapidly deploy multichannel Web experiences across desktop, mobile and tablet platforms.
Accelerate digital content development and deployment through all of your digital channels.


text:
View All Schools
Leagues & Standings
View full almanac
Almanac blog
View all videos
View all photos
Metro beat Region, 100-80, in the Jack Blair Memorial Girls All-Star Basketball Classic Monday at University High School.
District 8 4A and 3A Track and Field Championship finals Friday, May 15, 2015 at Spokane Falls Community College.
State B championship games of 1B and 2B boys and girls at the Arena, Saturday, March 7, 2015.
View All Stories
4 p.m., March 12, 2013
Medical Lake
Participating teams: Medical Lake, Deer Park
Medical Lake 6, Deer Park 1.
No. 1 Singles--Cherry (DP) def. Larkin 6-2, 6-4.
No. 1 Doubles--Carlson and Hagel (ML) def. Haney and Bumett 6-0, 6-2.
Today's games & scores Upcoming schedules League Standings


text:
Search for any place in the USA:
Cost of Living,
Profile: Large city Location: East-central Maryland along Chesapeake Bay, 40 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. Elevation: 32 Time zone: Eastern Standard Time
Click here to View Profile
Click here to Hide Profile
Baltimore is a diverse and complete East Coast city—though not always thought of that way by some who consider it the less attractive sister of Washington, D.C. It surrounds a major inland port on the upper portion of the Chesapeake Bay, with prosperous shipping, transportation, and manufacturing industries among others. Many areas of the city, particularly downtown, have experienced a vast renewal with a strong emphasis on historic preservation. The restored waterfront adjacent to the rather ordinary downtown is now a commercial and leisure destination with excellent museums, a first class aquarium and plenty to do.
Urban residential areas close to downtown are known for their rowhouses, many dating back to the 18th century, spreading for miles and full of character and historic interest. Some, like the Federal Hill neighborhood and others adjacent on the South Baltimore Peninsula just southeast of the waterfront area, have been nicely reclaimed and inhabited by higher income professionals, while others in other directions are classic run-down zones of urban blight.
Baltimore is indeed a city of such contrasts, with a mix of attractive and leading-edge neighborhoods and some of the worst urban decay on the East Coast, with socioeconomic disparity, crime, drugs, education issues, and all the other things that accompany such neglect in those parts of town.
Transportation has always been one of the city's strengths. Baltimore is one of the few East Coast destinations of discount carrier Southwest Airlines. Train service and interstate highways make Washington D.C., New York, and other cities along the Northeast Corridor easily accessible. Cost of living and housing, while high by U.S. standards, are moderate for the region at large. Leisure activities are plentiful, and the town is big on sports, particularly the Baltimore Orioles baseball and Baltimore Ravens football teams. Camden Yards (next to the historic Baltimore and Ohio Railroad freight station just past the right field wall), exemplifies Baltimore's tradition and vitality, and has become an urban sports icon that other major-league cities have imitated for years.
Neighborhoods surrounding Baltimore are very attractive, particularly west, southwest and some southeast of the city. Many spread into areas of horse farms in gently rolling, wooded countryside. Columbia is a planned community to the southwest, offering abundant residential space integrated with small suburban town centers, parks and commercial/industrial areas. Columbia's strategic location places it near the airport and commute lines heading south into the DC and Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick area. But many of these suburbs are so far out that commute distances are long and sprawl and growth issues are large even though the population isn't growing that fast.
The area is situated on the Chesapeake Bay in a largely level, open plain where several rivers converge to form the Patapsco Bay. The Appalachians rise about 50 miles to the west, beyond areas of modest hills and farmland. Baltimore sits between rigorous northern climates, mild southern ones, and moderating influences from the ocean to the east and the mountains to the west. The climate is changeable, but more moderate than inland locations at the same latitude. Summer brings warm, humid days. Winters are cold but tempered by the ocean and mountains. Snow does occur, but snowfall is generally light except during large spring storms. Some freezing rain and sleet occur each year. Summer precipitation is mainly showers and thunderstorms, and late season Atlantic hurricanes can bring heavy rains. First freeze is late October, last is mid-April.
As of 2014, Glen Arm (zip 21057)'s population is 3,993 people. Since 2000, it has had a population growth of 0.71 percent.
The median home cost in Glen Arm (zip 21057) is $419,100. Home appreciation the last year has been -0.60 percent.
Compared to the rest of the country, Glen Arm (zip 21057)'s cost of living is 48.30% Higher than the U.S. average.
Glen Arm (zip 21057) public schools spend $14,762 per student. The average school expenditure in the U.S. is $12,435. There are about 14.9 students per teacher in Glen Arm (zip 21057).
The unemployment rate in Glen Arm (zip 21057) is 5.60 percent(U.S. avg. is 6.30%). Recent job growth is Positive. Glen Arm (zip 21057) jobs have Increased by 0.71 percent.
Ranked #2 Best Cities for Teleworking - Large Metro AreasRanked #3 Most Energetic CitiesRanked #4 Most Irritation Prone CitiesRanked #4 Most Difficult Cities to NavigateRanked #5 Second Annual "America's Manliest Cities" RankingsSee More Rankings Click Here
Average Commute time is 33 minutes. The National Average is 25 minutes.
Glen Arm (zip 21057)'s Real Estate Market (click to see properties) • Newly Listed Homes • Most Expensive Listing • Million Dollar Houses • Homes from $750,001 to $1,000,000 • Homes from $500,001 to $750,000 • Homes from $250,000 to $500,000 • Homes under $250,000 • Median Priced Homes
We're looking for comments about Glen Arm. Express your opinion


text:
Blue Microphones Tiki USB22 January 2013
Everything about the Tiki is interesting. It's got an interesting name - a Tiki is Polynesian wood carving, and a Māori word for the first man. It looks interesting, a little bit like some sort of high-tech snail, and most importantly it aims to liven... >>


text:
Lunar ii
Overall Product Rating (5 out of 5)
1/7/2015 By Anonymous
My husband LOVES these shoes. He has been ordering this particular shoe for several years and will not wear anything different. The lightness of the shoe and the durability make it a wonderful fit.
How do you most use this product?: How do you most use this product?


text:
Right, you horrible lot. I'm off to Wincanton in a bit for the weekend.
So, please, continue to play nice and I will leave you in Tony's capable hands.
I have a 3g card with me - and if I find time I might even check the forum (but don't count on it) - there is drinking to be done.


text:
How does that old saying go? "Old Vette Rods never die . . . they get rebuilt into something faster, quicker, and cooler." That may have been made up as this story was written, but it definitely applies in the case of Tommy Vinciguerra's '61 Corvette-based Vette Rod.
Tommy bought this car back in 1977. Like many Vette Rods-to-be, it was in a far-from-drivable condition, but perfect to start working on. "I brought it home with a complete drivetrain, but I really couldn't afford it at the time," he recalls. "A friend wanted to buy the engine, tranny, and rear out of it, so I sold that to him. We'd bought the car together, so I wound up with the body and frame, and he wound up with the engine, transmission, and rearend." But Tommy did have a powertrain available. "I had a '55 Chevy at the time, and I sold that without the engine, transmission, and rearend, and I used those parts in my Corvette. It took just under a year to get it running."
Running, yes-but painted, no. "I drove it around a while in bare fiberglass," Tommy says about the '61's pre-paint colors. "We stripped it down in the front of my friend's shop, and we drove it around in bare fiberglass for four and a half years before I got it painted." A coat of black lacquer went on sometime in the '80s, followed in 1988 by the multi-colored lacquer graphics you see here.
Under the 'glass and lacquer, Tommy was keeping busy, too. He's a chassis builder by trade and the proprietor of SuperPro Performance Chassis in West Islip, New York, where a lot of this car's hand-fabricated pieces were manufactured, like its rollbar, fuel cell, underhood pulleys, and other one-off parts. He prepared the OEM '61 Vette frame for a later and stronger powertrain that included a Dana 60 rear axle. "I moved the rear framerails inboard 6 inches a side," he says of the foundation work he did out back. "That's because back in 1983 when it was done, there weren't very many aftermarket components for the 9-inch rear axle, and the Dana was the choice rearend at that time." He also installed ladder bars and Koni coilover shocks.
He kept the front suspension basically stock, and eventually a Jim Meyer front end went on in place of the well-worn OEM pieces, joined by a rack-and-pinion steering setup. Despite the changes, Tommy kept the engine mounted in the stock location rather than moving it rearward. "Those (C1) Corvettes are great with the engine set-back they have," he says. "It hooked up real well, and it did a nice wheelstand about 6 inches to a foot off the ground each time it left the line."
The engine seen here is a far cry from that small-block that Tommy swapped in from his old '55 years ago. Gary Sharky built the 355-cubic-incher at The Engine Shop in West Babylon, New York. Inside the bored 0.030-inch-over block went 12.5:1 TRW pistons, a stock steel crankshaft, and a Lunati roller camshaft. On it went ported cast-iron Chevy heads with Manley valves, Comp Cams double valvesprings and Crane lifters, plus an MSD crank-trigger ignition. Tommy crafted the electronic fuel injection system in his own shop out of an Edelbrock intake manifold, Enderle fuel injectors, and an Enderle "bug catcher" scoop. He turned to A.J. Berge of Massapequa, New York, to sort out the electronics and tune the engine. Without him, Tommy says, that EFI system running a "bug catcher" scoop would not run well.
Behind the small-block was a Muncie four-speed at first, later swapped for boxes with more gears in them. "I first got rid of the four-speed and put a five-speed in from Gforce," says Tommy. "Then, I took it out and put one of their six-speeds in. That made it a dual-purpose car-I could get on the highway at 2,400 rpm doing 77 miles an hour, with 4.10 gears in the back, too. It was faster in the first four gears with the T-56 than it was before with a Muncie and 5.38 gears in the back!"


text:
Since you clearly seem to think that you know better than the companies you slammed, I challenge you to release a game platform/service and do better than those companies have done. Competition within an industry usually leads to better products, so if you know better than Microsoft, Valve, EA, and Ubisoft, excellent! So please, show us what you can come up with and impress us! Eagerly looking forward to seeing what sort of design and service you will release.
In other words, you have nothing meaningful to contribute. Got it.
Any more issues from this topic and it will be closed.
Ridiculous that some of you can't discuss a simple topic without resorting to personal attacks.
I forgot it was a game related post ...


text:
In the 10 months since Okaloosa County discovered former tourism head Mark Bellinger's misuse of public funds, it has made major changes in how it approves expenditures of bed tax money.
The county has revised the ordinance that authorizes the Tourist Development Council and its use of bed tax revenue, adding more layers of control and tighter restrictions on spending.
Many of those changes also have affected the way county Clerk of Court Don Howard — who oversees the county's finance department — conducts business.
"This new policy is going to be much better, there's no question," Howard said. "I totally agree with it. … It's going to enhance the checks and balances and the internal controls."
No longer will Howard's office rely on the sole approval of the head of the Tourist Development Department as it did with Bellinger.
Bellinger operated with the unique authority to negotiate with vendors and determine what the costs of various expenditures would be. That autonomy allowed him to make purchases without supplying the clerk's office with supporting documents such as vendor receipts and other bills of sale.
"The former director had the authority to enter into those programs with the vendor and the authority to approve, which signified to us … that the goods and services on that invoice were delivered," Howard said. "That all has been changed with the new ordinance and policies."
Now Howard and his staff require extensive documentation of a negotiated price before a check is issued for the purchase. Any vendor making a purchase on behalf of the county also must have written authorization before the purchase is made.
"There's another step that's been added to it, which I think is really good, and that's task orders," Howard said. "If you've got promotion A, it will be authorized by a specific task order. It's going to be for this purpose … and cost this much. And that's the way the county works in other departments."
Howard said the new procedures mark a significant improvement from what was in place under Bellinger.
"I don't think there's any question … that the structure that existed at the time this problem occurred in the TDC was a bad structure," he said. "There was too much authority consolidated with one person. I'm glad to see the changes."
In recent weeks, Howard and other county officials have defended their handling of the TDC scandal before state legislators and residents. Many critics have called for the county to hold specific employees responsible for their roles in approving Bellinger's questionable purchases.
Howard said he has reviewed the county finance staff's actions and found no need to discipline anyone.
"I can find nothing that happened within the scope of our responsibility … that indicated someone was doing something improper or something they should not have done," he said.
Howard said there is "a very heightened awareness" among his staff to make sure everything they're doing is "in keeping with the new policies and procedures."


text:
No. I want to see her wrestle after actually learning how to wrestle. She's currently in FCW learning the ropes, and I want to see if she can improve from the last time I saw her wrestle before deciding if she should leave or not.
Want to join EWN's original e-fed? Join EWNCW NOW!Want details? Just ask me!
"Bring a knife to a fist fight, a gun to a knife fight, and a M134 to anything else."


text:
Fighting Back
- Police Identify Suspect, Victim Of Downtown Omni Hotel Shooting
- Uninvited Guest Surprises East Austin Homeowner
- FBI Issues July 4th Warning
- Buda Police Use Self-activating Body Cams
- Escaped Inmate Continues To Elude Police
- 2 Bodies Found At Home In Kyle Identified
- TSCO: Teen Raped At Neighborhood Pool in Manor
- Suspect In South Austin HEB Throat Slashing Now In Custody
- 3rd Person Linked To Dean Murder Investigation
- New Details In Slain Kyle Police Employee's Murder
- Documents: 2 Suspects Identified In Samantha Dean Murder
- EMS Responds To Dozens of Synthetic Marijuana Calls
- WilCo Judge Pleads Guilty To Firearms Violation, Lying To Federal Agent
- 1 Killed In NE Travis Co. Shooting
- Police Still Searching For Clues In Woman's Death
- Shoppers Shocked By Brutal Attack At South Austin HEB Parking Lot
- Twin Peaks Shooting May Have Started After Parking Lot Argument
- San Marcos Police Ask For Makeover For Military Vehicle
- UPDATE: Woman Hides In Garage As Suspected Burglars Break Into Her Home
- 170 Charged After Biker Gang Shootout In Waco
- New Intersections For Don't Block The Box Enforcement
- Local Bikers Blame Gang Label On A Few Members
- Fugitive Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Child
- Hutto Volleyball Coach Arrest Shocks Former Player's Mother
- Hutto PD: Volleyball Coach Sexually Assaulted Teen
- Round Rock Bank Jugging Victim Speaks Out
- Fugitive Wanted For Fatal Crash Arrested After 6 Years
- Supreme Court Rules Police Can't Extend Traffic Stops
- Leander Police BUSting Drivers Illegally Passing School Buses
- Austin School Bus Driver Fired In Child Sex Assault Case
- AISD: Camera Installed On School Bus After Sexual Assault Arrest
- Trial Date Set In Case Of Former APD Detective Charged With Manslaughter
- Austin Police Bust Marijuana Grow House In SW Austin
- Home Invasion, Sexual Assault Suspect Arrested
- UT Students Accused Of Making Hundreds Of Fake IDs
- Mother of Victim Fights for Improper Photography Bill
- Police Identify South Austin Murder Victim
- Police ID Houston Gang Burglarizing Austin Pharmacies
- UPDATE: Man Found Guilty Of Estranged Wife's Murder In 2010
- Man Accused Of Kidnapping In South Austin Home Invasion
- Testimony Continues In De La Cruz Murder Trial
- APD Chief Takes Stance Against Open Carry Amendment
- NW Austin Homeowner Tackles Bike Thief
- Documents: NE Austin Murder Suspect Had History Of Domestic Violence
- Escaped Inmate Now Faces Bank Robbery Charges
- Testimony Begins In Julie Ann Gonzalez Murder Trial
- Fugitives Sought After Escaping From Local Facility
- Austin Police Hunt For Source Of K2 Spike
- APD Enforces 'Don't Block The Box' Initiative
- Couple's Wedding Photos Stolen From Austin Dog Park
- Rutland Dr. Stabbing Shocks Neighbors
- Lone Star Fugitive Task Force Cracks Down On Crime In Small Towns
- IRS Issues Warning As Tax Deadline Approaches
- Family: Missing Parents Sold 5 Month-Old Boy
- Texas Inspector General's Office Burglarized
- TxState Students Watching Out For Flasher
- Video: How To Stay Alive In A Mass Shooting
- Police: Woman Threw Molotov Cocktail At Anti-Abortion Protesters Outside Of Planned Parenthood
- Pflugerville Man Charged With Child Pornography
- Austin Police See Increase In Craigslist Related Crimes
- Austin Couple Falls Prey To Warrant Scam
- Police Investigate Suspicious Death In Leander
- Williamson County Finds More Cars Going 100 MPH
- APD: Officers Find Meth Hidden In Car Battery
- APD Chief To SXSW Attendees: 'Do Not Use Drones In Our City'
- Texas Executes Gang Hit Man For Killing Woman Over Drug Tax
- Investigators: Nancy Khan Shot Her Husband 7 Times
- Warrant Round-Up Targeting Texans With Unpaid Tickets
- Police Combat Property Theft In 'Catch A Thief' Initiative
- New Scheme Targeting Texans Filing Their Tax Returns
- Officials: Transportation Of Liquid Meth On The Rise
- Samantha Dean's Parents Speak Out About Her Death
- Car Window Shattered By Air Pellet Gun On Local High School Campus
- Records: Nancy Khan Arrested For Assault Prior To Murder
- Austin Man Accused Of Giving Kindergartner Drugs
- SU Students Want To Change 'Rape Culture'
- Central Texas Rescue Crews Put To The Test
- APD: Houston Gang Targeting Central Texas Pharmacies For Pills
- Police Searching For South Austin Bank Robbery Suspect
- Big Changes Proposed To Texas 'Stand Your Ground' Law
- Woman Found Dead in Cedar Park Identified
- Reports of White Van Following Kids Leaves Parents on Edge
- APD Officer's Use Of Force Being Reviewed By Supervisor
- Hutto Teen Charged With Inappropriate Touching On School Bus
- SE Austin Residents Call For Property Improvements Following Murder
- Suspects Charged With String Of Burglaries in East Austin
- APD Chief Issues Statement On Murder Of Kyle PD Employee
- How SWAT Teams Cope with Multiple Standoff Calls
- Austin Home Invasion Suspect Arrested In California
- Helicopter Purposefully Drew Gunfire in Southwest Austin Standoff
- Man Shot By Sniper As He Shoots At APD Helicopter
- APD Explains Use Of Non-Lethal Force In East Austin SWAT Standoff
- Kyle Victim Services Coordinator Apparent Crime Victim
- APD: More Motorists Driving 'Hands-Free'
- APD Stands With Muslim Community Following Protest
- Some Steiner Ranch Residents Feel Targeted By Criminals
- APD Foils Robbery Connected To Human Trafficking
- APD: Man Caused Fire After Shooting Shotgun Inside Home
- APD Searching For Credit Union Robbery Suspects
- UPDATE: Police Investigating Credit Union Robbery In Central Austin
- East Austin Charter Bus Theft Ends In Stand-Off
- Residents Arm Against Burglars Following Elderly Couple's Murder
- Police Make Arrest In Murder of Central Austin Elderly Couple
- State Always Prepped For Cyber Attacks
- Austin Police Need Help Finding Woman's Killer
- U.S. Marshals Searching For Fugitive With Extensive Criminal Record
- Deputies: Former Leander ISD Teacher Targeted Sex Assault Victims On Twitter
- Local Utility Companies Warn Of Callers Asking For Money
- Theft Ring Busted But Bicycle Thefts Remain Big Problem
- APD: Landscaper Stole Elderly Woman's Car During Home Invasion
- Police Bust Statewide High-End Bicycle Theft Ring
- 2 Men In Jail In Connection With Murder Of Beloved Austin Choir Teacher
- String Of Armed Robberies Has Elgin On Edge
- Search On For Elgin 'Shotgun Robber'
- UPS Driver Helps Austin Police Catch Suspected Gift Burglar
- Neighbors Seek Closure One Week After Double Murder
- APD Getting Ready For Hands-Free Driving Ordinance
- 'Operation Winter Sweep' Targeting Central Texas Fugitives
- Doorstep Thieves Following Delivery Drivers
- 1 Person Dead After Overnight Stabbing
- Austin Police Investigate Another Possible Rock Throwing Incident
- APD: SE Austin Smoke Shop Suspected Source Of Contaminated K2
- Austin Has Rash Of Suspected Synthetic Drug Overdose
- Dog Finds Sex Offender's Skull In SE Austin Creek
- APD Warns Women About Knife-Wielding Robber
- Police Nab 33 Suspects In Downtown Austin Drug Sting
- San Marcos Police Increase Patrols Near Apartment Complex After Alleged Threats
- Fugitive Arrested In Western Travis Co.
- Austin Murder Victim's Friend Speaks Out
- Cedar Park Coach Charged With Indecency Of A Child
- RRPD: Alleged Credit Card Thieves Busted While Dumpster Diving
- Austin Hit By 3 Murders In As Many Days
- Man Killed In North Austin Shooting Identified
- APD Gearing Up for Big Crowds on Halloween
- Accused Serial Killer Assaulted Austin Woman
- APD Searching For Downtown Assault Suspects
- Police: Women Hit With Bottles Of Urine In West Campus
- WANTED: U.S. Marshals Cracking Down On Domestic Violence Offenders
- Man Who Lived Off Stolen Credit Card Info For Decades Could Be In Texas
- Eight Teens Arrested In Church Vandalism Case
- Central Texas Police Fear More Hash Oil Explosions
- Austin Girl Missing For 12 Years Found With Mom In Mexico
- Deputies Searching For 'Person Of Interest' In Kyle Stabbing Death
- UPDATE: Elderly Couple Targeted In Llano Home Invasion, Police Search For Suspect
- Search For Accused Attempted Kidnapper Expands To NE Austin
- Teen Drug Court Launches in WilCo
- San Marcos Smoke Shop Employee Shot During Robbery
- Woman Launches Online Petition To Change The Way Child Abuse Cases Are Investigated
- Fugitive May Pose As Home Health Worker
- Jogger Stabbed In SW Austin Greenbelt
- Crooks Targeting Cars Near Rainey Street
- Police Investigating Attempted Kidnapping At San Marcos Walmart
- Man Accused Of Trying To Kill APD Officer
- APD: Auto Thefts On The Rise
- Clue Could Link Accused 'Goldilocks Burglar' To More Crimes
- APD To Ticket Drivers Holding Cell Phones
- New Magistrate Center Proposed For North Austin
- APD Chief Defends Use Of Military Gear
- Family Pushes for Direct 911 Dialing from Hotels, Businesses
- Daycare Burglars Busted In Austin
- South Austin Stranger Spotted Again, Getting Bolder
- APD Investigate Robbery At HEB Store In North Austin
- Organized Crime Ring Targeting Austin Day Cares
- Fugitive Arrested In North Austin
- APD: Man Shoots Neighbor's Dog During Shooting Spree
- More Charges Filed Against Alleged Cedar Park Rapist
- Police Investigate After Rocks Thrown Onto IH-35
- Austin Police Department Cracking Down On Repeat Domestic Violence Offenders
- Fighting Back: Self Defense Tips
- Bike Stolen From Special Needs Austin Child
- Round Rock Police Searching For Attempted Sexual Assault Suspect
- Burglars Targeting Homeowners With High End Bikes While They Sleep
- San Marcos Fugitive Found In Houston
- 2 Charged In South Austin Shooting Death
- Austin Man Pleads Guilty To Aiding Terrorists
- Local Law Enforcement Reacts To Smartphone Warrant Ruling
- Austin Man Charged With Killing Mother-In-Law
- FBI: 3 Austin Children Rescued From Prostitution Ring
- More Charges Filed Against Former AISD Teacher
- KEYE TV Viewer Tip Leads To Arrest Of Local Fugitive
- Man Sentenced In Fatal Hit-and-Run Of Deaf Jogger
- Thief Steals Wedding Gifts While Couple Celebrates
- Sentencing Phase Begins In Deaf Jogger Fatal Hit-And-Run Trial
- APD: Sex Assault Victim Trusted Suspect
- Austin Head Shop Chain Implicated In Synthetic Marijuana Bust
- UPDATE: Deputies Capture Driftwood Murder Suspect
- Rashad Owens Makes Court Appearance For Fatal SXSW Crash
- APD: Child Sexually Assaulted On Hike And Bike Trail
- Woman Critically Injured in E. Austin Stabbing
- Rundberg Crime Complaints Continue Despite Initiative
- Bee Cave Car Break-Ins Have Florida Connection
- Parents Reminded To 'Take 25' To Prevent Child Abduction
- San Marcos Police Searching For Convenient Store Robbers
- Austin Fighting Back Against Crime By Transforming Alleys
- APD: Foreman With CHL Shoots Back At Disgruntled Former Worker
- WilCo launching 2014 Hot Check Roundup
- Austin Teen Victim Of 'Smack Cam' Fad
- 1 Dead, 2 Injured As Elgin Store Owner Foils Burglary
- APD Arrests Child Sexual Assault Suspect, Search For More Victims
- Questions Linger After Gun Found At Austin Middle School
- Recent Criminal Activity Has Police Monitoring Park In Leander
- Flood Of Sex Offender Notices Surprises NE Austin Neighborhood
- Austin Shooting Suspect Not In Custody
- Another Downtown Austin Beating Caught On Camera
- Sketch Released Of Westlake HS Robbery Suspect
- APD: Auto Thieves Targeting Fitness Centers
- Police Searching For NE Austin Car Theft Suspect
- Patrols Increased After Westlake HS Student Robbed
- Downtown Austin Shooting Suspect Arrested
- 3 Attacks Near UT Have Students Concerned
- Austin Police Discuss Possible Downtown Dangers
- Activists Speak Out On 'Knock And Announce' Polices In Texas
- 5 Suspects Identified In Downtown Beating Caught On Camera
- Former Firefighter Gets 60 Years For Lake Travis Murder
- Thefts Top Our Spot Crime Maps
- Fighting Back: Round Rock Neighborhood Starts Watch Program
- APD: Austin Axe Burglar Caught In New Mexico
- Registered Sex Offenders At Most Texas Universities
- Social Media No Substitute For Calling Police
- Adults Using Kids To Break Into Austin Homes
- Police Searching For NW Austin Robbery Spree Suspects
- Body Found On NE Austin Dirt Road Identified
- Man Shot In South Austin Dies 4 Days Later
- Austin Police Arrest Trio Suspected In 40 Business Break-Ins
- Hit and Run Suspect Sought
- Crooks Posting 'Selfies' With Stolen Cell Phones
- East Austin Business Owners Fighting Back Against Crime
- SW Austin Murder Victim Identified; Police Searching For Suspect
- Bastrop Co. Mailboxes Hit By Thieves
- Mailbox Bandits Targeting North Austin Neighborhood
- Cedar Park Police Search For Two Burglars
- Rash Of Robberies Put Central Texas Police On Alert
- APD Looking For Downtown Robbery Suspects
- Woman Beaten, Sexually Assaulted In San Marcos
- Round Rock Outlet Store Employee Accused of Videotaping Woman
- Male Exposing Himself Near Schools Sought
- Educators, Law Enforcement Prepare For School Shooters
- APD: Man Posed As Neighbors On Craigslist Sex Ads
- RRPD: Thieves Targeting Motorcycles
- Austin Burglar Uses Victim's Bathroom
- Austin Police: Girlfriend Kills Boyfriend In NW Austin
- Investigators Search For Elusive Central Texas Criminal
- Reward Increased For Missing Austin Sex Offender
- Police Searching For East Austin Robbery Suspect
- Thieves Targeting Round Rock Motorcycles
- Criminals Preying On Medicare Recipients In Central Texas
- Police Searching For "I'm Sorry Robber"
- Spot Crime Maps Show Positive Trends In Austin Crime
- UT Law Enforcement Tracking Crime As Students Move In
- APD: Man Strangled Downtown Austin Hotel Housekeeper
- Man Arrested For Round Rock Road Rage Incident
- Man Charged For Taco Stand Hit And Run
- APD: Man Thinks He Hears Wife Having Sex With Someone, Shoots Through Window
- 3 Arrested For Austin Robbery Spree
- Round Rock Woman Arrested For Robbery
- UT Police Gear Up To Prevent Bike Thefts
- Child Grazed By Bullet In North Austin
- Teen Shot In The Head In SE Austin
- Arrest Made In Downtown Austin Condo Murder
- APD: SWAT Call Suspect Turned In By Own Family
- APD: Man Burnt Police Horse With Lit Cigarette
- APD: Man Stole Purse From 3-year-old
- Man Charged In Rape Of 13-Year-Old Austin Girl
- Police Arrest Two Men In Pepper Spray Robberies
- Questions Linger After Foster Child Sexually Assaulted
- Burglars Breaking In Through Your Balcony
- APD: Murder Recorded On Surveillance Video
- 2 Arrested, More Sought Over Austin Teen Gang Rape
- Crooks Cashing Canceled Checks
- UPS Driver Helps Nab Burglary Suspect
- Ex-Husband Arrested For South Austin Woman's Murder
- Crooks Stealing Your Car And Credit Cards
- Homeless Camps Lurking In Austin Parks
- APD: Wanted Man Turns Self In To Downtown Concierge
- APD: Dad Driving Drunk With Kids
- Criminals Casing Your Mailbox For Checks
- Man Gets Ticket, Head-Butt From Parking Enforcement Officer
- APD: People Targeted After Downtown Bars Close
- APD: Stolen Drum Set Discovered On Instagram
- South Austin Residents Petition For Safer Streets
- Fewer Central Texas Hospitals Capable Of Conducting Forensic Rape Exams
- APD Searching For 2 West Campus Sex Assault Suspects
- AG: Suspects Solicited Minors For Sex Online
- Suspected Child Sex Predators Busted In Central Texas
- Man Hopes Sign Will Help Recover Stolen Goods
- Teen Helps Track Down Suspected Carjacker
- APD: Crooks Targeting Your Pricy Vacuum Cleaner
- Elderly Man Attacked In Marble Falls
- Vandals Smash Windows In Georgetown
- Vandalism Spree May Include Round Rock
- Drugged Driving Cases Up In Central Texas
- Smartphones Help Ticket Drivers
- Austin Neighborhood Uses Street Art To Slow Drivers
- APD Conducts Follow Up Smoke Shop Inspection
- Manhole Covers Being Stolen For Cash
- Are CHL Holders More Or Less Likely To Commit A Crime?
- Southeast Austin Fighting Back Against Smoke Shops
- New Austin Homeless Center Not Getting a Warm Welcome
- WilCo Senior Citizens Fight Back With Law Enforcement
FBI: 3 Austin Children Rescued From Prostitution Ring
Updated: Monday, June 23 2014, 06:32 PM CDT
It's called Operation Cross Country VII. The goal of the operation was to rescue victims of child sex trafficking and put the pimps behind bars.
During the four day sting operation, FBI along with local law enforcement recovered 167 children and arrested more than 280 pimps in 106 different cities across the county.
"I think it's an indicator that the crime problem continues to increase and that's consistent with the numbers we are finding throughout the nation," San Antonio FBI Special Agent Media Coordinator Michelle Lee said.
SIx of the children rescued were found in Central Texas, three from Austin and three from San Antonio.
As for arrests, three pimps were arrested in Austin and one in San Antonio.
"I don't think any of us can imagine the lives that some of these children are exposed too and I can tell you one victim is too many," APD Assistant Police Chief Troy Gay said.
FBI agents say they targeted specific areas like roadside motels, known for sex trafficking.
"The operation nationally targeted venues such as street tracks, truck stops, motels, casinos, internet web sites, and social media platforms used to facilitate child prostitution," Austin FBI Special Agent Daniel Powers said.
The children rescued were all under the age of 17 and are receiving counseling and help finding a safe place to live, officials say.
Crime Prevention / Important Links
National Crime Prevention Council
Texas Crime Prevention Assn
University of Texas
Texas Sex Offender Database
Area Law Enforcement Agencies
Bastrop County
Bastrop County Sheriff
Hays County
San Marcos
Hays Co. Sheriff's Office
Travis County
• File an incident report
• APD Incident Reports Database
• APD Programs
• Neighborhood liaison
• Crime Prevention
• Crime Investigations
Lago Vista
Lago Vista
Travis Co. Sheriff's Office
• File an incident report
Williamson County
Round Rock
• Crime reports
• Crime Prevention
• Victim Services
• File an incident report
• Frequently Asked Questions
Cedar Park
• Reports
• Services