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When, at the close of the eighteenth century, Gibbon wrote his history of the Roman empire, he was constrained by popular prejudice in favor of the faith to take Christianity as a going affair, without attempting any inquiry into its origins. It was as radical a task as he could undertake to endeavor to show that the spread of the creed throughout the empire in the first four centuries of its history had been a consequence of natural rather than supernatural forces. In no small measure because of his labors the historians who followed him were under less restraint, but until the middle of the nineteenth century it was still generally held by Christians that the Testaments were 'inspired' and literally true to the letter of the word. But as a result of the accumulated force of a hundred years of textual and archaeological studies, by the last half of the century faith in the miraculous element was generally abandoned, so that of the gospel stories there remained with the appearance of historical certitude only the belief that about the beginning of the Christian Era a Jewish teacher by the name of Jesus was baptized by John and, when the latter was imprisoned, took up preaching, his message being that the Kingdom of God was near at hand and that the Jews -- not the gentiles, for that was Paul's distinctive contribution -- could be saved by repentance and baptism. He came into conflict with Jewish or Roman law and was crucified, and was possibly mocked by the Roman soldiers. Through certain of his apostles his message was conveyed to the visionary Paul, who discovered in the crucifixion a piacular sacrifice for the redemption of all mankind.
However, in the nineteenth century, it became increasingly clear that none of the teachings could with absolute certainty be ascribed to a real Jesus, and fewer still of the biographical details. The deletion of unacceptable supernatural features from the gospels had reduced the core of acceptable tradition concerning Jesus's life to almost negligible proportions. The first systematic analysis in English of the gospels as historical documents was C. C. Hennell's An Inquiry Concerning the Origin of Christianity (1838). It was, however, the scholarly work of David Strauss (1808-1874), notably his Leben Jesu (1835), which dealt the literal interpretation of the gospels its severest blow. These documents, in Strauss's view, should not be looked upon as historic accounts but as expressing ideas by means of images and symbols, or, as Strauss said, by myths. In emphasizing the purely ideological character of the Gospel of John and the literary nature of the Jesus therein described, he cast suspicion on the other three gospels. Strauss was an acknowledged biblical scholar and exegete, and his work marks on the one hand the definitive beginning of modern criticism of the New Testament, while on the other it portends, without itself initiating, the attack upon the historicity of the Jesus of Mark, Matthew and Luke.
Strauss paved the way for Bruno Bauer, a German theologian and historian, who in a number of volumes published between 1840 and 1874 and dealing with the synoptic gospels and Pauline epistles arrived at the conviction that Jesus was a literary invention of the author of Mark, who had in his gospel epitomized, as it were, the newly born Christianity. By the end of the century the ferment of skepticism had penetrated further into the liberal interpretation, and in the first three decades of the present century numerous writers abandoned historicity entirely in favor of one or another legendary interpretation, or had retreated to what has been called the 'minimalist position' because they accept that an authentic character (who was possibly named Jesus) played a role in the initiation of the Christian movement, though little or nothing reliable can be asserted about his life or death. Renan's highly popular Vie de Jésus (1863) was an intuitional romance, written after this biblical scholar had come to realize that any historical approach to the man Jesus was impossible, and after Renan it was recognized that all efforts to reconstruct a 'life' must belong strictly to the romantic field.
The conjecture that Jesus may have been the victim of a ritual murder at an annual celebration of the rite of the mock king was considered by Frazer, and the modern historian Toynbee notes that the suggestion is not impugned, but is rather fortified, by the fact that Jesus was condemned to death on religious and political grounds and therefore may have been given to the mob by Pilate as a substitute. The name of Barabbas, whom Pilate offered as an alternative to Jesus, is particularly significant in this connection. Frazer believed that Barabbas (son of the father) was not a personal name but a title applied to the condemned criminal selected to play the role of the 'Son of the Father' in the mock king sacrifice. According to Philo, Carabas, which is neither a Greek nor Hebrew nor Aramaic word and which Frazer believed to be a corruption of Barabbas, was the name of a harmless lunatic who was paraded in contempt of Agrippa, as mock king in Alexandria in the year 38. Reinach pointed out that in the Armenian, Syriac and some of the cursive Greek versions of the scene before Pilate 'Jesus Barabbas' appears instead of 'Barabbas', which reading, if not a corruption, implies that Jesus was condemned to be put to death as 'the Barabbas' without any question of substitution for another prisoner. Critics have been strongly adverse to the theory of an authentic mock king sacrifice on the grounds of the improbability that such a sacrifice among Jews or others would be permitted by the Roman government at this late date. It seems to be historically certain, however, that Dasius was beheaded for refusing to play the fatal role of the mock king in a Roman garrison on a remote frontier of Empire at the much later date of 303. Alternatively, Toynbee leans to the view that the mock king ritual may have been superimposed upon Jesus's death by the Roman soldiers as a burlesque; but as between this possibility and the possibilities that, at one extreme, Jesus was literally the victim of a ritual murder or, at the other extreme, that the ritual attached itself as myth to some ordinary Roman crucifixion, he states, 'the problem is not a simple one; and in the present state of our knowledge it would be rash to attempt to decide between the several alternative possible solutions of it ... we may be content with a general conclusion ... [that] ritual, as well as myth, is in all probability one of the common sources from which identical elements have flowed, along separate channels of "folk-memory," into the story of Jesus on the one hand and the stories of our pagan historical heroes on the other.'
Notable among the proponents of a purely legendary origin are Robertson and Couchoud, who have dealt, respectively, with the mythological elements in the 'Life' and the history of the development of the gospel texts themselves. In Robertson's view, the gospel story of the Last Supper, Passion, Betrayal, Trial, Crucifixion and Resurrection was originally a transcript of a mystery drama of a kind that had long been familiar to the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Greek-speaking peoples of Asia Minor, a drama symbolizing the primitive rite of human sacrifice and resembling the mock king sacrifice of Attis and other Mediterranean gods. In its oldest and least sophisticated form, as discoverable in Mark, there is simply a presentation of certain events which are huddled one upon another as must be the case in any sequence intended to be enacted: the scene shifts rapidly from the Last Supper to the Mount of Olives, thence to Gethsemane; Jesus prays while all his disciples sleep and no one (except, of course, the audience) is present to hear his words; Judas enters and identifies him to the soldiers, and Jesus is taken to the house of the high priest where he is examined in the middle of the night. False witnesses are procured, Jesus is questioned, buffeted and presumably led away; and Peter, remaining on the scene, denies his lord and is convicted of treason by the crowing of the cock. Morning comes, and Jesus is led before Pilate, condemned and crucified. Perhaps in an epilogue the women came and discovered the empty sepulcher, and Jesus reappeared and addressed them briefly. Apart from the resurrection, the entire drama transpires in the twenty-four hours classically prescribed for dramatic action, with only such dialogue as is absolutely necessary; there is no description, no analysis, no finespun interpretation as would be expected in a narrative. Constructed for dramatic presentation only, the original script, as indeed the ultimate presentation in the gospels, contained little beyond the lines which actors must read or speak upon the stage.
Complementing Robertson's view of the unhistorical character of Jesus are the studies of Couchoud who has attempted to reconstruct the development of the messianic doctrine from its inception in Daniel and Enoch to its final product in the Gospel of Luke. The Book of Enoch and its doctrine of the advent of the Heavenly Man, whom it erroneously identified with Isaiah's 'anointed one,' or christos, must have been well known, Couchoud argues, in the early part of the first century, and it is presumed that John the Baptist was one of those who esteemed its prophetic verity. John, fearlessly facing the prohibition against prophecy, declared 'Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand .... And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees,' and in the living waters which flowed down Jordan he baptized repentant believers by completely immersing them, thus permitting them to await without apprehension the coming Judgment. Those who were baptized were set aside from all mankind, fasting and praying while waiting for the Day; holding themselves elect in divine grace, they kept aloof from Pharisee and Sadducee and disdained the fiddling rites prescribed by the ancient Law.
The doctrine of a universal cataclysm and the expectation of the coming of the Heavenly Man continued to spread. In the Book of Enoch the Son of Man had been given a secret name by God when the deity had called him from his eternal dwelling place to send him on his mission; pseudo-Enoch had not revealed this secret name, but a careful scrutiny of the scriptures succeeded in bringing it to light: it was Joshua, which means 'Yahweh saves.' Hence Joshua in Hebrew, Iesous in Greek, Jesus in Latin, became the personal name of the Heavenly Man, the christos, who was to be the supernatural judge and princely vicegerent in the coming Kingdom of God. In this name the Christiani could drive away demons, trample on serpents and scorpions and heal the sick, and even unbelievers were known to use it for purposes of exorcism with success.
When Barnabas brought to Antioch the little but fiery and proud Paul who had but recently been 'converted,' there came into the movement a new driving force. It was Paul who added the cross to the messianic doctrine, getting the idea from a passage in Psalms which describes the sufferings of a sick man who thought himself a prey to demon tortures: 'They pierced my hands and my feet,' and 'They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.' These expressions conjured up in Paul's mind the Roman method of execution by 'hanging a man to a tree,' and the disposal of the garments of the victim; they gave new meaning to the hitherto vague description of Isaiah's 'man of sorrows.' So Paul preached that the 'Messiah' had already suffered death in the familiar Roman manner. Here he met with vigorous opposition: crucifixion was not a form of sacrifice, for which purpose it would be ineffective since no blood was spilled; on the contrary it was the most humiliating death penalty, and it was condemned by the Deuteronomist who had said that he 'that is hanged [upon a tree] is accursed of God.' Paul replied in effect that not only the words of the Deuteronomist but all the Mosaic Law had been blotted out by the sacrificial crucifixion of the anointed one: he forged from the accursed crucifixion a new and powerful weapon against the orthodox Hebrews who scoffed at his messianic belief and who would preserve the Law at all costs. And to the gentiles who scorned a god who had died in this humiliating manner, he replied that he himself was a 'crucified,' he had a 'thorn in the flesh,' he died daily to bring them the divine message; how much greater then was the crucifixion of the Heavenly Man himself? Projecting his tortured life onto the divine plane, Paul gloried in the death not as a mortal but as a supernal agony; as the mystic rite of baptism united the believer with the Christos, so the crucifixion of the Christos, who was identical with God, was a mystic source of salvation compared with which the sacrifice of an individual was nothing.
Then, in the Apocalypse of John (ca. A.D. 65), Paul's atoning sacrifice was developed into a pageant of glory patterned after the Attisian Mysteries wherein the god dies to ascend from death as a piacular sacrifice. John rudely drops Paul's crucifixion out of the picture as a clumsy device; to him the Heavenly Man is a god-hero of a divine epic; he is yet to come and he has as yet nothing to do with the earth or with its history. When he appears he will last a thousand years and will leap down from heaven on a snowy horse and draped in a cloak red with dripping blood. As with Paul, so with John, God and Jesus are one person, grammatically and otherwise, but apart from this point the beliefs of the two writers are incompatible.
As the ekklesia continued to exchange letters communicating the latest revelations, or a new liturgic prayer, an ambitious author could gain attention merely by prefacing an epistle with a few suggestive lines giving it the pretense of having been written by one of the early apostles. Thus according to the needs of the moment there appeared an 'epistle of James,' three of 'John,' two of 'Peter,' one of 'Jude,' and several of 'Paul,' to mention only those which are generally accepted. Ultimately the question of which of these numerous documents were to be accepted and which rejected became a trying issue, and it was in such a crisis that the faith encountered its first major division of belief over the teachings of Marcion, a shipmaster of Pontus, who held firmly to Paul's mystical crucifixion. It was Marcion, obversely through the resistance aroused by his beliefs, who was destined to forge the major elements of the Christian creed.
Marcion had sought out all that remained of the Pauline epistles, edited them with such interpolations and emendations as he thought needful, and presented them in a compact work, the Apostolikon, which was distributed to all the churches. He probably also wrote a life of Paul, and he certainly prepared a gospel which is now lost, but which has been almost completely reconstructed from quotations in Tertullian, Epiphanius, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Clement, Origen and other early writers. Strongly anti-Jewish, he differed from the Roman churchmen in holding that Christianity was a new religion which had been revealed all at once to Paul; the crucified Christ had nothing in common with the Jewish messiah, and the Father of Christ was a good God, a God of love, who had nought to do with the sanguinary, wrathful and jealous Yahweh of the Jews. Marcion cast aside the Old Testament as an uninspired and superstitious Jewish document and would have relegated Yahweh to the subordinate position of a demiurge.
The most novel feature of Marcion's teaching was contained in the opening sentence of his gospel: 'Now, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, Jesus, the Son of God, came down from heaven and appeared at Capernaum, a town in Galilee.' Here, for the first time, is recorded a specific date for Jesus's appearance on earth, but Marcion's Jesus was not truly of the flesh, but a spiritual apparition who appeared suddenly as an adult and had only the semblance of a man.
The belief that Jesus had actually (or seemingly) appeared on earth, at a relatively recent time, and had actually (or seemingly) been crucified, was possibly one which was prevalent in the Asiatic provinces where Marcion lived. The Roman Christians, to judge from the writings of Hermas, apparently never entertained such a notion. However Marcion had come upon the idea, the reference to the erection of Paul's Cross on earth in the historic time of Pilate strongly fortified the whole Christian argument. All the churches were prepared to accept without debate Marcion's introductory assertion concerning the historicity of Jesus's crucifixion and its date; otherwise, they rejected his beliefs and revised his gospel according to their local preferences, the product which received favor in Rome appearing about 135 under the name of Mark. Mark still has the adult Jesus appear suddenly on earth at the beginning of his ministry, but he no longer functions in a purely mystical manner as does Marcion's Jesus: he uses his spittle to cure a blind man, puts his fingers into ear holes, touches tongues, lays on hands, looks up to heaven, heaves, sighs and utters abracadabra in the manner of all professional exorcists.
In Asia Minor about 140, a Christian scribe, who was a converted rabbi, and wrote under the name of a legendary 'Matthew,' noted how much of Marcion's gospel had been omitted from Mark's account, and disliking Marcion's anti-Yahwism, rearranged the material in such a manner as to controvert Marcion and yet make Jesus a Jew. He set out to show that Jesus was the Messiah, the Prince of Yahweh who had been promised by the prophets of Israel, and to accomplish this he pieced together a pseudobiographical story in which every syllable of prophecy in the Old Testament was fulfilled in Jesus's life, inventing to this end Jesus's miracles, his intentional obscurity, the obtuseness of his hearers, his employment of parables, his entry into Jerusalem, his betrayal, desertion and arrest, even the use made of the price of his betrayal. One obstacle only presented difficulty: the Messiah must, in accordance with the Old Testament, be a son of David, but he must also be divine in order to conform with the Pauline doctrine. In no way daunted, Matthew began his gospel with a human genealogy which ended: 'And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ ... Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.' Thus, by genealogy and immaculate conception was the messianic identity of Jesus proved.
At Ephesus in Grecian Asia, a second recension of the Markian document appeared under the name of John, being completed before 145. In this, the confused notions of the prophet of that name who had written the incomprehensible apocalypse called Revelation were preserved by making Jesus the embodiment in the flesh of the Word of God, thus satisfying the oriental adoration of the mystic Word.
When, in the reign of the Emperor Antonius Pius, the Roman church cut away from Judaism completely and set out for itself, it was prepared to take the Old Testament with it, contrary to Marcion whom it had condemned chiefly because he denied the flesh-and-blood nature of Jesus. The new literature was reconciled with the old scriptures by maintaining that God had first made a covenant with one people, the Jews, and now he would make a covenant with another people, the Christians; there were then to be two Covenants, an Old and a New, or as the Latin had it, two Testaments. An official selection of literature, however, was now imperative in order both to codify belief and to bring to the notice of the rulers, the literati and sympathizers generally the story of the new faith. The most convincing approach and the only one which would refute Marcion's apparitional Jesus would be to treat him, as Matthew had done, as a historic person fulfilling the messianic prophecies, instead of as a spirit who had put on the semblance of flesh; while the best political maneuver would be to endow the messianic man with all the magic powers attributed to him by Mark, the speaker for the powerful Roman church. Indeed, it appears to have been a Roman in the person of Clement, who was then a sort of general church secretary, who compiled a biography for distribution to all the churches which included a new and 'orderly' gospel of his own. This was concluded about the year 142 and either at this time or later was attributed pseudepigraphically to the Luke who in tradition had been Paul's comrade. Thus by virtue of Luke's name and Clement's finely spun detail, the Roman gospel acquired authoritative force.
In brief, in Couchoud's view, sectarian Jews took the messianic Heavenly Man from Enoch and endowed him with the attributes both of an uncreated god and of a man of flesh who suffered a piacular death. It was Paul who first conceived the death to be as a crucifixion; it was Marcion who first treated the crucifixion as a historic event and, possibly following a popular pagan notion, set the date as under Pontius Pilate; it was the Syrian author of Matthew, anxious to combat the 'apparitional' Jesus and the anti-Jewish prejudices espoused by Marcion, who gave Jesus a Jewish human mother and identified him with the Messiah of Israel; while it was the Ephesian author of John who made him the embodiment in the flesh of the Word of God. It remained only for Clement, the Roman author of Luke, to write a pseudo biography of a human Jesus divinely born in Nazareth as a subject of Augustus and numbered in the census of Quirinus.
When Plutarch, the pagan apologist, was called upon to consider the theory that Osiris had been a general or other famous personage around whom there had grown a great mass of legends, he replied that to accept this explanation 'would be to shake and loosen a worship and faith which have been firmly settled in nearly all mankind from their infancy. It would be to open a wide door to atheism to enter in at, and to encourage the attempts of those who would humanize the divine nature.' It is in a similar vein that a recent critic of those who would question the historicity of Jesus has replied, 'The strongest and most irrefragable evidence of all is provided by the existence and history of the Christian Church. If the "Christ-Myth" theory is true, and if Jesus never lived, the whole civilized world has for close upon two thousand years lain under the spell of a lie, and the greatest power for good that the world has ever known originated in a delusion.'
The historicity of Osiris is no longer for anyone a vital question. In proportion as critical examination of the evidence for the historicity of Jesus reduces this evidence to a smaller and less certain residue, so in the nature of the problem and in the progress of world thought does the importance of the question itself recede toward the dimensions of academic interest. A proponent of historicity has remarked of the radical critics that it is the most difficult task in the world to prove to nonsense that it is nonsense. But that is a dangerous rapier since it is pointed at both ends and Christian theology now stands revealed as having been excessively vulnerable for nineteen centuries. The ultimate answer to the question of historicity will be found not in sentiment or prejudice, or on the apologetic grounds which Plutarch states, but through the careful and dispassionate evaluation of the social and ideological forces of the first century, as opposed to the obscurely complex biblical texts. The answer will continue to be sought by all historians, Christian and otherwise, who are anxious to guard against an error that would be contrary to the first principles of their task.
In so far as Christianity originated as a movement to temper Judaic legalism, it proved ineffective against the immutability of the parent faith. He who was 'unto Jews a stumblingblock and unto the Greeks foolishness,' had come and gone, and Israel, far from having profited by his advent, was wholly destroyed (or so it seemed after the Romans had demolished Jerusalem). The new religion had quietly borrowed from Judaism the history and morality of the Old Testament and many of the precepts of the Mishna; it had appropriated Yahweh, altering him from a god of righteousness and of the Jews to a god of goodness who was equally a god of gentiles; and it had seen the messianic hope fulfilled. The Jews, however, were not disposed, either by the vicissitudes of their national history or by their immediate circumstances, to permit Yahweh to indulge in sentimental goodness or to love the gentiles, and because he failed to make of them 'a great nation,' they rejected Jesus as the true Messiah. The orthodox looked upon the cult as another 'backsliding,' another 'whoring after new gods,' and the Judaism which had engendered it denied it utterly.
Because they were scoffed at by the Jews, the Christians made it appear that it had been the Jews and Herod Antipas, the Jewish tetrarch, who had tried Jesus and condemned him, and who had urged Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, to crucify him, Pilate carefully washing his hands of the whole affair. From the Gospel of Mark, through Matthew, John and Luke, into that called of Peter, a veritable crescendo of animus is spun against Herod and the Jewish mob. In the so-called Gospel of Peter, written about A.D. 150, it is related, 'But of the Jews not one washed his hands, neither Herod nor any one of his judges. And as they would not wash themselves, Pilate stood up. And then Herod the king bade the Lord to be brought along, and said to them: "Whatsoever I have ordered you to do, that do unto him."' The Christians dared not lay the blame for Jesus's death on a powerful Roman official and they cleared the Roman governor completely. But they ran no risk in heaping contumely on the scattered and powerless people who had disowned them.
Between its inception and its final establishment the syncretic growth of Christianity was so much in evidence that its sponsors were frequently hard pressed to explain the parallels between its doctrines and rituals and those of the pagans, especially the Mithraists. The Mithraic priests baptized that god's devotees with holy water, signed them on their foreheads, transferred the holy spirit to them by the 'laying on of hands' and exorcised devils by holding two or more fingers directed towards the suppliant. The apocalyptic phrase about garments 'washed in the blood of the Lamb' conjoins the Mithraic taurobolium and the Passover sacrifice, while the abstinence of Lent was paralleled by periods of forbearance in all the purificatory cults. The candle, the smoke of incense, the amulet and the chanted incantation served to purify and protect the Christians as effectively as they served the Mithraists, or indeed, as they served the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians and most of the peoples of the Mediterranean world. These similarities, according to Justin Martyr and Tertullian, were due to the wicked devil anticipating and imitating Christianity, and the same argument was used by Fermicus to explain the parallel between the crucified Jesus and the Attisian image of a young man fastened to a tree.
The cross, the pine tree of Adonis and the crux ansata of the Egyptians were carved upon the grave to ward off evil demons and the manual sign was freely used to protect the living against misfortune and disease. Tertullian reports that, 'At every step, at ever movement, at every coming in and going out, in putting on our clothes and our shoes, in the bath, at table in the evening, lying down or sitting, whatever attitude we assume, we mark our foreheads with a little sign of the cross.' Shortly images of the cross were working miracles and in later centuries people went to the length of marking cattle with it to protect them from disease.
The Egyptian belief in the magic power of a god's secret name, so well exemplified in the legend of Ra and Isis, had probably inspired the Israelites with that people's excessive reverence for the name of Yahweh, an epithet which was never to be pronounced except by a holy priest. The force of this tradition on the Judaic side, combined with the reverence still accorded sacred names in Alexandria and in all the Roman temples of Isis and Serapis, enabled the Pauline doctrine to propound that when Jesus was risen from the dead and made to sit on the right hand of God, God exalted him highly, and gave unto him 'a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth.' This meant angels and devils and demons of every sort, and the 'name' in question was Christ, which exalted its owner to the summit and sovereignty of all the angelic and demonic creations. 'In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.' When Peter made a lame man walk, it was by faith in this powerful 'name'; and it was the 'name,' qua name, which was later used to exorcise evil spirits from the altar, shrine or any building, from holy oil, water, salt, candles and even hassocks, or from humans sick in consequence of being possessed by devils. The formula 'in the name of Jesus,' or 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost' became a supernatural implement equaling in potency any Egyptian incantation.
At first, still or stagnant water was not used for baptism and exorcism, it being held that it was inefficacious unless it could run off the body and carry with it the physical contamination; but by an edict of the Emperor Gratian in the fourth century, holy water was prepared from still water by having the priest bless it, exorcise it, sprinkle it with exorcised salt and endow it with the holy name. Tertullian said that such holy water when properly consecrated by a Christian priest could wash away the stains of transgression, which he believed to be like material dirt, whereas the so-called 'holy waters' of the rival pagan cults, and those taken from 'darkling springs and lonely rivers,' being tenanted by the devil who had set out to imitate God, were worse than inefficacious.
In the worship of Osiris grain or cakes made from grain had been identified with the body of the god and when eaten ritually the meal was considered to possess mystic virtues. That such an identification was widely recognized in Roman times is certain from Cicero's rhetorical question about the corn of Ceres and the wine of Bacchus; a eucharistic meal of sorts may reasonably be attributed to the worshipers of Demeter and Dionysus, and there can be no doubt about such a meal in the cults of Attis and Mithra. The substance of the sacramental meal, known to the pagans as the hostia (victim), was taken over by the Pauline Christians in the vegetarian form: 'Take, eat, this is my body ... this is my blood.' 'Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.' The nature of the Eucharist was clearly indicated in the gospels, since Jesus at the Last Supper gave his companions bread to eat and wine to drink as symbols of his own flesh and blood. A later writer, speaking of the Mithraic sacrament, which by Mithra's worshipers was believed to impart eternal life, said, 'thou hast eaten poison and drunk the cup of death; only the Christian Eucharist confers immortality.' Ignatius, who called the Eucharist the 'medicine of immortality,' complained of those 'who abstain from the Eucharist and the prayers, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour, Jesus Christ'; while Justin Martyr asserted, 'We do not hold these as common bread and drink, but, just as our Saviour Christ was incarnate by the action of the divine Logos, from flesh and blood of salvation, so we maintain that the [consecrated] food ... is the flesh and blood of Jesus incarnate.' In the ninth century Hincmar of Reims affirmed that God permitted the sacramental bread to continue to look like bread, knowing how dreadful it would be for a communicant if the red and bloody flesh were to become visible. The question whether the Eucharist was Jesus's flesh and blood in fact, or only after a manner, remained to be bitterly debated long after the Reformation.
Where the pagans celebrated their animal sacrifices at frequent intervals, the Christians dramatized the crucifixion in the form of the 'mass,' which word in the Latin missa was possibly derived from the Mithraic sacred cake, or mizd. The slaughter of an ox or ram or pig was more or less a matter of daily experience, whereas symbolic human sacrifice, when coupled with the sacramental meal, the 'drug of immortality,' served to evoke that emotional state which seemed more appropriate to the approaching Day of Judgment.
As with most deities in the Northern Hemisphere, the death and resurrection of Jesus was placed as near as possible to the spring equinox, while in accordance with Babylonian-Mithraic custom it was put after the full moon. (The name Easter comes from Eostre (Ostâra) an Anglo-Saxon goddess of the spring, and was not used until the Middle Ages.) The Christians at first observed the Jewish Sabbath as a holy day, but they later changed their weekly meeting to Sunday to spite the Jews and to please the Mithraists, the first day of the week having been the sun god's day in both Egyptian and Mithraic lore. About the year 354, the birthday of Jesus was set at the winter solstice, the time at which all the sun gods from Osiris to Jupiter and Mithra had celebrated theirs, the celebration being adorned with the pine tree of Adonis, the holly of Saturn, and the mistletoe, the yellow leaves of which gave the name to Frazer's classic, The Golden Bough, which describes the cult of Diana-Artemis at Aricia. Gifts of lighted tapers and of human dolls had long been exchanged at the winter revel of the Saturnalia. The tapers represented the kindling of the newborn sun god's fire. That the first doll was a device of malignant magic is a priori scarcely to be denied, but Varro, a Roman historian of the first century B.C., attests that the dolls of the Saturnalia were symbols of commuted human sacrifices.
For the masses of the Roman Empire the miraculous was a commonplace, and the popular healing divinities -- Isis, Imhotep and Serapis of the Nile, Ishtar and Marduk of Babylonia, Astarte of Syria, the great Asklepios of Greece and others who were equated with him, healed as frequently by personal intervention as by the iatromagic of roots, herbs, diets, baths and unguents. Of Dionysus, Aristides said, "Nothing, it would seem, shall be so firmly bound, either by disease, or rage, or by any fortune, that Dionysus shall not be able to loose it." Had the new faith discouraged the miraculous it would have been incomprehensible to the people it sought to proselytize. Yet in respect to the nature of the miracles performed there was scant originality, for they imitated either the prophets or the pagan gods: Jesus turned water into wine, as did Dionysus on January sixth of every year; and multiplied loaves of bread, as did Elisha. He walked on water like Orion, Poseidon's son. He raised men from the dead, as did Elijah and Elisha -- this feat had once been so common that Aristophanes in The Frogs (ca. 405 B.C.) made Dionysus say of Hermes and of Hermes's father, that performing resurrections was a family profession. He gave sight to the blind by application of his spittle, the remedy which Thoth had used to restore the eye of Horus, and one which was used all around the Mediterranean by medicine men and had even been used successfully and to his great fame by the Emperor Vespasian -- only Jesus asserts that the man he treated had been born blind merely in order that his (Jesus's) own power could be exhibited, 'the works of God made manifest.' He healed the leper, the lunatic, the deaf and dumb, as did Asklepios. He exorcised demons, read men's minds and foretold the future as did all the wonder-working men of the time. The Pauline Epistles make no mention of Jesus's miraculous power, and had these miracles been known to Paul it is inconceivable that all mention of them would have been omitted. The miraculous element was interpolated partly to convince the pagans, partly in the effort to convince the Jews that Jesus was the true Messiah, and partly by the sheer credulity of the Christian mind. In the fourth century multiplication of miracles worked by martyrs was so rapid that it drew the emphatic disapproval of conservative churchmen, yet it bespoke the general ecclesiastic conviction that miracles need never end and could be multiplied as needed.
Among the factors contributing to the spread of Christianity not the least important was the social quality of the people to whom it offered its supernatural benefits. It numbered among its proselytes as many, if not more, women than men, and women were excluded from most of the privileges of Mithraism, its chief competitor. It openly appealed to the humble, the poor in spirit, slaves, paupers, freedmen, men of bad repute, all those whom other pagan sects with aristocratic tone engendered by age and experience were inclined to disdain. The pagans were quick to note this, and Celsus, about A.D. 180, jeered at the new cult for its extreme democracy: 'It is only the simpletons, the ignoble, the senseless, slaves and womenfolk and children whom they wish to persuade or can persuade.'
Celsus should not be quoted against the Christians without mention of the facts that the barbarians were making inroads on the northern frontier, the Parthians were pressing on the east and a great plague had ravaged Italy; in the face of possible invasion by ruthless hordes of white savages, the chronic resistance and disaffection of the Christians was threatening the unity of the empire, the sole hope of the civilized world. With the conservatism of a man of practical affairs, Celsus hoped to see the established order preserved and he believed that this could only be achieved by the subordination of particularism and personal salvation to the common weal. His judgment upon the Christians was further biased by the circumstance that his own thought was impregnated with the philosophy of Greece, his viewpoint akin to that of the Periclean Age; with the snobbishness of the Hellene he considered both the Jews and Christians to be half barbarous and lacking the true culture. But admitting the prejudice behind it, and granting that there were exceptions to which he did not admit, the picture which he drew of the early Christians was probably not greatly exaggerated.
'I speak bitterly about this,' he says, 'because I feel bitterly. When we are invited to the Mysteries the masters use another tone. They say, "Come to us ye who are of clean hands and pure speech, ye who are unstained by crime, who have a good conscience towards God, who have done justly and lived uprightly." But let us hear what sort these people [the Christians] invite; "whosoever is a sinner or unintelligent, or a fool, in a word, whosoever is god-forsaken, him the kingdom of God will receive." Now whom do you mean by the sinner but the wicked, thief, housebreaker, poisoner, temple robber, grave robber? Whom else would a brigand invite to join him? ... Jesus, they say, was sent to save sinners; was he not sent to help those who have kept themselves free from sin? They pretend that God will save the unjust man if he repents and humbles himself. The just man who has held steadily from the cradle in the ways of virtue he will not look upon.'
Celsus also had something to say on how the Christians set about getting converts: 'We see them in our houses, wool dressers, cobblers, and fullers, the most uneducated and vulgar persons, not daring to say a word in the presence of their masters who are older and wiser; but when they get hold of the children in private, and silly women with them, they are wonderfully eloquent -- to the effect that the children must not listen to their father, but believe them and be taught by them ... they must come with the women, and the little children that play with them, to the women's quarters, or the cobbler's shop, or the fuller's, to receive perfect knowledge.' The Christians will not argue about what they believe -- 'they always answer, "Do not examine, but believe," and "Thy faith shall save thee," -- "believe that he whom I set forth to you is the son of God, even though he was bound in the most dishonorable way, and punished in the most shameful, though yesterday or the day before he weltered in the most disgraceful fashion before the eyes of all men -- so much the more believe!"'
As for Christian doctrines, they were utterly puerile and ridiculous, particularly in their conceit: why should the human race think itself so superior to bees, ants and elephants as to be put in a unique relation to its maker? And why should God choose to come to men as a Jew? The Christian idea of a special providence was nonsense, an insult to the deity.
Celsus quotes approvingly from the Timaeus of Plato: 'It is a hard thing to find out the Maker and Father of this universe, and after having found him it is impossible to make him known to all.' Such analytic skepticism was, however, the faith of the intellectually aristocratic, and what Celsus had to say had no weight except as the churchman Origen was moved to a lengthy rebuttal, without which even Celsus's opinions would have remained unknown to posterity. In so far as they were known to contemporary Christians, they were of a piece with the pagan knowledge, 'falsely so called,' which Paul had condemned as evil and to be abhorred. The fact that Celsus bothered to write a book refuting Christianity showed merely that it was making its way upward through society and gaining a hold among those of wealth and education. Admittedly many who joined the movement were social outcasts, and many others were but seeking the excitation of esoteric mysteries; while still others were attracted by its ascetic doctrines, either because they esteemed self-immolation, were possessed by a sense of sin or were, on more moderate grounds, opposed to idols and bloody sacrifices, theaters, the circus, indulgence and promiscuity in general. On a higher plane the new creed offered a future life which was posited on an attractive if spurious pretense to Hellenic rationalism: it described the human body as base, doomed to decay and death, the human soul as naturally simple, incorruptible and everlasting; it permitted willful freedom to replace the fatalism of the Orient, and an eternal democratic kingdom of heaven to replace the despotism of an empire which was so unstable as to be always on the verge of collapse.
For the first time since the ancient days of Egypt the hereafter awaiting the ordinary man was painted in bright colors. The Hebrew Sheol, 'the pit' or 'hollow place,' had been essentially the grave itself, or perhaps all the graves of all the peoples united into one, where the departed led a shadowy dreamlike existence scarcely deserving the name of life. The Sadducees refused to countenance an afterlife: 'For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.' 'They are dead: they shall not live! They are deceased: they shall not arise!' It was primarily through Persian influence that Hebrew thought began to credit the possibility of an afterlife; taking the lead from Isaiah's, 'Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise,' the writer of the Book of Daniel allotted to men a future existence in accordance with their deserts: 'many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.' Anticipation of a general resurrection had been the key theme of the later messianic doctrine, and now, utilizing the Greek idea of the incorruptible soul, the Christians were in a position to reconstruct their heaven along the lines of a Persian paradise.
The Egyptian Land of the Blest had been a fertile country like the delta of the Nile, teeming with wild fowl, perpetually in bloom and filled with fruit. Following the Egyptian model, when the messianic writers painted heaven they indulged in unrestrained if purified extravagance. Of each seed that was sown, each measure would bear ten thousand grains, each vine would have ten thousand branches, each branch ten thousand twigs, each twig ten thousand clusters, each cluster ten thousand grapes, and each grape twenty-five measures of wine. The righteous would rise with their bodies and eat of the Tree of Life, and each pair would beget a thousand children and all would lead a holy existence in a city the streets of which were paved with gold, but that was otherwise rather like Jerusalem. The inhabitants, clothed in white, would carry palms or play upon harps and construct new songs, while all with inward purity of heart and outward expressions of magnificent ritual would join in worshiping the highest deity, on whose right hand sat Jesus. There would be no working, no travail, and when he was not worshiping Yahweh, every man could return to his own garden and escape from the celestial radiance in the shade of his own fig tree.
But Christian asceticism stripped paradise of most of its carnal pleasures: there was to be no eating or drinking, and no giving in marriage -- even the highest angels would willingly forego the first prerogatives of the pagan gods. Heaven was, moreover, now completely democratic. It was still paved with gold, but by virtue of the resurrection it was no longer restricted to Jerusalem and could comprise the whole earth as well as the heavenly spheres. Its inhabitants, still clothed in white, had more diversity of occupation since they could find employment appropriate to their worthy faculties: there would be beautiful architecture and craftsmanship, beautiful poetry, beautiful music, both vocal and instrumental, and even philosophy and science would be cultivated. The supreme joy would be in the ecstatic experience of the beatific vision, the greatest pleasure in beholding the Divine Essence wherein contemplation would grasp instantly and for eternity all that had been or that was to be, would experience the Supreme Good, the One, the Absolute. In Paul's words: 'Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.' Knowing all and seeing all, the blessed would look down upon hell and behold the torments and tortures of the damned. They would enjoy this spectacle, a later churchman argued, first because these torments did not touch them; secondly because, now that the wicked were all damned, the blessed need no longer fear them; thirdly, because their own glory would appear greater by contrast; and fourthly, because that which is pleasing to God must also be pleasing to the righteous.


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With funding from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD), OCALI launched a customized employment project in March 2009 for two school based transition teams, Claymont High School with Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities and Huber Heights High School with Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The goal of the project was to increase community employment outcomes for transition aged youth using customized employment strategies and processes. Team members received training and consultation in the CE process, Social Security Work Incentives and working with employers. Teams included school, developmental disability, and vocational rehabilitation staff, plus a parent mentor. In November of 2009 the project received additional funding from DODD to add another team from Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities and to provide up to 40 paid internships for youth with disabilities using customized employment strategies and processes in the Lucas County and Montgomery County sites. The Tuscarawas County site obtained funding from DODD, "We Go To Work Grants" to fund resource ownership as an employment strategy. The additional internship funds ended March 31, 2011 and the resource ownership funds have ended as well. The OCALI customized employment transition project ends December 30, 2011.
See the documents section for more information about the original model for the project, which came out of a DODD Futures planning initiative. Other documents in this section include a summary of challenges in implementing this project and the results.
DODD Descriptor for OCALI CE project (PDF)
Challenges and Successes in Implementing Customized Employment Strategies
36 Community Work Experiences
Huber Heights / Montgomery DD
Claymont / Tuscarawas DD
Lucas DD
Funded by CMS Medicaid Infrastructure Grant 1QACMS030330 CFDA 93.768

subset: commoncrawl


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If that's a bit mild for your taste, you can swap out the V120 for a 2.3GHz Athlon II, a 2.3GHz Turion II, a 2.8GHz Phenom II dual-core, or a 2.1GHz Phenom II triple-core chip for an extra $30 to $185. Additionally, you can opt for a $100 512MB Radeon HD545v discrete graphics chip, up to 4GB of RAM, 320GB to 500GB of storage, and a $150 Blu-ray reader.
Naturally, there's a few USB ports, while HDMI 3.1 output, a 5-in-1 card reader, and a webcam are optional features. Systems ordered today have an estimated build date of June 16.


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Freelance photography and graphic design business ready to serve your needs. Design is more than just aligning words and photographs on a media. It's about communicating to the viewer your specific thoughts and feelings. It's about understanding your target audience and creating something that will not only connect on an emotional level but also a rational level and inspire them to act. fotoGN prides on full attention to every client and every project to deliver the most effective solutions possible.
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On Friday, May 15, 2009, Paradise City Arts Festival held its opening night, with the theme of "Shall We Dance." The evening full of dance, music, and theater included performances by Savoy Opera Company, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and Rebecca Davis Dance Company. Proceeds of the event went to the Avenue of the Arts at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Photography by Sharla Feldscher.
On Wednesday, May 13, 2009, hundreds of young professionals who work for businesses located in the City Avenue Special Services District came out for a night of fun. The event was held in the parking lot of 555 City Avenue and featured live music by Love Seed Mama Jump, a fashion show by Saks Fifth Avenue, and rides on Segways. Photography by Mark Garvin
On Wednesday, May 13, 2009, the Childrens Crisis Treatment Center hosted a cocktail reception at Union Trust Steakhouse to honor patrons of the 10th Annual Roundup. The evening acknowledged the generous support of the donors and the Roundup Committees contribution to the Roundup event, which will be held on Friday, June 5, 2009 to benefit the Children's Crisis Treatment Center.
On Wednesday, May 13, 2009, Positano Coast relaunched its outdoor Sopra Lounge for the summer season. Guests sipped Signature Lemon Drops from the select open bar while enjoying hors doeuvres by executive chef Pippo Lamberti.
On Wednesday, May 13, Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest received the 2009 Philadelphia Award at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The prize is conferred each year by the Philadelphia Award Trustees for service to the community of Philadelphia. Photography by Jessica Vermeer Hawkes.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Accepts Invitation from City and State to Assess Lethal Violence in Wilmington
Posted on 06/13/2014 11:09 am
CDC Team Will Arrive Next Week with a Goal of Recommending Ways to Reduce Violence
Wilmington City Council Member Hanifa Shabazz (D-4th District) today thanked Delaware Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf and Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams for their support in helping to bring the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to Wilmington to study the impact of lethal violence in the City and help identify ways to reduce it.
Council Member Shabazz sponsored a Council Resolution last December asking the CDC to examine and respond to what the Resolution (attached to this news release) refers to as a pandemic of gun violence and homicides among young African American males.
The CDC considers violence a significant public health problem. The City and State opened discussions with the CDC a few months ago about how an assessment of the problem in Wilmington might be carried out. Next week, a team from the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control is scheduled to arrive to begin a process of reviewing crime records, assessing local factors related to violence and developing recommendations to prevent further violence.
Council Member Shabazz introduced her Resolution at the end of a year which saw a record 154 shootings in Wilmington in 2013 and 15 gun-related deaths as reported to the Delaware Division of Public Health. So far in 2014, there have been 10 homicides by the use of a firearm and 38 shootings.
"While we don't know where the CDC study will take us, we need to apply as many tools as possible to stop the enormous damage that is occurring to people and neighborhoods in some areas of Wilmington," said Council Member Shabazz. "Unfortunately, the entire City has to bear the brunt of negative perceptions which are severely harming the City's ability to grow."
Secretary Landgraf said she welcomes the presence of CDC researchers. "When we had a number of teen suicides in Kent County in 2012, we asked the CDC to come to Delaware to assess the problem and help us understand ways to reduce the risk of young people taking their own lives. We believe the CDC can apply the same kind of scientific analysis to gun violence in Wilmington and offer concrete recommendations to reduce the number of shootings and the overall trauma to the community. This clearly will be another tool in moving toward a healthier Wilmington."
"As one of our nation's leading agencies in protecting citizen's public health and safety, we support the CDC coming to the City of Wilmington to hopefully provide new and thoughtful methods to address the gun violence and reduce the number of shootings within our City," said Mayor Dennis P. Williams. "Through this effort, in conjunction with the execution of the Cure Violence model and an emphasis on police officers building a stronger relationship within the community, we continue to work towards making our city safer."
A PFD copy of the City Council Resolution sponsored by Hanifa Shabazz and co-sponsored by Council Members Robert Williams, Sherry Dorsey Walker, Maria D. Cabrera, Justen Wright, Nnamdi Chukwuocha, Loretta Walsh and Michael Brown is attached here as part of this news release.


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June 1, 2013
Redshirt junior Julian Wruck threw the all-time collegiate record Saturday in the men's discus throw at the Claremont Hammer and Discus Elite Invitational, throwing a massive mark 68.16m/223-7 in yet another outstanding performance in the 2013 outdoor season. Wruck, UCLA's all-time leader in the event coming into the weekend, bested the mark set by SMU's Hannes Hopley (67.66m/222-0) back in 2004. Currently, his mark is the third best mark in the world in 2013.
Wruck also had a throw of 69.23m/227-1 Saturday, almost topping his own mark from earlier in the day, but it was ruled a foot foul and did not stand.
The Queensland, Australia native has exploded on the field since coming to Westwood last year. Wruck, the 2011 men's discus champion, was forced to redshirt in 2012 after transferring to UCLA from Texas Tech but he competed as an unattached athlete. However, his junior campaign for the Bruins has been nothing short of spectacular. He went undefeated in the regular outdoor season, claiming six regular season event wins in record-setting fashion. He became UCLA's all-time leader in the men's discus throw on Mar. 23, tossing 65.04m/213-5 to pass the mark of Bruin great John Godina. Wruck put an exclamation point on his fantastic season with a Pac-12 Championship in the discus throw, setting the conference meet record en route to his first Pac-12 title (65.41m/214-7).
Last weekend, Wruck continued his dominance over the field, earning the top seed in the NCAA West Preliminary Championships (63.95m/209-9; NCAA West Prelims record). Now, he looks ahead to the upcoming week, where will head to Eugene, OR to compete for his second NCAA title.


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College Hockey:Haula, Alt signings bring Minnesota's early departures list to five
Minnesota's list of players leaving for the pros after their junior season has reached five after forward Erik Haula and defenseman Mark Alt signed contracts.
Haula signed with the Minnesota Wild and is expected to finish the season with Houston of the AHL. He was a seventh-round pick by the Wild in 2009.
The Philadelphia Flyers signed Alt, who was drafted by Carolina in the second round in 2010 and whose rights went to Philadelphia in a trade earlier this season.
Forwards Nick Bjugstad (Florida) and Zach Budish (Nashville) and defenseman Nate Schmidt (Washington) also gave up their senior seasons to sign pro deals.
Haula averaged more than a point per game for the Gophers, with 124 points in 114 career games. He led the team this season with 51 points and was second with 16 goals.
Alt was plus-19 this season for Minnesota, which led the WCHA in defense. He had seven assists in 39 games.
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Pencil, Lindbergh, King Collection
On May 20-21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh literally flew into history when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, thus becoming the first pilot to fly solo and nonstop from New York to Paris. This flight made Lindbergh a household name and catapulted him into fame and celebrity. The objects of popular culture in the National Collection display everything from ashtrays to wristwatches reflect the public adulation for Lindbergh and the powerful commercial response to his celebrity. More than 75 years after the Spirit's historic flight, Lindbergh's name still has the power help sell manufactured goods.
Gift of the Stanley King Family.
Physical Description:
A gold unsharpened pencil with two thin red bands around the body of the pencil. Between the two bands is a red image of the Spirit of St. Louis with the text "New York to Paris" next to the airplane is a black oval with a black drawing of Charles Lindbergh and the text "Plucky Lindy" also in black.
- Type
- MEMORABILIA-Popular Culture
- Materials
- Wood, brass, rubber, graphite, paint
- Dimensions
- 3-D: 19.1 x 0.5cm (7 1/2 x 3/16 in.)


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Devil's Food Cake and frosting
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- Cream 1/2 cup shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar
- Add 1 egg
- Add 1/2 cup milk alternatively with the following ingredients that have been sifted together:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teas. baking soda
- 1/2 teas. salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- Add 1 cup boiling water and 1 tsp. real vanilla
- Bake at 350 degrees
- Loaf pan: 40 min
- Layer cake: 30 minutes
- Cupcakes: 17 minutes
Cook until thick, stirring constantly
1/2 cup milk and 2 tablespoons flour (then let the mixture cool)
Whip together: one stick of soft butter and 1/2 cup sugar
Then whip the two mixtures together.
*If you make a layer cake, then double the frosting recipe.
This recipe was submitted by one of our readers and has not been tested by our food editors. We are not responsible for errors in this recipe, but if you find one, please let us know.
Updated Monday, October 2nd, 2006
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If the Heat thought it would be smooth sailing now that the Celtics have been put to rest, it got a painful injection of reality serum Sunday night.
Chicago gave Miami a taste of the smothering defense that propelled the Bulls to the league's best overall record.
This spry Bulls squad is a different animal than the Celtics.
Unlike a Boston team that relied heavily on guile and veteran savvy, Chicago actually has the athletes that can go dunk-for-dunk with the Heat, as Taj Gibson proved on two separate occasions.
You have to wonder if Miami's players were perhaps just a bit too confident.
In many ways, the lackadaisical second half performance from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade was reminiscent of the Heat's game three loss to the Celtics.
In that game, Miami had a two-game series lead and was basically playing with house money, knowing that it only needed to win one of the two games in Boston. It showed in their effort.
Similarly, last night was not exactly a must-win game for the Heat, as they get a second chance on Wednesday once Oprah vacates the premises.
So how worried should Miami be?
Yes, there were troubling signs.
The Heat got outmuscled, outrebounded and outworked.
Miami looked equally inept on offense and defense, losing the rebounding battle by 12 and conceding more than a hundred points for the first time this postseason.
Chris Bosh was three points short of scoring more than LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined, which strays far from any successful blueprint.
Considering how many issues arose last night, a blowout loss might be exactly what this team needs. It makes the players and coaches realize that more than small tweaks are necessary.
First and foremost, Erik Spoelstra has to realize that a small lineup just isn't going to cut it against this lanky Bulls side.
You can get away with playing small against creaky-kneed Celtics big men like Jermaine O'Neal and Kevin Garnett, but not against Joakim Noah and Omer Asik.
Too often Bulls big men played volleyball with missed shots, keeping possessions alive.
For a smaller lineup to work, James and Wade have to rebound effectively and not leak out for fast-break opportunities, which in a sense defeats the point of going small in the first place.
Similarly, it wouldn't be the worst idea to take Erick Dampier's knees out of storage and reinsert him in the starting lineup.
His size and physicality is sorely needed. Joel Anthony and Jamaal Magloire clearly don't matchup well with the Bulls centers.
There's a reason the Bulls pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, leading to 31 second-chance points.
With the Heat, all roads lead to James and Wade.
The two stars quickly realized that points won't be as easy to come by as they were against the Celtics.
It is one thing to be defended by a 35-year-old Ray Allen and a 33-year-old Paul Pierce, two players who simply aren't in the same athletic ballpark as James and Wade.
The Bulls perimeter defenders, on the other hand, are far more of a nuisance.
In game one, the Bulls two 26-year-olds, Luol Deng and Ronnie Brewer, displayed the kind of smothering defense James and Wade will have to get used to.
Brewer and Deng were relentless in their dogged defensive approach, constantly reaching in, knocking away any casual dribble, which forced a handful of turnovers and off-balance shots.
These Bulls take defensive challenges as personally as anyone, and have the athleticism and back line support to play James and Wade chest-to-chest.
Nearly every jump shot was contested, which led to James and Wade shooting a combined 4-for-16 on perimeter shots.
For Miami to win this series, James and Wade can't combine to score 33 points again, they'll each have to get close to that number.
If that doesn't happen, it won't matter how many points Bosh puts up.
Keep in mind that if James and Wade had combined to score 52 points, their playoff average, Miami would have reached 101 points, or two fewer than the Bulls.
For this to happen, the two will have to play off of one another effectively; solo acts won't work.
The Bulls pack the paint as well as anyone, so the two will have to be decisive: either attack the rim with force and draw fouls, or take a rhythm jump shot.
Wade especially cannot afford to continue taking highly contested fade-away jumpers against these defenders.
It may also be time to dust off the James-Wade pick and roll, a play that Spoelstra has cryptically alluded to in the past as something he is keeping up his sleeve for the most dire situations.
Considering what we saw last night, game two certainly fits the description
For whatever reason, this Heat team seems to need a bit of added pressure to play at its peak level.
The Heat looked like a completely different group in game four against the Celtics, a fixture that carried far more significance coming off a game three loss.
Come Wednesday, we will see if the Heat can refocus and put forth the type of performance we became accustomed to seeing last round.
If they don't, then the Heat could very well find itself in the same 2-0 hole Boston was in.
And we all know how that ended.
As always, feel free to leave any thoughts or feelings below.
You can follow Thomas on Twitter @tjohnsonwriter
Contact Thomas at: email@example.com


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Outdoor Sports on the Space Coast
PLAY BREVARD! is the only source you need for Outdoor Sports and Recreation throughout the Space Coast.
Whether you are looking for a new activity to be involved in or just need some general information about the upcoming season for your favorite outdoor sport, we will bring you that information.
Camping, Fishing, Hiking, Hunting, Kayaking, and more. What else could you ask for in a place to live? We have all this and more right here in Brevard County. Need to get away? There are plenty of opportunities close by.
Upcoming Outdoor Sports Events
Outdoor Sports Links
Fishing Links
Click Here for the latest fishing regulations.
Bait and Tackle Shops
North Brevard-
Indian River Sportsman- 5161 S Washington Ave, Titusville, 321-267-6480
Central Brevard-
Fisherman's World- 602 Glen Cheek Drive, Port Canaveral, 321-784-5285, Handler Fishing Supply- 677 Dave Nisbet Dr, Cape Canaveral, 321-799-9708, Jetty Park Bait Store- Inside the park , Shut Up and Fish- 260 North Orlando Avenue, Cocoa Beach, Florida, 321-784-9004, Sunrise Marina- 505 Glen Cheek Drive, Cape Canaveral, 321-783-9535
South Brevard-
Black Dog Bait and Tackle- 207 Ocean Ave, Melbourne Beach, 321-725-1200, Harry Goode's Outdoor Shop- 1231 E. New Haven Avenue, Melbourne, FL 32901, 321-723-4751, Honest John's Fish Camp- 750 Mullet Creek Road, Melbourne Beach, 321-727-2923, Palm Bay Bait and Tackle- 4210 Dixie Hwy. NE, Palm Bay, 321-725-8819, Palm Bay Fishing Outfitters- 5055 Babcock St Ne Ste 1, Palm Bay, 321-952-4435, Sebastian Inlet Bait and Tackle- 9700 S A1A, in the parking lot, 321-768-6621, Strike Zone- 2771 W New Haven Ave, West Melbourne, 321-956-3474, Whitey's Bait and Tackle- 9030 S Highway A1A Melbourne Beach, 321-724-1440
Fishing Charters- Let us know where you want to fish and we will let you know who to contact. We won't list charters (With the exception of party boats) because our list is constantly being updated. Email us to find the best charter for you.
Party Boats- Miss Cape Canaveral, Ocean Obession, Orlando Princess
More Fishing Links- Academic Angler, Anglers for Conservation, Backcountry Fly Fishing Association, Brevard County Boat Ramps, Central Florida Offshore Anglers, Coastal Angler Magazine, Cyber Angler.com, The Florida Charter Fishing Guide, Florida Sports Fishing Association, Florida Sportswoman, Lady Anglers of Brevard, Offshore Academy, Sebastian Inlet Sportfishing Association, Space Coast Anglers, Space Coast Teen Anglers
Freshwater Fishing Regulations
Saltwater license information from MyFWC
Freshwater license information from MyFWC
Click Here for the latest fishing regulations.
Hunting/ Shooting Links
Gear- Action Gun Outfitters, Ammo Attic, B&H Gun Rack, Big Game Pro Shop, Indian River Sportsman, On Target
Archery- Accurate Archery, Brevard Archers, Florida Archery Association, Southern Draw Outfitters,
More Links- My FWC Hunting Regulations, Outdoor Sportsing Concepts, Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club, Titusville Pistol and Rifle Club
Paintball/Airsoft- Combat Zone Paintball, Hog Wild Paintball Field, Hurricane Paintball Field
Click Here for the latest hunting regulations.
Camping Links
Need to find a campground?- Brevard County Campgrounds
Manatee Hammock Campground- 7275 South US1, Titusville, 321-264-5083
Wickham Park Campground- 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, 321-255-4307
Long Point Campground- 700 Long Point Road, Melbourne Beach, 321-952-4532
Sebastian Inlet State Park- 9700 S. State Road A1A, Melbourne Beach, 321-984-4852
Camp Florida, Florida Parks, Florida State Parks, Camping America, KOA Campgrounds
Links for info on your next camping trip- Camping Life Magazine, eCampsite.com, Go RVing, Let's Get Camping, Trailspace.com
Hiking Links- Brevard County hiking trails, Space Coast Hiking, Titusville Hiking Trails, Wilderness Trekkers, Florida Trail Association
Kayaking Links
Kayak Gear- Cocoa Kayaks, Indian River Kayak and Canoe, Village Outfitters
Kayak Organizations/Rentals/Tours- A Day Away Kayak Tours, Fin Expeditions, Kayak Cocoa Beach, Space Coast Kayaking, Space Coast Paddlers, Space Coast Paddling (This site has a very good description of many places to kayak throughout the Space Coast)
Scuba Diving/Snorkeling Links- Adventure Scuba, American Divers International, Dixie Divers/JND Scuba Center, Hatt's Diving Center, The Scuba and Diving Center, Sea Dragons, Sea Level
Boating/Sailing Links- East Coast Sailing Association, My FWC Boating Homepage, Space Coast Area Sailing and Racing, Space Coast Jet Riders,
Click Here for the latest boating regulations.
How Girls Make S'mores
1- Place Hershey bars on graham crackers
2- Toast marshmallows
3- Place toasted marshmallows on Hershey bars to melt chocolate
How Boys Make S'mores
1- Eat Hershey bars
2- Eat marshmallows
3- Throw graham crackers at other boys


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DH and I are wanting to go on a vacation this winter. We're looking at 5 nights or so, the middle of January. LO will be staying with the grandparents. So, where should we go???
I'll be 5.5 months pregant at the time, so it will somewhat limit what I can do. We're very active, but some of the things we'd love to do, like zip lining, etc, is probably going to be out! So I'm just looking for some suggestions on places that have preggo-friendly activities. Obviously the beach (I'm sure I'll look HOT in in swimsuit!!! haha), snorkling, maybe some hiking, would all be stuff I could do. Or places that have some cool history? Like the Mayan ruins, etc.
We're probably looking for either Caribbean or Mexico. We've been to Hawaii (loved), Jamaica (liked), hubby was working in Puerto Rico last year, which he said was cool, but didn't get to do a ton of stuff since he was working. I've been quite a few places in Europe also, but we're not looking to go that far away for this short of a trip. Budget is not really an issue. I'm just overwhelmed looking at all the options, so would love some input or suggestions! TIA


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- Environmental Priorities
- Track How Elected Officials Vote
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PWIR: Full Speed Ahead
Tags: biodiversity, energy efficiency, Governor Snyder, Natural Resources Trust Fund, Renewable Energy
Well, January certainly flew by and, with that, the state legislature is fully off and running. There have already been more than 300 bills and resolutions introduced, plenty of which would impact our land, air, and water if signed into law. In this PWIR, I go into detail about one of our biggest annual concerns around budget time: Short-sighted legislators eagerly eyeing the Natural Resources Trust Fund for their own pet projects. Clearly, we won't stand for that.
Covered this week:
- Trust Fund Raid: The Public Has Spoken
- From Governor Snyder to the State Senate, Energy Improvements Gaining Steam
- Biodiversity Under Threat
If you have received the PWIR over the past year, then you probably have a good sense of what the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (NRTF) is and why it is important (for a detailed explanation, read the blog post linked here).
Despite deep support for this constitutionally-enshrined fund, legislators have consistently looked to it as a short-term solution to budget challenges in recent years. Though none of these raids gained much traction last session - in no small part because we, and fellow conservation groups, drew a big, thick line in the sand - it took only three weeks for a legislator to introduce just such a bill this term. In late January, Representative Bob Genetski (R - Saugatuck) introduced House Bill 4106, which would allow NRTF funds to be used for dredging Great Lakes harbors in Michigan.
Due to widespread droughts and warm temperatures that boost evaporation rates (climate change, anyone?), Great Lakes water levels are at record lows. Without immediate dredging, Michigan stands to lose significant tourism dollars as many small and medium sized harbors may be unable to open this summer, not to mention major vessels need access for trade.
However, raiding the NRTF is not the answer.
Instead, we support a solution closer to the more comprehensive approach that Governor Snyder has proposed. We are echoing the Governor's call for one-time use of general fund dollars in this year's budget, paired with quicker permitting for dredging; however, this is not an excuse for sloppy reviews of the environmental impacts of those permits. Again, we can work together to find a creative solution to this problem, but raiding the NRTF - effectively, our state's means of preserving the beauty of the Great Lakes State for future generations' use - is not on the table.
In both his Special Message on Energy and the Environment and this year's State of the State Address, Governor Snyder indicated the need to increase our use of renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in our state. As part of this process, the Governor called for a public conversation about the direction of Michigan's energy policy.
This conversation will get underway in the coming weeks and you have an opportunity to participate! Visit our recent blog post on the topic for details on how to voice your thoughts. Help us make a strong case for the need to increase renewable energy and energy efficiency in Michigan!
In related news, State Senator Mike Nofs (R - Battle Creek), who chairs the Senate Energy and Technology Committee, indicated this week that he's interested in looking at the possibility of increasing Michigan's renewable energy standard. Though he is waiting for the Governor's public input process to unfold, we are encouraged that leaders on both sides of the aisle are serious about improving Michigan's energy policy.
On the list of bad ideas last session was legislation to literally change the definition of conservation and remove biodiversity restoration from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR)'s responsibilities (full analysis of that bill here). Fortunately, the bill did not make it to Governor Snyder's desk.
Unfortunately, an almost identical bill (Senate Bill 78) was recently introduced and is already on the agenda of the Senate Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes Committee.
We will be closely monitoring this legislation and attending this week's committee hearing to voice our opposition. Hopefully, SB 78 will suffer the same fate this session as its previous incarnation did last year!
Correction: I Got a Bit Too Excited About a Solar Installation...
Time for me to take responsibility for a wee mistake in last week's PWIR. In my excitement over an article that landed in my inbox last week about a solar installation at Google's Ann Arbor office, I neglected to check the actual date of the article and just assumed it was timely. Unfortunately, the article was from 2011... Not quite timely. However, it all worked out for the best as we now have a neat new site to share. A friend at Google pointed out this website where you can see the output of the panels. Check it out!
That wraps up this week's PWIR. As always, feel free to get in touch with questions!
Political and Campaigns Director


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College Hockey:Hildebrand stops 28 as Michigan State blanks Western Michigan
EAST LANSING, Mich. — In their final home game as Spartans, Michigan State's seniors led their team to a 1-0 upset over visiting Western Michigan. The only goal of the night came from the line of Kevin Walrod, Anthony Hayes, and Chris Forfar, three seniors whose line was put together the morning of the game.
"I'd been thinking about it all week," said MSU coach Tom Anastos. "I thought back to my last game here [as a senior], and it was memorable, but it was not in the way that I wanted them to remember it. We lost in the NCAA tournament to Providence in fairly big upset.
"I remember I was really close to my senior teammates. I played with some of them on the line. I thought those guys, they're close. They knew this was the last time they were going to play here. I thought they would both be inspired to play together and their effort could — wasn't sure it would — could inspire our team."
The three connected for MSU's game-winning goal at 10:07 in the first. Walrod fished the puck out of the right corner and threw it out in front of the net. After hitting someone in traffic, the puck came to Hayes' stick, and Hayes one-timed it low past Western Michigan goaltender Frank Slubowski. Forfar had the second assist on that tally.
"He just turned and shot the puck," said Anastos. "I've been telling him all week, 'Shoot the puck.' He's got a very quick release, and I pulled him aside the very first day of practice this week and I said to him, 'Every chance you get to shoot the puck, you shoot the puck.'"
Freshman Jake Hildebrand made 28 saves in the contest in his first career shutout.
"I think the guys were inspired his play," said Anastos. "I think he rebounded from last night; I don't think that was a great game for him. He shook that off, which is impressive.
"The reality is dumb luck. I would've played Will [Yanakeff] tonight, but Will's dealing with an injury. He couldn't play last night because of the injury, and he couldn't play today."
It was a grinder of a game, without much room for either team to play, and the last two minutes were especially interesting.
With 1:40 left in the period and the Broncos on a power play — with Slubowski pulled to give WMU a six-on-four advantage — Western Michigan defenseman Dennis Brown fired from near the blue line and put the puck in the net, but the goal was waved off because Dane Walters was skating through the crease. The call on the ice was immediate, and the review was brief.
Then with 50 seconds remaining, WMU's Shane Berschbach went to the box for tripping to even the skaters at four each side, but Slubowski remained off the ice in favor of the extra attacker.
After the game, Western Michigan coach Andy Murray was irritated.
"It's obvious my feelings are clear right now," said Murray. "It's a poor call by the referee. Clearly Dane Walters — we just watched it twice — after the puck is in the net, he goes backward. When the puck's in the net, he's a full foot in front of the goal crease.
"It would have given us a chance. You go into overtime, and it would have given us an opportunity."
Murray said that he was happy with his team's effort in the contest.
"Michigan State, on their senior night, they fought real hard," said Murray. "They got a goal from their seniors, which is gratifying for them, but we played hard. I like how hard we're playing right now, the energy we made tonight."
This was the last night of regular-season play for the CCHA. The Spartans (11-22-3, 9-18-1-0 CCHA) finish in last place in the league, and will play Alaska in Fairbanks in a best-of-three, first-round CCHA series next weekend. Western Michigan (19-9-8, 15-7-6-3 CCHA) finishes in third place in the CCHA, and will have a first-round playoff bye.
The following is a self-policing forum for discussing views on this story. Comments that are derogatory, make personal attacks, are abusive, or contain profanity or racism will be removed at our discretion. USCHO.com is not responsible for comments posted by users. Please report any inappropriate or offensive comments by clicking the "Flag" link next to that comment in order to alert the moderator.
Please also keep "woofing," taunting, and otherwise unsportsmanlike behavior to a minimum. Your posts will more than likely be deleted, and worse yet, you reflect badly on yourself, your favorite team and your conference.


text: Mathematics, Computer Science & Statistics Department Kevin Dennis, Ph.D. Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics - Assistant Professor (507) 457-6650 firstname.lastname@example.com Kevin Dennis is an Assistant Professor and Chair of Mathematics and Statistics at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. He has been teaching at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota since 2000. His professional interests include mathematics education and analysis. Personal interests include hiking, fishing, gardening and playing games with his kids. Contact Information Telephone: 507-457-6650 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Education Ph.D., Mathematics (with emphasis in collegiate teaching) Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, 2000 M.S., Mathematics Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 1996 B.A., Mathematics, Luther College, Decorah, IA, 1991 Scholarly & Creative Interests Analysis Mathematics Education Professional Experience 2001 – Present: Advanced Placement Calculus Reader 2001 – 2002: Dolciani Project NExT Fellow, Mathematical Association of America Honors 2000: Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award, Central Michigan University 1996: Richard V. Andree Award, Pi Mu Epsilon Grants 2009 – 2011: Principle Investigator, National Science Foundation Grant, #0852533 2006 – 2008: Principle Investigator, Mathematical Association of America/Tensor Foundation Grant Selected Presentations 2008: MathFest, Mathematical Association of America, "Capturing a Class: Adventures with Tegrity" 2004: Sectional Meeting, Mathematical Association of America "Freshman Seminar" 2003: MathFest, Mathematical Association of America, "Assessing Written and Oral Communications of Senior Projects" 2002: MathFest, Mathematical Association of America, "Senior Seminar" Selected Publications Dennis, K. (2005). Assessing written and oral communication of senior projects. In L. Steen (Ed.), Supporting assessment in undergraduate mathematics. Washington D.C.: Mathematical Association of America. Dennis, K. (2002). Co-hyponormality of composition operators on the Hardy space. Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum, 68. 401 – 411. Dennis, K. & Schlicker, S. (1995). Sierpinski n-gons. Pi Mu Epsilon Journal, 10(2), 81 – 89. Professional Organizations American Mathematical Society Mathematical Association of America Pi Mu Epsilon, National Mathematics Honor Society Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics


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Student Refunds
Refunds are issued on Fridays for students with credit balances beginning with Wednesday of the fifth week of the term and continuing every Friday until the end of the term. Financial aid, payments or adjustments must be received in the Hattiesburg Business Office by the cut-off date to be considered for refunds the following week. You may refer to the table below to find the disbursement and cut-off dates for the current school year.
Over are the days of driving to the WCU campus and waiting in long lines for refund checks! It's now up to you how you get your school-disbursed funds. So what are your choices? You can have your money deposited into an existing checking account, or get it faster with the Higher One WCU Higher One Crusader Card
All students will receive a bright Green envelope in the mail with a Higher One card enclosed.
Students who will receive a refund must indicate their preferred method for receiving funds by logging onto the www.wcucrusadercard.com website appearing on the Higher One Crusader Card received by mail. Refund methods are:
- Direct deposit into an existing checking or savings account
- Activation of a Higher One Account
- Paper Check
If a student fails to log in and make a Refund selection, a paper check will be mailed. The check may be received up to 30 days after the initial refund date of the term.
Refund Dates
Student refunds will be disbursed each trimester according to the dates on the following schedule.
PLEASE NOTE: Refunds take at least one week to process; therefore, after the first refund date, refunds will be disbursed every Friday for financial aid or payments that have been received in the Hattiesburg Business Office by the previous Friday. ****
Refunds will be disbursed:
Fall 2015 Disbursement Date
September 23, 2015
Winter 2015 Disbursement Date
December 16, 2015
**Refunds will not be issued the Fridays of December 25, and January 1, due to the Christmas break.
Spring 2016 Disbursement Date
March 30, 2016
Summer 2016 Disbursement Date
July 15, 2016**
**2015-2016 funds will not be available for refund until mid-July.
After the initial refund date for each trimester, the business office will process refunds every Friday except for the weeks specified under each term.


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Báo Tuổi Trẻ English 2 month(s) ago
A canine competition featuring nearly 100 dogs of all breeds was recently held in Ho Chi Minh City.
Keywords: In Binh Chanh DistrictBinh ChanhPhongawardpetFacebookTwitter
SaiGon GP English 11 month(s) ago
Tran Pham Nhu Quynh of Tan Kien Primary School in Binh Chanh District and Vo Tan Hung from Binh Tien Primary School in District 6 have won the first prizes in category A of a children's painting contest honoring the friendship between Vietnam and the US.
Keywords: Le Quy Don Secondary SchoolNhu QuynhPrizesGeneral Sciences LibraryCategory ADiplomatic Relationsbetween
Báo Thanh Niên English 14 month(s) ago
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The World Records Union (Worldkings) has recognized Nguyen Thi Tru of Ho Chi Minh City as the world's oldest living woman.
Keywords: Binh Chanh DistrictMankindDocumentsVerifying
VOV News English 19 month(s) ago
Rainbow Chapel, a communal building made of recycled materials in Ho Chi Minh City's outlying Binh Chanh district, topped the list of the 20 most ingenious works of architecture in 2014 elected by the US-based Huffington Post magazine.
Keywords: steelHuffington PostThe ChapelawardMaterialsBinh Chanh DistrictElected
VietnamNet English 20 month(s) ago
VietNamNet Bridge – Days after noted Vietnamese artist Le Pho's View from the Hilltop set a new auction record, art collector Nguyen Minh still has a lingering feeling of regret.
Keywords: auctionVietnamese CultureChanhBui Xuan PhairegretImages
VietNam News English 20 month(s) ago
Days after noted Vietnamese artist Le Pho's View from the Hilltop set a new auction record, art collector Nguyen Minh still has a lingering feeling of regret.
Keywords: auctionChanhcenterBui Xuan PhairegretImagesContemporary Art
VOV News English 20 month(s) ago
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An oil painting by 20th century painter Le Pho have been sold for HK$6.52 million (US$840,000) in Hong Kong recently, setting an auction record for a Vietnamese artist at Christie's International.
Keywords: auctionChanhTonkinhaveA VietnameseThe French
Báo Dân Trí English 21 month(s) ago
Comedian Cong Ly expressed his displeasure after a publishing house issued a law book using a photoshopped picture of him, nearly in the buff, on the cover.
Keywords: pictureimagebookInventoriesCivil CodeChanhcomb
VietNam News English 21 month(s) ago
Vietnamese architect Nguyen Hoa Hiep's design for a community house in HCM City's Binh Chanh District recently won the Building of the Year prize, the most important award at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore.
Keywords: The ChapelsteelspacePrizesawardthinkmetal
VietNam News English 22 month(s) ago
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The Chapel, a communal building made of recycled materials in HCM City's Binh Chanh District, has won the World Building of the Year Award.
Keywords: centerThe ChapeltableImagesawardBinh Chanh DistrictMaterials
VietNam News English 23 month(s) ago 1 duplicate news
Soc Trang musician Danh Sol brought new life to the Khmer tradition of pentatonic music. Chanh Da and Trung Hieu report.
Keywords: The PagodaSoc TranginstrumentcenterElderstableperform
VietNam News English 23 month(s) ago
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The Asia Book of Records has recognised 121-year-old Nguyen Thi Tru as the continent's oldest living woman, and Cao Vien, 106, and his wife Vu Thi Hai, 100, as the oldest couple.
Keywords: RecordsbookcoupleVietbooksacknowledgeBinh Chanh District
VietnamNet English 24 month(s) ago
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VietNamNet Bridge – The Asian Records Organisation officially recognised three Vietnamese centenarians as the oldest woman and oldest couple in Asia on August 27.
Keywords: coupleRecordsIn AsiaDa PhuocThree VietnameseBinh Chanh DistrictElderly
VietNam News English 24 month(s) ago
Monks hold the largest ever Buddhism prayer book on the Vu Lan festival as it is recognised by the Viet Nam Book of Records at Thien Chanh Pagoda in HCM City's Tan Phu District on Sunday.
Keywords: centerThe Vu LanMonksTan Phu DistrictRecordstableImages
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Testing in the Lab
How do we decide which materials are used in our products? We analyze them in the MEC testing lab. Tucked around the corner from the busy hub of our design studios and production floor, test guru John Shen manipulates the machines and devices that grade potential components of MEC gear.
Having our own testing lab gives our design team immediate feedback. As we accumulate useful data it improves the efficiency of the design cycle, which means we can focus on using the best available materials for product design, as well as assess new technologies.
Material Evaluation
John works in coordination with our product managers and designers to QA and evaluate raw materials for MEC products. In a rather small space he manages to simulate conditions products may be exposed to during their life out in the world.
Performance Under Pressure
Our room of testing machines is kind of a fabric torture chamber. The fabrics are put under use abrasive wheels, stretched to their limit, and exposed to extremes of water and wind pressure. These tests assess physical properties like tearing strength, cutting resistance, abrasion resistance, pilling, and stretch and recovery. We want to know how product materials will perform and how their appearance will endure throughout their lifetime. For example, we don't want to use a fabric that can't stand up to the scratching of a Velcro® tab fastener while it's being washed.
Spin Cycle
John does a lot of laundry. What comes out in the wash is an evaluation of garment shrinkage, colour-fastness, and the performance of durable water repellency coatings.
What's in a Name?
Obscure names and acronyms like Suter test, MMT, CFM, and MVTR may be less than illuminating to read, but they open our eyes to performance characteristics like waterproofness (Suter), breathability (MVTR), wind resistance (CFM), and moisture wicking performance (MMT). You'll recognize the characteristics as key performance indicators for technical outerwear and base layers.
Future Plans
Our lab set-up and testing capabilities are always evolving and expanding. We want to establish a more direct relationship between testing in the lab and testing products in the field. Hopes are that feedback from the field may improve lab testing procedures. It's just another step to our ultimate goal – getting functional gear into the outdoors with our members.


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2,813 projects in 7 galleries
Welcome to the CyberStitchers cross-stitch galleries. These galleries contain cross-stitch works from artisans from the United States and around the world.
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Friday, July 01, 2016 5:03 AM
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Texas, USA
I've been stitching for 18 years. I prefer to stitch smaller projects such as cards, ornaments, and quilt squares for charity. However, on occasion, I will stitch a larger project if I like the design.
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Scotland, UK
Welcome all to my gallery. I hope you enjoy looking at my cross stitch as much as I have enjoyed doing it
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Thursday, June 09, 2016 1:32 AM
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Michigan, USA
Hi! Welcome to my gallery. These are some of the pieces I've done over the years. I enjoy seeing the different galleries and hope you enjoy mine. Thanks for viewing my gallery. Barb
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Alberta, Canada
Thank you for taking the time to peruse my album. Happy Stitching! :D Tracy…
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Pennsylvania, USA
Hi! I live in NW PA, am married and have two married sons. I have been stitching for about 45 years. My favorites are counted cross-stitch and counted canvaswork. I like to stitch for Love Quilts, but am also trying to get back to some of my UFOs!
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Monday, February 15, 2016 6:04 PM
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Vaaksy, Finland
Welcome to my gallery. I'm Anneli from Finland. I have been stitching long time and as you can see I love large cross stitch projects. I'll try to add something new every other month. It usually takes several months to finish large pieces. Sometimes years. I really stitch all my works by myself and I don't copy anybody. Most of my works are bought as kits or charts. Some of the patterns are from…
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Mady H.
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Thursday, January 07, 2016 12:30 PM
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Nova Scotia, Canada
Welcome to my gallery! I have been stitching since the early 80's when I taught myself so that I could teach other at The Creative Circle home parties. This is the first cross stitch that I did.
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Holy Batman's pants, check out this Bootmobile. These guys created a truck that is a boot that is a truck that is a boot. Pedal to the leather to the metal! I'm so excited I can go like this all day.
An anonymous reader sent me this crazy video taken two weeks ago: a truck out of control almost smashes a car on a snowy road in Russia. Fortunately, these guys got extremely lucky and Death got distracted at the very last second.


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To secure the safety of international trade of animal and their derived products, it is required that animals should be proven infection-free using a validated diagnostic test certified by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Test validation involves a multi-step evaluation process to as...
The welfare of horses transported for slaughter is a growing concern in several countries, including Canada, Iceland and the United States of America (USA). Slaughter of horses involves transportation of horses to a regulated facility and slaughter procedures such as lairage and stunning. The main o...
Sensitivity and specificity of repeated test results from a commercial milk enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of subspecies in dairy cattle
To investigate the sensitivity and specificity of results of initial and repeated milk ELISAs (at 6- or 12-month intervals) to detect cows that were shedding Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (ie, were infectious) and to evaluate factors influencing the probability that the r...