text:
Buddhism for Companion Animals - Dogs are involved in every aspect of our daily lives - they should be involved in our spiritual lives as well - especially if we're Buddhist. It's believed that just to hear the Dharma will help ensure a human rebirth, and living with dogs - it's hard to believe they aren't already enlightened!
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Beagle in China Meets Amitabha - by Brian Chung
Brian said that all of his dharma offerings are free and in the public domain - so because you have to pay Scribd that monthly membership fee I'm going to publish his beagle story here in it's entirety so that we can benefit from it's teachings because it's really quite remarkable.
Brian's Aunt believes that her beagle "attained Pure Land rebirth after five days of supportive chanting - with the chanting for the last day and night being continuous....Clearly, this was due to Amita Buddha's inconceivable merit and compassionate blessings".
What is remarkable about this is that according to this Brian's Aunt believes that through her chanting and the auspicious circumstances surrounding the death - Mickey "will be forever freed from the sufferings of the Samasara and he will become Enlightened Bodhisattvas of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss".
I have never heard that this was possible for our household pets.
I have heard from Dharma teachers that our pets could be pretty much assured of a human rebirth in the next life because they had been around Dharma rituals and teachings their whole life - and doing dharma rituals at their death was very good for them - but to say that they had the possibility of being freed from the sufferings of Samsara and becoming Enlightened Bodhisattvas due to the fervent efforts of our Buddhist practices - that is completely awesome - and gives us who loves our companion animals as much as we love our human compatriots - such hope for them.
I have posted below the 6 page document that Brian sent me in JPEG format so you can read it in it's entirety - it is a very beautiful thing to read and I hope that it gives all of us pet owners great comfort when it comes to the time of death for our pets.
There are specific things to do at the time of death for our pets that we've never heard before - things to do AFTER the time of death that I'd never heard of before - I have always performed rituals BEFORE the death and at the time of death - but never AFTER the death - so the instructions are very helpful - and also I have done things 49 days after the death.
Some things I have done before the death is to perform a refuge ceremony for the animal - which I have provided instructions for previously in this blog - at the time of death I recite things like "OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA" - and then 49 days after the death there is a whole long ceremony I perform - which is also noted in this blog
But I am happy to add the things suggested by Brian to the death time as well.
So see below the JPEG's that are part of his teaching
If you'd like to see his other dharma teachings available on Scribd - I did join the website and paid for one month so I could download several of his other teachings - he is a very smart teacher - the website is at
Thank you once again Brian for your most auspicious dharma teachings and the people you will help when they are in the most pain
ps - if you can't read the pages - click on the picture and a larger version will open up for you - when you are read to read the next page - cleck back and then click on the next picture :)
Posted by Joan Sinden at 6:25 PM
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
To contribute to this site, see above menu item "About".
These transcriptions may contain human errors.
As always, confirm these, as you would any other source material.
Will of Joseph Fitzgerald
In re
I, Joseph Fitzgerald of SAINT JOHN'S in the Island of Newfoundland being of sound mind and memory do make this my last Will and Testament.
1. I bequeath my Dwelling house and contents situate on Charlton Street, St. John's to my daughter Bridget Mccarthy during her lifetime and Widowhood.
2. In the event of the said Bridget Mccarthy dying the house is to be sold and the proceeds to be equally divided between Lilian Mccarthy daughter of the said Bridget Mccarthy and Alice Evans my daughter.
(3) In the event of the said Bridget Mccarthy remarrying the house is to be sold and the proceeds equally divided between the said Bridget Mccarthy, Lilian Mccarthy and Alice Evans.
(4) I bequeath my bed, two Pillows and two Pictures to my Grand-daughter Floss Evans daughter of the said Alice Evans.
(5) All the residue of my Estate real and Personal I give and bequeath to my daughter Bridget McCarthy.
(6) I appoint as my Executor Francis Murphy of Saint John's.
Signed by the Testator in our presence who in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our hands as Witnesses.
Mary J. Kelly.
W J Browne.
Dated the 29th day of September A.D. 1925.
(Listed in the margin next to this will the following)
Page Contributed by Judy Benson & Ivy F. Benoit
Page Revised by Ivy F. Benoit (Wednesday February 20, 2013)
Newfoundland's Grand Banks is a non-profit endeavor.
No part of this project may be reproduced in any form
for any purpose other than personal use.
JavaScript DHTML Menu Powered by Milonic
© Newfoundland's Grand Banks (1999-2019)
Hosted by
Your Community, Online!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
There have been no shortage of Season Two episodes of New Girl that your dutiful recappers have deemed "the worst so far." We wish to issue a blanket correction for every time we have said that. Last night's lazy, witless affair, which largely took place at singles event for Indian-Americans, was truly dreadful. Believe us when we say we want to love New Girlas much as Cece wants to find a nice man from "her culture." Unfortunately what we all ended up with, though, is a speechifying Caucasian ex in a prop turban.
Bruce Handy: Wow. I'm not sure what to say about this episode aside from the fact that I'm glad so many South Asian actors were featured.
Juli Weiner: Yes! And it seems someone in wardrobe repurposed Johnny Carson's Carnac the Magnificent hat. So. . . lots of great, unexpected opportunities on last night's New Girl. I know we seem to say this every week but: was that the worst episode ever? It had to have been, right?
__Bruce:__Yes, we are in agreement on that. Also, I'm all for ethnic comedy, but wasn't the treatment of Indians as goofy, nerdy exotics kind of, well. . . racist? I kept expecting Peter Sellers to show up as his bumbling Indian character from The Party. I was particularly taken, if that is the word, with the character of the woman who was running the Indian marriage convention and had a "comic" bit with Winston where she comes on to him. The joke—the only joke—seemed to be that her coming onto Winston was funny because Indian women aren't normally horny. Right? Was there any other way to interpret that? And don't the producers ofNew Girlever watch horny Mindy Kaling's show, which comes on right after theirs?
Juli: Even if we give the show the benefit of the doubt and assume that the woman running the Indian marriage convention's advances toward Winston were more than just a play on the (I guess pre-existing?) stereotype that Indian women are too status-obsessed to be amorous, then the joke becomes. . . what? All women are too status-obsessed to actually care about such a base, biological thing as sex? Yikes.
I also think there's nothing inherently problematic with race-based humor or acknowledging (and even conforming to!) cultural stereotypes. (For an excellent and incisive essay on the subject, I highly recommend the always-brilliant Wesley Morris writing about degrees of blackness and whiteness on 30 Rock for Grantland.) But acknowledging every cultural stereotype, as in the case of Schmidt with his turban, Kal Penn references, Calcutta wordplay, etc., does not inherently make something progressively "post-racial" or whatever. Absolutely everything—right down to the egregiously sit-com-y plotting and crazy coincidences and overreactions and impassioned speeches and insanely irrational breakups and post-dumping Taylor Swift–scored wine-drinking, was way, way too blunt and depthless.
Bruce: I will give the show credit for passing up the opportunity to have Nick or Winston eat some vindaloo and do a bug-eyed fire-mouth face and/or subsequently get the trots. But I agree that in terms of the characters' behavior it was the most arbitrary and unmotivated episode yet, which is saying something. In that regard, and in honor of our ostensibly divergent male-female P.O.V.'s, here's a question: Do you think Cece would have really slept with Schmidt after he made disparaging, unnecessarily detailed observations about her areolae to a group of strangers? Is it condescending of me to assume that most women, even those living in a comic universe, would be so offended as to not sleep with Schmidt?
__Juli:__Yes that was so awful Schmidt told everyone that. (Side note: all women's magazines since the dawn of time have advised women not to get worked up about moles and asymmetry and cellulite or whatever because Men Don't Notice Stuff Like That—They're Just So Happy Your Clothes Are Off.) Do I think Cece would have slept with Schmidt? Maybe? Her self-esteem did take quite a beating that day and people do funny things—or do racist exes, I guess—when they're feeling low.
What's even more puzzling to me is the show's other romantic entanglement: the Sam-Jess-Nick love triangle, which abruptly lost one of its sides when Jess confessed to Sam that Nick kissed her and Sam responded by punching Nick (believable) and promptly breaking up with Jess (huh?). Jess must have been right that their thing was broken to begin with because there is no way a guy would break up with a girl who was randomly kissed by her room mate and immediately confessed to the incident. Guys want girls who are wanted by other guys! This is what I read in a backissue of Men Don't Notice Stuff Like That—They're Just So Happy Your Clothes Are Offmonthly.
Bruce: I'm a little offended that you think male Sam would so readily resort to violence in the face of romantic betrayal, but maybe I'm just a huge pussy. (I'd be all, "Well, um, do you have feelings for him?") It's true about men wanting women that other men want—women are like that too, I've observed—but here's an even bigger Guy Love Secret that you may not have read about in your magazine: men want women who want them. Believe me, it works almost every time!
Juli: Hm. Another important reality check: Jess would totally listen to Taylor Swift after being dumped but never the song "22"! That is the happiest song on the entire album! Could New Girl not get the rights to "Treacherous"? Unforgivable.
Bruce: Wait, Taylor Swift is the new wallowing-in-having-just-been-dumped music? But she's just so. . . perky. Is it an I'm-gonna-get-right-back-on-my-feet-and-write-a-mean-song-about-you thing? I guess dumped women and the music they love have come a long way since mopey old Joni Mitchell.


text:
Library Services
Visiting the Walter W. Stiern Library at CSU Bakersfield
All Degree Programs students are entitled to library services at CSUB. The CSUB Library is open to the public, but only currently enrolled students can check out books or other library materials. A student identification card number (Runner ID) is required to check out materials. Before you visit our campus, please contact the Distant Services Library Assistant regarding policies and procedures for checking out materials.
Services for Online Students
There are many services which provide distant learners with access to library information. Your campus ID will allow you access to the electronic Library databases for semesters in which you are registered.
Research Assistance through the Stiern Library Distant Learner Services
As a Degree Programs student, you have full access to research services via the telephone and internet. Information will be mailed, faxed, e-mailed, or sent via UPS. These services include document delivery of selected magazine articles or book extracts, interlibrary loans, and reference assistance. Many of the services are available free of charge or for a nominal fee.
Visiting the College of the Canyons Library
Santa Clarita community members are welcome to use all College of the Canyons Library materials while in the library. Community members who are not eligible for a regular library card may request a SCILNET (Santa Clarita Interlibrary Network) card at their local public or school library. This temporary card entitles the holder to check out any materials that circulate to the COC students. For additional information, consult the COC Library Circulation or Reference desk.


text:
Video: Volunteers did the 'Mannequin Challenge' while building Delray's 100-foot Christmas tree
DELRAY BEACH — Volunteers who helped piece together Delray Beach's 100-foot Christmas tree attraction paused — literally — to record a "Mannequin Challenge" video.
The "Mannequin Challenge" is the latest internet video trend that was even performed at the White House during President Barack Obama's Presidential Medal of Freedom awards this past week. Each "Mannequin Challenge" video consists of people staying motionless while the camera winds its way through an area.
The Delray Beach 100-foot Christmas tree, at Old School Square, is the most popular holiday attraction in the city. Volunteers participated in the video earlier this month, and it was posted on Facebook by the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative.
The annual tree-lighting ceremony will be held Thursday, Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. at Old School Square.
And as you'd anticipate in a Mannequin Challenge involving a 100-foot Christmas tree, there's at least one person hanging motionless from the tree.
Check out the video here:


text:
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
McCall 5579, 4th of July Kimono Dress
I bought this stretch silk charmeuse in Hong Kong with AllisonC (I think I paid about $3/meter for it). I enjoy subtle stunt dressing and thought it would be perfect for a 4th of July dress, as it is red, white, and blue but not covered with stripes and spangles. Of course, I didn't think so much about the pattern--you can't sit on the ground in this because the skirt isn't very full. I'd had it in mind for this pattern for a year, and in my frenzy of activity leading up to PR Weekend Montreal I managed to get it done! Unfortunately, with this fabric I got what I paid for and it is not holding up well and keeps getting snags. Hopefully it will last a couple years.
The whole time I was thinking about the dress I was debating whether to do contrast bands in red along the neckline and at the midriff. In the end, I decided not to. I don't know that the Duro look (see my Simplicity 4072 version at right) is now unfashionable, but the rage that lasted a good 2.5 years has definitely subsided.
A kimono look is always in fashion, so I went plain old, figuring I could always dress it up with an obi. The one I'm wearing on the left is from Burda 06-2009-151 obi. The reverse side, which you can see in my Montreal collage below, is a silk brocade a friend brought me back from China many years ago. I have no idea what to do with it, so I was glad to finally use a piece!
I did my usual small bust adjustment for a crossover top of shortening the diagonal wrap line. This doesn't have any problems with gaping.
For the swayback alteration, I split the length reduction between the midriff and the skirt, which worked well. No swayback puddling.
Rather than use facings to finish the neckline, I just used a self-fabric binding. As I recall, I didn't even cut the binding on the bias as the neckline curve is never extreme. I just cut the binding about two inches wide on the crossgrain, pressed into a double fold, sewed one edge to the wrong side of the neckline and then folded over and topstitched on the right side. A nice clean finish without any floppy facings.
I cut the skirt a little wider than drafted, the full width of my 45 wide fabric, for comfort.
As depicted on the pattern envelope, the sleeves ended up elbow length, which was entirely unflattering on me. I shortened them about 3 inches at the shoulder seam, tapering to nothing at the underarm.
There are zero reviews of this pattern on PatternReview (well, now there is one) and the pattern is now out of print. I am so surprised by both of those! It is a cute pattern and not too complicated, suitable for beginners. This look never really goes out of style, or if it does it has not done so yet. It's as cute or cuter than several other patterns in this vein. Why it didn't get any love, I don't know. If you have it in stash pull it out and see if you have anything that will work for it!
All photos are here and the pattern review is here.
My theme for my trip to Montreal for PR Weekend was red and white because I have a RTW red and white hat I wanted to be able to wear with everything. I had several pieces in my closet, but of course what is a trip without new clothes? Somehow over the weekend before leaving I managed to make two dresses and a top before flying out Monday morning: this dress, the Vogue 1161 Rachel Comey, and another version of the Simplicity 2938 princess seam tank top. That one was quite a coup. I had saved the fabric, leftover from Vogue 2787 for almost 3 years. The fabric I had left was in a long skinny piece. I knew that someday I would find a pattern that would work. And finally, I did. Although, it's probably a bad thing that it reinforced my tendency to save small bits of fabric.
28 comments:
- cidell said...
You are looking paticularly svelte in this ensemble. But, where is the jumping photo?
- July 27, 2010 at 10:58 AM
- Suzie said...
I love this kimono style dress. The fabric is gorgeous and I really like it with the red belt.
That really was impressive to get all those clothes made before your trip, I especially love your Vouge 1161 dress. And I thought I was doing well by making a last minute beach bag to take with me the night before I left for my hols! lol!
- July 27, 2010 at 10:58 AM
- Little Hunting Creek said...
I love the kimono dress - very chic. The obi is perfect with it. As for saving long scraps saying "this will come in handy later" - I have BAGS of those!
- July 27, 2010 at 11:10 AM
- Cennetta said...
Trena, This is so cute. What lovely fabric.
- July 27, 2010 at 1:06 PM
- Amanda S. said...
The dress is super cute, and great job finding a design for such a large print. That is no easy task.
- July 27, 2010 at 1:17 PM
- Jana said...
Aww, I'm totally sad that it's out of print. I have a tendency to add patterns to my "to buy" list after you make them (maybe because we have such a similar body type, so if it looks fab on you it probably will on me too?) - and I was sooo picturing my own version of this cute kimono look. Either way, I love your version! The fabric so pretty, hopefully it holds up for a while
- July 27, 2010 at 2:36 PM
- NancyDaQ said...
I love it on you! This one's in my pattern stash so I may need to add it to my project list.
- July 27, 2010 at 4:07 PM
- Marie said...
Too bad the fabric is starting to snag. It looks fabulous.
- July 27, 2010 at 4:18 PM
- Tasia said...
So cute! The kimono style is so flattering and I love the wide red obi-belt. Hope it lasts until you're tired of it! What a nice-fitting pattern to use again though.
I also have a big bag of funny-shaped scraps that I'm sure have to be useful one day! The problem is forgetting what's in the bag though, the larger the stash grows..
- July 27, 2010 at 5:02 PM
- Victoria said...
Trena, you've been on a major streak for making super cute dresses !!! I love, love, love this dress (my jaw couldn't drop any further). So pretty!!!!
- July 27, 2010 at 5:18 PM
- Faye Lewis said...
Love them all, especially the kimono with the red belt,
- July 27, 2010 at 5:25 PM
- Marjie said...
Here and I thought the red sash was a design feature of the dress. That is what makes it really cute, in my opinion.
- July 27, 2010 at 7:01 PM
- Valerie'sownsewingblog said...
Aiee! I have this pattern and haven't gotten around to sewing it. I'm amazed how fast you are. BTW beautiful dress.
- July 27, 2010 at 7:03 PM
- Sew4Fun said...
I love your dress. Nice use of the fabric. They seem perfectly matched.
- July 27, 2010 at 7:43 PM
- AllisonC said...
I wish I had bought some of that fabric too now, snagging or not!
- July 27, 2010 at 7:58 PM
- meli88a said...
As always, perfect fabric and pattern match -- this really looks fab.
- July 27, 2010 at 9:19 PM
Love the photo shoot outtakes! More in the future please :-)
- July 27, 2010 at 9:52 PM
- Adelaide B said...
I love this dress with the obi. It's wonderful!
- July 27, 2010 at 11:34 PM
- Adelaide B said...
I love this dress with the obi. It's wonderful!
- July 27, 2010 at 11:34 PM
- Gail said...
I have this pattern and was wondering how it could be made to look a bit more edgy. So thanks for the idea about the obi belt.
- July 28, 2010 at 4:09 AM
- Eugenia said...
Stunning dress! Perfect matching of style and fabric. I love large prints but it's very difficult to get just the right pattern for them - your dress looks fabulous in this bold print. The red belt is the perfect finishing touch.
- July 28, 2010 at 6:13 AM
- senaSews said...
Wow, fantastic dress. It is so you! Love the fabric and love it with the red obi belt!
- July 29, 2010 at 5:48 AM
- MushyWear said...
What a great dress. I love this style and it looks great on you especially with the red belt. I wish I had that fabric for the current SWAP, I'm working on. It is gorgeous!
- July 29, 2010 at 8:29 PM
i love the sleeve on the kimono dress and it looks great with leggings. I forgot about this pattern and happy to say that I have it in my stash! You will be seeing a copycat soon! Looks adorable on you.
- July 29, 2010 at 11:01 PM
- Angela said...
Cute dress!! I love it styled with the obi.
- July 30, 2010 at 3:50 PM
- mochimo said...
This is really a beautiful dress! I love the print, the fabric and the way it looks on you (especially worn with the leggings and the obi belt).
It is really not my style - I don't own anything that resembles that - but it looks so comfy yet chic that I'm feeling a strange urge to get myself a dress like that at once! :-)
- July 31, 2010 at 8:56 AM
- Trudy Callan said...
Love them all. Great photos.
I'll have the pics up from the photo shoot of my latest skirt on Monday. See you then.
- July 31, 2010 at 1:42 PM
- Kathi said...
Awesome dress - the fabric is gorgeous and the style is very nice!
I like this one a lot!
- August 4, 2010 at 10:05 PM


text:
AuraPortal to Sponsor an Educational Webinar Featuring Paul Harmon on the BPMS Lifecycle
BP Trends to host a free webinar on the BPMS Lifecycle Featuring Paul Harmon on May 5th at 10:00AM EST
by Straight Line Saturday, May 07, 2011
According to Mr. Harmon, "Too many BPM software projects have, in practice, simply been software development projects. When Smith and Fingar wrote their book, Business Process Management, The Third Wave, which launched the development of this generation of software tools, they were focused on the possibility that BPMS tools could support business managers in the day to day management of their processes. Tools that do this must support ease of modeling; the rapid analysis of problems, the monitoring of processes during execution and that ability to make changes to the processes quickly and easily".
Mr. Harmon will chronicle the evolution of BPMS tools, discuss the features required by business managers, and the functionality of today's BPMS tools. The webinar will also address how AuraPortal BPMS tool provides the features necessary to support business managers. To register for this free webinar go to: http://tinyurl.com/3gexmlm.
ABOUT AURA (AuraPortal) (http://www.auraportal.com)
AURA is a global BPMS (Business Process Management Suite) provider delivering a solution that creates, without the need of IT programming, Business Process Workflow Execution Models. AuraPortal is 100% Web-based, and is complementary to existing ERP and CRM systems.
AuraPortal has a presence in 50 countries with more than 350 customers including, among others: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Toyota, Yamaha, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), Carrefour, ArcelorMittal, Eletrobras, Royal KPN, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sodexo, etc., as well as many Government Agencies and Departments in several countries.
AuraPortal Headquarters are located in North America (Boston) and Europe (Holland) whereas the software development facilities are located in Spain and India.
Scott Rich
400 Trade Center
Woburn, MA 01801-7472
We will get your press release in the media spotlight by publishing it to 70+ popular and respected press release sites for just $10 USD. You will see an almost overnight improvement in the amount and quality of the traffic to your site. Let it be announcement of new products or achievement of business milestones or creating great online brand awareness, there is no other SEO strategy that can match the effectiveness of Press Release Distribution. In fact Press Release Distribution is the mo
General |
0 submitted by Straight Line
Read More Press Releases
Koincable Introduces Four Customizable HDMI Cables
SKS Ispat& Power Ltd commissions first 300-MW power unit of their 1,200-MW RaigarhPower Plant
How a Bodybuilding Diet Can Help Build Muscle Naturally
Low Carb Diet Report Casts Light On New Research Findings
Increase in the number of student visa is trending nowadays
Wiwigo Technologies: First of its kind selfie campaign takes place in moving Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi
An important day in real estate sector
Leonard Kim to Appear on Critical Mass Radio Show
Nishan Kohli's recent exhibition on photography
CIMR-PU Esteemed GloballySAARC DESIMGOW Moderator at NPA Venerated for High Contour-profiles.
Get press releases by email


text:
This was disclosed at a press conference held at the National Assembly led by Olusola Adeyeye, the chief whip of the Senate.
He said both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their Labour Party colleagues had come together and agreed to fully back Buhari.
"The Joint APC and LP caucuses in the country wish to tell the entire Republic and the whole world that we are stoutly behind the policies and programmes of President Muhammadu Buhari, and all his efforts at bringing the desired change that Nigerians voted for last year," he said.
The senators, who were mostly from the All Progressives Congress (APC) were reacting to the decision of their colleagues in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to withdraw support for the president.
They praised the current administration for its fight against corruption and the partisan reaction from the minority party, PDP.
Senator Ibn Ba'Alla, Senator Olusola Adeyeye, Senator Ovie Omo Agege at the meeting
The partisan reaction said, "we are shocked at the totally partisan reaction of our colleagues from the minority party, PDP, to the on-going investigations and recovery of public funds meant for the prosecution of the war against insurgency," the senators said in statement signed by.
"Contrary to the assertion of our PDP colleagues, the investigation is not a partisan war against a particular political party. It is no longer a news item that there was a wanton diversion of public funds meant for fighting insurgency to fund campaigns of PDP. Members of the PDP were the sole and iniquitous beneficiaries of this diversion.
"Seeking to recover diverted public funds is neither dictatorial nor against the rule of law. In all the actions, programmes and policies of the PMB-led APC federal government, no PDP member has been unjustly arrested or imprisoned on mere allegations.
"On the contrary, we are daily regaled with news of millions and billions of naira of public funds traced to accounts of individuals some of whom have accepted to return such diverted public funds.
"The members of the Joint Caucus of the APC and Labour Party Senators in the Senate are stoutly behind the policies and programmes of the President Muhammadu Buhari's administration."
Some of the senators present were Yayi Adeola representing Lagos West senatorial district, Bala Na' Allah, the deputy minority leader and Ovie Omo-Agege representing Delta Central senatorial district.


text:
On a Happy Note: Infinite Risk
Review: Infinite Risk by Ann Aguirre
Title: Infinite Risk (Immortal Game #3)
Author: Ann Aguirre
Pages: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publish Date: August 2, 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Supernatural, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Synopsis: In a world of infinite risk, the stakes have never been so high.
Beyond the pull of life and death lies the Immortal game. Edie Kramer has leaped back to put things right and save the boy she loves. Alone in the wrong timestream, she must reinvent herself and square off against dangerous Immortals determined to win this mortal match once and for all.
But righting past wrongs carries fresh dangers. As she navigates a new school and tries to put Kian on a different path, she also battles those will stop at nothing to keep her from derailing their deadly schemes. With few allies and her first love treating her like a stranger, Edie faces the most dangerous enemy of all―time itself. Yet she's come a long way from that dark night on the bridge, and when her back's to the wall, she'll go down fighting...
The conclusion of New York Times-bestselling author Ann Aguirre's Immortal Game trilogy is thrilling and unforgettable.
The Immortal Game trilogy is seriously one of my favorite series of all time. My love for it goes beyond words. It is literally one of the greatest pieces of writing I have ever read, and I'm sad to see it's over.
It had been probably over a year since I'd read book two, so when I dived right into Infinite Risk I wasn't too sure on what was going on. Yet, I managed to catch up fairly quickly. I got this gist of what happened; the only thing I struggled with was the names. I definitely remembered Edie and Kian, but I was iffy with a few others. But that didn't really matter because this book mainly focuses on another group.
It's book three so I'm just going to tell you what happens at the end of book two. If you're interested in reading this trilogy, which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND, go check out my review of Mortal Danger.
At the end of Public Enemies, Kian dies so Edie makes the smart decision to travel back in time to save him from ever signing the contract and becoming part of The Game. There, that's really all you need to go going into this book. Infinite Risk starts off when Kian is a freshman in high school so he's not really the Kian you're used to… yet.
Edie pretty much spends the entirety of Infinite Risk to create a better future for Kian where he doesn't join The Game. She wants to make his life better. But a big part of this book is that Edie can't change the future so Kian's dead in her lifetime, but she can create an alternative timeline. It's actually really interesting to read.
Kian transforms before your eyes from a kid that never talks to anyone to actually someone who becomes pretty confident in his own skin. Kian is one of my favorite characters, so it was pretty cool to see how he was before Edie met him. There's a lot of extremely well written character development for him which was awesome!
Edie was an 18 year old in a 15 year old's body, so it was uncomfortable for her. Plus watching Kian and only being friends was rough. I don't think I would be able to do it. Again, this shows just how strong she is. Fighting off immortals while protecting her first love. Plus she deals with some backlash from the time travel. (Can I just say that I was on the edge of my seat because I did not think she was going to make it?!)
The Harbinger plays a bigger role in Infinite Risk, and I honestly love him. There are so many different layers to him; it was amazing being able to see them all. I liked him in Public Enemies, but I love him now. Edie's good for him.
I have nothing bad to say about these characters. I love each and every one of them, and I'm incredibly sad to see them go.
When it started winding down, I had no clue what would happen. The falling action didn't seem as if it was leading to an ending. Except for the inevitable thing to Edie, but I never really accepted that as an ending. It didn't really go to the resolution until the point where there was a few pages left. Like I said, I had no idea how Aguirre was going to end.
The ending was probably my favorite moment throughout the entire series. I absolutely loved it. Aguirre could not have chosen a better ending. I almost cried because I loved it so much. It was perfect. I loved how they talked about what happened in the alternate timeline. I have tears in my eyes whilst writing this review because it's beautiful. I am also completely in love with how Aguirre ended Edie's actual timeline. Perfect. There's no other way to describe it.
Read this series just so you can read this ending. Please.
I loved this book. I cannot wait to purchase it and add it to my shelves. Speaking of which, I just bought Mortal Danger and I will be purchasing Public Enemies soon from Book Outlet. If you've never heard of it, they have super cheap books and shipping is low too. Go check it out.
I feel like a happy, content sigh would describe this book really well. Don't look at me like I'm crazy, just hear me out. This series is over yet it ended in the best possible way. You get answers and aren't left hanging. This journey is over, but they are living such amazing lives.
I can't even right now.
I loved Infinite Risk, and I will love it for a long time after this.
About the Author
Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. She likes all kinds of books, emo music, action movies and Doctor Who. She writes all kind of fiction in multiple genres, both YA and for adults.
Tags: review


text:
WIPs and Chains
I'm done. I've fleshed out the characters. Surprise to me: Jake is not a "Chief" archetype, he's a "Bad Boy". He showed me that over and over throughout the story. AND he has a deep emotional childhood wound that I didn't know about. That's why he's such a bad boy and a player. It all makes sense now. Why he was so hurt by rejection and betrayal. But Shelby makes sense, too, now that I know how her parents ignored her so they could fight all the time. Now I know why she was willing to enter into this deal with Jake. Now I know why her career is such a challenge to her at times.
The funny thing is, when I started fleshing out the characters and then went back to add things into my story to make sure they were there - they were already there. To my surprise. Am I in some kind of coma when I write, or something?
Anyway, the good thing is that although at about pages 125 – 175 I felt I was writing boring drivel that nobody would ever want to read, I now feel kind of...excited. Like, maybe this story is okay after all. I mean, I hope it's more than okay, but how would I know? I just wrote it.
I also have a new title which might be the one that actually sticks: Sweet Deal.
Now my process is to put it away and let it simmer. Let the flavours develop, if you will. The longer the better, but I'll leave it alone for at least a month. Then, deeper editing will happen.
And now..on to something else!


text:
Author: Oliver Stark
Publisher: Headline
Release Date: Sept 2011
Pages: 464
The exciting second serial killer thriller from Oliver Stark featuring series characters NYPD detective, Tom Harper, and police psychologist, Denise Levene.
Tom Harper and Denise Levene return in this fantastic new thriller from Oliver Stark. In a brand new case, full of twists and turns, Harper and Levene hunt a serial killer on the streets of New York.
When the body of a young white male is discovered in a Harlem alleyway, NYPD detective, Tom Harper, is not convinced this is a straightforward homicide case. Determined to discover the truth, Harper investigates a spate of similar murders across the city with the help of police psychologist, Denise Levene. But Denise is battling her own demons, as Tom knows all too well.
The realization that a serial killer could be on the prowl seems like frighteningly familiar territory to Tom and Denise. But hatred and fear take on many forms and Tom has never come across a case quite like this...
Oliver Stark made his first attempt at crime fiction at the age of sixteen. Needless to say, this never reached publication. After trying a wide variety of jobs he finally gave in to his passion for reading and went on to study and then teach literature. Oliver now lives in London with his wife and children. Visit the author's website: http://www.oliverstark.co.uk.
88 Killer is the story over an eighteen day period, beginning with the abduction of a young girl and leading on until the case is solver by Detective Tom Harper of the NYPD. Harper is currently investigating two homicides and believes that there is a possibility that the three cases are linked.
One of the other main characters, Dr. Denise Levern, is a psychologist who was kidnapped and held prisoner. While she is a trained psychologist, this was just as traumatic for her as it would be for any normal person, so she is still recovering from it...
One of the scariest and disturbing things about 88 Killer is that the story could very well be based on a true event. This is what makes the story an emotional rollercoaster and disturbing read. The action is fast paced and compelling, as along with the good guys we race to nail the killer.
Stark employs a writing technique that adds suspense and intrigues, having much of the narration from the point of view of the killer, while keeping their identity a complete mystery to the reader. This makes for some interesting reading. As Tom tears around seeking to find the killer, Denise and the father of the kidnapped girl try a more cerebral approach, and we of the cyber age learn yet again the wonder of the library system.
This was a great read and I can't wait to read more by this author.


text:
Shop by Brand Milwaukee Tools Milwaukee Blades
Milwaukee Saw Blades and Sawzall Blades are great additions to your Milwaukee saws. These power tool add-ons have the quality and longevity one would expect from a leading brand like Milwaukee. Whether you are looking for circular saw blades, band saw blades, jig saw blades or one of Milwaukee many other blade types, Tools Plus has you covered.
Milwaukee Tools is just one of the numerous categories of tools and accessories offered at Tools-Plus.com. Shop with confidence knowing that Tools-Plus.com is an Authorized Internet Retailer.
Use our new online utility to track your recently-placed order.
Because we get such good deals, we must reserve the right to limit quantities from time to time. Tools-Plus is not responsible for typographical or photographical errors. Prices and specifications are subject to change without notice.


text:
Rolling Hills Estates, CAHome Menu
Michael Whitehead
Administrative Services Director
310-377-1577 ext. 112
The Administrative Services Department is supervised by the Administrative Services Director, Michael Whitehead. For the City, he is responsible for the Information Technology Division, Finance Division, Budget, City Treasury as City Treasurer, Risk Management Officer, and City's Facilities. In addition, Mike serves as the CFO for the City's nonprofit Pepper Tree Foundation benefiting City parks. Mike has served on the Board of Directors for the California Municipal Treasurers Association, and as the Chair of CMTA Division II. Additionally, Mike served as the Chair of the Los Angeles South Bay Chapter and a member of the Technology Committee for the California State Municipal Finance Officers Association.
The Department also includes Amelia Chan, Accountant, who oversees Accounts Payables & Payroll, and Laurie Moromisato, Account Clerk II, who manages Business Licenses & Accounts Receivables.
Additionally, the Department administers the cash management and investment programs, license collection, and purchasing. The Department is awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association annually.


text:
Join Scott Onstott for an in-depth discussion in this video Adding alignment and base-point grips, part of AutoCAD: Designing Dynamic Blocks.
- Up to this point, we've created dynamic blocks using geometric and dimensional constraints. There's an entirely independent system that exist for creating dynamic blocks, that employs parameters and actions. You can pick which system you want to use depending on the situation. If you have a highly geometric or engineering type of situation where you need to calculate sizes based on a formula, then the dimensional and geometric constraints might be the way to go.
If you want greater interactivity with your objects, perhaps the parameters and actions method would be more suitable. Let's go ahead and explore this new method by double-clicking on this static block reference. To open this edit block definition dialogue. Here we can just click okay to open the desk set block in the block editor environment. As I said before, we are looking at geometric and dimensional constraints.
Now, we're going to examine parameters and actions. Parameter sets are combinations of parameters and actions together. You can mix and match these systems. You can use geometric constraints with parameters if you want. It's all fair game. To start with, let's try out two of the simplest parameters. These two parameters alignment and base-point actually don't even require actions to be associated with them.
Just putting in the parameters is enough. Let's click alignment, and then click the mid-point along the right edge of the desk to specify the alignment point. Now, it says specify alignment direction. Click this lower end point. A custom grip appears showing this special alignment symbol. Let's close the block editor and save the changes. To see how this works, draw a line off to the side at some arbitrary angle like this.
Then, continue the line horizontally like that. Click your dynamic block, and you'll see that it has an alignment grip. Click the grip and bring it closer to this line and wa la, the entire block automatically re-orientates itself. If you move the cursor around, you'll find that they'll be a point where it will flip over onto the other side. You can just experiment with that.
You can come down here and have it go on either side of the horizontal line. Eventually, you can just decided where you want to place it by clicking, and the block is re-positioned and re-orientated all in one fill swoop. If we insert the desk set, the insert command doesn't exhibit this functionality. Just drop it down anywhere, click the block, use it's alignment grip to very quickly align it to the office that you're putting the desk set in to, for example.
At this point, the block has an alignment grip and a base-point grip which is shown in blue. Double-click on the block reference and click okay. To go back into the editor, click the base-point parameter and place that right here. Close the editor and save. Now, everything moved because I re-defined the relationship of the geometry to its basepoint.
You see. Click the alignment grip and move things back into position. The base-point is now in a new location. You can actually put the base-point so that it's coincident with the alignment grip. I'll move this base-point right there. Close and save. Again, everything jumps but that's okay. Now, we don't even see the blue grip anymore.
We don't even need it either. We can just use the alignment grip to position and orient our block relative to other geometry.
- Defining and nesting blocks
- Inserting and redefining blocks
- Creating and applying constraints
- Designing dynamic blocks
- Sharing blocks on a local area network


text:
Are you 16-18 and looking to try out short courses before you commit to something longer? Do you need to get back into a routine and build up your confidence?
You could try out a short ESF programme with one of these training providers in Wakefield.
You are usually in 3-5 days a week with courses lasting around 4 weeks and you can then look at moving onto your next step
Categories: ESF PROVISION, Building and Construction, Care Work / Childcare / Elderly Care, Motor Vehicle Work


text:
Did you know that nanny taxes aren't just for nannies? If someone works in your home, we make it easy for you to file and pay your nanny taxes so you don't have to worry about them.
Our service is simple, accurate and cost effective! Whether you employ a Caregiver, Housekeeper, Personal Assistant, Nanny or a Babysitter we can help you save time and ensure compliance with the law.
For over twenty years, our family owned business has helped thousands of families navigate the complicated household employment laws known as nanny taxes. Nanny taxes are all we do – let us do the work for you.
Give us a call at 800-747-9826 to see how we can help you.
Nanny Tax – Employer and employee tax withholding basics
Learn More
Helpful links and information
Nanny Taxes made simple – find out how we can help you
Registration and payments – secure and easy!
Pay Now Register
Calculate domestic worker employee tax deductions
Salary Hourly
What's new with Nanny Taxes
©2019 The Nanny Tax Company. All Rights Reserved - Site Map Chicago Web Design: Tecture


text:
It was a total mismatch when it came to their names, but on the floor Sabay Salty Crabs proved mightier than the Phnon Penh Dragons.
In a championship game full of dizzying possessions at the Beeline Arena on Saturday, the Crabs had the better of the exchanges and swept the Dragons aside 72-64 to emerge worthy winners of the inaugural Cambodia Basketball Challenge.
Loud music blared as the buzzer sounded the Dragons' death knell. No chest bumps or fist pumps – the celebration was passionate but mild with the Crabs adoring the winning medals around their necks.
The Dragons were understandably crestfallen.
Against all odds and expectations, the Dragons had splendidly recovered from a slow start to the season to get to within one match of the title, only to see the Crabs snatch it away.
"Fifteen men, one team, one goal. We did it, and it's the best feeling to ever have. Call us what you want, but don't forget to call us champions," Crabs skipper Kenneth Kim emotionally declared in an interview with the Post yesterday.
Little did anyone know that he had played an impeccable role in defence despite nursing a fractured finger on his right hand and a sprained left rotator cuff.
The captain's own predicament highlighted the many other injury concerns that surrounded the team going into this vital game.
In a way the small but noisy crowd brazenly rooted for the Dragons. "The non-stop chants of 'Dragons, fight, fight' was motivating for us to silence the crowd," added Kim.
Dragons' coach Michael Dibbern, meanwhile, was gracious in defeat.
"We did our best. I am disappointed we didn't take the title but at the same time I am happy the team made it this far. Now there is plenty to look forward to," he said.
Constantly probing and always on the lookout for a sly killer pass, the Crabs led in every quarter, though the Dragons managed to stay within sight.
There were transient phases of Dragons brilliance in counter play, both in the third and fourth quarters, that threatened to take the finish to the wire.
But the Crabs were in no mood to relent. Every time the Dragons got closer on the back of high roller Mark Nabong's defence splitting drive-ins, the Crabs would come through with a bucket of their own.
A big surprise was in store for the Dragons when the Crabs shelved their usual 2-3 zone defence to a box-and-one style, with four manning the zone and one typically marking the best rival offensive player.
Three Crabs defenders – Kenneth Kim, Eng Eavhai and Im Pronita – took turns to patrol Dragons lead player Nabong, restricting him to just six points in the game, a mighty blow for the Dragons.
With Nabong effectively shackled it was left to Kelvin Chan to salvage the Dragons' pride. But in the end it was too much of a load for one player to carry.
"We felt that if we take Nabong out of the equation and force their supporting players to step up, we'd be able to put them away early," said captain Kim.
The Crabs closed out the first quarter with a comfortable 20-6 lead. They never looked back, staving off in the end an exciting counter offensive by the Dragons that brought the deficit to seven at one stage.
But a deep corner three-pointer by Im Pronita signaled the end for the Dragons.
Sean Looney's strong presence under the rim ensured some nice rebound pick-ups at one end and a few nice lay-ups at the other. He topped the score-list with 20 points.
The ever-consistent Kim Vengnguon did his part with 16 points, with Im Pronita stacking up a triple of three-pointers.
Meanwhile, Kelvin Chan, who has been doing consistently well for the Dragons, top-scored with 21 points.
In the run-up to the championship fight, Raid-Alaxan FR, well paced by Aimar Sabayo's 27 points, led all the way to post a 70-61 win over CCPL Heat in the third place playoff.
To contact the reporter on this story: H S Manjunath at [email protected]


text:
Bright blazer? Yeah, I could manage that. Colour-pop heels? Definitely. Patterned trousers? If you wore them right, I suppose... All three? No chance.
Sound familiar? I, for one, am annoyingly "safe" in my style and even I am starting to get bored of the little H&M black blazer that is permanently attached to my every outfit. I need a bit of life in my wardrobe, and don't we all?
These trousers certainly fit the bill. Patterned trousers have been cool for ages, and I had to double take when I saw this Topshop pair which are near identical to a patterned Erdem (♥) pair that were featured in this weeks Grazia. They are damn pretty and look like they cost a good bit more than their modest price tag of £30. But how would you wear them?
When I first saw them I thought blazer, blazer, blazer... I think it's an addiction. However, they are the perfect base for a lot of cool outfits, despite initially seeming a bit outlandish. Patterned trousers are very much a love-hate thing for a lot of you, but perhaps I can convert you with this post?
Instead of focussing on my usual "daytime" or "evening" looks, I thought i'd put together a few possible looks for our varying levels of fashion aplomb. These aren't trousers fit for a shrinking violet, but they needn't be OTT.


text:
FireWise communities spreading across SW Oregon
'September 26, 2014, Oregon Dept. of Forestry
Southwest Oregon District
Kaitlyn Webb, Medford Oregon Department of Forestry, (541) 620-1572
John O'Connor, Medford Oregon Department of Forestry, (541) 621-1168
'An active fire season in southwest Oregon comes as no surprise. Both smoky skies accompanied by frequent firefighter traffic are common sights. Damage of personal property and livelihood due to forest fires are also a concern—a concern that has recently been attracting more attention and the prompting of local action. Individuals are understanding the importance of defensible space around their homes as well as their neighborhoods. Firewise, a nationwide program is aiding in the promotion of this awareness and in taking steps to empower local communities to take action. There are currently 55 recognized Firewise Communities in Oregon, 6 of which have been established in 2014.
John O'Connor, a Firewise Specialist with the Oregon Department of Forestry describes this program as, "Neighbors working with neighbors to help make their communities safer from wildfire." The goal is to create communities that can survive fires through fuels reduction. Since wildfires threaten entire communities, not just a single home, it is crucial for all members to be aware of elements that increase fire potential so that these can be eliminated in order to create defensible space around homes and properties. In urban areas, fire can jump from home to home. In more rural areas, fire can feed off the flammable vegetation between properties, which means that it must be a communal effort to create safer communities.
Flames do not have to be surrounding a neighborhood for the structures and properties to be at risk. Fire-spreading embers can drift miles from the actual fire presenting a danger to surrounding residents. Wisely selecting less flammable building materials for the roof and keeping gutters and roofs clear of leaves or needles can minimize the risk of ignition from drifting embers. Elements such as untreated decks or woodpiles near a home increase vulnerability to ignition and should be mitigated.
Firewise offers a wealth of information, property assessments, possible funding for fuel reduction assistance, as well as continual support and guidance regarding the plans a community sets in place for future sustainability and improvement of defensible space.
The rewards of a proactive and fire aware community far outweigh the efforts required. Being a Firewise Community enhances the safety of your home, builds community, and provides a framework for future action. Being fire ready reduces the risk of damaged structures and property in the event of a fire.
Contact one of these Firewise Communities specialists to learn how your neighborhood can become more resilient to wildfire by becoming a Firewise Community or visit http://www.firewise.org
John O'Connor, Josephine County Firewise, (541) 621-1168 Bob Schumacher, Grants Pass Fire and Rescue, (541) 450-6205 Ashley Lara, Ashland Fire and Rescue, (541) 552-2231'
Click here, for video, FireWise Community in Bend.
One last Word
You have seen our webpage. This is where the content of this newsletter springs from. We are also now on Facebook. Please send us your friend request, so we can find you there, if you have not found us first.


text:
Only private wine tours
The 90+ Brunello wine tour
|Complete view of the Montalcino area, only private and best selected wineries in Montalcino
Only private tailored wine tours for maximum 4 people.
Wine shipping follow-up and agency.
Tour is not aiming to see the top famous wineries, but set to combine different approaches of making Brunello, with the spirit of visiting only authentic producers, making superb wines that are not available or hard to find abroad. We are going to taste from 4 makers on different areas of Montalcino. We will visit the cellar, talk to the actual maker and taste his wine with him. Nothing that sounds or looks touristic. You will be able to see how, from the same grape, land, and the same aging process they are able to get wines that are so different one to the other and interesting finding how each wine reflects the intimate personality of the maker.
|"Above 90" Winery tours and services


text:
Content Director's Note: This post is a part of our Election Month at Patheos feature. Patheos was designed to present the world's most compelling conversations on life's most important questions. Please join the Facebook following for our new News and Politics Channel — and check back throughout the month for more commentary on Election 2012. Please use hashtag #PatheosElection on Twitter.
Just as the repetitive, remonstrative, and sometimes shockingly disingenuous discourse of the presidential debates threatened to lull me into believing otherwise, Richard Mourdock, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Indiana, reminded me that one of the key issues at stake in 2012 is indeed still women's rights, the sane assessment of our situation, the value of our lives and freedoms, and the logical thinking required to move us forward.
But let me state up front that women's rights are not "social issues." And to believe that women's rights are subordinate to any other election issue is to make a dire miscalculation for the future of the United States of America.
For over half the population — and potential workforce and brain-trust — of our country, our right to control our own bodies and make decisions about our own reproductive systems is an economic issue. Our right to freely access our choice of no-cost contraception without the knowledge, moral judgement or consent of our bosses is an economic issue. Our right to family planning, to decide when and if we will have children, with whom, how many children we will have and the spacing of them is an economic issue. Our right to affordable health care that does not charge women up to 48% higher premiums than men or penalize female status (sometimes even including past experience of rape or domestic violence) as a "pre-existing condition," is an economic issue. And our right to legally contest being paid less for doing the same job as a man (Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act) is, of course, an economic issue. These issues have a profound effect upon our country's fiscal recovery, job growth, and future global leadership.
Women's ability to complete our education, successfully navigate the job market, and invest in our career development depends on these rights staying intact. The strength and sustainability of irreplaceable contributions women make to communities, schools, business and commerce, and religious, civic and service organizations depends on these rights. Our ability to support ourselves and our families depends on these rights, and women are increasingly responsible for supporting families. The Wall Street Journal and other studies report that when women control the household finances, they globally tend to spend their income in ways that benefit families and children most, compared to ways money is generally spent when men are the ones primarily bringing home the bacon.
In other words, to be fully functioning members of society who can contribute our strengths and talents to being good capitalist entrepreneurs, starting businesses, growing the economy, furthering education, making families healthier and improving American society, we must be allowed to put on our "big girl" pants and make decisions about ourselves, for ourselves. That means without the government legislating otherwise. But our rights are threatened every time Romney and Ryan claim they will repeal the Affordable Care Act on "day one", every time they promised to "de-fund" Planned Parenthood, every time they deny legislation for workplace equity while putting all their energy into writing bills and constitutional amendments that outlaw most contraception and In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), yet force women to carry rape and incest pregnancies. Listen, everyone agrees that life is precious and sacred, and no one wants abortions. But life is extraordinarily complex and often very unfair to women, especially poor women, on many levels. Bottom line, our government should not be legislating the complicated decisions women have to make, and men who have long benefited from a male-dominated society should not be deciding things they know little about experientially. It would be helpful maybe if the 83% majority of men in Congress could focus on how we hold the men who get the women pregnant responsible…funny how that side of the pregnancy equation is rarely legislated or reprimanded for their choices to withhold support or abandon the women they impregnate, which is often a factor in a woman's decision to abort a pregnancy.
Beyond reproduction, we must also automatically and unequivocally get the same benefits and pay as men without being fought tooth and nail by politicians, their backers and associates who refuse to support legislation, or worse, deny the inequality even exists. Many conservative media pundits and mouthpieces were on the defense after 24-year-old teacher Katherine Fenton raised the issue at the Hofstra Presidential debates a couple weeks ago, calling her simple, legitimate question a "leftist feminazi lie". But the fact is, closing the gender wage gap would stimulate the economy tremendously, adding 4% or more to the current size of the U.S. economy, according to Heidi Hartmann, an economist and president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research. In a recent article outlining the myriad positive effects of upholding gender equity on our economy, Laura Bassett discussed the fact that the Paycheck Fairness Act, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) would enact meaningful, detailed reforms to prevent workforce inequity, but was blocked in June by Senate Republicans.But if women continue making roughly 72%-77% of the income men make at the same jobs and at the same level of education and commitment, yet are penalized and charged more money for basic necessities like health insurance, how can women support bright futures for themselves and their families? Women may be going to college more and performing better than men in higher education, but the pay gap still starts immediately after graduation, making student loan debt more of a detrimental burden for women than for men. Fordham University's Kirsten Swinth, in an important article about women and the election, cites the Center for American Progress:
Including all workers, the median full-time female worker earned $10,784 less in 2010 than the median full-time male worker. Over a 40-year career, that wage gap adds up to more than $400,000.
And for the 2 million women that are victims of domestic violence annually, the issue is not only about enduring physical and mental abuse and the myriad problems created by the experience of such brutality. Domestic violence costs $8 billion annually in lost productivity and health care expenses and results in the loss of 8 million paid days of work a year. But Congress can't get beyond gender rhetoric to agree on how to best protect citizens.
It is undeniable in this election season that some conservative male candidates clearly do not understand the impact women's health, equality, and autonomy has on the economy and the future of America. They seem to think we are better off if they tell us what to do and how to live and restrict us with antiquated, dangerous sexist ideas. Mourdock's latest in the string of egregiously misinformed, gender-patronizing campaign statements about rape and women — managing to be both scientifically and theologically offensive — have exposed the historical ability of some ultra-conservative politicians to get away with leaving all honesty, reality and logic behind in their campaigns, especially when it comes to women's rights. That Mourdock, Todd Akin (of dead-wrong scientific assertions and "legitimate rape" infamy), and Joe Walsh (who said that women never die in childbirth anymore, therefore need no "life of the mother" provisions, despite the U.S. being ranked a low 50th worldwide in prevention of maternal mortality), are still securely in the running for influential Congressional positions is deeply concerning, since the laws we all live by can theoretically be no smarter than the people who write and champion legislation and ultimately vote on our behalf.
Giving this responsibility and power to people who not only would fail a basic biology test, but also rely on antiquated religio-patriarchal superstitions to guide decisions is the worst thing we could possibly do as a nation. This is not just because "gals" don't want to be forced to put aspirin between our knees as "birth control", but it is especially important if we are actually concerned about the economy and financial health of our nation. For Femmevangelicals — women who believe complete equality is critically imperative and who interrogate and integrate their religious faith via this understanding — we are impatient waiting for voters to wake up to the reality that entrenched institutional and systemic sexism is a primary culprit in holding our country back economically, politically, globally. It matters. And it matters in this election.
Mitt Romney's advisor Eric Fehrnstrom may believe women's rights and health issues are simply "shiny objects" used to "distract" voters, but regardless of party affiliation, Femmevangelicals know the truth. Not only do we know the statistics and facts I've cited above, which are just a scant few of so many. But we also live the challenges every day, we fight to be taken seriously and to rise above the inequalities that stand in our way. We also recognize that we have been brainwashed in the past to believe that our struggles, needs, priorities, careers, dreams, goals and important life decisions are non-integral and inconsequential to the economy, to the larger system of capitalism, to the job market, to the race for ingenuity, inventiveness, and leadership…to the greater good. This is the worst, most insidious kind of lie. A chance to keep moving forward, to live out our potential on our own terms is what is at stake on November 6.
Image: punditmom.com


text:
Reach the Metro in minutes. Judiciary Square Station is a three-minute walk to the west and Union Station is just a six-minute walk to the east.
Just five minutes from the Capital One Arena, Convention Center, Union Station, and Capitol Hill, Capitol Crossing is a prime location to catch a Wizards game, attend a conference at the Convention Center, or take a meeting on Capitol Hill.
Biking lanes immediately adjacent to property to anywhere in DC.
Within 5 minute walking distance from Capital One and Union Station
Red line at Judiciary Square and Union Station are within two block walking distance.


text:
A single University username and password gives you access to all University and Faculty IT systems (although there are some specialist and legacy systems on which the username won't be enabled by default).
Undergraduate, Taught and Research postgraduate students automatically receive a University username. Your username is printed on the front of your Student Union card, and is also your email address (firstname.lastname@example.com).
Members of staff can obtain a username by filling in the University username application form, available from the Faculty IT offices and the ISS helpdesk. (An online version is available - but inform the Faculty IT office separately if you fill that in)
Students can obtain their username and password in 2 ways -
From the web site : http://mypassword.leeds.ac.uk.
At any cluster PC, login with the username and password mypassword. You will then be logged in and a program will automatically start to run. You will be asked for your student ID number (which is printed on your student card) and your date of birth. Follow the instructions on screen to get your new password.


text:
We're starting with something from the "everything old is new again" file. The Marx Brothers had their share of comedy classics, but many consider their greatest work to be Duck Soup. It highlights the absurdity of authoritarian governments, with the boys' rollicking chaos presented as a counterpoint to the methodical, planned chaos created by despotic regimes. Can't imagine why that might have any resonance these days… It opened today in 1933.
On a much lighter note, The Little Mermaid arrived at a time when its parent company was still trying to find a path to the future. With this film, those concerns vanished. It launched the Disney Rennaissance in the late 80s and early 90s, and today ranks as one of their unabashed triumphs. Granted, they replaced the melancholy beauty of Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tale with something more crowd-pleasing (and if this is your only exposure to the story, you owe it to yourself to look up the original immediately). But that's part and parcel of Disney, and it's hard to grumble too loudly when the magical songs from Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman get going. It opened today in 1989
We'll close with a couple of winners from 007. Like Disney, James Bond endured some time in the wilderness before hitting upon what the producers hoped was a magic bullet in Pierce Brosnan. It didn't quite work out that way — I consider Brosnan a great Bond whose Bond movies weren't all that great — but 1995's Goldeneye stands as the exception. As a heartfelt effort to update the character, it sets the stage for greater advances to follow, and while it still feels dated, director Martin Campbell scores several crackerjack action sequences that serve it well. It opened today in 1995.
A decade later, those little pebbles became a full avalanche with Casino Royale, which took far more chances and reaped far greater rewards than the timid 007 films preceding it. With Daniel Craig, the franchise found the perfect Bond for a post-9/11 era, and in Eva Green it gained one of the best Bond girls yet put on screen. (To say nothing of Mads Mikkelsen launching a decade of memorable villain roles with his cool-as-a-cucumber baddie here.) Add to that the last of the "official" Ian Fleming novels finally adapted for the movies, and the series finally got the shot in the arm it so desperately needed. Casino Royale opened today in 2006.


text:
One of the more unique catering ideas that some of our clients have requested lately involves putting a fondue night together for their guests. This usually involves setting up three types of stations: dipping meats into cooking oil, dipping various items into cheese, and then several dessert stations.
The only danger with the meat stations is the hot oil. However, our serving stations are set up to make things as convenient and as neat as possible. We provide the meats with a variety of breadings and spices for your guests to roll their meat and then set it into the hot oil until it is cooked.
Our staff can either give your guests a brief orientation of the process – including the amount of time they need to dip the meat for it to cook thoroughly – or we have a set of cards that we can place by each station with complete instructions.
With the cheese fondue stations, we offer a wide variety of dippers that your guests can use.
The dessert fondue is a possibility. We offer a variety of flavors, although chocolate is by far the most popular. You can dip sweetened breads, strawberries or other fruits, or even cake into the chocolate.
If you are interested in hosting a fondue night, call one of our event professionals at Just Catering to find out what we can do for you!


text:
Pagan News and Views Since 1998
Pagan and Wiccan News Anytime Anywhere!
Search Events
There are no upcoming events.
Add an Event
View All
Last Month
Next Month
Welcome toThe Daily Spell Network
Sign Upor Sign In
Or sign in with:
Added by M. Rev. Donald Lewis-Highcorrell
0 Comments
1 Like
Added by M. Rev. Donald Lewis-Highcorrell
0 Comments
© 2019 Created by The Daily Spell.
Powered by
Badges |
Report an Issue |
Terms of Service
Please check your browser settings or contact your system administrator.


text:
I purchase the Cafe Range - being sold as a professional range - we bought the gas/propane range. The knobs on the range wore out in the first year.
They are made of cheap plastic. The ceramic plates on the grates - the black paint wore off the first year of use. Replacing these cost!!!! I wish I would have never bought this stove.
We are now trying to replace the knobs again - 2 years later - and can't find the exact parts. One knob cost $60 plus .. and we have to replace all 4.
So $250 + to replace these every so often is absolutely frustrating. Can't believe GE quality on this product.
Product or Service Mentioned: Ge Appliances Range.
Monetary Loss: $750.
I am sorry to hear of the issue you are having with the knobs on your GE Cafe' range. Please email us at email@example.com with your details and we will be happy to direct you for assistance. - Michelle with GE


text:
Julian Hicks, the man who brought you easy-to-build-and-play-with Towns and Castles, now has these nifty cargo containers for folks doing more modern or sci-fi gaming.
Products and Information of Interest to Tabletop RPG Fans. This site uses Affiliate Links to generate revenue.
Julian Hicks, the man who brought you easy-to-build-and-play-with Towns and Castles, now has these nifty cargo containers for folks doing more modern or sci-fi gaming.
SEAN'S GM PICK OF THE DAY: So you're running something like Achtung! Cthulhu or a Golden Age pulp supers set in the days of WWII. You could pull out your old toy soldiers, but they're just too damn big when you put them next to your superheroes or your investigators.
DramaScape has you covered with their WWII Soldiers Germans & Americans.
I am not even going to bother trying to post it all here. Not when EN World has it covered so incredibly well. Hit the link for all you could hope to know about the D&D Next Announcements.
Delta Green is one of the most respected properties in gaming, and it's also a fantastic source of Lovecraftian-inspired fiction. One of the creators of this concept – award-winning author/designer Dennis Detwiller – brings you "tales of cosmic terror and personal horror" that "span the life of Delta Green." Get Delta Green: Tales from Failed Anatomies on your tablet and start reading.
From Rogue Games
Lawlessness reigns and nowhere is this more apparent than in the small settlement of Lynn. Located north of Boston, local bandits have taken advantage of the current conflict with England, and now terrorize the village.
All have been touched by this lawlessness, especially Jacob Newhall, proprietor of the Lynn Tavern. His daughter, Tabitha, has fallen victim to these rogues. Found wandering the streets of Lynn, covered in filth, with her clothes tattered, the poor girl seems to have suffered greatly.
Can you get to the bottom of Tabitha's disappearance, and learn what malady besets the young lady? Be careful with your search because you do not know what dangers lurk within the shadows.
Written by William Butler (Servants of Gaius) and Brendan Davis (Servants of Gaius), The Landlord's Daughter is a tale of mystery, secret societies, pirates, betrayal, and witchcraft set in the towns of Marblehead and Lynn in Esex County, Massachusetts.
Beware of the secrets hidden in a small town.
If you pre-order a copy of The Landlord's Daughter you will automatically get eBook copies (PDF, Kindle & ePub) for free. Order you copy today from the Rogue Games Online Store today!
Welcome to the Big Irish Vlog of 05/18/2014
* Gen Con Event Reg
Holy wow! Just… woah. Gone in sixty seconds doesn't even scratch the surface. I am both amazed and distressed, the latter due to how many people wanted to play and couldn't get into a game.
So pay attention, `cause here's what I'm going to do…
We've begun working in earnest on the new map for Shaintar, which will incorporate all the user-created content. Backers will see their kingdoms and other contributions on this, and many GMs will also find towns they've created on the map. There's a working version (my Paint-driven scrawlings on a much older iteration) on the site.
Howard Brandon has seriously stepped up and started making this even more of a reality than it was before. If you're registered as a Grey Lantern on the forums, get in there and see what we mean. Campaigns are undergoing all kinds of awesome crossovers. If you're running Shaintar and you're not a Grey Lantern, let us know and we will hook you up.
OK, friends, I want to talk to you about Nova Praxis, the Savage Worlds Edition…
Sean Patrick Fannon, creator of Shaintar, RPG industry veteran, and Chief Everything of Evil Beagle Games, expounds regularly about stuff he is into and stuff he feels like sharing… which could be pretty much anything.
Let's keep it Savage with this One Sheet, written by the enigmatic and evocative Sean Preston, for Accursed.
Seek Absolution, ere the Ignorant do the work of the Evil.
d20 Players and GMs have enjoyed years of support oriented towards "making characters more awesome." Mystical Throne Entertainment brings that awesomeness to Savage fans with this latest product, the Ultimate Characters Guide (Savage Worlds). Racial and Background templates, new Hindrances and Edges, and a ton more stuff to expand and enhance character building.


text:
Now, because I am not a charismatic, my concerns going in and coming out of the conference are going to be different from those who are in Pentecostal and charismatic churches. I have no relational ties to either of those groups, so I don't feel constrained to defend their behavior, theology, or leadership — other than the common bond of faith, no actual allegiance exists. And apart from my disagreement with the cessationist theology of the speakers, I largely identify with their concerns. So, my interest in the conference was not primarily about the abuses and excesses of the charismatic movement (as important as those are to address). My attention was rather set upon the theological arguments against continuationism. That's why three weeks ago, I began publishing a series of articles where I endeavored to respond to the most common arguments and objections that are made against continuationism (that project is not yet complete). I wasn't preemptively throwing a stick into the spokes of the conference by releasing these, I genuinely hoped that they would be useful in creating the opportunity for dialogue. I knew that the largest obstacle that the speakers would have to negotiate was to fairly represent the theology of charismatics and to meet them on the field of their theological presuppositions. I had no illusions that my insignificant theological presence or opinion would have any real affect on the conference, but I did hope that I could demonstrate to those sitting next to me in the bleachers, that the players on the field weren't always playing fair.
One of the articles that I published got a bit more traction than the others. It was not a response to an argument or an objection, but was instead a question for my cessationist friends. In that article, I offered a number of credible witnesses who purport to have experienced supernatural revelation. I reasoned that if we are to believe these reports, then we are either dealing with the gift of prophecy, or the gift of knowledge, or some other revelatory gift not listed in the gift lists found in the NT. Whatever the case, I concluded that if these were indeed evidences of post-Apostolic revelation, then cessationism must be abandoned (I've reconsidered this conclusion, below).
In an effort to have my question considered and addressed by the conference, I sent the article to two of the speakers — One, a personal friend and, the other, to Phil Johnson. I know that both of these gentlemen received the articles because they both responded to it (one via email, and Phil on Facebook). Again, I don't pretend to have any weight in this conversation, nor do I think I am so important that I can demand that they answer my personal questions in one of their lectures. However, this conference was targeted at me. It was designed and crafted to persuade people like me that I've wrongly espoused errant theology. That's no small thing to consider. That means, I believe, that the cessationist at this conference needed to answer the most difficult of my questions.
On Wednesday, Phil let me know that he would be addressing my views in his Friday afternoon breakout session, Providence is Remarkable. He said,
Josh Elsom, you [sic.] describing a caricature, not the reality, of Warfield's cessationism, and you're also working with an imprecise definition of _revelation_. I'll be dealing with this whole subject Friday in a breakout session at the conference. The title they assigned me: "Providence IS remarkable."At this point, I am still not certain whether Phil meant to communicate that he intended to address my question in particular, or the question of modern prophecy in general. In any case, I responded to Phil via email,
My specific question for you would be this, does your cessationism have a category for extraordinary providence that incorporates Spirit-disclosed information; information that is otherwise unknowable to the person to whom it is disclosed? And if that is not revelation, I'd like to know what you call it and how you justify calling it something other than revelation.Friday came and so did Phil's breakout session. Needless to say, I was looking forward to that afternoon with a bit of anticipation. Phil gave a good presentation and I agreed with much of what he had to share. I believe he defended the compatibility of a relational pneumatology and cessationism very well, and I think he issued some very wise corrections and warnings about following our fallible intuitions and untrustworthy emotions. However, when it came time for him to address prophecy he avoided answering the hard questions.
In my estimation, you have a very difficult case to prove if you want to call the transmission of this information something other than revelation, i.e., extraordinary providence. The examples I've provided are not occasions where God aligns events and circumstance, such that his hand is palpably obvious to the people who recognize the events. This is the transmission of information (words, facts, circumstance) from "something" or "someone," to the minds of these men. And the result of that information, when it is communicated by the revelator to the receiver, is the edification of the church and the salvation of souls. And guess what? We have a NT analogue for that type of manifestation.
I've said it elsewhere, but let me say it again. The fact that these men received revelation from the Spirit does not prove continuationism true, it only proves that cessationism is false. I am open to the possibility of a third way; that these men are experiencing something other than the gift of prophecy; some other type of unlisted revelatory gift that only happens once in a while. I'd have to be convinced of that, but I'm open to it.
Phil propped up a caricature of what he thinks purported prophetic experiences are and then he knocked it down. He described experiences that give the appearance of supposed moments of revelation as "intuitive hunches, or spontaneous notions, or subliminal logic, or unconscious thoughts..." He goes on to say that our intuition is sometimes used by God, in his providence, to accomplish "...something wonderful." And if we're not careful, we can wrongly presume that things worked out according to our intuition, because they were thoughts that were spontaneously revealed by the Spirit. If we make that mistake, then we can easily stumble into a habit of trying to order our lives according to our intuition. He then warns, "...people who think that moments of intuition are God speaking, with a private message... invariably become superstitious. They foolishly order their lives by their feelings. They commit the sin of trusting too much in their own hearts." And in response to Phil, I say, "AMEN."
Unfortunately, Phil restricts his critical evaluation of prophecies to the retroactive attribution of uncanny human intuition to divine revelation. That certainly happens. However, there is more data to consider than Phil is willing to discuss. If by intuition, Phil means what the dictionary says — the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning, or a thing that one knows or considers from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning — then he still needs to address the testimonies of the witnesses that I've provided. If, by intuition, he means the acquisition of information that is outside a person's ability to know, then I'm afraid he is being dishonest with himself and those he hopes to instruct. Intuition simply cannot account for the information that these men possessed.
Again, I offer Spurgeon's experiences for your consideration.
How did Spurgeon know about the shoemaker's dishonest profit margin, or the gloves in that boy's coat pocket? Where did that information come from? 1
Again, Matt Chandler's experience.
How did Matt randomly come up with the exact information needed, at the right exact time, to put him in Thomas's path, to say just the right thing?
Again, R.C. Sproul's experience.
How did Eddie MacIlvane know to tell R.C. to take that job in Boston? What are the odds that this man would have the impulse, much less the gall, to call at 3 AM with that type of information, on the very morning R.C. had concluded his petition for an answer on that very thing?
Intuition. Really? Where did the information come from? To who or what do we credit as the source of this knowledge?
Monica's pregnancy
I heard God's voice audibly for the first time while sitting in a hotel room in Corpus Christi, Texas. I was there on business and had a week to study the curriculum of a church I'd recently began attending. It was a charismatic church (the first I'd ever attended) and while I had quickly grown to love the vigor of the community, their passionate worship gatherings, and their uncommon evangelistic zeal, I had lingering reservations about their claims of charismatic experience (prophecies, visions, exorcisms, et. al.). It was certainly far beyond anything I'd ever considered entertaining. So, there I was, I had their material in one hand, my John MacArthur Study Bible in the other, and I went to work. I read and I prayed, and I read and I prayed, and I read and I prayed for days. And in the end, I was convinced that Dr. MacArthur was right and this church's teaching was wrong.
On one of those days, toward the end of that trip, my study was going late into the night and I began to fall asleep. That's when it happened. Out of nowhere, completely unsolicited, I heard, "Monica's pregnant." I was immediately roused and began to wonder after what I'd just heard. For the next two days I shook it off and reasoned it away, thinking it must have been a dream. But given the context of my situation, I finally spoke to my wife about what had happened. I asked her, "Can you do me a favor? Can you call Monica and see if she's pregnant?" We were living in Tacoma, Washington at the time and the only person I knew named Monica was my wife's high school girlfriend back in Dallas. She made the call and this was Monica's response. "Yes. Yes I am pregnant. Brion and I just found out 3 weeks ago and we haven't told anyone yet? How did you know that?"
Some time later, I asked Monica about that phone call and what it might have meant to her. She explained that when she'd discovered she was pregnant she was troubled about the timing of it all. She and her husband both were in the throes of new careers and she questioned whether the time was right to have another baby. She said that that phone call gave her overwhelming confidence that God had purposed her pregnancy and that her worries about the timing of another child immediately dissipated.
As you might imagine, the experience had a significant impact upon me as well.
Barbara's redemption
Another occasion when I heard an audible voice was after I'd moved down from Tacoma to Dallas, to attend seminary. In the two years before that move, I'd been serving as a team leader for the Ambassadors' Academy. The Ambassadors' Academy was a 3 day immersive evangelism training course hosted by Living Waters ministry in Southern California. I was one of a score of leaders that would fly in and take teams out to various locations around LA to do tracting, one-on-one witnessing, and open air preaching. It was an honor to serve the participants and to preach alongside some of the most precious people in the world. I loved it. So much so, that I was sorely disappointed when I learned that I was not selected as a lead for the final Academy class of the 2010 season.
Three weeks had past since Tony Miano, the director of the Academy, had sent out his list of leaders for that August class. I had completely written off the possibility of getting a call to make that trip. So I went on with my life, settling my family into our new digs and getting ready for school.
After a day of organizing our storage in the hot Texas sun, I went to my in-laws for a shower. My wife, dad, and my friend Scott were there waiting for me to return. I jumped in the shower to clean myself up and that's when it happened. I heard, "Pray that you will go to the Ambassadors' Academy." So, of course, that's exactly what I did. A few minutes later, I'm out of the shower and I walk into the living room. That's when Scott tells me, "You missed a call. I answered it for you, hope that's okay. It was a guy named Tony Mia...Ma...Macaroni, or something." Blown away, I told everyone in the room what had just happened moments before. I then told them exactly what Tony would say when I called him up. I called Tony and said these words, "Tony, before you say what you are about to say, let me tell you what you are about to ask me and how I know it." After I had concluded, Tony said, "Well, Josh, do you wanna come?" That experience gave me the confidence that something unusual was in store for me on that trip.
As anyone who's worked evangelism on the streets knows, few relationships are born out of those you encounter. And even fewer than they, are those relationships you get to disciple to the point of repentant faith in Jesus. I met someone special on that trip to southern California.
As it turned out an old friend that I'd been talking to over Facebook for several months was living in the area. I'd been sharing the faith with him and thought I'd coordinate with him to see if we could grab lunch together while I was ministering in Huntington Beach. He agreed and we got together to talk. But he wasn't alone. In tow with him was his girlfriend Barbara.
While hanging out at the pier, Barbara ended up getting pulled into the excitement of Stuart Scott's preaching and ended up on the heckler's box. Scotty took her through the Law and gave her the gospel. After she got down I asked her what had happened and she told me she had no idea what he was going on about, but it was interesting. It wasn't on account of a poorly delivered message that she didn't understand, she just so lacked any context for Christianity and religious language that the message was completely lost on her. She didn't bail on me, thankfully. Barbara was not satisfied with how life had turned out so she was happy to find out more about what Jesus had to offer. We exchanged contact information and we began dialoging over email and the telephone. I was having trouble getting through to her over the phone so I asked her if I could send her a gift. She agreed, I got on Amazon and ordered her the Jesus Storybook Bible. Once she'd received it, I called to make sure she was not offended that I'd sent her a children's bible and explained why I'd sent it to her. She devoured it — and it's got some heft for a children's bible at 348 pages. In a matter of days we were back on the phone and she couldn't stop talking about how much sense it all now made. I had to fill in a few blanks for her, but once I had, the seed that Scotty had planted took root in her heart. She was converted on the spot.
It was not until she confessed faith in Jesus that I told her how it was that I ended up making my way to Huntington Beach that afternoon. I told her about what I heard in the shower, about Tony's call, what I anticipated would happen on my trip, and how it all had led to the very call we were on at that moment. I explained to her the truth of Ephesians 1, that in eternity past, before the foundations of the world were set, God had set his affection upon her, that he had claimed her as his very own daughter. And more than that, he saw fit to tell a man in Texas, someone whom she'd never met before, that he needed to pray that he'd go to California so he could keep an appointment with her, to tell her about the love of her Father. She didn't make it to Ephesians 1 before I heard whimpering over the line. And by the time I'd finished explaining that, she was beside herself, sobbing on the phone and giving glory to God.
Question: Who, or what, told me to pray that I'd go to the Ambassadors' Academy that hot August afternoon?
These are just two stories among many like them. And if I've had them, I have no reason to doubt that others are experiencing similar manifestations of the Spirit and glorying in the fruit that they produce. You'll not convince me that I did not hear, what I heard. And you'll not tell me that the fruit that was born out of those encounters could have happened in any other way. So if these were not occasions of revelation from the Spirit, where did the information come from? It's not innate knowledge, it's not instinctive, it's not intuition. Something happened to me that I cannot explain. Can you?
I love you, Phil. You are a good man. But, brother, I don't think you are answering these questions directly. And I don't think you are answering them because you know that you are not able to do it. Not without undermining your position. If there is an explanation I am missing, I am open to your correction.
I am listening with an open heart. And I'm betting I'm not the only one.
In my email to Phil (above), I wrote, "The fact that these men received revelation from the Spirit does not prove continuationism true, it only proves that cessationism is false." After further reflection, I'm not too certain that this is true. It would be true of Warfield's cessationism, but not of historic cessationism.2 Consider two articles on this subject, Kevin de Young's, The Puritans, Strange Fire, Cessationism, and the Westminster Confession, and my response to Objection 1 of my series, Confronting Common Arguments and Objections to the Continuation of the Charismatic Gifts (see endnote 1). Given this information, I dare say that a number of the Westminster divines, if they were alive today, would've had their names called out at the Strange Fire Conference.
1 Both Phil Johnson http://phillipjohnson.blogspot.com/2005/11/spurgeon-on-private-prophecies-and-new.html and Nathan Busenitz have attempted to address Spurgeon's alleged prophecies from the flanks, to no continuationist's satisfaction (http://phillipjohnson.blogspot.com/2005/11/spurgeon-on-private-prophecies-and-new.html & http://thecripplegate.com/spurgeon-impressions-and-prophecy/, respectively). The only answers they provide are 1) Spurgeon was a cessationist, and 2) he warned against ordering one's life around subjective "impressions." (It ought to be noted, that the latter point is one belabored in Grudem's at Storm's work.) While those points are duly noted, both Phil and Nathan appear to be importing their absolute cessationism back into Spurgeon's theology.
Consider the following:
1) Immediately after recounting the story of the shoemaker, Spurgeon writes, "I could tell as many as a dozen similar cases in which I pointed at somebody in the hall without having the slightest knowledge of the person, or any idea that what I said was right, except that I believed I was moved by the Spirit to say it; and so striking has been my description, that the persons have gone away, and said to their friends, 'Come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did; beyond a doubt, he must have been sent of God to my soul, or else he could not have described me so exactly.' And not only so, but I have known many instances in which the thoughts of men have been revealed from the pulpit. I have sometimes seen persons nudge their neighbours with their elbow, because they had got a smart hit, and they have been heard to say, when they were going out, 'The preacher told us just what we said to one another when we went in at the door.'" — Emphasis mine, Charles Spurgeon, C.H. Spurgeon's Autobiography: Compiled From His Diary, Letters, and Records (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1903), 227.
Notice that Spurgeon, in the quote, references John 4:16—19. It is no leap of logic to deduce from this reference and the context that Spurgeon supplies, that he believed that he was acting as a prophet in these cases.
2) Another great work of the Holy Spirit, which is not accomplished, is the bringing on of the latter-day glory. In a few more years—I know not when, I know not how—the Holy Spirit will be poured out in a far different style from the present. There are diversities of operations; and during the last few years it has been the case that the diversified operations have consisted in very little pouring out of the Spirit. Ministers have gone on in dull routine, continually preaching—preaching—preaching, and little good has been done.
I do hope that perhaps a fresh era has dawned upon us, and that there is a better pouring out of the Spirit even now. For the hour is coming, and it may be even now is, when the Holy Ghost shall be poured out again in such a wonderful manner, that many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased—the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the surface of the great deep; when his kingdom shall come, and his will shall be done on earth even as it is in heaven.
We are not going to be dragging on forever like Pharoah, with the wheels off his chariot. My heart exults, and my eyes flash with the thought that very likely I shall live to see the outpouring of the Spirit; when "the sons and the daughters of God again shall prophesy, and the young men shall see visions and the old men shall dream dreams."
Perhaps there shall be no miraculous gifts—for they will not be required; but yet there shall be such a miraculous amount of holiness, such an extraordinary fervor of prayer, such a real communion with God, and so much vital religion, and such a spread of the doctrines of the cross, that every one will see that verily the Spirit is poured out like water, and the rains are descending from above. For that let us pray; let us continually labor for it, and seek it of God." — Charles Spurgeon, "The Power of the Holy Ghost" Spurgeon.org, n.p. [cited 21 Oct. 2013]. Online: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0030.htm.
I conclude, therefore, that Spurgeon was not a cessationist in the same way that Phil Johnson and Nathan Busenitz are cessationists.
Besides all that, whatever Spurgeon's understanding of the gifts was, his theology is completely immaterial to the question being asked. The question is not, "How did Spurgeon's theology inform his understanding of what he experienced?" Rather, it is, "What was it that Spurgeon experienced?" and "How did he come to know about the shoemaker's sin?"↩
2 There is yet another alternative which is worth your consideration. I find I have a growing sympathy for the view articulated by R.W. Glenn — http://youtu.be/w5HMNvTsduA. I suspect this is very close to the cessationism of the divines addressed in de Young's article — ↩