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Premonition is a fairly old story I wrote some months ago, but I decided to share it with you guys anyway. This is the first installment to my short story series "Trainwick". It follows the life of an English girl who apparently has the power to see visions. Premonitions to be more specific.
I already have the second installment but I'll post that another time and let you guys breathe this one in.
Here is the Summary (which, to be honest, I am very bad at writing):
Luna Trainwick has her first premonition involving a woman named Ada Pembrooke. But things do not turn out the way they should have and Ms. Pembrooke ends up meeting her inevitable doom which later turns into an unexpected surprise for Luna when she finds out she can see ghost as well.
If you knew some one was going to die; knew when and where it would happen; who it would happen to, but not why it would happen. Would you save them?
Save a complete stranger from what probably would have been their timely death?
Could you watch it happen right before your eyes and live with the guilt that was bound to come with it?
I couldn't.
But I let it happen.
The woman was middle aged with salt and pepper hair, thick knowledgeable brows, tiny gray eyes and a full pouty mouth.
She was a beautiful woman but her eyes screamed lonely and forgotten. Her countenance lacked happiness. So cold and empty. She wore a long black dress the reached all the way down to the floor with a large lacy top hat perched atop her crown. She held a black umbrella in her pale hands as she strutted down the lane as only a true English woman could.
Her name was Ada Pembrooke; a British woman who had been residing in London, England, for over three decades.
Her whole life, actually.
Ms. Pembrooke has had the same routine for twenty years. Never a minute too late or too early and to be late (in her case) was never excusable. She treated tardiness like a sin and early arrivals as if they were unnecessary and selfish; other wordily known as a slightly less presumptuous sin. Which is all the more reason why she made such an excellent schooling teacher. She was as stern as leather whip.
I never knew this woman…during her living moments. But she has shared a great deal with me in her afterlife.
That is another thing; I was not aware- until after meeting Ms. Pembrooke- that I could see ghost, let alone, speak to them. I assumed it to be because I had seen her fate the night before it happened.
I had a vision.
My first premonition.
It was like having a nightmare. A very real nightmare where I could feel everything: the coldness of a bitter winter breeze; the sting of icy raindrops; the smell of patrol as cars drove up and down thoroughfares, through gritty fog and back again, too blind to see any traveling pedestrian; I felt a sudden chill- the sort of chill that has nothing to do with cold.
I felt the chill of death all around me.
I'll never forget that chill.
I had the vision the night I had been tempted to run away from home…again. Running from my home- out into the night- circling the block, passing the old Clock Tower, and crossing over Thames. I sat on the walkway tasting the cold night air on my drying tongue. A few clouds- here and there- blanketed a very large moon with thick gray threads. The wind blew through my long white hair, my dress – though very heavy- danced with the wind a slight itself. It was very late at night, hardly a soul walking these dark dismal streets. The lights of the Parliament were all dark and dear old Ben chimed as his needles signaled midnight.
That is when it happened.
Black feathers; first one, then another. Then dozens floating in circles around me I caught one as it floated past my face and I could see that it was a Raven's feather. There were hundreds now- floating all around- dreamlike in a way that seemed to try and force its way into my conscience. Dark clouds swirling around me in a twister of thick fog. Then everything- the Parliament disappeared and in its place I saw a long street. There was a fierce storm pouring rain down hard on every English head that wandered. There was darkness framing my vision, focusing my eyes on a pale woman holding a large black umbrella and pinching her face against the freezing rain. I could barely see her through the thick mass of fog blanketing the street, probably the whole city as well, and cars were flying up and down the street as if oblivious to the fact that it was too foggy to see even a foot ahead of the vehicle. It was very easy to spot Ms. Pembrooke, though. She was the only person with darkness hovering around her body as she navigated the walkway unaware of the thick ominous mist about her. She looked left and right as she prepared to cross the street. She never saw the truck speeding up the lane closing in to deal her death.
My vision started to blur as the truck came nearer to the woman and it seemed to be picking up speed to the point where it seemed as if the driver meant to hit her.
The driver blew his deafening horn but it was to late.
I never foresaw the truck hitting her because the premonition faded out at the last second; the sound of ear piercing screams being the last thing I heard before I found myself sitting on the walkway across from the Parliament. The feathers were gone and the large clock read twelve-oh-five.
'Only five minutes?' I thought, surly I could have sworn it felt more like thirty.
I picked myself up and started back towards my domicile, I was suddenly frightened about being out so late in the night by myself. I followed my earlier route back through the empty streets, past the Ben, and onwards towards my sanctuary.
The next day I woke to a chill that rushed through my veins, down my spin, and to the tips of my toes. My eyes were soar and my fingertips were white; as white as my hair, maybe whiter. I attempted to sit up in my bed but my back was painfully stiff. I felt like I belonged in a retirement home. When I finally did get myself out of bed I slowly made my way over to the mirror that hung over my dresser. My skin looked pasty and was sticky with drying sweat and my hands were shaking. But what really got my attention were my eyes!- they were a bright fuchsia around the irises. They were originally green! I nearly screamed in terror after I saw them but I stopped myself with a shaky hand over my mouth. I froze for a few seconds to make sure my parents had not heard me. It was quiet so I let my hand drop and tried to hold back the urge to panic.
"Luna, it is nearly time for school!" my mother called. "Come- come, darling, we wouldn't want you to be late…again." The final word she said with a lot less enthusiasm.
I promptly sought out a pair of my darkest sunglasses, swallowing the panic that I had just minutes ago nearly let entice me enough to scream 'Bloody Hell!' to the top of my lungs, and quickly threw on my uniform. At least as best as anyone could throw on such thickly layered attire such as this blasphemous dress! I had to put on a thick black dress with frilly white sleeves, wrist cuffs and neck lace and so many strings to tie I had to have my mother help me unless she was kind enough to tie them for me beforehand and there was a large silver cross embroidered somewhere below the knee of the dress. Not that I have a problem with the cross.
When I had my knee-highs laced up ( which, in my opinion, really throw off the entire rig) I snatched my sunglasses off my dresser and put them on to hide my eyes.
"There you are," said my mother, as I rushed from the hall into the kitchen "Wait! Aren't you going to eat your breakfast?" She was scrambling eggs in her old black skillet and I saw bread toasting in the oven.
"Uh- no, mum, I'm not really hungry." I said; keeping my eyes averted and slowly backing away towards the door. "I promise I'll eat lunch later!" And ran out of the house before she could say her usual "Have a nice day!". My father's car was gone so I assumed he already left for work which was just lucky for me because that gave me one less parent to avoid.
It was pouring rain outside this morning; not quite a storm but one seemed to be rapidly approaching. I rushed to school because of this, and I had left my umbrella at home in my haste to escape. My back had stopped hurting after I got dressed but it was still stiff enough to slow me down.
I took a side street that I hoped would shorten my route and I ended up on a street that I was vaguely familiar with.
I had this strange feeling as if I have walked down this road countless times before. I shrugged it off and easily made my way to another side street that led to the road I was looking for. A small chill passed through me as I continued on my path to school.
The classes, the teachers' chastise, the prejudice gossip all seemed to breeze by in an empty wind. I hardly noticed any of it. I was too busy worrying about my eyes and predicting which teacher would scold me for wearing sunglasses in their class.
So I invented a rather fine scheme.
Thankfully I did not have to use it until third period.
"Miss Trainwick," said Professor Duggen, "you know students are not permitted to wear accessorized dark glasses during chemistry lesson. Please remove them." His voice was as plain as paper but he looked at me as if I were some bloody animal preparing to wreak havoc.
I stood there for a minute. Clearing my throat before I announced my excuse.
"I'm sorry, Sir." I said, making sure that my tone sounded faint and pitiful. I knew that my skin still looked pasty and that supported my lie, making it seem more presumptive. "I have an awful migraine and the lights- the lights are just too much."
Duggen glared at me for a few more seconds before he let out a long exaggerated huff.
"I suggest you make your way to the nurse." he said dryly, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. I was sure I had probably caused him to have his own headache.
I snatched my book off the counter and rushed out of the class.
My vision blurred and I saw a flash of a woman standing in the rain; that darkness clouding around her was so thick it was hard to believe she could not see it herself. I had to stop in the middle of what used to be the hallway. "Used to be" because the hallway was no longer there. Only black feathers and the darkness cloaked woman standing in the rain under her umbrella. She did not move, though, like she did in my last vision. She only stood there. Staring at me with black eyes.
Her eyes were gray.
But they were not gray this time. They were a shiny black. So shiny a black, they were, that I nearly mistook them for marbles.
She stared straight at me with a look of disdain and pity. My heart started to flutter an unusual rhythm as the truck started speeding its way up the lane. Pembrooke smiled a black toothed smile at me before she started making her way to the middle of the street. In the middle of the truck's lane. All the while she walked she was staring at me with that hideous grin on her face.
The truck sped up the lane and…vanished?-at the same time the truck would have hit Pembrooke.
The woman stands there laughing at me as the truck dissipates into thick white steam around her.
My vision fades out quickly and I find myself back in the empty hallway.
The whole school seemed silent- other than my breathing- it was eerily quiet.
A massive ball seemed to drop in my stomach then, and I started to feel horribly nauseous. I ran to the nurse's office and threw the door open without knocking first. I rushed through the office to the bathroom and dry heaved over the toilet.
"Oh… dear, " said Mrs. Wellcot, she had been the nurse at my school for as long as I have been there, "Miss Trainwick, what is the matter with you?" I hardly ever had to see the nurse. This was my third visit in the three years that I had attended the school.
I kept heaving for what seemed like nearly an hour before I could speak again.
And even then I came up with the most absurd excuse.
I smiled up at her and said "I'm fine."
The woman looked at me as if I had gone mad.
I did not blame her, actually, because I probably had.
"Luna," she says after a brief moment of impenetrable staring, "I think it is best if you go lay down on cot for a bit."
I let out a short groan.
"Mrs. Wellcot, I think I should go home." I said, feigning a stomach cramp. "My mum will come and pick me up."
The nurse stares skeptically at me for a moment before nodding her head.
"Fine, I'll let the principle know you are taking leave."
I smile wearily up at her and slowly get to my feet. That part was not particularly feigned because my limbs were stiff again.
When I was on my feet I took my cell and flipped it open as if I were about to dial my mum. I smiled at the nurse and left. Closing my cell as soon as the door closed.
I rushed out of the school in pursuit of my curb near Thames.
But I was stopped by this awful scream.
It was as if it were in my head. Ear splitting with an echoing fade. I pressed my palms to my ears but that did nothing block out the shutter-some noise.
I swore and started running again in a useless attempt of escaping the screams.
I ran back the way I had came from home and found myself back at the street that seemed so distantly familiar. I stopped at the curb looking for my way.
A storm had begun some time around one o'clock. There was so much fog I could barely see where I was running. I could not see the street I was looking for and the rain was so heavy it fell in drops the size of cricket balls.
There very few things I disliked about the city but one of those things was that whenever there was thick fog it covered everything. I was surprised there were people out driving and rushing around the walkways running last minute errands.
I scanned the roads and allyways as well as could despite the fog corrupting my vision.
Then I saw her.
And it was as if time slowed down, she was walking out of a little market with a tiny black bag. She stopped to tuck it into her large handag.
My blood froze, literally, frozen in my veins. My body numbed and I would have fallen if I had not leaned against a dirty brick wall.
Ada Pembrooke strutted up the street aiming in my direction. She did not look at me, I was not a personal being to her as she was to me. The rain had somehow managed to soak Ada quite a bit, she stopped a moment to adjust her hat and skirts at the curb of the walkway.
A black feather flew past my line of sight on her and after it past I saw it.
The darkness.
It nearly swallowed her whole, that was how thick it had been.
She looked left and right as she started crossing the street and I wondered, 'how come I had not called out to her?', surly she would have heard me and stopped just seconds before the truck would hit her. But I could not, it was amazing. I could not find my voice I saw the truck grow near. I could not feel my limbs enough to run at her.
I could not cover my ears before the truck hit Ms. Pembrooke and I heard the crack!-of her neck breaking on impact and forced into the air.
I could not cover my eyes as she landed only inches from my feet, eyes wide open, as blood slithered down the corner of her mouth and eyes.
I stared at her. Muting the screams that were now bursting from those who had witnessed such a horrible scene.
I looked in her eyes. They were black and shiny and black smoke floated out of her mouth. For a moment she looked like just that. A creature of darkness. But after I blinked the darkness was gone and I saw the woman lying in a broken pile of bones and skin.
I remembered something just then as I looked at her.
She looked at me.
Right before the truck hit her. It was like she sensed me. Her eyes gazed deeply into mine from where she was standing she had to be at least ten yards away from me.
But she looked. Time slowed around us and her mouth fell open in a little o, her eyes began to widen as she started to turn away.
Then it hit her.
When my mind seemed to finally process what happened, I felt my legs give away and a different blackness blanketed my vision.
I fainted.
"Wake up!" I heard, the voice sounded far away. "Wake up, Girl!" this time the words were hissed at me and she sounded louder and closer.
My eyes reluctantly opened and I saw a cat standing over me. When my eyes where wide open the cat hissed and ran away.
I guessed that my eyes were still fuchsia and my glasses were gone.
So much for my disguise.
"Finally!" I heard her shout and I nearly jumped out of my skin when Ms. Pembrooke appeared as if from the air itself. "You have been out for quite some time, Girl." she said smoking a translucent cigar and casually blowing out smoke as if it were not odd that we were talking.
"Ada. Please."
I sigh.
"Okay. Ada." I said, emphasizing her name in a way that unintentionally sounded rude. "I'm so sorry I couldn't help you."
She looks at me with that disdainful expression she had in my second vision.
She takes a long drag off of her cigar and blows it out again after a moment. "It wasn't your fault." she scoffs, "stupid Girl, what makes you think YOU could have stopped it!"
She seemed so much more pleasant in my visions.
"I saw it…before it happened." I said slowly.
Her eyes grew wide for a second then, as if it meant nothing to her, she shrugged it off.
"That would explain why you were staring me down like a mad woman." she said letting out a bitter laugh when she finished.
I looked at my surroundings: it was dark and I was lying on the walkway across from the Parliament; there were no passersby along the sidewalks; Big Ben read three thirty-five and I could feel my stiff legs again.
"How did I get here?"
"Why I carried you of course!" she said as if it were the stupidest question she had ever heard.
"Carried me? But you're a ghost."
She tossed her cigar into the river and glared at me.
"I don't need you to tell me I'm dead, Girl." she hissed. "I know perfectly well what happened to me."
I saw her lower lip tremble and her eyes grew shiny with tears. "You couldn't have done anything to stop it."
But I knew I could have.
I let her cry for awhile before I tried to talk to her again.
"I had a vision it was going to happen," I said, "I knew what you looked like, what you were wearing, when it would happen, how it would happen… but I didn't stop it." I felt my own eyes well with tears and began to sob after I realized how terrible a person I must sound like.
Ada floated over to my pitifully slouched self and gently patted my back. Her hand was so cold it chilled my spine.
"Dear Girl, don't ruin yourself over a stranger's death-"
"It was my fault!" I shouted jumping to my feet. "I could have stop it! Why can't you understand that!" I was screaming at her to the top of my lungs.
She looked at me with the blankest expression and almost out of nowhere she clopped me clean across my cheek.
"Selfish Girl!" she bellowed. "I die and you turn this on yourself as if you were the only one who was impacted by this? I am the one who is dead you STUPID Girl! I am the one who's cats are going to starve to death!" It looked as if she had grown ten feet tall as she yelled at me. All the while the darkness circled around her and her eyes grew black and shiny.
Then suddenly she was back again.
She sighed as she shrunk back down to her average height.
"If you want to prove yourself so badly," she whispered, "save someone else. In my place; save them the next time you have a vision."
I was shocked at hearing this.
'Did she really think it would happen again?' I thought.
She stared at me expectantly.
"You will do it, girl," she said darkly, "or I will NEVER forgive you."
She glared at me once more before shaking her had and turning away from me to watch the clock.
I just realized that my dress was heavily soaked and wondered why no one- at least no one leaving- had bothered to carry me to dryer quarters. It had stopped raining and I was dreadfully cold. I would not stop shaking and I was sure I was so white I could be easily mistaken for a ghost myself.
I thought more about what Ada said; it didn't seem unreasonable more so impossible. I did not know if I would ever have another one again any time soon. And if I did what it were not a premonition?
'Oh! Listen to me wishing desperately for premonition!' I thought, feeling so disgusted with myself I did not know what to do.
After a moment of thinking I clear my throat to get Ada's attention.
She turned around to look at me, a hint of annoyance in her expression, she blinked her eyes wide at me as if to say "what do you want?".
"W-what if I don't have another vision?" I asked.
She stared blankly at me for what seemed like forever.
"Then I shall stick around until it happens." she said simply.
"But…what if it never happens?" I persisted.
She smiled and said, "Then I think we shall have plenty of time to get to know each other…very well."
I swallowed hard and continued to stare at that mischievous smile plastered on her face.
"I don't suppose you will have second thoughts about this?" I asked warily
She shrugged as she scraped at her already spotless fingernails.
"Well it's not like we made a blood pact!" I shouted. I was panicking. I was still unsure if anyone else could see her. "Did anyone see you carry me here?"
She looked up at me and grinned some more.
"No, Girl." she said. "I cloaked us quite well enough that no one even noticed the unconscious fool dangling in my arms."
I gritted my teeth.
I had taken her word for it but I was losing my patience when it came to her insulting me.
"Okay, fine." I said
"What do you mean "fine"?" she said, she looked rather taken aback by my forward rudeness. "Did you think you had a choice? Stupid Girl, I have bound you to me with my request! You have no choice."
My mouth dropped open in a large O. I could not believe what I was hearing.
"You…bound me…"
She smiled.
Her smiles were starting to look more and more wicked with every smirk.
"I am not leaving until you save someone," she explained, "in place of my own demise." she scoffed at me before she continued. "I think it would do you a lot of good…Stupid Girl." the last two words she spat at me.
This woman was going to create hell for me if I did not have a premonition soon. I did not think I could live very long with her without first wanting to hang myself.
I swallowed the urge to cry again.
"How old are you, Girl?" she asked.
She smiled ingenuously
"Well aren't you a young one."
I nodded losing the desire to argue with her about whether or not I am considered "young".
"Well then…what are we doing out here at nearly four in the morning?"she said. "I'm sure your parents are frantic with worry! Come along!- let us be off."
She linked her arm together with mine and pulled me along with our arms connected. I reluctantly let her drag me home while she was humming a Japanese tune I was unfamiliar with.
"By the way," she said between hums, "did you know your irises are pink?"


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Ezekiel 16:1-63 . DETAILED APPLICATION OF THE PARABOLICAL DELINEATION OF THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER TO JERUSALEM PERSONIFIED AS A DAUGHTER.
(1) Taken up by God's gratuitous favor from infancy ( Ezekiel 16:1-7 ); (2) and, when grown up, joined to Him in spiritual marriage ( Ezekiel 16:8-14 ); (3) her unfaithfulness, her sin ( Ezekiel 16:15-34 ); (4) the judgment ( Ezekiel 16:35-52 ); (5) her unlooked-for restoration ( Ezekiel 16:53 to the close).
2. cause Jerusalem to know--Men often are so blind as not to perceive their guilt which is patent to all. "Jerusalem" represents the whole kingdom of Judah.
3. birth . . . nativity--thy origin and birth; literally, "thy diggings" (compare Isaiah 51:1 ) "and thy bringings forth."
of . . . Canaan--in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sojourned before going to Egypt, and from which thou didst derive far more of thy innate characteristics than from the virtues of those thy progenitors ( Ezekiel 21:30 ).
an Amorite . . . an Hittite--These, being the most powerful tribes, stand for the whole of the Canaanite nations (compare Joshua 1:4 , Amos 2:9 ), which were so abominably corrupt as to have been doomed to utter extermination by God ( Leviticus 18:24 Leviticus 18:25 Leviticus 18:28 , Deuteronomy 18:12 ). Translate rather, "the Amorite . . . the Canaanite," that is, these two tribes personified; their wicked characteristics, respectively, were concentrated in the parentage of Israel ( Genesis 15:16 ). "The Hittite" is made their "mother"; alluding to Esau's wives, daughters of Heth, whose ways vexed Rebekah ( Genesis 26:34 Genesis 26:35 , 27:46 ), but pleased the degenerate descendants of Jacob, so that these are called, in respect of morals, children of the Hittite (compare Ezekiel 16:45 ).
4. Israel's helplessness in her first struggling into national existence, under the image of an infant ( Hosea 2:3 ) cast forth without receiving the commonest acts of parental regard. Its very life was a miracle ( Exodus 1:15-22 ).
navel . . . not cut--Without proper attention to the navel cord, the infant just born is liable to die.
neither . . . washed in water to supple thee--that is, to make the skin soft. Rather, "for purification"; from an Arabic root [MAURER]. GESENIUS translates as the Margin, "that thou mightest (be presented to thy parents to) be looked upon," as is customary on the birth of a child.
salted--Anciently they rubbed infants with salt to make the skin firm.
5. cast . . . in . . . open field--The exposure of infants was common in ancient times.
to the loathing of thy person--referring to the unsightly aspect of the exposed infant. FAIRBAIRN translates, "With contempt (or disdainful indifference) of thy life."
6. when I passed by--as if a traveller.
polluted in . . . blood--but PISCATOR, "ready to be trodden on."
I said--In contrast to Israel's helplessness stands God's omnipotent word of grace which bids the outcast little one "live."
in thy blood--Though thou wast foul with blood, I said, "Live" [GROTIUS]. "Live in thy blood," that is, Live, but live a life exposed to many deaths, as was the case in the beginnings of Israel's national existence, in order to magnify the grace of God [CALVIN]. The former view is preferable. Spiritually, till the sinner is made sensible of his abject helplessness, he will not appreciate the provisions of God's grace.
7. caused . . . to multiply--literally, "I . . . made thee a myriad."
bud of . . . field--the produce of the field. In two hundred fifty years they increased from seventy-five persons to eight hundred thousand ( Acts 7:14 ) [CALVIN]. But see Exodus 12:37 Exodus 12:38 .
excellent ornaments--literally, "ornament of ornaments."
naked . . . bare--( Hosea 2:3 ). Literally, "nakedness . . . bareness" itself; more emphatic.
8. thy time of love--literally, "loves" (compare Solomon 2:10-13 ). Thou wast of marriageable age, but none was willing to marry thee, naked as thou wast. I then regarded thee with a look of grace when the full time of thy deliverance was come ( Genesis 15:13 Genesis 15:14 , Acts 7:6 Acts 7:7 ). It is not she that makes the advance to God, but God to her; she has nothing to entitle her to such notice, yet He regards her not with mere benevolence, but with love, such as one cherishes to the person of his wife ( Solomon 1:3-6 Jeremiah 31:3 Malachi 1:2 ).
spread my skirt over thee--the mode of espousals ( Ruth 3:9 ). I betrothed thee ( Deuteronomy 4:37 , 10:15 , Hosea 11:1 ). The cloak is often used as a bed coverlet in the East. God explains what He means, "I entered into . . . covenant with thee," that is, at Sinai. So Israel became "the wife of God's covenant" ( Isaiah 54:5 , Jeremiah 3:14 , Hosea 2:19 Hosea 2:20 , Malachi 2:14 ).
thou . . . mine--( Exodus 19:5 , Jeremiah 2:2 ).
9. washed I thee--as brides used to pass through a preparatory purification ( Esther 2:12 ). So Israel, before the giving of the law at Sinai ( Exodus 19:14 ); "Moses sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes." So believers ( 1 Corinthians 6:11 ).
oil--emblem of the Levitical priesthood, the type of Messiah ( Psalms 45:7 ).
10. Psalms 45:13 Psalms 45:14 , similarly describes the Church (Israel, the appointed mother of Christendom) adorned as a bride (so Isaiah 61:10 ). It is Messiah who provides the wedding garment ( Revelation 3:18 , 19:8 ).
badgers' skin--tahash; others translate, "seal skins." They formed the over-covering of the tabernacle, which was, as it were, the nuptial tent of God and Israel ( Exodus 26:14 ), and the material of the shoes worn by the Hebrews on festival days.
fine linen--used by the priests ( Leviticus 6:10 ); emblem of purity.
11. The marriage gifts to Rebekah ( Genesis 24:22 Genesis 24:47 ).
12. jewel on thy forehead--rather, "a ring in thy nose" ( Isaiah 3:21 ).
a crown--at once the badge of a bride, and of her being made a queen, as being consort of the King; the very name Israel meaning "a prince of God." So they are called "a kingdom of priests" ( Exodus 19:6 ; compare Revelation 1:6 ). Though the external blessings bestowed on Israel were great, yet not these, but the internal and spiritual, form the main reference in the kingly marriage to which Israel was advanced.
13. flour . . . honey . . . oil--These three mixed form the sweetest cakes; not dry bread and leeks as in Egypt. From raiment He passes to food ( Deuteronomy 32:13 Deuteronomy 32:14 ).
exceeding beautiful-- Psalms 48:2 , the city; also, Psalms 29:2 , the temple.
prosper into a kingdom--exercising empire over surrounding nations.
14. thy renown . . . among . . . heathen--The theocracy reached its highest point under Solomon, when distant potentates heard of his "fame" ( 1 Kings 10:1 , &c.), for example, the queen of Sheba, Hiram, &c. ( Lamentations 2:15 ).
my comeliness--It was not thine own, but imparted by Me.
15. Instead of attributing the glory of her privileges and gifts to God, Israel prided herself on them as her own ( Deuteronomy 32:15 , Jeremiah 7:4 , Micah 3:11 ), and then wantonly devoted them to her idols ( Hosea 2:8 ; compare Luke 15:12 Luke 15:13 ).
playedst . . . harlot because of thy renown--"didst play the wanton upon thy name" [FAIRBAIRN], namely, by allowing thy renown to lead thee into idolatry and leagues with idolaters ( Isaiah 1:21 , 57:8 , Jeremiah 3:2 Jeremiah 3:6 ). English Version is better, "because of thy renown," that is, relying on it; answering to "thou didst trust in thine own beauty."
his it was--Thy beauty was yielded up to every passer-by Israel's zest for the worship of foul idols was but an anxiety to have the approbation of heaven for their carnal lusts, of which the idols were the personification; hence, too, their tendency to wander from Jehovah, who was a restraint on corrupt nature.
16. deckedst . . . with divers colours--or, "didst make . . . of divers colors" [FAIRBAIRN]; the metaphor and the literal are here mixed. The high places whereon they sacrificed to Astarte are here compared to tents of divers colors, which an impudent harlot would spread to show her house was open to all [CALVIN]. Compare as to "woven hangings for Astarte" (the right translation for "grove") 2 Kings 23:7 .
the like . . . shall not come, neither shall . . . be--rather, "have not come, nor shall be." These thy doings are unparalleled in the past, and shall be so in the future.
17. my gold . . . my silver--( Haggai 2:8 ).
images of men--rather, "of the phallus," the Hindu lingam, or membrum virile [HAVERNICK], deified as the emblem of fecundity; man making his lust his god. English Version, however, is appropriate; Israel being represented as a woman playing the harlot with "male images," that is, images of male gods, as distinguished from female deities.
18. tookest thy . . . garments . . . coveredst them--that is, the idols, as if an adulteress were to cover her paramours with garments which she had received from the liberality of her husband.
my oil--the holy anointing oil sacred to God ( Exodus 30:22-25 ). Also that used in sacrifices ( Leviticus 2:1 Leviticus 2:2 ).
19. My meat . . . I gave--( Hosea 2:8 ).
set it before them--as a minchah or "meat offering" ( Leviticus 2:1 ).
a sweet savour--literally "a savor of rest," that is, whereby they might be propitiated, and be at peace ("rest") with you; how ridiculous to seek to propitiate gods of wood!
thus it was--The fact cannot be denied, for I saw it, and say it was so, saith Jehovah.
20, 21. sons and . . . daughters borne unto me--Though "thy children," yet they belong "unto Me," rather than to thee, for they were born under the immutable covenant with Israel, which even Israel's sin could not set aside, and they have received the sign of adoption as Mine, namely, circumcision. This aggravates the guilt of sacrificing them to Molech.
to be devoured--not merely to pass through the fire, as sometimes children were made to do ( Leviticus 18:21 ) without hurt, but to pass through so as to be made the food of the flame in honor of idols
Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my children--rather, "Were thy whoredoms a small matter (that is, not enough, but) that thou hast slain (that is, must also slay)," &c. As if thy unchastity was not enough, thou hast added this unnatural and sacrilegious cruelty ( Micah 6:7 ).
22. not remembered . . . youth--Forgetfulness of God's love is the source of all sins. Israel forgot her deliverance by God in the infancy of her national life. See Ezekiel 16:43 , to which Ezekiel 16:60 forms a lovely contrast ( Jeremiah 2:2 , Hosea 11:1 ).
23. woe, woe unto thee, &c.--This parenthetical exclamation has an awful effect coming like a lightning flash of judgment amidst the black clouds of Israel's guilt.
24. eminent place--rather, "a fornication-chamber," often connected with the impure rites of idolatry; spiritual fornication, on "an eminent place," answering to "fornication-chamber," is mainly meant, with an allusion also to the literal fornication associated with it ( Jeremiah 2:20 , 3:2 ).
25. at every head of the way--in the most frequented places ( Proverbs 9:14 ).
thy beauty . . . abhorred, . . . opened . . . feet to every one--The wanton advances were all on Israel's part; the idolatrous nations yielded to her nothing in return. She had yielded so much that, like a worn-out prostitute, her tempters became weary of her. When the Church lowers her testimony for God to the carnal tastes of the world, with a view to conciliation, she loses everything and gains nothing.
26. fornication with . . . Egyptians--alliances with Egypt, cemented by sharing their idolatries.
great of flesh--of powerful virile parts; figuratively for the gross and lustful religion of Egypt (for example, Isis, &c.), which alone could satisfy the abominable lust of Israel ( Ezekiel 20:7 Ezekiel 20:8 , Ezekiel 23:19 Ezekiel 23:20 Ezekiel 23:21 ).
to provoke me--wantonly and purposely.
27. The consequent judgments, which, however, proved of no avail in reforming the people ( Isaiah 9:13 , Jeremiah 5:3 ).
delivered thee unto . . . Philistines--( 2 Kings 16:6 , 2 Chronicles 28:18 2 Chronicles 28:19 ).
ashamed of thy lewd way--The Philistines were less wanton in idolatry, in that they did not, like Israel, adopt the idols of every foreign country but were content with their own ( Ezekiel 16:57 , Jeremiah 2:11 ).
28. unsatiable--Not satisfied with whoredoms with neighbors, thou hast gone off to the distant Assyrians, that is, hast sought a league with them, and with it adopted their idolatries.
29. multiplied . . . fornication in . . . Canaan unto Chaldea--Thou hast multiplied thy idolatries "in Canaan" by sending "unto Chaldea" to borrow from thence the Chaldean rites, to add to the abominations already practised "in Canaan," before the carrying away of Jehoiachin to Chaldea. The name "Canaan" is used to imply that they had made Judea as much the scene of abominations as it was in the days of the corrupt Canaanites. The land had become utterly Canaanitish ( Ezekiel 23:14 , &c.).
30. weak . . . heart--Sin weakens the intellect ("heart") as, on the contrary, "the way of the Lord is strength to the upright" ( Proverbs 10:29 ).
31. Repetition of Ezekiel 16:24 .
not . . . as . . . harlot . . . thou scornest hire--Unlike an ordinary harlot thou dost prostitute thy person gratis, merely to satisfy thy lust. JEROME translates, "Thou hast not been as a harlot in scorning (that is, who ordinarily scorns) a hire offered," in order to get a larger one: nay, thou hast offered hire thyself to thy lovers ( Ezekiel 16:33 Ezekiel 16:34 ). But these verses show English Version to be preferable, for they state that Israel prostituted herself, not merely for any small reward without demanding more, but for "no reward."
32. instead of her husband--referring to Numbers 5:19 Numbers 5:20 Numbers 5:29 . FAIRBAIRN translates, "whilst under her husband."
33, 34. Israel hired her paramours, instead of being, like other harlots, hired by them; she also followed them without their following her.
35. Here begins the threat of wrath to be poured out on her.
36. filthiness--literally, "brass"; metaphor for the lowest part of the person [CALVIN]. English Version is better: thy filthy lewdness is poured out without restraint (compare Jeremiah 13:27 ). As silver is an emblem of purity, brass typifies "filthiness," because it easily contracts rust. HENDERSON explains it, "Because thy money was lavished on thy lovers" ( Ezekiel 16:31 Ezekiel 16:33 Ezekiel 16:34 ).
blood of thy children--( Ezekiel 16:20 , Jeremiah 2:34 ).
37. thy lovers--the Chaldeans and the Assyrians. The law of retribution is the more signally exemplified by God employing, as His instruments of judgment on Israel, those very nations whose alliance and idols Israel had so eagerly sought, besides giving her up to those who had been always her enemies. "God will make him, who leaves God for the world, disgraced even in the eyes of the world, and indeed the more so the nearer he formerly stood to Himself" [HENGSTENBERG], ( Isaiah 47:3 , Jeremiah 13:26 , Hosea 2:12 , Nahum 3:5 ).
all . . . thou hast hated--the Edomites and Philistines; also Moab and Ammon especially ( Deuteronomy 23:3 ).
I . . . will discover thy nakedness--punishment in kind, as she had "discovered her nakedness through whoredoms" ( Ezekiel 16:36 ); the sin and its penalty corresponded. I will expose thee to public infamy.
38-40. judge thee, as women that break wedlock--( Leviticus 20:10 ; compare Ezekiel 16:2 ). In the case of individual adulteresses, stoning was the penalty ( John 8:4 John 8:5 ). In the case of communities, the sword. Also apostasy ( Deuteronomy 13:10 ) and sacrificing children to Molech ( Leviticus 20:1-5 ) incurred stoning. Thus the penalty was doubly due to Israel; so the other which was decreed against an apostate city ( Deuteronomy 13:15 Deuteronomy 13:16 ) is added, "they shall stone thee with stones and thrust thee through with . . . swords." The Chaldeans hurled stones on Jerusalem at the siege and slew with the sword on its capture.
shed blood . . . judged--( Genesis 9:6 ).
jealousy--image taken from the fury of a husband in jealousy shedding the blood of an unfaithful wife, such as Israel had been towards God, her husband spiritually. Literally, "I will make thee (to become) blood of fury and jealousy."
39. thine eminent place--literally, "fornication-chamber" a place of spiritual fornication with idols, to please the Chaldeans ( Ezekiel 23:14-17 ).
strip thee of . . . clothes--( Ezekiel 23:26 , Hosea 2:3 ). They shall dismantle thy city of its walls.
fair jewels--literally, "vessels of thy fairness" or beauty; the vessels of the temple [GROTIUS]. All the gifts wherewith God hath adorned thee [CALVIN].
40. ( Ezekiel 23:10 Ezekiel 23:47 ). Compare as to the destruction under Titus, Luke 19:43 Luke 19:44 .
41. The result of the awful judgment shall be, when divine vengeance has run its course, it shall cease.
burn--( Deuteronomy 13:16 , 2 Kings 25:9 ).
women--the surrounding Gentile nations to whom thou shalt be an object of mocking ( Psalms 137:7 ).
I will cause thee to cease . . . harlot--( Ezekiel 23:27 ). Thou shalt no longer be able to play the harlot through My judgments.
thou . . . shall give . . . no hire . . . any more--Thou shalt have none to give.
42. my fury . . . rest--when My justice has exacted the full penalty commensurate with thy awful guilt a mitigation of the penalty that is here foretold, but such an utter destruction of all the guilty that there shall be no need of further punishment [CALVIN].
43. ( Ezekiel 16:22 , Psalms 78:42 ). In gratitude for God's favors to her in her early history.
fretted me--( Isaiah 63:10 , Ephesians 4:30 ).
thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations--that is, this the wickedness (compare Zechariah 5:8 ), peculiarly hateful to God, namely, spiritual unchastity or idolatry, over and "above" (that is, besides) all thine other abominations. I will put it out of thy power to commit it by cutting thee off. FAIRBAIRN translates, "I will not do what is scandalous (namely, encouraging thee in thy sin by letting it pass with impunity) upon all thine abominations"; referring to Leviticus 19:29 , the conduct of a father who encouraged his daughter in harlotry. English Version is much better.
44. As . . . mother . . . her daughter--"Is," and "so is," are not in the original; the ellipsis gives the proverb (but two words in the Hebrew) epigrammatic brevity. Jerusalem proved herself a true daughter of the Hittite mother in sin ( Ezekiel 16:3 ).
45. mother's . . . that loatheth her husband--that is, God ("haters of God," Romans 1:30 ); therefore the knowledge of the true God had originally been in Canaan, handed down from Noah (hence we find Melchisedek, king of Salem, in Canaan, "priest of the most high God," Genesis 14:18 ), but Canaan apostatized from it; this was what constituted the blackness of the Canaanites' guilt.
loathed . . . children--whom she put to death in honor of Saturn; a practice common among the Phoenicians.
sister of thy sisters--Thou art akin in guilt to Samaria and Sodom, to which thou art akin by birth. Moab and Ammon, the incestuous children of Lot, nephew of Abraham, Israel's progenitor, had their origin from Sodom; so Sodom might be called Judah's sister. Samaria, answering to the ten tribes of Israel, is, of course, sister to Judah.
46. elder sister . . . Samaria--older than Sodom, to whom Judah was less nearly related by kindred than she was to Samaria. Sodom is therefore called her younger sister; Samaria, her "elder sister" [GROTIUS]. Samaria is called the "elder," because in a moral respect more nearly related to Judah [FAIRBAIRN]. Samaria had made the calves at Dan and Beth-el in imitation of the cherubim.
her daughters--the inferior towns subject to Samaria (compare Numbers 21:25 , Margin).
left--The Orientals faced the east in marking the directions of the sky; thus the north was "left," the south "right."
Sodom . . . daughters--Ammon and Moab, offshoots from Sodom; also the towns subject to it.
47. their abominations--Milcom and Chemosh, the "abominations of Ammon and Moab" ( 1 Kings 11:5 1 Kings 11:7 ).
corrupted more than they--So it is expressly recorded of Manasseh ( 2 Kings 21:9 ).
48. Sodom--( Matthew 11:24 ). Judah's guilt was not positively, but relatively, greater than Sodom's; because it was in the midst of such higher privileges, and such solemn warnings; a fortiori, the guilt of unbelievers in the midst of the highest of all lights, namely, the Gospel, is the greatest.
49. pride--inherited by Moab, her offspring ( Isaiah 16:6 , Jeremiah 48:26 ), and by Ammon ( Jeremiah 49:4 ). God, the heart-searcher, here specifies as Sodom's sin, not merely her notorious lusts, but the secret spring of them, "pride" flowing from "fullness of bread," caused by the fertility of the soil ( Genesis 13:10 ), and producing "idleness."
abundance of idleness--literally, "the secure carelessness of ease" or idleness.
neither did she strengthen . . . the poor--Pride is always cruel; it arrogates to itself all things, and despises brethren, for whose needs it therefore has no feeling; as Moab had not for the outcast Jews ( Isaiah 16:3 Isaiah 16:4 , Jeremiah 48:27 , Luke 16:19-21 , 5:1-5 ).
50. haughty--puffed up with prosperity.
abomination before me--"sinners before the Lord" ( Genesis 13:13 ); said of those whose sin is so heinous as to cry out to God for immediate judgments; presumptuous sins, daring God to the face ( Genesis 18:20 , 19:5 ).
I took them away--( Genesis 19:24 ).
as I saw good--rather, "according to what I saw"; referring to Genesis 18:21 , where God says, "I will go down, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto Me."
51. Samaria--the kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel less guilty than Judah; for Judah betrayed greater ingratitude, having greater privileges, namely, the temple, the priesthood, and the regular order of kings.
justified thy sisters--made them appear almost innocent by comparison with thy guilt ( Jeremiah 3:11 , Matthew 12:41 Matthew 12:42 ).
52. Thou . . . which hast judged . . . bear thine own--( Matthew 7:1 Matthew 7:2 , Romans 2:1 Romans 2:17-23 ). Judah had judged Sodom (representing "the heathen nations") and Samaria (Israel), saying they were justly punished, as if she herself was innocent ( Luke 13:2 ).
thy shame--ignominious punishment.
53. Here follows a promise of restoration. Even the sore chastisements coming on Judah would fail to reform its people; God's returning goodness alone would effect this, to show how entirely of grace was to be their restoration. The restoration of her erring sisters is mentioned before hers, even as their punishment preceded her punishment; so all self-boasting is excluded [FAIRBAIRN]. "Ye shall, indeed, at some time or other return, but Moab and Ammon shall return with you, and some of the ten tribes" [GROTIUS].
bring again . . . captivity--that is, change the affliction into prosperity (so Job 42:10 ). Sodom itself was not so restored ( Jeremiah 20:16 ), but Ammon and Moab (her representatives, as sprung from Lot who dwelt in Sodom) were ( Jeremiah 48:47 , 49:6 ); probably most of the ten tribes and the adjoining nations, Ammon and Moab, &c., were in part restored under Cyrus; but the full realization of the restoration is yet future; the heathen nations to be brought to Christ being typified by "Sodom," whose sins they now reproduce ( Deuteronomy 32:32 ).
captivity of thy captives--literally, "of thy captivities." However, the gracious promise rather begins with the "nevertheless" ( Ezekiel 16:60 ), not here; for Ezekiel 16:59 is a threat, not a promise. The sense here thus is, Thou shalt be restored when Sodom and Samaria are, but not till then ( Ezekiel 16:55 ), that is, never. This applies to the guilty who should be utterly destroyed ( Ezekiel 16:41 Ezekiel 16:42 ); but it does not contradict the subsequent promise of restoration to their posterity ( Numbers 14:29-33 ), and to the elect remnant of grace [CALVIN].
54. bear thine own shame--by being put on a level with those whom thou hast so much despised.
thou art a comfort unto them--since they see thee as miserable as themselves. It is a kind of melancholy "comfort" to those chastised to see others as sorely punished as themselves ( Ezekiel 14:22 Ezekiel 14:23 ).
56. Sodom was not mentioned--literally, "was not for a report." Thou didst not deign to mention her name as if her case could possibly apply as a warning to thee, but it did apply ( 2 Peter 2:6 ).
57. Before thy wickedness was discovered--manifested to all, namely, by the punishment inflicted on thee.
thy reproach of . . . Syria and . . . Philistines--the indignity and injuries done thee by Syria and the Philistines ( 2 Kings 16:5 , 2 Chronicles 28:18 , Isaiah 9:11 Isaiah 9:12 ).
58. borne thy lewdness--that is, the punishment of it ( Ezekiel 23:49 ). I do not treat thee with excessive rigor. Thy sin and punishment are exactly commensurate.
59. the oath--the covenant between God and Israel ( Deuteronomy 29:12 Deuteronomy 29:14 ). As thou hast despised it, so will I despise thee. No covenant is one-sided; where Israel broke faith, God's promise of favor ceased.
60. The promise here bursts forth unexpectedly like the sun from the dark clouds. With all her forgetfulness of God, God still remembers her; showing that her redemption is altogether of grace. Contrast "I will remember," with "thou hast not remembered" ( Ezekiel 16:22 Ezekiel 16:43 ); also "My covenant," with "Thy covenant" ( Ezekiel 16:61 , Psalms 106:45 ); then the effect produced on her is ( Ezekiel 16:63 ) "that thou mayest remember." God's promise was one of promise and of grace. The law, in its letter, was Israel's (thy) covenant, and in this restricted view was long subsequent ( Galatians 3:17 ). Israel interpreted it as a covenant of works, which she while boasting of, failed to fulfil, and so fell under its condemnation ( 2 Corinthians 3:3 2 Corinthians 3:6 ). The law, in its spirit, contains the germ of the Gospel; the New Testament is the full development of the Old, the husk of the outer form being laid aside when the inner spirit was fulfilled in Messiah. God's covenant with Israel, in the person of Abraham, was the reason why, notwithstanding all her guilt, mercy was, and is, in store for her. Therefore the heathen or Gentile nations must come to her for blessings, not she to them.
everlasting covenant--( Ezekiel 37:26 , 2 Samuel 23:5 , Isaiah 55:3 ). The temporary forms of the law were to be laid aside, that in its permanent and "everlasting" spirit it might be established ( Jeremiah 31:31-37 , 32:40 , Jeremiah 50:4 Jeremiah 50:5 , Hebrews 8:8-13 ).
61. thou shalt remember--It is God who first remembers her before she remembers Him and her own ways before Him ( Ezekiel 16:60 , Ezekiel 20:43 , 36:31 ).
ashamed--the fruit of repentance ( 2 Corinthians 7:10 2 Corinthians 7:11 ). None please God unless those who displease themselves; a foretaste of the Gospel ( Luke 18:9-14 ).
I will give them unto thee for daughters--( Isaiah 54:1 , Isaiah 60:3 Isaiah 60:4 , Galatians 4:26 , &c.). All the heathen nations, not merely Sodom and Samaria, are meant by "thy sisters, elder and younger." In Jerusalem first, individual believers were gathered into the elect Church. From Jerusalem the Gospel went forth to gather in individuals of the Gentiles; and Judah with Jerusalem shall also be the first nation which, as such, shall be converted to Christ; and to her the other nations shall attach themselves as believers in Messiah, Jerusalem's King ( Psalms 110:2 , Isaiah 2:2 Isaiah 2:3 ). "The king's daughter" in Psalms 45:12-14 is Judah; her "companions," as "the daughter of Tyre," are the nations given to her as converts, here called "daughters."
not by thy covenant--This does not set aside the Old Testament in its spirit, but in its mere letter on which the Jews had rested, while they broke it: the latter ("thy covenant") was to give place to God's covenant of grace and promise in Christ who "fulfilled" the law. God means, "not that thou on thy part hast stood to the covenant, but that 'I am the Lord, I change not' ( Malachi 3:6 ) from My original love to thee in thy youth" (see Romans 3:3 ).
62. ( Hosea 2:19 Hosea 2:20 ).
thou shalt know that I am the Lord--not, as elsewhere, by the judgments falling on thee, but by My so marvellously restoring thee through grace.
63. never open thy mouth--in vindication, or even palliation, of thyself, or expostulation with God for His dealings ( Romans 3:19 ), when thou seest thine own exceeding unworthiness, and My superabounding grace which has so wonderfully overcome with love thy sin ( Romans 5:20 ). "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged" ( 1 Corinthians 11:31 ).
all that thou hast done--enhancing the grace of God which has pardoned so many and so great sins. Nothing so melts into love and humility as the sense of the riches of God's pardoning grace ( Luke 7:47 ).


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Topic: Fetts romantic backstory
Hey not that long ago I came across an interesting backstory concept on our favorite bounty hunter. If you look closely to his armour across his right sholder like an award cord is a long strand of braided blond hair. Now I've always heard that it was a colection of hair taken as trophies but I think thats a little out of character. Anyway I ran across this little back story that told of a romantic trist between Fett and a blond Correlian, and that she died in some tragic incident involving Fett and a Jedi. He keeping her pony tail as a momento never got close to someone again. I think this concept is at least a little more in his character than him taking "trophies" from his bounty heads. After all The fett man is more for the bounty than any sort of game. Anyway if anyone has caught wind of said backstory and knows more about it let me know.


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[9.70]Styller Yourots 0.9.6 v.0.7 Download OTS Tibia
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Assunto: [9.70]Styller Yourots 0.9.6 v.0.7 Download OTS Tibia
Sab Out 27, 2012 6:40 am
[9.70]Styller Yourots 0.9.6 v.0.7
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IP Changer Otland: http://www.speedyshare.com/naMnr/OtLand-IP-Changer.EXE
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- Added Farmine
- Fixed 100% Real Tibia Spells (formulas etc)
- Separed the npcs from 2 SQM. (so it doesnt bug and talk to both of them)
- Fixed all the errors (actions,creature scripts, monsters & npcs)
- Sliced the map down (water and such), it's around 90mb big atm
- Added a greater npc rune-seller, backpack of runes.
- The Oracle, will be spawned in rook.
- Training Monks will be spawned at the training area.
- The Soft Boots Repairer will be spawned aswell.:
- 100% pure and real addon system
- Erased allot of water around Yalahar. (3mb less now)
- Fixed the real tibia's boat system (required money/premium to travel)
- All houses will be done at v0.5-v0.7. (every city - report any undone house)
- I've checked PoI too, for anykind of bug at all.
- Added allot of new talkactions such as !buy system - buy: food,bp. (but for a higher price)
- Added VIP System - REMEMBER,
ID:5785 is the medal that makes you vip,
ID: 5788 is the vip door that can close the area to vip.
- Changed the !buypremium time from 90 days (too much) to 7 days.
- Fixed the right script to the addoner. (now - he sells all the addons and it's the same system as rl)
- Fixed some map bugs and misplaced spawns & map tiles.
- Added Jail-System - Automatic Kick After 25min !
(all settings are set - north of thais magic shop - !Jail , !Unjail , /Jail , /Unjail !)
- Added Killed Monsters Counter !
- Added NPC (Soft Boots & Firewalker Repairer, at Thais east Magic Shop)
- Added NPC [Blesser] that sells 1-5th blessings at the temple of thais.
- Added teleports to specific directions upstairs of Thais temple.
- Erased some water (0.5-1mb).
- Fixed the real tibia Svargrond Arena ! (with npc)
- Fixed all the houses in Svargrond !
- Fixed all the houses in Liberty Bay !
- Fixed all the houses in Port hope !
- Added a broadcaster (3k/each broadcast)
- Added Demon Oak Quest !
- Added Inqusition Quest !
- Femor Hills (Fully updated to 9.20+)
- Amazon Camp (Fully updated to 9.50+)
- Orc Fortress (Fully updated to 9.54+)
- Plains of Havoc (Fully 9.5+ [Dried grass, minor details], real tibia spawns)
- Infested Area (Demon Oak Area)
- Svargrond (Fixed/Updated)
- Okolnir (Fixed/Updated)
- Jakundaf Desert (Grass tufts, etc)
- Also many many more map bugs and areas fixed.
- Ab'dendriel Upgraded to 9.5x Style !
- Kazordoon Upgraded to 9.5x Style !
- Added Magician Tower
- Added Inquisiton Quest's Reward Room
- Added Edron Earth Elemental/Bog Raider Cave
- Added Sea Serpent Area
- Added Way To Laguna Islands
- Added Boat NPC to Cormaya
- Fixed Issue With The Fire/Poison/Energy Fields.
- RE-Fixed Svargrond Arena (Tested & Works 100%)
- Fixed Real Tibia Boat System (with all the right npcs//outfits & names)
- Fixed Drefia (wyrms etc)
- Deleted All The Items In Darashia Houses (tracked houses - therefore the items came too)
- Fixed All Houses In Cormaya
- Fixed All Houses In Edron
- Fixed Issue With The Jail System
- Fixed Real Tibia NPC Chat System (private channel)
- Added 'Eremo' - the aol seller like real tibia. (you can only travel to him from cormaya boat)
- Deleted 'Inferna' by Ates (needed the map space & it's not like rl tibia)
- Removed Orshabaal (hidden at north of edron)
- Updated Server From Mystic Spirit 0.6 to Mystic Spirit 0.6.1 ! (9.50 with allot more)
- bp/depo save (CVS)
- safe trade (CVS)
- cap system (CVS)
- buy/sell with crystals (TLM)
- house system (TLM, Black Demon, me)
- skulls & party (TLM)
- server save (TLM)
- light (Bomb Da Brat)
- vip list (Elementaries)
- npc load (Wolv119)
- anti afk (Tibia Rules)
- battle window (Skulldiggers, Tibia Rules)
- summons (CVS, Tibia Rules, me)
- gm invisible (TRS)
- rotating items (SuperGillis)
- ice rapier (Tibia Rules)
- construction kits (JTE)
- amulets: all but garlic and bronze (me)
- rings: skill, might, time (me)
- login queue (me)
- guilds with npc (me)
- pvp arena (me)
- boh+hur+time ring (me)
- burst arrow (Skulldiggers)
- destroy field (GriZzm0)
- exiva (Bryan)
- readables (me)
- commands: /pvp /owner /send
- more options in config
- better armor formulas
- energy ring
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Evelyn Gibbs, 1905-1991
Printmaker, draughtsman, painter and teacher, born in Liverpool, where she studied at the School of Art, 1922-6; at the Royal College of Art, 1926-9; then at British School at Rome, 1929-31. Taught at Goldsmiths College of Art and showed at the RA, NEAC, RE and other major venues. Morley Gallery held a posthumous exhibition in 1994. Gibbs was a fine draughtswoman in the classical tradition and her work is held by the Arts Council, the Tate Gallery, the Ashmolean Museum and other public collections.
Like many of the artists who studied at the British School at Rome - Monnington and Stroudley, for instance - having amply demonstrated a remarkable facility for realism, she latterly moved increasingly towards abstraction.
Selected Literature: Pauline Lucas, Evelyn Gibbs, Artist and Traveller, Five Leaves Publications, 2001.
Copyright © Liss Fine Art. All Rights Reserved


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Commercial, Products
By Staff Writer | March 4, 2014
Send Feedback
Milestone Aviation Group has signed a purchase contract for eight new-generation AgustaWestland helicopters as part of the two companies' framework agreement that was initially announced in September 2013. The contract for five AW139s and three AW189s will deliver by year-end 2014. The framework agreement, which covers 44 firm and option aircraft delivering over the next four years, when fully executed, represents the largest civilian helicopter sale in AgustaWestland history.
AW189. Photo courtesy of AgustaWestland


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Abbey Dvorak
Ph.D. University of Iowa; M.A. University of Iowa; B.A. Briar Cliff University.
Abbey Dvorak served as assistant professor of Music Therapy at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA before coming to KU. She has earned her Ph.D. in Music Education/Music Therapy from the University of Iowa, her MA and Equivalency in Music Therapy from the University of Iowa, and her BA in Music Education from Briar Cliff University. She received several research awards, including the Arthur Flagler Fultz Research Grant Award from the American Music Therapy Association, for her study and dissertation: Music Therapy Support Groups for Cancer Patients and Caregivers.
Previously, she has worked as a clinical specialist in Music Therapy at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. In addition, she provided contractual music therapy services for West Music Company, serving a variety of clientele, from children with developmental disabilities to adults in hospice care. Dvorak received specialized training in Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT), music therapy clinical supervision and music therapy with premature infants in the NICU. She presents regularly at national and regional conferences and enjoys volunteer work in her community.


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MTSU Leadership Studies
The MINOR that makes a MAJOR difference!
If you want to make a difference in the world and develop lifelong leadership skills, then Leadership Studies is for you. Leadership Studies is a 15-hour minor that promotes the process of leadership development through an interdisciplinary curriculum. It will allow you to gain a better understanding of leadership through the study of leadership theories, communication, and organizations, as well as personal leadership development and enrichment through a community- or campus-based learning endeavor. The minor will prepare you for leadership opportunities in all aspects of life--personal, business, government, education, and community. Leadership Studies is hosted by the Department of Management and complements most majors.


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When Archbishop Vincent Nichols moved from Birmingham to Westminster, Daphne McLeod, of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, welcomed him back to London, and warmly added that she looked "forward to watching this new broom making a clean sweep of problems which have troubled the Archdiocese of Westminster for the last few years".
"First on the new archbishop's list," she went on, "will undoubtedly be putting an end to the sacrilegious Masses held every first and third Sunday of the Month in the Church of Our Lady and St Gregory in Soho."
Archbishop Nichols, it now has to be accepted, has had plenty of time to "make a clean sweep" of this problem and not only has done nothing but almost certainly presently intends to do nothing about these Masses. The fiction which justifies the archdiocese in its support for the Soho Masses is that they are celebrated for the benefit of gays who accept the teachings of the Church and therefore refrain from any form of sexual activity. A statement issued by the cardinal at the time the Masses first began in a Catholic church, according to the Telegraph, "stressed that the move did not represent a shift in Church teaching, which says that homosexual practice is a sin and that non-celibate gay people should not be given Communion".
It is now clear beyond peradventure that those who attend the Masses are nearly all what the archdiocese calls "non-celibate gay people" who intend to continue to defy Catholic teaching, which is that homosexuals (Catechism art 2358) "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity", but also that (2359) they "are called to chastity".
The whole ethos of the Soho Masses is a committed denial of this teaching, a denial in which they are encouraged by the Archdiocese of Westminster, whose justification is that they are responding to "a number of homosexual Catholics" who have expressed "their desire for pastoral care from the Diocese of Westminster".
But the question is this: can it ever be right to describe as "pastoral care" a consistent uncritical support for a "lifestyle" which the Church teaches is gravely sinful? And by doing so are they not placing themselves under judgment too? The archbishop might care to ponder Luke 17: "And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that causes of sin should not come: but woe to him through whom they come" (verse one). And what about verse three? "… If your brother does something wrong, rebuke him and, if he is sorry, forgive him". That is also a fundamental part of "pastoral care".


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I don't want it to ask if they select the "add comment" button... it's basically a reminder for if they begin to navigate away without adding the comment.. any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Is it causing conflict because i already have an onClick event?
<input type='button' value='Clear' onClick="setval('CATEGORY','');
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Thanks in advance, I'm new to stackoverflow so lay it on me if necessary. ; ]


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Federal Labour Court Germany
Federal Labour Court, Germany
In 1954 the Federal Labour Court started its jurisdiction tasks in Kassel, Germany. Today, it can be found in Erfurt since the completion of the new court building in 1999. As a pure court of review it judges appeals and appeals on a point of law against decisions of the regional labour courts and dedicates to the advanced education of law itself. The rectangular, compact, four-storey building has an energy-saving climate skin and open appearance due to the large windows.
In the course of continuing modernisation and maintenance work the voice-supporting sound system of the large hearing room was to be refurbished. The previous conference system was not suitable for almost 100 seats. In addition to the optimisation of the auditory area, the new system should allow for the possibility to partition the room.
Based on these requirements, the VST GmbH in Saalfeld projected a high-quality system which also blends discretely into the room. The project was realised with nine beyerdynamic Revoluto microphones, where the integrated microphone array technology with corridor characteristic replaces the usual gooseneck or rod microphones. The result is an excellent voice quality and free eye contact to the other participants. Furthermore, due to the discrete microphone arrangement, the Bench appears bigger and more open to the audience.
The microphones are well integrated in the room by connecting to a BIAMP Nexia Conference System and four loudspeakers from Kling&Freitag. The difficult room situation due to large windows and a sound-reflecting stone floor could be compensated by digital signal processors (DSPs) – which eliminate disturbing frequencies and feedbacks by specific filtering. All other components such as amplifiers and controls have been integrated.
The whole system can be operated intuitively via a BIAMP RED-1 remote control. Individual application scenarios can be recalled with this. The result is a sound system which is completely integrated into the room with few visible components, but with essentially more performance compared to the previous PA system. At the same time the system can also be further extended e.g. the recording of hearings on a storage medium.
June 2010


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Published at Friday, 10 May 2019. Color by Number. By Chantell Francois.
The Benefits of Painting-by-Number, Paint-by-number isn't just a fun pastime. It is also one rich with benefits. A few include. Increased hand-eye coordination — Painting-by-number will maximize your hand-eye coordination. This is important because, according to LIVESTRONG, "Developing hand-eye coordination may result in better reaction times, as well as enhanced agility and athleticism. It may also improve your typing skills, which can help you become more productive at work." Decreased stress — There is probably not a person alive who would not benefit from a lower stress level. A trendy way for adults to lower stress is by coloring. Could it be that painting-by-number would have the same effects as coloring? The Huffington Post stated, "(Adult coloring) generates wellness, quietness and also stimulates brain areas related to motor skills, the senses and creativity." Like coloring, painting-by-number requires a good bit of focus, stirs creativity, and calms the senses. In fact, "Stress Less Paint-by-Number" is a modern brand of paint-by-number kit sold by Wal Mart and Amazon. If you're feeling stressed, painting-by-number might help you unwind. Encourages other artistic endeavors — It's possible that some artists started out painting-by-number. Maybe paint-by-number was their first-ever experience with art. This painting technique could reveal a love for art that you were previously unaware of. Don't be surprised if painting-by-number leads to engaging in more serious artistic endeavors. At the very least, it will be fun and offer you a creative outlet.
Coloring will require basic hand-eye coordination skills, and color by number sheets will call upon specific concentration while children coordinate the number on the page with what color they actually need to use. These coloring diagrams will require that children color within specified areas with a predetermined color, and keeping the color within a defined area will help to develop hand and eye coordination. Children will learn to hold the marker, crayon, or colored pencil while controlling its movement in a way that will prevent the color from going beyond the outline.
Who Should Be Credited with the Creation of Paint-by-Number: Michelangelo or Leonardo DA Vinci? Some people dismiss paint-by-number as an elementary, formulaic painting system. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it's worth mentioning that Leonardo DA Vinci is rumored to have created the first painting-by-number system. In his book Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo DA Vinci, Bülent Atalay wrote, "Painting by number may not be as egregious a pursuit as one might imagine. Leonardo himself invented a form of it, assigning assistants to paint areas on a work that he had already sketched out and numbered." Other sources suggest that Michelangelo should be credited with the invention of the painting system. Either way, paint-by-number had anything but humble beginnings.
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It is early fall and you have been doing your bird homework. You are feeling pretty comfortable, even smug, as you go about identifying the birds around you.
There's a handsome male cardinal, showy in red, black around the face, a snappy crest and an orange beak. Take a look at that red-winged blackbird. Now there is a bird that matches its name! Down by the lagoon you spy a medium-sized heron, all muted blue and you sing out "little blue heron."
Yes, life is good in the world of birds.
Then, just to shake you out of your complacency, along comes this season's crop of juveniles. Juvenile cardinals start out looking like females, but they have brown beaks. Juvenile red-winged blackbirds are brown and streaky like the females - only they have the beginnings of red and yellow shoulder patches.
Juvenile little blue herons were put on the planet to challenge even expert birders. From when they hatch out in May or June until the following April, they are white with greenish legs and a two-toned bill. Then, feather-by-feather, they begin molting to blue, making a typically adolescent statement in tie-dye. By age 1, they have completed the molt to adult plumage.
Immature summer tanagers are a dull yellow-orange like the females. Come spring, the young males also go for tie-dye, showing varying amounts of red and orange until they reach the eye-catching red of full adults.
Young red-headed woodpeckers have brown heads until nearly February. Juvenile red-bellied woodpeckers have tan heads for the first couple of months but quickly put on the full red mohawk (male) or sedate half-mohawk (female) that characterize adult red-bellied woodpeckers.
Juvenile painted buntings are greenish-yellow, just like the females. It will take the males some 14 months to molt into their full rainbow splendor. Next spring, if you see a green bird singing its heart out, odds are good it is a young male working extra-hard to claim a territory and get a date.
As I work on identifying birds in their juvenile plumages, I give thanks to David Sibley. His "Sibley Guide to Birds," published in 2000, has more than 6,600 detailed illustrations of 810 species of birds, including small illustrations of each species in flight and drawings of juvenile birds with information about time duration for each plumage. Wow!
Yes, it can be a bit overwhelming, but you won't be saying "I couldn't find that in my book."
Our national bird, the bald eagle, takes four years to reach mature adult plumage. Juvenile eagles are all dark with a large dark bill. Second year birds show a lot of white mottling. By the third year, the head is beginning to turn white but the birds still have a dark eye stripe. Four-year-old eagles finally have white heads and tails and yellow beaks.
Identifying sub-adult gulls requires almost as much study as a doctorate degree. Generally, the browner and dirtier looking a gull is, the younger it is. Laughing gulls only take two years to reach adult plumage while larger herring and great black-backed gulls take four years. Thus there can be as many as eight different plumage stages to study. At that point, I too am tempted to gnash my teeth and mutter, "It's a gull."
With American oystercatchers, the variations from juvenile to adult are subtle. Young birds have beaks that are dark at the tip and they lack the fancy orange eye-ring of the adults. In March of 2010, I photographed an oystercatcher that had been banded as a chick at Ship Shoals, Va., the previous summer. This year, on Sept. 2, I once again photographed Black UO on Tybee, now a confident and fully-dressed adult.
So, I challenge you my readers. Now is the time to get in step with the next generation!
Good juvenile birding!
Bird enthusiast Diana Churchill can be reached via email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Go to savannahnow.com/slideshows to take a photo tour of birds of the Coastal Empire.


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You can catch me live today on Heart Filled Holidays Radio dishing up our family traditions and sharing about my book at noon ET (11 CT, 10 MT, 9 PT) today! Here is a little about what we will be talking about! I hope you can listen in today!
The Good Life, it's what we all want and we have different thoughts about why we don't have it or when we can have it. Amy Clark is defying those thoughts and showing us how we can have it right now, regardless of circumstances. She'll be challenging our thinking and showing us how we can love our life right here, right now, and even do it on a budget. From delicious meals to a clean home to fabulous family celebrations, she has it all covered. We'll hear her story and pick her brain for terrific ideas we can use in our families.
While we're enjoying our life we'll share a few tips for enjoying the month of March and our Easter celebrations plus we'll hop on over to Christmas Corner and peek at an old Christmas tradition.
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This Week at Physics
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Event Number 3194
Friday, March 14th, 2014
- Physics Department Colloquium
- Status and prospects for achieving thermonuclear ignition on the National Ignition Facility
- Time: 3:30 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee at 4:30 pm)
- Speaker: Riccardo Betti, Rochester
- Abstract: Recent experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have achieved the conditions where the thermonuclear fuel is self-heated by the alpha particles produced by the fusion process. For the first time in fusion research, the self-heating process causes a significant increase of the plasma temperature ( ~ 20 - 25 % ) and a large enhancement of the fusion yield, more than doubling the number of fusion reactions. Demonstrating ignition will require much higher fusion yields and dominant self-heating by the alphas. Current NIF experiments use the indirect drive approach where a cryogenic spherical shell filled with deuterium and tritium is imploded using an x-ray drive. While these results represent an important step forward in fusion research, the path to thermonuclear ignition is uncertain. Other concepts like direct drive and shock ignition provide additional options to achieve ignition on the NIF. While all the currently available ignition options are affected by major physics uncertainties, steady progress is being made on both the NIF and OMEGA laser facilities thus improving the prospects for the achievement of ignition on NIF.
- Host: Forest
- Poster: http://www.physics.wisc.edu/twap/posters/2014/3194.pdf
- Video: https://vod.physics.wisc.edu/media/2014_03_14.m4v
- Add this event to your calendar
- Status and prospects for achieving thermonuclear ignition on the National Ignition Facility


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Zoo Bowl
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Make mealtime ZOO time! Little ones will love having their very own plate, bowl and cup featuring their favorite ZOO character! Bright colors and whimsical faces make mealtime fun. Our ZOO TABLEWARE is durable melamine and dishwasher-safe. The collection is perfect for mixing and matching.
- Easy to Mix & Match with other other Zoo Collection Tableware, sold separately
- Made of durable melamine
- Dishwasher-safe (top rack only)
- Not recommended for microwave use
- Dimensions: 5.5"W x 5.5"H x 1.5"D


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'Safe Haven' review: Good, gauzy romance
Safe Haven: Romance. Starring Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough and David Lyons. Directed by Lasse Hallström. (PG-13. 115 minutes.)
A strong argument can be made that Josh Duhamel never left the fantasy/sci-fi genre when he switched sets from the "Transformers" movies to "Safe Haven."
In real life, we're probably more likely to see alien refugees that can turn from robots into helicopters than a North Carolina town as idyllic as the one presented in this Nicholas Sparks romance, where every single person, place and thing is absolutely flawless ... except for a booze-swilling horror-movie villain of a cop who is pursuing our sun-kissed heroine.
Of course the key words in that sentence are "Nicholas Sparks romance." Presenting an imperfect setting and lead characters would be like adding a couple of panhandlers to a Thomas Kinkade painting. It's Valentine's Day! Unrealistic romantic expectations are in the air! And "Safe Haven" does the unrealistic romance thing pretty well.
Let's set aside the plot for a moment, and focus on what the movie has going for it. Duhamel is Alex, the world's best-looking widower; a single father with strong family values, perpetual stubble and fine canoeing skills. His superpower is the ability to wear T-shirts that clash with his shorts and pull it off every time.
Enter Katie (Julianne Hough), a kind, generous, smoking-hot-but-not-in-a-threatening-way stranger who is a good employee and a good friend. She is responsible for the slowest courtship in movie history - if you don't yell "Just do it already!" at the screen at least twice during "Safe Haven," you're not human. Katie's superpower is being able to wear short-shorts that would be questionable at Hooters, while still coming off as good second-mother material.
(At this point either you're intrigued or your head is exploding from the stark sentimentality of the scenario. If it's the former, proceed to the next paragraph. If it's the latter, find a way to carbon-freeze your body until May 17, when "Star Trek: Into Darkness" premieres.)
The conflict? Katie is wanted for murder! And she's being pursued by a Boston detective who - not joking here - takes giant gulps from a bottle filled with hard liquor in every scene in which he appears.
The "Safe Haven" secret weapon is director Lasse Hallström, whose solid resume includes "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?," "The Cider House Rules" and the recent "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen." When the plot isn't being mechanically pushed forward with another crime subplot development, there are nice human moments. Ashley Judd's excellent "Ruby in Paradise" is a positive comparison. Hough, a pleasant surprise in the recent "Footloose" remake, is particularly enjoyable. Think Reese Witherspoon, minus the attitude.
Hallström's understated approach clashes with the blunt-force drama of the Sparks story line, which is definitely a matter of taste. To properly simulate the gooey weepfest piled on in the last 10 minutes, watch a Lifetime movie while drinking directly from a bottle of maple syrup and thinking about your dead grandmother.
And finally (minor spoiler ahead), the over-the-top ridiculousness of Detective McBoozerson is actually trumped by a supernatural twist. Optimus Prime doesn't intervene, but a talking semi truck/robot wouldn't have been a huge departure. Especially if he was wearing angel's wings ...
Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle's pop culture critic. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub


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Ultimate Fantasy wrote:Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
Dimma wrote:Do you always work that much? Hopefully you get game time eventually I suppose.Ultimate Fantasy wrote:Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
Ah that's right I look forward to Pokemon Black! Maybe backward. I decided that for me it's the most appealing game in the series. I did careful research to decide that.
- I am also interested in Alpha Sapphire, but since I played the original so much, i'm afraid i'd be a bit bored by the remade bits of it. Black would be all new for me.
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I write this today to remind myself to watch it.
There are certain situations that occur as one trudges along this journey we call life that demands a certain amount of consciousness for others. Simple things, like apologising when you accidentally bump into someone while walking, thanking someone when he offers you something, or giving your seat to those who need it more, these are the moments that slip by just as easily as, if not more easily than, acting upon them.
These are the exact moments that I always find myself missing. And they further amplify my guilt, not to mention the displeasure of those involved, when those involved are the closest people to me.
I constantly remind people that we do not live alone. With the 4 billion people in this world, not to mention today's social connectivity with these same 4 billion through the advent of the mobile phone, television, Internet, satellite technology, you just have to be careful whose toes you step on. Ironically, these same social tools which we can use to learn to live with each other, are the things we have grown to take for granted, just as we grow to take for granted the people who are most important to us in the best of times.
I have seen myself become one of those idiots that have not done my due diligence in the service of those around me. And my crimes are many.
My wife has seen and felt on numerous occasions how I let my guard down and manifested my insensitivity to her needs, and i have in turn witnessed and bore the full strength of her ire in all these events. She has also reminded me countless times of the many situations where I should have thought of her family and friends before myself, from missing the opportunity to offer the slightest gestures of courtesy to manifesting unnecessary displeasure over serious misunderstandings that should have been avoided at all costs. I won't even start about my own family; for the amount of injustices I have brought on them, I may as well be disowned.
But I don't do all this on purpose. God, who does? I have only this to say about myself, and it by no means helps my case in any way. I get caught up by the things that are on my plate at any given moment, and when a situation where another person or a group of people require my attention, the priorities I set for myself at that moment get in the way of doing what's really right.
And what's really right? That's the one question I'm still learning to answer. It is also where the word "sense" comes into play, something I also find myself severely lacking at the best of times. As the youngest of 4 children (spoilt rotten and forgiven more often for mistakes than I deserve), and the least accomplished of my siblings and even my peers (having earned a diploma a full 8 years later than everybody else in the world, in a discipline I'm not even utilising in my current career), it seems easy to use my life as an excuse for my actions. But to be where I am today, there is no excuse.
I write this as a reminder to myself, and for people to remind me, of the person I am. As for an answer, or a solution? I don't know. I guess I'm still trying to find one, trying to learn. Just as I know I'm probably going to be trying for the rest of my life.
Time and time again, I disappoint. When will I ever learn?


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With the nation's debt quickly approaching $17 trillion, there are not many citizens to be found who wouldn't agree the United States is living beyond its means.
Where people differ, however, is which programs or services naturally should be cut or eliminated in order to begin bringing government budgets under control. Even those differences have a common thread running through them: Make sure the cuts don't take anything away from me.
And that makes sense. It would be a foolish person, indeed, who wouldn't argue his or her self-interest. A farmer, for example, might be extremely interested in preserving CRP payments but not care less if an investment bank receives tax credits on capital that is parked overseas. That same lending institution might not have a vested interest in the prevailing minimum wage, while a fast-food restaurant would. Examples are not hard to come by.
As anarchy would erupt if it were up to each person to plead their own case, we utilize a representative form of governance to settle claims between competing interests.
But the playing field is anything but level. Lobbyists have made sure of that. And we wouldn't expect anything different, for they're guided by self-interest as well.
Who can afford their own lobbyist? Not your average citizen residing in northwest Kansas. Sure, most people wouldn't hesitate bending the ear of U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran or State Rep. Sue Boldra if they ran into them at a Chamber of Commerce event, and most likely they'd have a pleasant conversation.
We would submit a face-to-face promise to look into something will never hold sway in either Washington, D.C., or Topeka if put up against campaign contributions from an organization seeking the opposite. For the record, we're not holding out either Moran or Boldra as examples of anything other than likely to be seen at the Hays Welcome Center.
But when it comes to debt reduction, decreasing deficits or controlling spending in any fashion, we don't see many elected officials arguing to do anything about corporate welfare. It's really not discussed much -- if at all.
What does receive a lot of attention is individual assistance.
Just this week, state leaders have decided that some 20,000 unemployed Kansans will be cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program unless they find a job working at least 20 hours per week. Topeka could have kept the program intact for these people with the federal government picking up the tab, but opted otherwise.
"We know that employment is the most effective way to escape poverty," declared Kansas Department for Children and Families Secretary Phyllis Gilmore.
Gilmore's hard-heartedness was applauded by Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan.: "As a nation, we must rein in out-of-control spending. Implementing these reforms will help get us back on track to reducing our deficits and promote paychecks over welfare checks."
Huelskamp is almost giddy in his callousness.
While we support the concept of having every able-bodied U.S. adult working, it's not practical. Have you noticed any large industries moving into northwest Kansas of late? Neither have we. You can't pay them enough to come to an area with such low unemployment.
Most economists readily agree that 4 percent unemployment is "full" employment. If there aren't idled workers at the ready, economies can't transition. Which is why state and federal governments reluctantly agreed to provide benefits so these necessary unemployed individuals wouldn't starve awaiting their next job.
Even worse, in our minds, is the conversation itself. We castigate individuals receiving any kind of assistance while ignoring large corporate interests that receive the lion's share of redistributed tax dollars. Simply follow the money. Who's helping shape government policy in Washington and Topeka? Certainly not the laid-off 45-year-old whose receiving a hundred dollars monthly for pre-approved food items. It's the large business that siphons billions of dollars annually straight to its bottom line.
And elected officials simply go with the flow. America, and Kansas, have lost their moral compass. Have we no shame?
Editorial by Patrick Lowry


text: Open to the public since October 20, 2003, the Nasher Sculpture Center is one of the few institutions in the world devoted to the exhibition, study and preservation of modern and contemporary sculpture. Conceived as a serene urban retreat for the enjoyment of modern art, the Sculpture Center is the new home of the renowned Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection of modern and contemporary sculpture. The Collection – which numbers more than 300 sculptures together with 20th century paintings, drawings, prints and photographs – rotates in thematic installations throughout the Center's seamless blend of indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces: an elegant, light-filled 55,000-square-foot building designed by Renzo Piano and a spacious garden created by Peter Walker. Special exhibitions drawn from other sources contribute to the Center's mission of examining the primary forces shaping the history of sculpture since the late 19th century. The Sculpture Center complements its exhibitions and collection installations with a variety of public programs and scholarly and educational initiatives. Through successive installations, audiences encounter the collection's remarkable breadth as well as its deep strengths and connect with the art of the past and the art of today in an intimate setting of unparalleled beauty.


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GED Testing Center
GED Testing Office
623 South Pecos La Trinidad
The SAISD GED Testing Center oversees the administration of computer-based General Educational Development testing to those who are prepared to take the exam and earn their credential. This program works in conjunction with SAISD's Adult and Community Education program, which provides GED prep classes and pre-testing. There is no age limit or District residency requirement for those wanting to earn a GED certificate, though applicants must be Texas residents who are 18 years or older. Youth who are 16 or 17 years old may qualify to earn their GED but must first meet additional requirements.
If you are ready to take your GED exam, please review our Computer Testing section for fee and other information.
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