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US President Joe Biden has approved an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the military coup in Myanmar, as the army detained another key aide to civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Further protests were expected on Thursday following days of demonstrations in major cities and towns inside Myanmar calling for the military to cede power following its 1 February coup.
Biden said the order enabled his administration "to immediately sanction the military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests as well as close family members."
Washington would identify the first round of targets this week and was taking steps to prevent the generals having access to $1bn in Myanmar government funds held in the United States.
"We're also going to impose strong exports controls. We're freezing US assets that benefit the Burmese government, while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly," Biden said at the White House.
"We'll be ready to impose additional measures, and we'll continue to work with our international partners to urge other nations to join us in these efforts."
Overnight, one of Aung San Suu Kyi's closest aides, Kyaw Tint Swe, was detained in a new wave of arrests, an official of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party said in a post on Facebook. Kyi Toe, an information committee member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said Kyaw Tint Swe and four other people linked to the previous government had been taken from their homes overnight.
He said officials of the electoral commission had also been arrested overnight, including some down to township level, but he did not immediately have an exact number of those arrested.
The military launched the coup after what it said was widespread fraud in November elections, won by the NLD in a landslide. The electoral commission had rejected those claims.
Kyaw Tint Swe had served as minister for the office of the State Counsellor under Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the coup.
Myanmar authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Scores of officials have been detained since the coup.
The coup and detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi presents Biden with his first major international crisis, and a test of his dual pledges to re-centre human rights in foreign policy and work more closely with allies.
"I again call on the Burmese military to immediately release the democratic political leaders and activists," he said. "The military must relinquish power it's seized."
US state department spokesperson Ned Price said Washington was rolling out collective actions with partners on Myanmar.
"We can impose substantial costs ourselves. We can impose costs that are even steeper … by working with our like-minded partners and allies," he told a briefing.
Western countries have condemned the coup, but analysts believed Myanmar's new junta would not be as isolated as previous iterations, with China, India, south-east Asian neighbours and Japan unlikely to cut ties given the country's strategic importance.
Derek Mitchell, a former US ambassador to Myanmar, said it was vital to get nations such as Japan, India and Singapore involved in a strong response.
"The key will not be just what America does," he said. "It's going to be how we get others along with us, allies who may have more skin in the game, more leverage, or at least better relationships with the key players."
The United Nations' top human rights body is to consider a resolution on Friday drafted by Britain and the European Union condemning the coup and demanding urgent access for monitors.
However, diplomats said China and Russia – which both have ties to Myanmar's armed forces – are expected to raise objections or try to weaken the text. The UN security council released a statement last week calling for Aung San Suu Kyi's release but stopping short of condemning the coup.
The protests against the coup have been the largest in Myanmar in more than a decade, reviving memories of almost half a century of direct army rule, punctuated with bloody army crackdowns, until the military began relinquishing some power in 2011.
Story continues…


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2019 Nobel Prize – Physics
The 2019 Nobel prize for Physics was awarded to Swiss Scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz and Canadian – American physicist James Peebles. One half of the prize was won by the American for his contribution towards "Theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology". The other half was shared between the Swiss scientists for their work on "Discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a star similar to sun".
The prize consists of 914,000 USD that will be split with one half to the American scientist and the other half to be shared between the Swiss scientists.
Discovery of exoplanet
In 1955, the Swiss astronomers discovered an exoplanet at an observatory in France. It was named orbiting a sun like star called 51 Pegasi b (or 51 Peg b). It orbits very close to the sun. The mass of the exoplanet is half of Jupiter and its temperature are around 1200 degree Celsius.
At the time of its discovery by the astronomers this close distance for a planet to its start was not compatible with the theories of planet formation. Hence it led to discussions of planetary migration.
However, their discovery was proved right and it created revolution in astronomy. Since then 4,000 exoplanets have been found in Milky way.
James Peebles discoveries
The Canadian – American physicist James Peebles had contributed several discoveries in the field of physical cosmology for which he is awarded with the prize. His discoveries are as follows
- In 1987, Peebles proposed Primordial Isocurvature Baryon Model which explains the development of early Universe
- He is also known for the Ostriker – Peebles criterion that related to the stability of galactic formation
- He has made significant contributions towards cosmic microwave background radiation, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, dark energy and dark matter.
- He was the pioneer in the theory of Cosmic structure formation.
Month: Current Affairs - October, 2019
Category: Awards, Persons & Places in News
Topics: 2019 nobel prize • Cosmology • Exoplanet • Nobel Prize • nobel prize physics • Physical cosmology
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subset: commoncrawl


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Texas Inmate Pleads to Offering Undercover ATF Agent $10,000 to Kill His Judge
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com
A 49-year-old Texas inmate pleaded guilty Friday to hiring a hitman — who ended up being an undercover ATF agent — to kill a state judge.
Jeffrey Dwayne Harrison pleaded guilty in Lubbock, Tex., to attempted murder-for-hire of Judge Stephen Ellis, 35th Judicial District Court Judge of Brown County, Tex., the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Harrison was incarcerated on drug charges in the Brown County Jail in Texas at the time of the latest crime, authorities said.
According to plea bargaining papers, law enforcement in March learned that Harrison was looking to hire someone to kill the judge, who was handing his drug case, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
A confidential informant introduced Harrison to an undercover ATF agent to carry out the murder. Authorities said Harrison first contacted the undercover agent by phone and said:
"I don't want to say too much, I was just letting you know the court, it's 35th Judicial [District], Steve Ellis is my judge, he said you'd get some paperwork rolling for me, so I'm going to shoot you some money so that we can get that rolling right."
On March 10, the undercover agent met with Harrison in the Brown County jail and told him that it would cost $10,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Harrison agreed to pay it. On more than one occasion, Harrison told the undercover agent that he could get the $10,000.
"I'm going to pay and it's going to get even better when I get out," he said.
Later that evening, Harrison called the undercover agent from a phone in the Brown County jail and said:
"I got back to the tank and talked to (the confidential informant), and let me tell you that 10 [$10,000] in the end, it's all good, I got you covered on that. That's all we need to talk about. I just wanted to call and let you know that's straight, thank you for coming to visit … I'm trying to hit the streets so we can make all this go down the way we like."
In another conversation, on March 17, the undercover agent met Harrison at the jail and asked if he had any preference as to how the judge should be killed. Harrison said he didn't care as long as the job got done.
The undercover agent told him "[y]ou're going to be happy with the job as long as this dude ends up with a toe tag, right?"
Correct, Harrison said.
"It's going to be funny putting this **** in the morgue," Harrison said. The undercover agent said the murder could be pulled off before his suppression hearing on March 22, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
On March 24, "the undercover agent conducted a ruse with Harrison", the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The undercover agent, wearing handcuffs, was brought into an interview room with Harrison, authorities said.
When the two were alone, authorities said, the undercover agent asked Harrison, "did you drop the dime on me?"
Harrison said no. The agent said someone had because he was caught an hour outside of town and that they'd found the judge's body. Harrison repeated that he hadn't said anything, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The undercover agent later came back in the room and informed Harrison of his constitutional rights.
Harrison waived his rights.
"What I'm telling you is, what you're charged with is promising to pay me something of value to kill [Judge Stephen Ellis]," the agent said. "Yeah, I guess I did," he said according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Posted: 6/12/10 at 12:07 AM under News Story.
Tags: ATF, Brown County, hitman, Jeffrey Wayne Harrison, judge, Stephen Ellis
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Make the Way of The Cross on Good Friday, April 15, 2022. The Stations of the Cross will be erected at 14 locations throughout the blocks surrounding St. Joseph Church from 4:00p-8:00p for reverent devotional prayer. The Stations are ordered in an efficient path you can walk, bike, or drive.
A simple take home soup supper will be offered from 5:00-7:00p in the St. Joseph Parking lot at the last station.
Driving Guideline - When parking, use your flashers, be cautious if
exiting your vehicle on the street, and avoid parking in driveways.
Donations to St. Joseph Youth Ministry, in support of this special event, are gratefully accepted.


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Premium honey of the finest quality from selected types of Czech honeys – polyfloral meadow honey, polyfloral honeydew honey, honeydew spruce honey and polyfloral pasted honey
CZECH HONEY is intended for customers who require the highest quality and purely Czech origin. It is the same as the one you can buy from a beekeeper, but has also passed rigorous laboratory tests. These are selected types of CZECH HONEY that meet the high standards of the trademark CZECH HONEY. The greatest advantage of CZECH HONEY is its origin and gentle processing - but thanks to this honey is crystallized faster, which in no way deteriorates its quality.


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The Tip I Stole from 'Bachelor in Paradise' for an Effortless Up-Do
I've watched every season of Bachelor in Paradise for the past few years, but it wasn't until this one that I realized, when the girls aren't wearing their hair in beachy waves, they all replicate the exact same style. Whether they're at the bar, on a date, or slow-motion running towards the beach (as one does...) chances are their hair is pulled into a high, wavy ponytail or messy bun with a scrunchie, and two pieces pulled out to the front. It feels a little reminiscent of the late '90s, without the dark lipliner, but in a much fresher way. I decided to try it out a couple of weeks back thinking it would look drastically different than my usual updo's, but G didn't even notice while I felt youthful and fresh, with a scrunchie that added a final, playful touch. Scroll on for my inspiration:


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ISOO_DL: Instance segmentation of overlapping biological objects using deep learning
15th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI), IEEE: 1225--1229, 2018
Abstract: Image segmentation is an important first step for the quantitative analysis of biomedical images. We present a method to simultaneously segment and classify translucent overlapping objects in 2D images. For this we propose an approach using a fully-convolutional neural network simultaneously solving two tasks: object detection and instance segmentation. Object detection predicts reference points, object class labels and sizes. To solve the problem of multiple labels per location, we lift our label-space from 2D to 3D, resulting in a non-overlapping representation of the instance masks. To our knowledge it is the first method that handles overlapping biological objects using deep learning making it easily applicable to a large variety of challenging datasets.Paper Publisher's link
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BibTex reference
@InProceedings{BRF18a, author = "A. B{\"o}hm and A. {\"U}cker and T. J{\"a}ger and O. Ronneberger and T. Falk", title = "ISOO_DL: Instance segmentation of overlapping biological objects using deep learning", booktitle = "15th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI)", pages = "1225--1229", month = " ", year = "2018", publisher = "IEEE", keywords = "convolution;feedforward neural nets;image classification;image representation;image segmentation;learning (artificial intelligence);object detection;instance segmentation;biological objects;deep learning;image segmentation;quantitative analysis;biomedical", url = "http://lmb.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/Publications/2018/BRF18a" }


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2018 Kookaburra Kahuna Pro Batting Gloves
2018 Kookaburra Kahuna Pro Batting Gloves
Product DetailsA test match level glove endorsed by Martin Guptill. The Kookaburra Kahuna Pro Batting Gloves contains specifically positioned flex points making this glove ergonomic and practical. The Pittards leather palms and flex points enable players to be delicate with their shots aiding subtle stroke play and the high density foam inserts ensure you are protected to the highest of levels.
Profile Grade 1 Protection Palm High Traction Pittards quartz leather with Kookaburra Max Flo ventilation Back Premium PU Fingers Sculptured High Density Foam with Fibre reinforced protection inserts Side Top Hand - 3 Piece HDF | Bottom Hand - 3 Piece HDF Thumb 2 piece with 2 Reinforced Fibre Inserts Flex Hexa-Flex (6 Flex Points) Lining Premium Soft-Fill with Super Soft Brushed Cotton with "Total Shock Dispersal" Foam Gusset Airflow mesh Wrist 50mm Neoprene with Rubberised Over Flap & 'Standard Pull' Hook & Loop fastening


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Many people begin the new year with clearing their bookshelves, to purge and make room for all the new releases of 2019. I, however, am still not ready to give away my books.
Besides, beginning the new year with a book haul, instead of an unhaul is so much more pleasurable! And that is what we are doing today.
Since my last haul in July 2018, I've accumulated another 17 books, featured below:
|Throne of Glass #6
Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow (Continue reading…)
|Throne of Glass #7
Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas's #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius's journey from slave to king's assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world…(Continue reading…)
|The Darkest Minds #2
Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children's League call Ruby "Leader", but she knows what she really is (Continue reading…)
|The Darkest Minds #3
Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. (Continue reading…)
|Passenger #1
In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she's inherited a legacy she knows nothing about (Continue Reading…)
|Passenger #2
All Etta Spencer wanted was to make her violin debut when she was thrust into a treacherous world where the struggle for power could alter history. After losing the one thing that would have allowed her to protect the Timeline, and the one person worth fighting for, Etta awakens alone… (Continue reading…)
|The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2
Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can't outrun her past. (Continue reading…)
|Legacy of Orisha #1
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. (Continue reading…)
|Mistborn #1
In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with color once more? (Continue reading…)
|Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. (Continue reading…)
|Bernadette Fox has vanished.When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. (Continue reading…)
|Nevermoor #1
A cursed girl escapes death and finds herself in a magical world – but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination
Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks. (Continue reading…)
|The Reckoners #1
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills. Nobody fights the Epics…nobody but the Reckoners. (Continue reading…)
|Arc of a Scythe #1
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. (Continue reading…)
|Of Blood and Bone #2
Drem and his friends flee the battle at Starstone Lake to warn the Order of the Bright Star. They've witnessed horrors they'll never forget, such as magic warping men into beasts. But worst of all, they've seen a demon rise from the dead – making it even more powerful. Now Fritha, the demons' high priestess, is hunting Drem's party. (Continue reading…)
|A Chorus of Dragons #1
Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn't what the storybooks promised. (Continue reading…)
The book I'm the most excited about is probably «Nevermoor», with the fantasy series coming in the second place. The day it arrived, all I desperately wanted to abandon the book I was reading and start it immediately, and only the strong inner voice made me stick with my planned TBR!
I'm currently reading the ARC of «The Ruin of Kings» by Jenn Lyons, that I received from Pan MacMillan.
How do you feel about unhauls? Have you unhauled books before? Are you planning to? Let me know in the comments below!
Connect with me on GoodReads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook


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January 11th 2016
Information uploaded on January 11th 2016 at 09:35
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire has Ferrymill Motors Enviro 200 FM36 on loan whilst repairs are carried out on Optare Solo SR 47955. MAN/Enviro 300 22580 has returned off loan to Stagecoach East Scotland, whilst ALX300-MAN 22826 is another of the type for driver training conversion. Transferred here over the weekend from Stagecoach Oxford are MAN/Enviro 300s 22761/63, with 22762/64 due to follow.
Stagecoach South has now received Optare Solo SR 47874 from Stagecoach South East in exchange for Dart SLF 35256.
Now reported out of service at Stagecoach South East are MAN/ALX300s 22008/09 and 22945 along with Volvo Olympian 16361.
Latest news from Stagecoach West confirms the transfer of Enviro 200 37238 from Gloucester to Cheltenham; Trident 18436 from Swindon to Gloucester; Optare Solo 47242 from Cheltenham to Stroud. Dart SLF 33307 is in the Reserve Fleet at Stroud and MAN/ALX300 moves to the Reserve Fleet at Gloucester. Dart SLFs 33974 and 33977 are now awaiting disposal.
Information updated on January 11th 2016 at 12:45
Stagecoach South Wales has confirmed the transfer of Optare Solos 47283/86/88/93 from Stagecoach Yorkshire and has placed then into the Reserve Fleet with 47283/86/88 at Porth and 47293 at Cwmbran. The Dart SLF received from Stagecoach London, 34389 has joined the training fleet and is allocated to Blackwood. Staff Shuttles 39620 (MAN/East Lancs) and 34348 (Dart SLF) are now for disposal and have been replaced by 34490 at Blackwood and 35200 at Merthyr. A further Optare Solo transferred here is 47752 from Stagecoach Manchester and is being used as a publicity vehicle at Blackwood. The company is no longer reporting MAN/MCV 39619; Volvo B10M 20697 and Dart SLFs 34135/95 suggesting they have been sold. Following the return of Scania/Enviro 300s 28724/37/38/40/41 from loan to Stagecoach East Scotland they have been allocated to Porth. Now out of service and for disposal are Volvo B10BLE 21138 and Volvo B10B 21028 from Blackwood having been replaced with Dart SLFs 34513 and 35198 transferred from Porth. Enviro 300 27687 is now allocated to Blackwood allowing similar 27691 to be transferred to Cwmbran. Volvo B10M coach 52631 has transferred from Cwmbran to Blackwood. Reserve Fleet Enviro 300s 27688 and 27699 are now allocated to Porth. Optare Versa 25216 has transferred from Porth into the Reserve Fleet.
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|Up a level
Nast, Irina; Tal, Amir; Schmid, Stefan; Schoeb, Veronika; Rau, Barbara; Barbero, Marco; Kool, Jan (2015). Physiotherapy Research Priorities in Switzerland : Views of the Various Stakeholders Physiotherapy Research International, 21(3), pp. 137-146. Wiley-Blackwell - STM 10.1002/pri.1621
Schoeb, Veronika; Rau, Barbara; Nast, Irina; Schmid, Stefan; Barbero, Marco; Tal, Amir; Kool, Jan (2014). How do patients, politicians, physiotherapists and other health professionals view physiotherapy research in Switzerland? A qualitative study Physiotherapy Research International, 19(2), pp. 79-92. Wiley-Blackwell - STM 10.1002/pri.1560


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Type: Impaired Driver – Alcohol Incident:
Sinclair Blvd Incident: On Thursday January 10, 2019 just after 11:30 p.m. Brantford Police Service received a report of a motor vehicle accident on Sinclair Blvd. Community Patrol Officers attended to the area where they located a vehicle in the ditch on Sinclair Blvd at Shellington Place. Officers spoke to the driver of the vehicle who showed signs of impairment. Investigation revealed the male held a novice drivers license. The driver was arrested and transported to the Brantford Police Service where he was to provide samples of his breath as required by law. A 21-year-old Brantford male has been charged with Operation While Impaired under the Criminal Code. The Drivers license was suspended for 3 days for a Novice Driver having a blood alcohol concentration more than zero.


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Eric Sell
Aha! Not what you were expecting, is it? It wasn't what I was expecting, either, when I came to discover that my entire world view was a fairy tale. There was a time when I believed everything the church said, and that included information on the topic of evolution. Why would I distrust what they said? Why bother reading up on something I knew was stupid/false anyway? I'm not here writing about creationism v evolution—I'm writing about the lies the church told us concerning "the other side of the argument".
What I mean by that is, even though I now no longer believe in creation, I'm not here trying to convince anyone else. I'm here writing this today because of the lies about the idea of evolution the church taught us. And it is a very strange subject to lie about—they believe in creation, and they have booklets, and booklets, and booklets about all sorts of topics "as explained by the bible", yet they felt it necessary to lie about a subject, I would think, they could have tackled easily. I mean, they can make it sound like Herbert Armstrong, David Pack (RCG), and/or Gerald Flurry (PCG) are end-time Apostles of God—certainly they can take the real Theory of Evolution and make a good sounding argument against it. One would think. But instead they paraded a paper tiger in front of us, thrashed it, made it look utterly ridiculous, and said something to the effect of "see, now that proves the Bible is true, and our booklets tell you how the Bible shows that our leader is from God, so now obey".
For example, I remember a lecture given by Stephen Flurry at PYC one year (would have been '97-'99) on Seven Proofs God Exists. The one I remember most clearly was "Dogs Don't Mate with Cats". I don't remember exactly what was said, but I'm sure it was some sad defacement of the idea of Speciation. It really rather reminds me of the South Park where Mr. (I mean Ms.) Garrison was being made to teach evolution in the classroom. She didn't like the idea, so taught it…kind of like the PCG did in my time: Congratulations, you're the product of five monkeys having butt-sex with a fish-squirrel!
As you might imagine, this pattern began with the inimitable Herbert W. Armstrong! It is present even on page one of The Bible Superstition or Authority:
"If you are college or university educated, you have undoubtedly been taught that humanity originated through the theoretical process called evolution. But the educated of this world in nearly all cases have been taught only one side of the subject of origins—the theory of evolution. On the contrary most of those lacking higher education in the United States 'Bible Belt', for example, have been taught only, and accepted without proof, the teaching that the Bible is the very Word of God."
The falsehoods only waits until the third paragraph. So, the Educated of the "world" have only been taught evolution, whereas those lacking higher education have only been taught the Bible. Really? Is it just me, or did he say two contradictory things in the same paragraph? So, the highly educated are born highly educated? Are they a separate class of people? Does he really expect us to believe that nobody who went through the Higher Education system ever came from a state of, let's say, uneducation? I'm pretty sure it is (or certainly was during the time he was writing) statistically impossible to grow up in the United States and not have some religious upbringing—at least for 95% of the populace.
This appears to be the early days of a now favorite argument from those who argue the Creationist side in the Big Debate, which is "evolution is just as much a belief as creation", or "I don't have enough faith to believe in evolution!". Remember the oft repeated analogy of "evolution is like saying a tornado went through a junk yard and formed a functional Boeing 747"? Makes evolution look like the stupidest idea possible—one that even the proverbial village idiot could see through! But that analogy is at best a complete misunderstanding of what the idea actually is, and at worst is a deliberate effort to deceive the people by using an effigy and setting it alight.
The argument itself is a variation on the old Watchmaker Argument, which points out that if you stumble upon a pocket watch out in the fields somewhere, you know there had to be a watchmaker. Similarly, a muffin pre-supposes a baker. Thus, we must conclude that the existence of the earth and the universe proves there is a Creator.
On pages two and three of the aforementioned booklet, Mr. A regales us with a tale of how he once faced the question of evolution v creation (EvC). What is the big thing he points to that convinced him (or at least helped a lot) that evolution was bogus and the Bible/Creationism was true? Scientists used terms like "we think", "the possibility exists", "there are reasons for supposing", etc. But the Bible was sure! It was definitive! It was authoritative! It explained how things happened, not how they might appear to have possibly happened. If that is convincing, then I might just start worshipping Eru Iluvatar, who after creating the Ainur, used them and worked with them in the Song of the Ainur to create all things. There is no speculation there. Nor is there speculation in the Qu'ran. Of course, to be fair, for a man in such a crisis state as he was—without work, suffering terribly from the Great Depression, facing "wifely fanaticism", and becoming even more confused and unsure about what he believed after reading some of the great thinkers in the evolutionary field—to be fair, something claiming surety and authority was doubtless very comforting; it was a life raft, if you will, in a sea of uncertainty. However, I would say that such a story illustrates that his resulting religiosity rests upon pillars of sand.
So, he started out good—started down the road of proving all things, but stopped half-way. He didn't read the accounts of Islam, or Hinduism, or even Mormonism, to see which of those stacked up against the Bible. And what was the result? We end up with a story about how he disproved evolution completely, but the "highly educated librarian" would not accept it because faith in evolution was all she knew. Really? I know the Pacific Northwest is kind of liberal, but I would be willing to bet that back in the '20s and '30s even they still taught their children about the Christian God. And even more to the point, evolution is not a faith. A person can disagree with what it says all they want, but saying it is a faith is a cheap trick; if it is nothing but a faith, then it is at least on a level playing field with my faith, and then my faith is validated because it is older!
OK, ok, that was back in the '30s. One could argue that there were a lot of holes and gaps in the evidence for the theory—a lot of fossils hadn't been found, and many other things just couldn't be explained very well yet. Fair enough! If the evidence for evolution is unconvincing, then there you go. But what about today? What about in the World of Google? Today it is easy to find lots of information on evolution and the evidence for it and arguments against it. So, what does the Armstrongite church do today with this new information? Do they present what the scientists say and then tell us how it contradicts the bible? Not really…
Mark Nash, who in my opinion is smart enough to know better, wrote a fairly good article on the topic of evolution for the Trumpet back in '07, called The Fraud of Evolution. For all his complaints that people could find out the truth about evolution if they would only look hard enough, it seems he has failed to look hard enough. He goes on at some length about the complete and total lack of any transitional fossils for any kind of animal. That just simply isn't true. You can have a look at transitional fossils in the evolution of the horse in Wikipedia. There is also a big list of transitional fossils for various other animal types. Whether you find these enough to doubt creationism or not, they are there. Thus, sadly, Mr. Nash uses a "favorite lie" of the Creationist side of the debate. Why? Couldn't you just argue against them? Couldn't you employ some form of Gap Theory and explain why fossils don't really have any connection to modern animals because of the re-creation of the earth 6000yrs ago? See? Even I can make a go of it! There's no need to outright lie.
He also mentions a certain type of Peppered Moth in Britain that scientists use as an example of natural selection. He calls shinanigans on the fact they are shown in photographs to be resting on tree trunks. Why? Those were dead moths, glued onto the tree trunk! *GASP* Could it be scientific fraud? I suppose it could, but in this case it isn't. The moths usually rest on the under side of tree branches, but it is difficult to photograph them there. In the end, whether you hold the example of the Peppered Moth to be evidence of natural selection or not, it is still making much ado about nothing to yell about them being photographed on tree trunks instead of tree branches. In either location the conclusion drawn by the scientists studying them are the same.
One big argument Nash puts forth is the falsification of evidence. His example is that of a scientist who lived during the time of Darwin, and was one of his biggest supporters—Ernst Haeckel. He is most famous today (at least in some circles) for committing scientific fraud. He was an embryologist, someone who studied animal embryos. He made much of the fact that at certain stages in development, there are almost more similarities in form than differences amongst various species, including humans. However, some of his drawings were inaccurate at best, and downright doctored at worst. More than a hundred years of research since then has shown that, yes, considerable similarities do exist, yet Haeckel's theories have been abandoned by modern science, thanks in large part to the discovery of DNA. His infamous drawings were made specifically in support of some of his now discredited theories…or more accurately, hypotheses.
Scientific fraud is not a small thing, and Mr. Nash is right to bring up how wrong it is that some modern science textbooks still use reprints of those drawings! There is accurate, modern evidence of the similarities (similarities which could be argued prove nothing in the EvC debate). The use of those drawings really has no excuse. But that isn't the end: Mr. Nash makes reference to a book called Icons of Evolution, wherein the Haeckel fraud is re-examined. The problem there is that it leads Nash to tell a complete untruth (even if, hopefully, unknowing):
"Even Darwin used the Haeckel lie. In his famous book, On the Origin of Species, Darwin called the similarity of embryos as reported by Haeckel 'the strongest single class of facts' for evolution." Darwin may have seen embryology as one of the strongest class of facts supporting his new idea, but it was not Haeckel's research. Origin of Species was published in 1859. Haeckel's research was published in 1866, with the infamous drawings not appearing til '74. Thus, discrediting Haeckel in no way discredits Darwin, or his book.
So, here am I, amateur blog writer, and I've been able to research enough on one Sunday to find Nash to either be lying, or to have not done enough of his own research and is thus parroting someone else's lies—and it was this failure to search out the truth that he was lamenting at the start of the article!
But this isn't about bashing Mr. Nash. This is about bringing to the fore another landscape of lies from Armstrongism. They seem to hope that by showing Haeckel to be a fraud, and showing Haeckel's research to be a main pillar and support of Darwin's ideas on evolution, that they can then discredit the whole thing. Unfortunately for them, science doesn't work that way. There are things written in Origin that have been found false in the 150yrs since it was written, but that doesn't destroy the idea. The idea still stands even if some of the specifics have changed due to new research.
It matters not whether reading any of the outside links convinces anyone of the veracity of evolution. The important thing is the lies we were all told. They are flat-out lying about something they don't need to lie about, and that is particularly troubling considering all the hype HWA made about "know both sides of the argument". They are betraying their position of trust by feeding the people falsehoods, and to me that proves one of two things: 1. That lying is systemic in the organization to the point they can't even write a Trumpet article about evolution without doing it, or 2. They doubt their position enough to feel it necessary to lie. Either is very troubling.
In the end, the PCG (and every other splinter group) is guilty of the "original sin" of Armstrongism—proving all things…half way. Perhaps evolution is bollocks. Perhaps there is a divine creator of all. But to go from that to "and that creator is the God of the Bible" is quite a leap. The Genesis account is only one of 11 different ex nihilo (from nothing, or out of nothing) creation accounts known around the world. Besides that there are four other main types of creation story with at least 28 different variations. All together there are 5 main categories of creation story, with 39 different examples, or types. And that doesn't even count the different ways of seeing the Genesis account within Christianity (Literalist Young Earth Creationism, The Gap Theory, Deism; and a newer theory that says God simply created the universe to look old—kind of a new variation on the old idea that God created the earth with dinosaur fossils already in it just to mess with the Doubting Thomases). If Armstrong had thoroughly studied all those, plus evolution, and then came to the informed conclusion that Biblical Young Earth Creationism was the most correct, then that would mean something!
Instead, we find another strata of lies in the foundation of the religious organization that gave us the Plain Truth, and all 400 True CoGs.


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Aliyah-versary #2
Exactly a year ago today I blogged in this space, "When celebrating my 2nd Aliya-versary next year, maybe this summer will seem like a distant memory. But if not, I will celebrate anyway, because I am home."
Last summer is not a distant memory of the 50 days of Operation Protective Edge, of those 3 dear boys, Eyal Yifrach, z"l, 19, Naftali Fraenkel z"l, 16, and Gil-ad Shaar z"l, 16, as well as the 66 young Israel Defense Forces Soldiers who lost their lives. Attending funerals and visiting wounded soldiers will never leave my memory. I continue to be amazed that we raised more than $100,000 in only 4 weeks from friends, family and strangers, which allowed us to purchase much needed supplies for our soldiers as well as those living in The South.
As tunnels were discovered, and the rockets mostly stopped and as summer turned into somewhat cooler days, Rosh Hashanah and the Fall Chageem were upon us. We voted in our first national elections which mercifully ended the non-stop election commercials and pundits on talk shows, claiming to know how each candidate could point our Nation in either a positive or negative direction. A new coalition government was formed with much controversy, leaving out any representation of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement here. Despite criticism from my fellow American Conservative Jews, the fact remains that until there is a wave of consistent American Conservative Aliyah, our Movement will never be adequately represented nor recognized. Numbers in the voting booth speak louder than speeches.
During these past 12 months my roots here have deepened, my skin has gotten a tad thicker, my driving has become more defensive, my Hebrew skills more improved. Unlike my husband who easily reads the daily Hebrew papers, I mostly understand the news as well as Israeli programming and marvel how this happened.
It pains me that tolerance for religious pluralism, sexual preferences and acceptance of our Ethiopian brothers and sisters is not yet realized. Extremism is a danger to our nation and must be addressed in a direct manner. The "Milky Crisis" seems to have passed now that there are these more important life and death issues.
Ties to family and friends outside of Israel has remained as strong as before 2 years ago. We have missed various life cycle events, happy and sad, but have celebrated and grieved with each through the internet. Now that we are connected with 3 American/Israeli Chayaleem Bodedeem (Lone Soldiers), we continue to learn about their IDF experiences and are thrilled to play even a small part in their lives.
As a former news junkie, this year I weaned myself off of the continual news feed of CNN and FOX News, knowing that the truth is somewhere in between. The Iran Deal looms large and its potential danger to Israel is not taken lightly, yet I'm relieved that it's not a part of daily conversation here – except for those same talk show pundits mentioned above. Israelis have had 67 years of worrying about "what's next" so I'm taking my cues from them and so far, sleeping well at night.
There's much I still don't understand about this start-up nation that sometimes is stuck in the last century or more. Finding meaningful employment is still a challenge for me yet I'm hopeful that through networking, schmoozing and job postings, that great position is just around the corner – please!
My blessings continue to multiply as our family continues to grow and flourish. Knowing that my 9 grandchildren will always speak Hebrew, as well as English, is part of my dream-come-true. I know that I've laughed much more than I've cried this year and hope this imbalance always continues. Walking on these holy streets, hand in hand with my loving husband of 42 years, completes our dream of truly coming Home.


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