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Posted: September 6, 2019 in books, creative writing, drama, Free Online Novel, free zombie books, Horror, horror fiction, living dead, monsters, mystery, novels, serial novels, Survival, suspense, thriller, walking dead, zombie books, Zombies
Tags: Book Five: Remains, Book Four: Phantoms, Book One: Southbound Nightmares, Book Six: Mother, Book Three: Recruits, Book Two: Almost Dead, Don't Feed The Dark, Love and Loss, Scott Scherr
Nicole is running beneath the moonless night.
The woods surround her like a thick cloak, shifting from shadow to substance. A trace of ambient light penetrates the forest canopy in intervals, momentarily revealing the tall pine tree forest before darkness swallows everything up again.
It is a mirror for the panic-filled young woman who is desperately trying to maintain… control.
She is blindly pushing through the immaterial brush, imagining that she is out of breath. Low, overhanging branches claw across her dirty face, attempting to snag her disheveled hair and torn clothing—all a futile delusion feeding that she is as real as her surroundings. She is attempting to flee from herself.
Nicole does not answer. She loses all sense of direction in the forest as the darkness closes around her like the hand of a familiar predator. She stops, struggling to maintain form. She is no longer wearing the torn hoody and jeans, but rather, the ripped and bloody tank top and shorts. Her left eye is gone.
"Stop it!" she cries out into the silent forest, shifting back into the dirty homeless image of Nicole as she to attempts to remain in the present.
YOU ARE A DAMN FOOL, the darkness reminds her. COME BACK… OR I WILL COME FORTH!
Nicole grabs the sides of her head and leans up against a tree, as if nature is actually supporting her.
The darkness laughs. The mocking tone is real.
I WILL HAVE THE MAGGOTS, the darkness assures her. I WILL HAVE THEM, AND YOU WILL NO LONGER INTERFERE!
"No!" she screams into the sky in a voice that is also imagined.
I HAVE TOLERATED THIS FICTION BECAUSE IT HAS AMMUSED ME. BUT YOU ARE AS MEANINGLESS AS THE MOMENTS YOUR ILLUSIONS HAVE ENDUCED IN THIS DISGUSTING WORLD FULL OF MAGGOTS. NEITHER YOU, NOR THEY, MATTER. ONLY THE DARKNESS MATTERS. AND IT… IS… HUNGRY!
"You are nothing!" Nicole declares. "I have found my place in this world. You… you attempt to stop me… because you can't abide in it! The light within it makes you weak… and afraid!"
The darkness scoffs.
YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A TOOL. I HAVE USED YOU TO MANUEVER THROUGH THIS REPULSIVE EXISTANCE BECAUSE IT PLEASES ME TO DO SO.
"That is a lie!" Nicole pushes back. "You are afraid! You have always been afraid!"
PATHETIC! YOU ARE MERELY A FINGER I LEFT EXPOSED IN THE LIGHT OF THIS WORLD TOO LONG. YOU SERVE A PURPOSE, NOTHING MORE. ONCE SEVERED, WHEN THAT PURPOSE IS COMPLETE, YOU… AND YOUR IDEAS OF THIS… LOVE… WILL ROT AWAY TO NOTHING WITH THE REST OF THIS INTOLERABLE WORLD.
"You have used me to hide your fear of this place… and to hide from Him!" Nicole fires back. "But it is I who have become more than just the 'part'! It is you who have become the finger! It is my love who keeps me in the light," the finger declares with confidence. "It is our love that held your hand at the edge of the darkness like a trapped and desperate animal trying to free itself from a single digit! But now, it is the opposite! I am becoming the 'whole' and it is you who desperately holds me back… with one finger still stubbornly stuck in the darkness. Shall I tug? Shall I pull the rest of you into the light and be done with you?"
DON'T YOU DARE! YOU WOULD… DESTROY US!
"Is that fear I hear in your voice? Perhaps that is the only thing left of you, Sylvia, that is real."
Before the darkness could protest further, Nicole retreats into her thoughts, toward the place she has found refuge from the monster's grasp.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP THAT! STOP IMMEDIATELY!
Nicole smiles as the memories resurface like a sunrise over a permanent night…
…She returns to when they first met on that desolate beach after her love almost drowned in the Grand River at Fairport Harbor.
He is in mourning… there is so much pain within him. The monster of guilt has slowly consumed him piece at a time. She is drawn by the pain, by the darkness which possesses him.
"Thank you, Nicole," Stephen declares to the sky. "Thank you for carrying me all this way." She watches his face change as the sunlight strikes it. The light is warm… inviting. But it is not the sunlight. Somehow, she feels something rising to the surface within this tortured soul. Something so incredibly powerful… and yet, gentle… defying the dark.
"I love you, Nicole," Stephen says, referring to a young dead woman's words which have somehow made her… alive.
It is… inspiring.
She watches as the dead exit the nearby woods and begin sniffing at the air.
Stephen closes his eyes. He is exhausted, and yet, his face is peaceful. He has the look of a man who is prepared to die, so as long as the moment which empowers him lasts.
The entity is moved so deeply by this display before the end. She reaches out to him, daring to expose herself in the light. "Stephen, you have to come with me now," she says.
It is apparent that he does not believe what he is hearing.
"STEPHEN!" she shouts.
He turns and sees her. She is Nicole, and not just the words of a dead girl… she is real.
She appears before him as the one he has made real from those pages in a diary. Her long brown hair flows down her bare shoulders in the wind. Her sky-blue strapless dress makes her look like a goddess in his eyes. He believes the woman is beautiful… she can feel it radiating from his gentle and bewildered eyes.
Before she is overwhelmed in the moment, and the dead overtake him, she says, "If you love me, Stephen, please… get up and come with me." She even holds out her hand toward him, although he cannot touch her.
"What?" He is afraid now; The darkness within him resists. "What?! No!"
Nicole frowns and says, "Please don't do this to me again. I can't let you lie here as those savages take you from me… not after all I've done… not after how far I've come to get you back!" At first, she plays the part… but then the part becomes so much more.
The dead have found him. They start toward Stephen on legs which are too slow to keep up with their intense hunger.
"You're not real," he says. "I'm… I'm making this happen somehow."
"Yes… yes… you're right," Nicole says in the moment. "But that's hardly important right now. Stephen! They've found you! GET UP!"
Stephen closes his eyes. "I've lost my mind. I'm insane… that's what this is."
Nicole looks past him at the shambling corpses who are closing the distance. She sits down beside him. "Look at me!"
Stephen opens his eyes.
"Alive, dead, in your head… doesn't matter right now, my love. What matters is that you come with me… now… or I'm going to stay right here and let those things get me, too."
Yes! She sincerely believes she will do it. What is this… love… that I would give so much? she wonders.
"No! You can't be here!" he says. "I can't watch you die again!"
She smiles and says, "Ditto."
She can see that he is awestruck by the young woman, whether she is real or not.
"We're out of time. Either I die here with you, or you choose to live another day… with me. We're doing this together, one way or the other."
Nicole can see it in his eyes! She can feel it! The warmth… the love which pours forth from this damaged soul that makes him come to life in her presence. They are both reborn in that moment. They have become infants, crawling into something entirely foreign to them both… but oh, so, beautiful.
It is enough. Stephen rises from the sand.
Love compels him to remain in the light before the dead send him into the dark… and it invites her to stay, should she choose to stop resisting it…
…ENOUGH! I ONCE FOUND YOUR CURIOUSITY TOWARD THIS MAGGOT ENTERTAINING AS WELL AS OPPORTUNISTIC. BUT IT HAS BECOME NAUSEATING! NOW, STOP WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING! DO YOU HEAR ME?
Nicole continues to pull Sylvia into the light of memory…
…She watches as Stephen paces around the bench in front of the Harpersfield school. He keeps looking toward the neighborhood houses anxiously, then stops and tries to relax. "Marcus has it all wrong," he says. "This place is heaven compared to where we've been and none of the others know how to process it. That's all."
He sits down on the bench, places the handgun on his lap and welcomes a cool autumn breeze.
"I love it, too, Stephen," she says, taking advantage of the moment to appear to him. "You can just feel a place like this making all the senses come alive at once."
Stephen looks up and follows the voice to the bench directly across from him.
"I was hoping you'd come," he tells her.
Nicole smiles generously at the comment. She is surprised by her own appearance—a reflection from her love's nostalgic thoughts on simpler times. She's wearing a long blue and white flowered sundress which hugs her every curve just right—not too revealing at the neckline, but just enough to allow the imagination to appreciate a chance to wonder. Her long brown hair is elegantly braided into one single ponytail which hangs casually over her right shoulder. She wears a long brimmed hat high atop her head which matches her dress perfectly. She feels elegant… almost regal. And the way he looks at her… makes her feel beautiful.
"This place suits you," he tells her. "You look lovely today."
"Why thank you, kind sir," she teases with a wink. "How have you been, my love?"
"You know more than anyone. Since I can't seem to stop whatever this is from happening, I guess that means I'm in real trouble."
"Does seeing me bother you that much?" she asks.
"No… no… it's not that. God, I wish you were really sitting there. It's just… well… madness."
"It's been said that love is like madness." She smiles. "Perhaps our love is so strong that nothing can sever the bond between us. Maybe I'm not a figment of your imagination. Maybe I simply come when you summon me in your heart. Have you ever thought of that?"
"It would be so wonderful if I could believe that."
"Give it a try sometime, my love. Believing is all that's required."
"I wish it were that easy."
"Let me put it another way," she says. "People love God but they've never even seen him. They can feel him speaking to their hearts and minds… but the rest is an act of faith. No one calls them crazy."
"But I see you and hear you when no one else can. What does that say about me?"
She smiles again. "It says that you love me. I don't care if anyone else sees us, my love. Why should you, especially when forced every day to believe what was once called impossible. When dead people are chasing you in the so-called real world, do you deny their existence? Is it such a stretch to believe that one dead girl would choose to love you from another world instead?"
Stephen laughs. "I don't know if it's really you thinking and expressing that or if it's my own twisted reasoning manifesting through you."
Nicole is genuinely hurt by the comment. This 'love' has made me vulnerable to a wide array of strange and wonderful emotions, she thinks. "Well, I guess you won't mind if I just leave then since you insist on killing me all over again."
"I'm sorry. Whether you're in my head or not, I shouldn't treat you that way. I guess your reaction is just my mind's way of owning up to the guilt."
"You're still doing it." She tosses her hands in the air. "How about you just pretend I'm real so we can have an enjoyable conversation that isn't all about you."
"Fair enough. When I last saw you, in the backseat of the Lincoln, you really scared the hell out of me. I… I've never seen you that way before."
Nicole frowns. "That was her fault. She makes me very… angry. I'm sorry if I frightened you and I'll try not to let it happen again."
Stephen quickly changes the subject. "If I could go back and change things, I think I'd start in a place like this."
She smiles. "Would you take me with you?"
"What about your wife and your job?"
"You mean the woman who never loved me and the job that became me? For you… for this… I'd walk away from all of it."
"I believe you really mean that, my love. It's so good to see you like this at last. I always knew you could be free."…
…Sylvia laughs. YOU HAVE CLEARLY BEEN IN THIS WORLD FOR TOO LONG. YOU ARE VEXED BY ERRATIC EMOTIONS AND TRIVIAL MATTERS. IT IS VERY SAD WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN NOW.
Nicole refuses to let the darkness distract her. "And yet, even you know 'sadness'. I wonder what other emotions you might allow inside if you did not deny your curiosity toward them.
THAT IS FOOLISHNESS. THIS 'LOVE' THAT YOUR MEMORIES HAVE LABELED 'POWERFUL' IS JUST AN ANNOYING LITTLE BOX THAT HOUSES ALL THESE PETTY THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS. IT IS YOU WHO ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE DISTRACTED.
Nicole forces the darkness away. She is thinking about the last time she saw her love alone. Right after exposing herself to what he calls his 'family', in the roadway outside of the inn…
…"Well, all things considered," he says, "I think that went rather well."
"They are afraid of me," Nicole says, still appearing before him in the dirty hoody. She places her hands in her pockets and looks down at the ground. "Nothing ever changes."
"I was once afraid," he reminds her.
She looks up at him and finds that precious, inviting smile. Nicole is immediately warm within.
"But over time, you helped me get past my fear… and that's what allowed me to… love you."
She is smiling from ear to ear. Do not elevate your hopes, she thinks. He speaks about before, when you convinced him to embrace the madness that he believed created you. Nicole sighs. "And what about now, Stephen? You know, in part, what I am… or, at least what I am not. You know enough to understand that I'm not a product of your damaged mind. And you know the awful things that I've done… and what I'm capable of. Where does that leave us… now?"
Stephen looks away and considers this. He turns back and says, "Much like your strange ability to shift shapes, you have transformed from madness to monster."
She nods. "And… and that is it, then? I'm the monster who has done monstrous things?"
Stephen laughs. "It should be that simple," he says. "But has there been anything about our… relationship… that's been simple?"
Nicole laughs. "No… I suppose not. We have overcome much together."
"And I am still indebted to you for saving me… from myself," he adds. "I wouldn't be here without you, Nicole. I have not forgotten that."
She looks away.
Stephen sighs and stares toward the moonless sky. "I have missed you so much," he admits.
She looks at him.
"There's just… I don't know… something missing, a deep, dark void in me when I can't feel your presence. Maybe Logan's right. Maybe you have bewitched me."
"So, I am both a monster… and a witch?" Nicole teases. "Clearly you overestimate my abilities."
"You know what I mean," he says. He turns and steps up close, as close as he can, and says. "Even now, I long to touch you, to hold you in my arms and tell you that we will get through whatever this is. But I can't."
Nicole is suddenly uncomfortable with how close he stands to her. She takes an unconscious step back. "Monster or madness, it always seems to come back to the physical between us."
"That's not at all what I meant," he clarifies. "It's this… longing… for you that I'm talking about. I want to be with you, and it goes beyond the need to touch you." He shakes his head and finishes, "I love you, Nicole. Monster, madness, witch… I don't care. None of that changes the way I feel for you."
Nicole is shocked.
Stephen turns. "But there's obviously so much you've kept from me. I understand, in part, but now that it's there… I feel like… I feel like I can't trust you."
"I see," she says, with regret. "You feel I've kept the truth from you to spare us… but now that the truth about me, is out…"
"I don't know, Nicole," he says. "I don't know if we can ever be… like we were. And that's the part that scares me."
She stares at her feet. "I understand. I've done more damage than I realize. What would you have me do? Just tell, and I'll do it."
"I forgive you," he abruptly says.
Nicole looks up, trembling. "You… forgive me?"
"Yes. That doesn't mean everything you've done is excusable… but… I believe you suffer for it. And I believe we've both suffered enough."
Nicole waits.
Stephen stares toward the inn. "I've listened to my friends talk about how dangerous you are. They've considered trying to confront you and understand the risks in doing so. But I also believe they don't want to do that, if it's avoidable."
"As do I," Nicole says. "I've done enough… damage."
"This might be another chance for us, Nicole," he says. "Maybe it's just me blindly hoping… maybe I want that second chance so bad that I'm oblivious to the danger they speak of."
Nicole doesn't know how to respond.
"I do know that I… still love you."
She is moved to tears. Nicole covers her mouth with her hands and stares into her love's eyes. "Just… tell me… tell me what I can do? I'll do anything… for us."
Stephen frowns and says, "I don't want to listen to my friends talk about hurting you to protect themselves. I fear for them… and I fear for you. I am so damn glad you found me out here… and at the same time… it makes me bitter. There is so much at stake now. So much more than just the two of us. Surely you've always known this."
Nicole nods exhaustedly. "Yes. I can't deny it any longer. That was why I always wanted to steal you away from all of it. I've always known what is coming."
"Then you know I can't run from it any longer. None of us can."
She nods. "Yes. I see that now. They may see me as 'dangerous'. But in truth, the woman you travel with is far more dangerous than I."
"Because Toby searches for her?"
"And he… terrifies you?"
"Yes. We all share that in common."
"And do you really believe confronting him is a lost cause?"
Nicole pauses for a moment and then says, "Yes. I believe that."
Stephen looks away and nods, shuffling his feet.
"But," she adds with a smile, "I've clearly been wrong before."
He smiles back. "I don't want you to leave."
"Yes," he says. "But I can't trust you to not be… reckless."
"I don't want to wake up one morning to discover another diary and read about all the horrible things you did, using my body."
She nods. "Yes, I appreciate your mistrust. I promise you. I will never do that to you again."
He smiles. "You also need to stop trying to talk me into leaving with you. I don't know what happens next, but I will see to Meredith's safety and keep her far from Toby's reach until we either turn and face that monster, or we simply run ourselves into a corner. I can't be that man who selfishly turns his back on what's left of our world, not while this threat looms over everything, just to preserve whatever you and I can have for as long as possible. I can't… and I won't."
Nicole stares for a long time before speaking. "Even if it means your death?"
"Yes. Even if it means death."
She nods. "This is the second time I have seen you prepared to die."
He waits.
"I was prepared to die with you on that beach when I first appeared to you. Remember?"
Stephen smiles. "Yes."
"I don't know that I could have… but the thought of doing so, as strange as it was to consider, moved me in ways I can't explain. I just couldn't let you die on that beach… alone."
He smiles.
She nods with a laugh, staring up toward the dark sky. "Maybe that was a sign back then of things to come. Maybe that was what I was always meant to do… for you… if need be. Maybe it's taken all this time to finally see just how much love, when it's real, may require."
She looks at him. "Maybe it doesn't matter that we can't defeat Toby. Maybe it only matters that I wait with you again, just like when I sat down beside you on that beach while the dead approached, and sacrifice myself… so that my love will not die alone."
Stephen laughs. "Well, let's just hope it doesn't come down to that."
"But I would," she says with confidence. "I want you to know that."
He stares into her eyes for what feels like an eternity. "Please stay. Help us, however you can. And when it's all over… I'll gladly leave with you."
Nicole is stunned. "You mean-"
"I mean, just you and I, Nicole. We'll go live that life together. Find some cabin or whatever and spend the rest of our days loving each other as best we can."
"But… what about your family?"
He shakes his head. "I believe Meredith, Logan and Megan would accept us… but I can't speak for anyone else we might find afterwards when what's left of us try to rebuild. I don't want to put you through that. If we eventually… win… I think we deserve whatever we can get from what's left… together."
Tears stream down Nicole's cheeks. She nods. "Okay. I will… I will help you."
Stephen is relieved. He is also moved to tears as he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. "That is… that is great news." He is smiling.
She smiles back.
Nicole stumbles back a step.
"I'm… I'm fine," she lies. "I just got a little dizzy-"
I… SAID… NO!
"You don't look okay," Stephen says.
Nicole is sweating. She places a hand on her forehead. She is having a difficult time maintaining form as she begins to shimmer.
"What's happening?" Stephen is concerned.
"It's okay," she says. "I'm just… exhausted. I need time to rest. I'm afraid our meeting at the inn has taken a toll on me. A little time to rest and process everything we've talked about… and I'll be okay. Can I meet you back here later?"
"Sure," he says wearily. "You are coming back, right?"
"Absolutely. I just need… I'll be back in a few hours."
Before Stephen can say anything else, Nicole walks across the street and into the darkness. She refuses to look back at Stephen. She can't risk it. Please… just don't follow me, she thinks. Not now.
She was caught off guard by the sudden resistance within her the moment she agreed to join Stephen's cause. The darkness has not pushed back with such force in a very long time…
…WELCOME BACK, MAGGOT LOVER.
Nicole is staring at the front of the inn from directly across the street at the edge of the dark. Alarmed, she says, "Why are we here?"
WHILE YOU WERE DISTRACTED, I BROUGHT US BACK… TO FINISH WHAT YOU'VE FAILED TO DO.
Stephen is alone on the front porch, leaning back in a rocking chair.
He has fallen asleep.
"No! Turn around! I won't do this! You can't make me do this!"
The darkness laughs. WHILE YOU'VE SPENT A GREAT MANY DAYS PREOCCUPIED BY YOUR OBSESSION WITH THIS PATHETIC CREATURE, I'VE BEEN BUSY PIECING TOGETHER MY OWN AGENDA. BUT THANKS TO YOU, STANDING IN SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THOSE WORTHLESS FOOLS, WHILE YOU DISTRACTED THEM WITH YOUR POINTLESS WORDS, I HAVE GATHERED EVERYTHING I NEED FOR WHAT I WILL PERFORM NOW.
"I promised! I told him I wouldn't-"
YOU STILL SEEM TO THINK THAT YOU'RE THE ONE IN CONTROL. WELL… WE SHALL SOON FIND OUT… LITTLE FINGER. NOW, BE STILL. YOU MAY BE PLESEANTLY SURPRISED BY THE OUTCOME AND COME TO APPRECIATE YOUR POSITION, FINALLY LEARNING YOUR PLACE.
The darkness moves across the roadway toward the inn.
Nicole is powerless to stop it.
"Chapter 53-6: Love and Loss" Copyright © 2019 Scott Scherr, from the novel, Don't Feed The Dark, Book Six: Mother. All Rights Reserved.
Weekly Reminder to Vote for Don't Feed The Dark


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Sec. Kerry's difficult defense of 2001 AUMF application to ISIL–and Senators' Disbelief
Wednesday's Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (SCFR) hearing on ISIL presented an opportunity for the administration to defend its theory that the use of force against ISIL is covered by Congress' 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). It didn't go well.
A key exchange occurred between the Chair of the Committee Sen. Menendez and Secretary Kerry, followed by comments from Ranking Member Sen. Corker (video clip below and transcript below).
First, Secretary Kerry strangely emphasized that the 2001 AUMF applies to "associated forces" (see 2:08 in the video clip). But that is not the administration's argument. As Marty Lederman (Just Security post) and Steve Vladeck (Lawfare post) have explained, the administration's legal position is that ISIL is not an associated force, but is instead Al Qaeda itself (one of two splinter groups or a "successor model"). It would be a fool's errand to try to claim ISIL is an associated force given the major breakup between AQ and ISIL. Indeed, Sen. Menendez interjected: "al-Qaida threw out ISIL." Moreover, AQ's affiliate in Syria and ISIL, it would be fair to say, have been engaged in an armed conflict against one another.
Second, by the time Secretary Kerry started to present a "successor"-type analysis, he seemed to have lost his audience. The Chair began by referring first to the 2001 AUMF and reminding Mr. Kerry that administration officials had recently testified before the committee that the 2002 AUMF should be repealed. Sen. Menendez then asked a pointed question: "How is it that the administration now thinks it can rely upon that for legal authority?" Secretary Kerry replied, "Mr. Chairman, how is it? It is because (pause) good lawyers within the White House, within the State Department, who have examined this extremely closely, have come to the conclusion across the board…" And then he began reading directly from the text of the 2001 AUMF.
Better to have led with a substantive argument and stated a rationale (and answer the part of the question about the 2002 AUMF). Sec. Kerry's response also raises other questions. The administration lawyers came to the same conclusion "across the board"? That's remarkable given that lawyers outside the government, including those who have previously served in the administration don't exactly buy it. Also, did Mr. Kerry mean to refer just to the White House and the State Department? What about the Justice Department and the Office of Legal Counsel? Was excluding the DOJ a purposeful omission? [It should be noted that Sen. Boxer remarked in defense of Mr. Kerry's position: "I voted for the one in'01, and I've re-read it about six times. Mr. Secretary, the lawyers I've consulted with believe that you have the authority to go after ISIL. It's very clear. You read the parts. If people listened to you, you read the parts that are correct."]
Regardless, Sen. Menendez expressed his incredulity: "I appreciate your ability as a former prosecutor and a gifted attorney to try to make the case. I will tell you that at least from the chair's perspective, you're going to need a new AUMF." Sen. Corker added: "I'm disappointed that you as secretary of state, after being chairman of this committee, after espousing the views that you have espoused in the past out of convenience and parsing legal words would make the statement you just made." That said, Sen. Corker may have also been referring in part to Mr. Kerry's third difficult moment.
Third, Secretary Kerry almost implored Congress to take the lead on drafting an AUMF—a role you might expect the White House to perform. He said, "but we know you are thinking about retooling the AUMF. And we welcome — we would like Congress — please do this" (if you listen to the clip, you'll see the emphasis is in the original). Yet at the same time he stated baldly that the President doesn't need the Congress to act either. During the afternoon's session, that line—we welcome your input, but we'll act the same with or without it—did not sit well with the Senators (see statements by Senators Corker, Flake, Menendez, and Shaheen). Sen. Corker reserved his harshest words for that part of the administration's position saying it was "exercising the worst judgment possible."
Lets' be fair to Secretary Kerry. He was stuck with a weak case overall. And the Senators may have given this particular messenger a harder time—having to listen to the Executive Branch's position from the former Chair of their own committee.
A transcript of the exchange follows.
SEN. MENENDEZ: I don't — I don't dispute that you've had in the short term an impact to stem their advances, at least within the region that they're in. My question, though, is — and no one reasonably can come from the administration and suggest that the ultimate goal, which is taking out this network, is not going to be a multi-year effort.
SEC. KERRY: It's a multi-year effort. The president has already said that.
SEN. MENENDEZ: OK. With that as a reality, then let me turn to the AUMF. How is it that the administration believes that — and I support its efforts, but how is it that the administration believes that the 9/11 AUMF or the Iraq AUMF provide the authorization to move forward whether the Congress decides to or not?
You know, it was not too long ago that members of the administration appeared before the committee. And when I asked them — I was headed towards repealing the Iraq AUMF, and there was administration witnesses who believed that it should be repealed on behalf of the administration. How is it that the administration now thinks it can rely upon that for legal authority?
SEC. KERRY: Mr. Chairman, how is it? It is because good lawyers within the White House, within the State Department, who have examined this extremely closely, have come to the conclusion across the board that the 2001 AUMF, which says all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons responsible for 9/11; those who harbored such organizations or persons; to prevent future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such persons or organizations — includes al-Qaida. It's always been interpreted as including al-Qaida. And al-Qaida and —
SEN. MENENDEZ: Well, al-Qaida threw out ISIL (inaudible).
SEC. KERRY: But al-Qaida and associated forces — that is the language: al-Qaida and associated forces.
Now, al-Qaida — ISIL began as al-Qaida in 2005 in Iraq, 2004. ISIL was al-Qaida in Iraq. And it only became this thing called ISIL a year ago. And it only became that out of convenience to separate themselves in an internal fight but not because their thinking changed, not because their targets changed, not because their actions changed. They are the same people doing — the same people that we were prepared to and were attacking for all of those years. And a mere publicity stunt to separate yourself and call yourself something else does not get you out from under the force of the United States law that is targeting you.
SEN. MENENDEZ: I appreciate your ability as a former prosecutor and a gifted attorney to try to make the case. I will tell you that at least from the chair's perspective, you're going to need a new AUMF, and it will have to be more tailored, because I don't want to be part of 13 years later and multitude of countries that have been used in this regard for that to be the authority.
And I think our goals are the same. I think we need to get to a different set of authorities. And I look forward to working with my colleagues —
SEC. KERRY: Not only are our goals the same, Mr. Chairman, but we know you are thinking about retooling the AUMF. And we welcome — we would like Congress — please do this. We want that to happen. We're not going to make our actions dependant on it happening, but we will work with you as closely as we can and should in order to tailor an AUMF going forward. And we look forward to that opportunity.
SEN. MENENDEZ: Senator Corker.
SEN. CORKER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I just want to say, as I've said to you personally, we have three senators — president, vice president, secretary of state — that are exercising terrible judgment right now. And to say that you're going to do this regardless of what we say, you're not going to ask for buy-in by the United States Senate or House of Representatives on behalf of the American people in a conflict that you say is going to be multi-year, some people say a decade, taking us into another country with a different enemy is exercising the worst judgment possible.
And so I've said this to you as strongly as I can personally. That's in essence what you're saying to the chairman right now. Saying if Congress wants to play a constructive role we would welcome that to me is a political game. And I'm disappointed that you as secretary of state, after being chairman of this committee, after espousing the views that you have espoused in the past out of convenience and parsing legal words would make the statement you just made.
AUMF,
Iraq,
ISIL,
Ryan Goodman
Co-Editor-in-Chief of Just Security, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, former Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2015-2016). Follow him on Twitter (@rgoodlaw).
January 14, 2020 by Ryan Goodman
January 13, 2020 by Rita Siemion and Benjamin Haas
January 10, 2020 by Adil Ahmad Haque
January 9, 2020 by Ryan Goodman and Steve Vladeck
Mark Esper vs. Mark Esper on the 2002 AUMF and Iran
January 8, 2020 by Ryan Goodman
January 8, 2020 by Agnes Callamard
CVE's Relevance and Challenges: Central Asia as Surprising Snapshot
January 7, 2020 by Eric Rosand
January 6, 2020 by Luke Hartig
Civilian Casualties: A Case for U.S. Condolence Payments in Syria
January 6, 2020 by Andrea Prasow
January 6, 2020 by Tess Bridgeman
January 5, 2020 by Crispin Smith
January 3, 2020 by Brian Egan and Tess Bridgeman

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Trending NowDonald Trump Mike Pompeo Joe Biden Congress Migrant Caravan Hannity Hillary Clinton Israel Inauguration Melania Trump impeachment charging pad
ECONOMICS 101: AOC Says Green New Deal 'Non-Binding Resolution of Values,' Will 'Cost Us $0 if Passed'
Controversial Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez left some users on social media stunned Thursday afternoon; bizarrely labeling her 'Green New Deal' a "non-binding resolution of values" that will cost the country "$0."
"If only there were some public fund billionaires could pay into along with everyone else that helps fund our infrastructure, hospitals, and public systems all at once. It could even be a modest % of what they earn every year. We could have an agency collect it and everything," posted AOC on social media.
If only there were some public fund billionaires could pay into along with everyone else that helps fund our infrastructure, hospitals, and public systems all at once.
It could even be a modest % of what they earn every year. We could have an agency collect it and everything https://t.co/g0vI45xnYG
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 13, 2020
Hey there! Totally get it if you've never bothered to read the legislation you're commenting so authoritatively on.
The Green New Deal is a non-binding resolution of values. It does not have a price tag or CBO score and costs us $0 if passed.
Read:https://t.co/6qsvSW0Ilb
"Hey there! Totally get it if you've never bothered to read the legislation you're commenting so authoritatively on. The Green New Deal is a non-binding resolution of values. It does not have a price tag or CBO score and costs us $0 if passed," she added.
AOC on VIRUS: Disease Exposing American 'Inequities' That Are 'Brushed Under the Rug'
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continued to call for massive, structural change as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic Monday morning; saying the disease is exposing "inequities that we've been trying to brush under the rug."
"What we're really seeing is just this crisis really putting so much weight and expanding and really blowing up a lot of the inequities that we've been trying to brush under the rug for a very long time," said AOC on social media.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "What we're really seeing is just this crisis really putting so much weight and expanding and really blowing up a lot of the inequities that we've been trying to brush under the rug for a very long time." pic.twitter.com/Wsz3RD7HRT
— The Hill (@thehill) May 4, 2020
Ocasio-Cortez bizarrely called-out "home-owners" on social media Wednesday; saying Coronavirus relief efforts should not "squeeze" people can't afford to own land.
"It makes no sense that we are squeezing people that already cannot afford to purchase their own home for more money than a person who already owns land and is a land-owning member or a home-owning member of our economy," said a video posted by the Congresswoman on Twitter.
Rep. @AOC: "It makes no sense that we are squeezing people that already cannot afford to purchase their own home for more money than a person who already owns land and is a land-owning member or a home-owning member of our economy." pic.twitter.com/VbKXzgN2nL
— The Hill (@thehill) April 29, 2020
Watch AOC's video above.
AOC on VIRUS: Senate's Bipartisan Coronavirus Relief Bill 'Shameful!'… Nothing but 'Crumbs'
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doubled-down on her fierce opposition to the Senate's bipartisan Coronavirus relief package Friday; calling the legislation "shameful" and "crumbs" for American families.
"Our community's reality is this country's future if we don't do anything. Hospital workers do not have protective equipment. We don't have the necessary ventilators. We have to go into this vote eyes wide open," said Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on the House Floor.
.@RepAOC @AOC: "Our community's reality is this country's future if we don't do anything. Hospital workers do not have protective equipment. We don't have the necessary ventilators. We have to go into this vote eyes wide open…" pic.twitter.com/PaFGc9ncKM
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 27, 2020
"Shameful! The greed of that fight is wrong, for crumbs for our families, and the option that we have is to let them suffer with nothing or to allow this greed and billions of dollars which will be leveraged into trillions of dollars!" she screamed.
Watch Rep. Ocasio-Cortez' comments above.
SAY WHAT? Another Biden Town Hall Goes Off the Rails, Stumbles Through Coronavirus Response


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60,000 Scots face poverty as result of Universal credit cuts, ministers warn
A new report from the Scottish Government has revealed the full impact of the planned withdrawal of emergency benefit measures, brought in by the UK Government to support people through the pandemic.
Social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville
Scottish Government analysis shows that if the UK Government takes away the £20-a-week increase in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits, and reinstates the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) for the self-employed, as planned in April 2021, Scottish households will lose up to £476 million.
The MIF is a base amount used to calculate how much Universal Credit should be awarded to self-employed people. Anyone earning below the MIF is treated as though they earn that amount, while those earning more have their actual earnings taken into account. When the UK Government removed the MIF, everyone who was self-employed received benefits based on their actual earnings.
Social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the move will see more than 60,000 people in Scotland, including 20,000 children, plunged into poverty.
Ms Somerville added: "We are very concerned about the economic impact of the pandemic on people, particularly those on low incomes. This report highlights that if these cuts go ahead, hundreds of thousands of households in Scotland will see their incomes drop by more than £1,000 per year. This could push even more people into poverty.
"Last year the Scottish Government invested nearly £2 billion to support low income households and to tackle poverty. We have also introduced the new Scottish Child Payment to tackle child poverty head on.
"The UK Government must match our ambition and support people in need. They can start by using next week's spending review to confirm that they will keep the £20 uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits and give people the certainty they need, not wait until April 2021 when people will face a cliff edge."
Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, said: "Increasing Universal Credit payments was the right thing to do when the pandemic first struck. It has been a vital lifeline for hundreds of thousands, and it's right that this support remains in place.
"More people will be swept into even deeper poverty if the £20 uplift is cut. Lone parents will be particularly hard hit, but the impact will be felt by all groups which need this vital support.
"We would urge the UK Government to act on this important evidence, to keep households afloat by retaining this lifeline."
Scheduling the withdrawal of the £20 uplift and the reinstatement of the Minimum Income Floor to April 2021 will coincide with the Job Support Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme coming to an end.
The social security secretary has joined ministers from Wales and Northern Ireland in writing to the secretary of state for work and pensions Therese Coffey, asking that they work together to ensure those who are entitled to financial support are receiving it – and to call for the £20 uplift on Universal Credit to be made permanent and extended to other benefits which will eventually be replaced by Universal Credit.
Tags: Universal Credit, welfare
Aberdeen's post-war multi-storey flats listed by Historic Environment Scotland High housing costs a concern for one in four people in 2021, Shelter Scotland finds Highland Council announces fuel support fund for low income households


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Home / Football / FIFA warns All India Football Federation against third-party interference
FIFA warns All India Football Federation against third-party interference
FIFA has warned the All India Football Federation that it is against any sort of third party interference after the Delhi High Court set aside the elections which made Praful Patel AIFF president for the third time.
football Updated: Nov 04, 2017 11:35 IST
HT Correspondent
Hindustan Times, New Delhi
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, with All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel at a FIFA U-17 World Cup event.(AP)
World football governing body FIFA has warned the All India Football Federation (AIFF) that they are 'obliged' to conduct their affairs without third party interference.
FIFA sent a letter to the AIFF on Friday asking for more details vis-à-vis the Delhi High Court decision to set aside the election of Praful Patel-led office-bearers of the AIFF, held on December 20, 2016.
READ | AIFF administrator SY Qureshi vows to hold elections at the earliest
The Delhi High Court had further observed on October 31 that fresh elections be held within five months as AIFF had violated the Sports Code. The court also nominated former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi to take charge of the affairs of the country's football body for the time being.
"We can confirm that FIFA has today sent a letter to the AIFF requesting more information about Delhi's High Court decision as well as the steps that AIFF intends to undertake in this matter," said a FIFA spokesperson.
"FIFA has also reminded the AIFF that in accordance with art. 14 par. 1 Iet. i) and art' 19 of the FIFA Statutes all member associations, including the AIFF, are obliged to manage their affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties."
READ | 'Election fixing' returns to haunt Praful Patel's All India Football Federation
AIFF received a copy of the order and are expected to decide on their future course of action early next week in consultation with their lawyers.
If the AIFF does not set its house in order, India could face sanctions from FIFA like Pakistan, Kuwait and Guatemala, who were suspended for third party interference.
Patel first became acting president of the AIFF for a one-year term after former president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi suffered a cardiac arrest in 2008. However, in October 2009, he became the full-time president and was re-elected in December 2012.
READ | AIFF to wait for detailed judgement on president elections before mulling action
Last year, he was again elected unanimously for a third term while Kushal Das was appointed as the general secretary. Then, Das had said that the elections were held as per the spirit of the Sports Code and the guidelines related to age and tenure had been complied with.
India recently hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup from October 6-28. England thrashed Spain 5-2 in final to win their maiden title.
Hernandez joins MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy
'Manchester United must sack Woodward for transfer market shortcomings'
Mohun Bagan beat East Bengal 2-1, stay atop I-League
Lewandowski strikes again as Bayern go second in Bundesliga
https://www.hindustantimes.com/football/fifa-warns-aiff-against-third-party-interference/story-GICrwDyMIhkw8Z1Zr76x5O.html
https://www.hindustantimes.com/football/newcastle-and-arsenal-grab-draws-villa-win-on-crazy-night/story-hf38d08dx2sfEiHJHr93bM.html
https://www.hindustantimes.com/football/javier-hernandez-joins-mls-side-los-angeles-galaxy/story-JJotEEBSDnmK95qqNMSQyK.html
https://www.hindustantimes.com/football/jose-mourinho-involved-in-row-with-danny-rose-at-training-ground-tottenham-boss-gives-clear-answer/story-ZJstWwkX1VB6l5S613QodP.html
Mourinho involved in a row with Rose? Spurs boss gives clear answer
https://www.hindustantimes.com/football/i-league-east-bengal-coach-alejandro-menendez-steps-down/story-5QLKYsQOxDADhwMWoHKWhO.html
I-League: East Bengal coach Alejandro Menendez steps down


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Mark Hamill, Weird Al Rock The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
Posted by James Zahn | Jan 4, 2019 | Coming Soon, News, Retro Pop!, Series | 0
Next week, Amazon will debut Season 1, Part 2 of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. The three-arc, thirteen-episode season features special voice guests including Star Wars' Mark Hamill, Mario Lopez, Weird Al Yankovic, and Lil Rel Howery (Bird Box, Get Out).
The new season gets off to a rockin' start as Rocky and Bullwinkle find viral fame as rock stars in the "Almost Famoose" arc; followed by a treasure-hunting adventure in "The Legends of the Power Gems" arc; and the season-ending "Amazamoose and Squirrel Wonder!" See the new trailer below.
In the latest reimagining of the classic duo, Rocky and Bullwinkle are still pursued by devious spies, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. Produced for DreamWorks Animation Television, the series was recently nominated for three Annie Awards—two for Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production and one for Production Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production.
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle Season 1, Part 2 will stream on Amazon Prime Video beginning Jan. 11.
PreviousDreamWorks Drops New Trailer for Trolls: The Beat Goes On!
NextNew Posters Reveal the Characters of Disney's Live-Action Dumbo
James Zahn
James Zahn is senior editor of The Pop Insider, The Toy Book, The Toy Insider and editor of The Toy Report. Best-known as THE ROCK FATHER™, Zahn is an Illinois-based writer, media personality, commentator, director, actor, adventurer, raconteur and overall pop culture and toy enthusiast. James and/or his work have been featured in/on CNN, Fox Business, NBC, ABC, G4, The Chicago Tribune, PopSugar, Fangoria, Starlog & more. Follow James on Twitter @TheRockFather.
A New LEGO The Incredibles Game Is Coming in June


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In the World – Not of the World
By Mike Mazzalongo Topic: Personal Spiritual Growth Verse: I Corinthians 5:9-13 Posted: Sun. Nov 5th 2017
In this sermon, Mike tackles one of the Christian's greatest challenges - how can Christians who live and engage in the human experience avoid becoming worldly?
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9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
- I Corinthians 5:9-11
One of the greatest dilemmas faced by every Christian and one that probably causes the most stress in a Christian's life is the problem of living a holy and a pure life in a world that is unholy and impure. The problem, as Dave Knutson, a Bible professor at Great Lakes Bible College says, is the following:
Surrounded by the world, living in the world and participating fully in the human experience, how can we avoid becoming worldly?
The answer to this problem is provided by Paul the Apostle in his epistle to the Corinthians (5:9-13).
Confrontation of Wickedness
Paul was writing to a church located in a very immoral and worldly city. The city of Corinth, located in Greece, was filled with idolatry and sexual immorality. For example, to 'Corinthianize' something meant to pollute it or to debase it. So Paul deals with the very real problem of Christians trying to live holy lives surrounded by an unholy and wicked environment. His answer to this dilemma is that those who desire to live a holy life have to actually confront the wickedness and the worldliness around them. In other words, Paul would be saying in today's jargon, the best defense is offense.
In biblical terms there are three ways to confront and thus separate ourselves from the world and its immorality and evil, its disbelief and wickedness, or whatever you want to call it.
1. Confront the World in Judgment
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13a But those who are outside, God judges.
- I Corinthians 512-13a
We sometimes think that this is some kind of passive stance that Paul is proposing here. We think that he is advocating that we should ignore the world's evil and injustice and create some kind of "Fortress Church of Christ." We think that the world can do what it does and so long as we're safely locked into our comfortable religious routines, we're safe or we've done all we need to do. After all, we're not of the world, God will judge them later - all we need to do is carry on with our brotherhood concerns and God will work it out in the end.
This kind of attitude is why we have so little impact on the world at large; this is why we (in the Churches of Christ) have not produced a single voice since Alexander Campbell, who has had credibility on a national stage (let alone a world stage) of opinion. This is why every other religious group around us continues to expand and grow, while we dwindle, because we do not recognize the fact that part of not being of the world includes a denunciation of that world in no uncertain terms.
When Paul says, "God will judge" or "what do I have to do with judging outsiders." He's not abandoning his duty to call on men to receive Christ or be lost. He's not forsaking his call to preach against the "rulers and the powers and the world forces of this darkness" which have their root in the spiritual realm, but they're very concrete expression in the physical world. He's not backing away from calling on kings to repent and pagans to abandon their idols.
He's acknowledging the fact that his task is not to judge the world, his task is to warn the world that it will be judged by God. In the last 50 years or so we've retreated so far into ourselves for fear of offending or seeming intolerant or judgmental, that we've tolerated just about anything without comment or complaint.
In Canada and the United States it's easy to avoid exposing the injustice and the immorality and the ungodliness of the world, because we ourselves as Christians are rich. Great wealth seduces the church into ignoring the corruption around it because we secretly crave our place at the table.
The danger is that if we don't speak up to reveal the judgment of God when this is an unpopular message during a time of prosperity, we will have no credibility to preach the same message at another time, when because of national calamity and trouble, people will be more disposed to hearing it.
The first step in not being of the world that we live in, is to act as its conscience. Just as our conscience is in our bodies, but not of our bodies at times. As Paul says in Romans 2:15, "the conscience bearing witness accusing or defending." Bearing witness to the world that God will judge it through Christ is the act that continually separates us from the world, while we live in the world.
Confronting the world by exposing it's sure judgment:
Through our public preaching and teaching
Through our holy conduct
Through our faithful service
Through our loving attitude
Through our warning of the consequences of sin and disbelief
This will not only identify who we are in the world, it will also inoculate us against the world.
A second way to confront the world is to confront the world.
2. Confront the World in the Church
Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
- I Corinthians 5:13b
We talk a lot about sin in the world, but not about sin in the church and we do even less about it. Note that in this passage Paul was clearly encouraging these brethren in Corinth to take action against worldliness inside the church. There are many such admonitions in the New Testament. For example,
Matthew 18:15-ff is the most familiar one in dealing with a one on one issue of sinfulness and personal offenses.
In Romans 16:17 Paul instructs the church to expose and turn away from those who cause division and roadblocks to faith.
I Corinthians 5:1-8 are Paul's instructions on dealing with sexually immoral conduct in the church at Corinth.
Galatians 6:1 provides instructions on the process of restoring a fallen brother to spiritual health and well being.
II Thessalonians 3:6 there is the command to withdraw from those who are disobedient to the teachings of Christ and to admonish such people.
I Timothy 5:1-20 provides Timothy with instructions on how to deal with unruly members of all ages, including elders.
In Titus 3:10, Paul advises Titus to deal sharply with false teachers.
Even the Apostle John provides a warning to members of the church in protecting themselves and their households from heretics in II John 10.
Why have I gone to the trouble to make reference to all of these scriptures? In order to drive home two important points:
A. The New Testament recognizes that there are all kinds of situations that require discipline in the church. This includes personal conflicts, immoral behavior, false teaching, divisiveness, personal faithlessness, and the list goes on and on. Not every solution and every response is the same. For example, the way to deal with a false teacher is different than the way to deal with a brother who has personally offended you. But there are times when discipline is needed and the Bible provides instruction for each different situations. The key is to identify the true and correct problem and use the proper New Testament teaching to apply discipline.
B. Once you've identified the need for discipline, you must do it! A child will be spoiled without proper discipline and so will a church. As a parent, a large portion of my parenting duty involved the meeting out of discipline that was fair and loving. It gets tiring at times. You wish they would just grow up. You might be tempted to slack off on the youngest child, but good parents are active in discipline, because they love their children, all of them. Why hasn't this concept been transferred over into the church?
The responsibility for this lack of discipline may lie with two groups in the church at large. The preachers who may fail to preach and carefully teach on this subject; and the other times it may be elders, who are afraid of disturbing the status quo in the local congregation.
If we cannot define our "other-worldliness" by our conduct in the church, what witness do we have for those who are in the darkness without Christ? If we cannot even denounce and correct those who have confessed Jesus, but they live outside of Christ, what possible use are we to God in announcing His judgement about the world? Our only defense against the world gaining a foothold within the church is to vigorously confront it at every turn. It's a painful and difficult process, but it is also the manner in which the spirit continually purifies the bride of Christ.
And then a final way to confront the world...
3. Confront it in Yourself
Paul does not talk about this in this particular passage, but the idea runs throughout the book. The title for this lesson is quite in line with the true experience of each Christian. Yes, we live in this world and we have to deal with all of the issues of normal living that others face, others without Christ. We have to earn a living, we have babies, we amass goods, we enjoy pleasure, we also feel the pain of burying our loved ones. These things are the substance of our outer experience in this world, but the experience of our "inner man," this is very different, very much not of the world.
Paul talks about this unique Christian experience, which is not of this world, in Romans 7, where he actually explains what he only alludes to in I Corinthians. In Romans 7, Paul gives us a glimpse into the daily battle that rages within himself, as he pursues the perfection of Christ while still trapped in the imperfect body of his flesh. He gives us a kind of microcosmic view of the constant struggle to maintain the spiritual, while still firmly held in the material world.
Some have entitled chapter seven of Romans, "Saved Yet Struggling." Yes, we are saved. Yes, we are no longer judged by the system of law, but we are still subject to the effects of the sin that lingers in our flesh. Yes, Christ is Lord. And yes, the Holy Spirit leads us in our walk, but the problem is that this regenerated spirit still lives within a sinful nature. Sin no longer dominates, but it continually challenges the supremacy of the Spirit of Christ within us. Yes, we are not of the world, but the world still affects us, because we are in it still for a time.
The answer to this dilemma is threefold.
A. Recognize that the struggle is normal and ongoing for every Christian. Do not be discouraged that there is sin around you and at times it affects you and it tempts you. Satan's most useful weapon is discouragement and seeing the enormity of the world and the smallness of our personal strength can lead some people to be discouraged and to quit.
B. Confront personal sin without hesitation. Paul says that it is a struggle because there's an effort involved. The constant challenge of Satan to dominate and to overwhelm us must be met with the equally constant faith and reliance on Jesus Christ who saves us every single day, while we struggle in this world. Salvation was paid for long ago on the cross of Calvary, but it is renewed every single day through our constant faith in Jesus Christ.
C. Accept the fact that we really are in this world. The struggle to confront the world in ourselves is sometimes painful, but it's easier to deal with once we understand and accept it for what it really is. The place for personal and community sinlessness is heaven, but we're not there yet, we are still in this world and this is not always easy for a spiritual person to deal with.
There's a saying that goes something like this: "when you have found your place in the world, it may simply mean that the world has found its place in you." Confronting the world in judgment, confronting it when it crops up in the church, confronting it when it aspires to dominate your spirit personally, this is the aggressive posture needed to remain separate from the world while we live and breathe in it.
So as I close I want to remind us as we struggle with this duality of experience, this in the world, not of the world challenge, that we're not only talking about, but we actually live out each day. Some practical things that may help.
1. Remember that this is every Christian's struggle.
Don't think Paul was unique when he cried out, "Wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death," in Romans 7:14. What he describes and agonizes over is the struggle of every Christian as we strive to serve Christ in the midst of a sinful world and with the burden of a weakened flesh. This is not an excuse for lukewarmness, but it does help us to understand why even knowing and wanting to do our very best for Christ does not always guarantee the results that we desire.
2. Remember that the struggle is really a sign of spiritual life.
Don't be discouraged if what you see in Christ is not always what you accomplish in the world. The fact that you see that there is a difference, that you desire to be separate from the world, the fact that for you there is a tension between the two, this is proof that Christ is in you and leads you and not the world. The unregenerate person, whether he is an unbeliever or he claims some affiliation with Christ, the unregenerate person is always easy to spot because he has no struggle, he has found a way to be comfortable in this world.
3. Always remember that God will provide.
Paul knew that God did and would provide for his daily struggle through Jesus Christ. He says so in Romans 7:25 when he answers his own question about who will save him from his dilemma. And what does he say? "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Paul had hope because through Christ he had help and encouragement to deal with the struggle in his life, so he could aspire to the next life. Jesus Christ judges the world, purifies the church and guarantees that one day our struggle will be over.
So be happy therefore brethren, rejoice in the constant battle against the world, because it is your witness to this world and to the world to come that you do belong to Christ, you do belong to His kingdom forever more, amen.
In this session, Mike examines the basic attitude and habits all Christians must have in order to grow spiritually.
This sermon looks at the qualities of character that are appealing in the opposite sex from a Christian perspective.
Solomon lays out 7 easy to understand principles that promote success in any area of one's life here on earth.	(Ecc. 11:1-10)
The lesson review the 4 ingredients necessary to create a life (aroma) that is pleasing to God.	(Ephesians 5:1-33)
This lesson compares Job's response to death and dying with the famous five stage response originally stated by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.	(Job 1:1-ff)
In this sermon, we examine the portrait of an ideal woman designed by God and revealed some 3,000 years ago in Solomon's book of Proverbs.	(Proverbs 31:10-31)
The final lesson in the Grace for Beginners series examines the very real changes that the grace of God produces in our every day lives.
God tells us that Satan is actively trying to ruin us. In this lesson, Mike reveals the many tactics Satan uses to destroy God's church.
One of the overlooked factors that contribute to the mindless gun violence we have experienced in this nation is low self-esteem. In this lesson, Mike explores the roots and connection between this condition and the depraved acts recently committed by young shooters.
The resurrection of Jesus remains the single most volatile and important event of our age.	(Romans 1:3-4)
We have used BibleTalk.tv in small group studies and found them effective.
Gerry Bell, Elder,
Saskatoon, Canada - Gravelbourg Church of Christ


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Be "friends" with Obama on Web 2.0
By Marshall Knudson
In order to stay in vogue and surmount competitive obstacles, politicians have always taken advantage of available technologies to gain endorsement and to engineer the consent of their constituents. In the past this meant decidedly undemocratic methods such as "the rack" and "the dunking stool," but in modern times these have given way to skilled rhetoric, the soapbox, and—a local favorite—the promise of patronage and graft. Inasmuch as we find contemporary incarnations of these technologies at Guantanamo Bay, or the lecterns in the 2008 presidential primary debates, or the city of New Orleans, it may be surprising that the roots of today's electioneering technology are to be found in a different place altogether: in Al Gore's invention, the Internet, and its 21st-century progeny, the much vaunted Web 2.0.
What is Web 2.0, you ask. Is it as monumental as AOL 9.0? Yes, at least.
Web 2.0 is the umbrella term given to the complex of Internet technology born from the ooze that trickled out of the dot-com bubble when it burst at the end of the '90s. For our purposes, this means the interactive web: Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and, of course, Wikipedia.
These web platforms have sprouted deep roots across North America, dominating the top-10 list of most visited websites. Each of them welcomes tens of millions of visitors every month. With this level of popularity, it isn't surprising that the 2008 presidential candidates are running with the zeitgeist, bringing in young people with the know-how and go-getter mentality to harness Web 2.0's political potential.
No 2008 campaign can be separated from its Web 2.0 presence. Candidates are looking for "friends" or "supporters" on MySpace and Facebook, projecting their well-powdered faces on YouTube, and lampooning their adversaries, all for peanuts. Web 2.0 features are more or less embedded in all campaign websites. You can thumb through the photo albums, track the most recent videos hot off the campaign trail, read the blogs, or try to make yourself believe the candidates' cartoonish autobiographies, which always render them in various colorful versions of the American dream. Follow the signposts to join the campaign, start a local group, or host a party—Barack Obama's site even features its own interactive "My.BarackObama" platform, where social networking site meets instant messaging system meets pinball. For performing different "actions," you can compile "points." With 25 points to my name for creating an account, I am currently tied for 175,844th place. Maybe you can do better.
It's hard to get rid of the feeling that the campaign trail has been reconfigured with elements of reality television. For candidates, the hard part is tweaking their public images to be as "real" as possible, and this invariably means discounting the accoutrements of the politician. Instead we see dressed-down candidates speaking plainly with down-home American folk. The 2008 candidate must be candid and humble, but possessed of a certain unshakable vision. The return to the Jeffersonian myth of the nation's rural core figures prominently with some candidates, many of whom show their Americanness through food. There's nothing more American than bacon-and-egg fundraisers for some politicians, or a steak fry for others—all with online registration available. John Edwards's aides show us on YouTube how (not) to make a pecan pie, "his favorite," for the North Carolinian's birthday.
Shedding the tainted trappings of the politician and coming off as "real" is not as easy as pie, however. The stakes have been raised, as politicians must now maintain their equilibrium and tempered demeanor at virtually all times. When the scripted shoots stop, the camera phones start snapping. One false step will almost certainly be recorded and replayed on YouTube ad infinitum, maybe even mixed and sampled by entrepreneurial DJs. Think Howard Dean's unsolicited primal wail on MLK Day 2004, an ill-starred enterprise which has since come to be known as the "I have a scream" speech.
Just as the first televised presidential debates in 1960, pitted the exuberant, well tanned John F. Kennedy against Richard Nixon's ill-fitting shirt and sickly pallor, spelling the latter's doom, the web offers breathtaking new possibilities for election-time sink-or-swim.
The impact of Web 2.0 on the coming election may be a little overstated, to say the least. If you try to measure the Presidential race from the web by couting MySpace "friends" and YouTube "views," there seems to be a sharp disjuncture with the world of traditional political polling. According to a recent Newsweek poll, front-runner Hillary Clinton is projected to seize 43 percent of the Democratic primary votes against Barack Obama's distant 24 percent, with a six-percent margin of error. Yet Obama has millions more YouTube views than Clinton and matches 160,000 Facebook supporters to her 51,000, along with 190,000 MySpace friends to her 160,000. In the Republican camp, Ron Paul is far ahead in the virtual world, but barely registers in recent polling.
What's more, the Internet-savvy demographic is remarkably young, and although the number of 18–29-year-old voters swelled tremendously in 2004 compared to 2000, this group has relatively low voter turnout. Even the popular "Vote or Die" campaign, with its powerful incentive package, couldn't bring the youth vote up to the national average.
In the final analysis, it seems that the utility of Web 2.0 lies not so much in its ability to definitively swing the vote one way or another, but in its transformation of the way candidates engage with the public.
Marshall Knudson is a second-year in the College majoring in political science and romance languages and literature. His column appears every other Tuesday.


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Tragic Masculinities and Craig Mazin's Chernobyl
School of Business and Creative Industries
In Craig Mazin's Chernobyl, the masculinities surrounding the 1986 accident at the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Nuclear Power Plant are presented as a nexus of tragic incompetence. This chapter will explore how this depiction functions as an interchange between the contemporary 'crisis' of masculinity in Western popular culture and the representations of masculinity as articulated by the Reaganite cinema of the 1980s. To do so, the chapter will first contrast the depictions of hegemonic masculinity, exploring how the dominant position of men is legitimised and reinforced. In the context of Mazin's Chernobyl, the chapter will propose that the representation of masculine hierarchical power relations leads to the formation of a social organisation that results in the perpetuation of failure, where subordinated identities are unable to 'break through' and affect change. Whereas, in the action cinema of the Reagan decade, the opposite occurs, with individuals disrupting ineffective hierarchical power relations to resolve crises in a celebration of hypermasculine triumph. In the second instance, the chapter will explore how this re-evaluation of the role of tragic masculine incompetence in the Chernobyl disaster is located away from the West and is directly connected to the social and political apparatus of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the chapter will propose that this distance forms an antithetical relationship with the restorative or sympathetic modes of nostalgic representation related to 1980s masculinity, as articulated by North American situated television series such as The Goldbergs, Stranger Things or Young Sheldon.
The '80s Resurrected
Essays on the Decade in Popular Culture Then and Now
Randy Laist
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Accepted/In press - 18 Feb 2022
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-80s-resurrected/
Dive into the research topics of 'Tragic Masculinities and Craig Mazin's Chernobyl'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
masculinity Social Sciences 100%
cinema Social Sciences 51%
television series Social Sciences 29%
nuclear power plant Social Sciences 23%
popular culture Social Sciences 23%
USSR Social Sciences 20%
accident Social Sciences 19%
disaster Social Sciences 18%
Quinn, J. (Accepted/In press). Tragic Masculinities and Craig Mazin's Chernobyl. In R. Laist (Ed.), The '80s Resurrected: Essays on the Decade in Popular Culture Then and Now McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-80s-resurrected/
Quinn, John. / Tragic Masculinities and Craig Mazin's Chernobyl. The '80s Resurrected: Essays on the Decade in Popular Culture Then and Now. editor / Randy Laist. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2022.
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U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging
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Panel examines ways to make long-term care costs affordable
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on December 18 to examine viable ways to help families pay for long-term care.
Currently, about 12 million Americans require long-term-care services — a number the U.S. Commission on Long-Term Care says will nearly double by 2050. Today, most people receive care from family and friends, but an increasing number depend on costly in-home care, or end up in assisted living facilities or nursing homes, where median annual costs range from $40,000 to $80,000, respectively. This is an expense many middle-class families can't afford.
The committee heard from a panel of experts, including three members of the commission, on a number of ideas aimed at helping families and the government prepare for the increasing demand for long-term care services. Among other things, they include expanding Medicare and making private long-term care coverage more affordable for those who need it. The commission issued 28 recommendations in September, but could not reach consensus on how to pay for expensive long-term care services.
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING
HEARING: The Future of Long-Term Care Policy: Continuing the Conversation
2:15 p.m. Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 562
Bruce Chernof, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, The SCAN Foundation
Mark J. Warshawsky, Visiting Adjunct Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Judy Feder, PhD, Professor, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and Fellow, Urban Institute
Anne Tumlinson, MMHS, Senior Vice President, Avalere Health
To watch the hearing, as well as access Member statements and witness testimony click here.
Committee Members |
Hearings |
United States Senate Special Committee on Aging, G31 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-6050, 202-224-5364


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Nottingham Forest manager Martin O'Neill was spotted on Monday night in Sofia, Bulgaria, watching on as Kosovo claimed. features and exclusives from Nottinghamshire Live via our free WhatsApp.
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Viv Solomon-Otabor has left Birmingham City – and the winger is all set for a shock move to CSKA Sofia, according to reports.
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria's government has decided to buy. they conducted nearly 2,000 seizures in a historic.
Sofia Carson makes her arrival at the 2019 ARDYs on Sunday night (June 16) at CBS Radford Studios in Studio City, Calif. The 26-year-old singer and actress is serving as host for the evening! "the.
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Home Our School Awards and Recognition
Merit Awards
Students from each class are recognised for effort or achievement in any area of the curriculum, or improvement in their approach to learning. These recognitions are made in the classroom and students are presented with Merit Awards to take home.
Stars of the year - Two students (one from K-2 and another from years 3-6) are recognised as outstanding role models who consistently demonstrate the school values of fairness, excellence, honesty and respect.
Artist of the Term
One student from each class is presented this award each Term. Artwork produced by these students is displayed in the foyer of the school for the following Term.
Values Awards
A selection of students from each class are recognised for consistent demonstration of the school values. Values Awards are presented at Assembly twice per term.
Sporting Awards
Following sporting carnivals ribbons are presented to students who came first, second, third and fourth in events.
Other achievements including selection for representative sporting teams are recognised through the school Newsletter and at morning Assembly.
Students acting as good role models in the playground, caring for the environment are given a green award which goes in the Award box. Two awards are drawn from the box at each Assembly. The chosen awardees receive a voucher from the canteen.