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In the British colony, Massachusetts, witchcraft hysteria broke out between February 1692 and May 1693, resulting in the execution of twenty people and the jailing of 342 people. The Salem Witch Trials began after young girls in Salem claimed to be possessed by the Devil and started holding local women of Salem accountable of witchcraft. The effects the Salem Witch Trials had on the colony were separation of the church and the state and mass hysteria. In the 17th century, witchcraft was a serious crime, and convicted witches could be put to death.
The following will discuss what the Salem Witch trials were, what happened during the time frame, and how it shaped Salem Village after it ended. The Salem Witch Trials were a chain of hearings and prosecutions of people held accountable for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. When a group of young girls began to display bizarre behaviors such as seizures, screaming, and trans-like states without physical symptoms of illness, the villagers of Salem believed it was the work of the Devil.
The girls blamed the way they were acting on witchcraft, and also named three women who cast spells on them: Tituba, a slave who told the girls witchcraft stories, Sarah Good, A beggar, and Sarah Osborne, an old lady who only went to church occasionally. Not just women were accused of witchcraft, men were also accused. For example, on April 11th, 1692 John Proctor was the first man arrested and held accountable for witchcraft. Although it was known as the Salem Witch Trials, several counties, such as Andover, were involved.
The Puritan lifestyle was very strict, and the slightest change in behavior, missing church for instance, a rose suspicion. People were so caught up with the idea of witches and witchcraft, when they had little knowledge of misfortunes, like sickness or death, they blamed supernatural forces. The disasters were believed to be upon them through supernatural forces, like witchcraft. The powerful beliefs of witchcraft and witches were brought by the English to America; it was part of their belief system and culture, which was passed from generation to generation and responsible for the Salem Witch Trials.
In the small Salem Village, the villagers were quick to blame witchcraft when Reverend Parris' and several other girls were affected by seizures and lapses into unconsciousness, especially when they learned the girls had been messing with fortunetelling with Tituba. Only Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne were accused at first, but shortly after the witch hunt grew until some of Salem's most prominent citizens stood accused. Historians believe that the causes of the witch trials had to deal with social and economical animosity behind the accusations, but mostly mass hysteria was the main culprit.
The accusations were not considered unusual because witchcraft beliefs were very strong in this time period. Witches were regular people whose pride, envy, or greed apparently led them to make a pact with the Devil. The people held accountable for witchcraft were claimed to use supernatural powers to torment their neighbors by causing illness, destroying property, or possessing the victim's body and mind. The fear of witchcraft in the village of Salem overrode doubts about the young girls' credibility and led local judges to put aside normal procedural safeguards. Judges ignored the law's ban on "spectral evidence".
Spectral evidence is a spirit resembling the accused had been seen harming a victim. The number of witchcraft accusations rose to 342 witches sitting in jail. More than half of the girls accusing people of witchcraft were between the ages of eleven to twenty most were servants in other family households. The fear of witchcraft broke ties between families and friends. For example, a minister's own granddaughter had him condemned. During this time 50 people were able to save themselves by giving false confessions, the twenty others whom refused to confess were executed.
Governor William Phips forbid any more imprisonments of witchcraft in October 1692. Shortly after he suspended all the trials in 1693, he pardoned all the convicted people of witchcraft. This ended the Salem Witch Trials in May 1693. How did the Salem Witch Trials affect Salem and America? In January 1697, Massachusetts' General Court announced a day of fasting specifically for the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Court deemed the trails unlawful and illegitimate. The ending of the Salem Witch Trials created a good closure in the community. In 1957, the last witches' names were cleared.
The people e had realized their mistakes of accusations and made a memorial honoring the deaths of the people accused of witchcraft in 1992. The impact of hysteria is still amongst us today and has not gone away. The Salem Witch Trials have become the focus in many books such as crucible by Arthur Miller. The Salem Witch Trials split apart families, and made life difficult for the accused. Daily chores, like harvesting, were neglected during the Salem Witch Trials. The colonist of Salem, Massachusetts felt ashamed and remorseful about the witch trials.
Colonist began to suffer many misfortunes, and thought God was punishing them for their mistake. Out of all the accusers in the Salem Witch Trials only one girl apologized. Ann Putnam Jr. apologized in 1706 for her part in the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials is a very memorable event in Salem, Massachusetts in the 17th century and also had a very strong impact on American History. Throughout the Salem Witch Trials, hundreds were accuse and most were hung. Friends and families were turned against each other. In this essay | discussed, what the Salem trials were, what happened during the Salem Trials, and how it affected Salem.
Categories Essays Tags Salem, Salem witch trials, Witchcraft Post navigation


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80,000 Hours — General Support (2020)
Ben Todd, 80,000 Hours' CEO (left), and Robert Wiblin, the organization's Director of Research (right), discuss their research. (Photo courtesy of 80,000 Hours.)
For general support.
Open Philanthropy recommended a grant of $2,893,125 to 80,000 Hours for general support. 80,000 Hours aims to solve skill bottlenecks for career paths in what it considers to be the world's most pressing problems. It does this by providing online research, in-person advice, and support, with the goal of helping talented graduates aged 20-40 enter high-impact careers.
This grant follows Open Philanthropy's February 2019 support and falls under its work aimed at growing and empowering the EA community. While Open Philanthropy sees the basic pros and cons of this support similarly to what it's presented in past writeups on the matter, its ultimate grant figure was set by the aggregated judgments of the committee for effective altruism support, described in more detail here.
Open Philanthropy Grant to 80,000 Hours — February 2019
Open Philanthropy Grant to 80,000 Hours — March 2018
Open Philanthropy Focus Area: Effective Altruism
80,000 Hours Website
Topics: Effective Altruism, Open Philanthropy Project

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


If you had the privilege to witness that talent show yesterday, it was an awesome time. Thanks to all those worked so hard to make it happen. Those young people showed their skills, talents, gifts. Let's pray they don't end up on Broadway and waste them all. Keep them in the kingdom.
Camp Life – If we don't get energized we will die! We get a special anointing for the work. To see those young people having such a great time and gathering around the campfires, meeting in the morning for the messages, and out for the day for innumerable activities. We don't want to leave any child behind. Every camper who expresses a desire, if you can help, contact us. I have a list of young people that express a desire to go but need sponsored. It can change them.
We go evangelizing and it happened a few weeks ago an older young man came up and we gave him a tract. He said you don't remember me, do you? I'm sorry, I don't. I was hoping he wouldn't say you owe me money! He said I was at camp life 15 years ago. He said I will never forget that as long as I live. It can really make an impact on people's lives. Be praying about that if you can help out.
Joshua 14. I've been looking for something for some time now. Haven't found it yet. Perhaps you can help me out and bring it to everyone's attention. I'm looking for a problem free life. If that comes across your table, let us know. We know no such thing exists. Job said as the sparks fly upward so a man is born unto trouble. There is trouble everywhere in our world. Pick up the newspaper, watch the news, and go home at the end of a day to a house of trouble. It's in our home, family, lives. I don't think the headline of any newspaper would read we only have good news to report. All good news tonight! Stay tuned. We'll have a commercial free half hour of good news. Don't wait for that program. It's not coming. If you wait for a problem free life, you are better off having sole control of a remote control TV. Some men clench it with an iron grip. My wife will say give it to me. With a little fear, I give her the remote control. Take it. It's yours. She deletes all those sports channels. A hassle free, always blue sky existence. Preceding the blue sky, we had some thunderstorms, rain, clouds, bad weather. It's not going to happen. Smooth sailing through life is not going to happen. This was my concept as a new believer. I was wrong. I needed instruction and to be taught what the Bible teaches. I thought that's it my sinful life and now it's behind me. My problems are in the rear view mirror. My life is going to be blessing after blessing. I was surprised. I had this concept, this idea that now I put my faith in Christ problem free. Boy was I wrong. Jesus gives us a promise. In the world you will have plenty of trouble. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
I put my Spirit in you and that Spirit overcomes the world as well, 1 Jn 5:4. What is required of us? To live like that. An attitude of faith towards God. That's all he is looking for. Not necessarily our activity but faith produces that. More than anything else we want to please God with a faith that is working because it is motivated by his great love. Problems happen to rich, poor, sophisticated, retired people spiritual people, and secular people as well. Everyone has problems. Not everyone deals with them the same way. P. Gerry just mentioned those twelve spies and ten came back with an evil report. That evil report sent a nation into the wilderness for 40 years. It makes you think about what you will share with someone. Imagine if what you share could send someone into exile for 2 or 4 or even 40 years. Yes, it's a land that flows with milk and honey but the proverbial but. Giants, walled cities. We are like grasshoppers. They embraced the grasshopper complex. Don't embrace it. Embrace the attitude that Caleb embraced. Maybe the observations are accurate but what is more important is what God said to us. Didn't he say he is giving us the land? He didn't say anything about earning it or deserving it. Why don't we mix faith with the promise and step out of ourselves and lift up our heads and eyes to the Lord who can make it all possible. Joshua and Caleb had an attitude of faith. The other ten brought defilement on the nation. Some are overcome by their problems. It happens to us from time to time. We are hoping and believing and asking God to change the way we think and approach life so we are not overcome by our problems. We are going by the grace of God to overcome our problems. God is going to use our problems to strengthen our faith and make us the people he always intended us to be, people who overcome in life. Some are left bitter. God says as you look at those challenges you can get through them and not become bitter but better, more of the people I intend for you to become. Some people face their challenges with fear and others with faith. All we have to do is make that simple adjustment. Caleb did that. People like that are unique, we think. They are super Christians. They have a unique characteristic in their soul and see things others don't see. They have a faith undaunted. They are not special people. Every one of us can be like Caleb and Joshua. Caleb looked at his problem differently. His faith stands out. It wasn't his strength or unique characteristic. Sometimes we think these are special. Every one of us has been given a measure of grace. Everyone has been given a gift, maybe multiple gifts. We can do amazing things if we reveal to our ears what he has given us and receive by faith what he has promised us and live in the reality of those promises. Go back in time when Caleb first spied out that land. 45 years earlier he was that guy. He believed the land could be taken. He took notice of Caleb's courage and faith.
Nu 13:24, who wouldn't want that on their resume, on their grave stone. People going by in a cemetery looking at your headstone, undaunted by the challenges of life, had a different spirit. They followed me wholeheartedly. That's on Caleb's resume. We are reading it today. What kind of spirit catches the eye of God? What qualifies as a different spirit? We want to be like Caleb and believe God implicitly. We want to take that step of faith. We want to be like him. How? The answers begin to emerge. Caleb speaks up at the distribution of land. They come into the land and now Caleb has a promise to claim. vs. 6.
Joshua 14:6-10 Notice the words repeated. The Lord, the Lord, wholly following the Lord, this is what the Lord said, this is what the Lord promised.
vs. 10-12. I can count at least nine times in this passage when Caleb is speaking, "the Lord." If you are looking for the secret to a person's life who had a different spirit and followed the Lord wholeheartedly, it's found in this passage. He is not talking about himself. He mentions he is as strong when first saw the land but the name mentioned over and over is the Lord. His heart and mind is saturated with God. God is on his mind, in his thoughts.
I remember the song Ray Charles sang, Georgia on My Mind. Our theme song is Jesus on Our Mind. We can populate that theme in our lives.
What do we know about Jesus on our mind? Everything about this world challenges that fact. We are challenged every day to keep thinking with God. Natural tendency is to cleave to the dust. We need to be quickened on a moment by moment basis, the promises of God pouring into our hearts consistently. Why do we have Bible college after many decades? It is the place where our mind is saturated with the word of God. Time to get our souls saturated with the Word of God. The greater the risk the things of this world will saturate your soul and you find all these other things on your mind. What caused Caleb to have a different spirit? His mind was centered on the Lord. What is the emphasis for you and me? If someone would take a transcript of our thoughts, he kept saying "the Lord, the Lord." We might say "the problem, the problem" or "the finances, the finances" or "the jerk, the jerk." I can't get him off my mind. Or "the pain, the pain," the hurts and wounds of yesterday that I can't release to God. Maybe these things are on our mind. Caleb is going into the Promised Land. A whole new generation is entering into the Promised Land. They don't dwell on their problems. Don't deny the presence of them. Some think C. are not living in reality. We face our problems. We know they are there. But what we are declaring is there is a God who is greater than our problems and his power can help us overcome our problems. With the truth of his promises we will see our problems but through the grace colored glasses God has given us and we will overcome those problems by God's grace. That's what he tells us. We have to marinate our minds in the Word of God.
One time years ago we went to Ohio and a man said I've been cooking you ribs for three days, marinating. When you go there the meat fell off the bone. We were holding it up to each other. Catch it! I'll never forget those ribs! God wants us to do the same things with our minds. Marinate our minds with his promises. Let the Word dwell richly in your hearts. Let that be what you think about. Let that be the first thought that comes to mind when you wake up in the morning. God is good. He will strengthen me. He won't stop thinking of me. He has my picture on his refrigerator. With the promises of God, start your day and you are marinated in those promises. Caleb was different because his mind was soaked in God.
Ps 42:5 The psalmist said why are you cast down oh my soul? Why disquieted within me? The struggles of his life threatened to pull him under. Overwhelm them with their problems, with their financial needs. Overwhelm them with troubles in the workplace, at home. The devil loves to do that. Just like Daniel in Babylon he had to purpose in his heart not to defile himself with the diet the king set before him. I will have the diet God set before me. The diet I find in church three times a week, in the Bible college. Once doesn't cut it. If I came to church once a week, you would be visiting me in jail! If I come twice a week, maybe on the street corner, but three times a week you will see me in here. We need our minds drenched with the Word of God. We can't make it out there unless we hear what we hear in here. I cannot live except by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And it's not found out there. Imagine the news saying good evening. Welcome to the program. We'd like to first quote a Scripture verse. We'd like to wrap it up with prayer. That won't happen. We are reporting from Washington and it's not good. They have fired more missiles and directed them at your home and family! The psalmist said I will hope in God. My soul, why are you cast down? Hope in God. And I will yet praise him. That's a faith statement. Did you ever make a faith statement like that? You get the bill in the mail. Hope in God. I will yet praise his name. I never seen the R forsaken nor his children begging for bread. God will come through. He always has and I know he will again. We have to learn to treat our cast down thoughts with the thoughts of God. One set of thoughts go in one direction and the other in the other direction. We keep looking up and trusting him. Some day we might find ourselves in the ICU. If we live long enough to the cemetery, to the unemployment line, to the detox program. Lord, I have to keep my eyes on you. Imagine Joseph forsaken by his brothers. Can you imagine how overwhelming that must have been when he was sold into slavery? Given all these dreams by God. What a contradiction. I'm sure something will happen to you and will contradict what we are hearing this morning. He can't just let you receive God's thoughts. It threatens the nature of the devil. Let you go out the door unchallenged without confronting you with sight. Sight always challenges you with the thoughts of faith. He doesn't want you to meditate on your misery. How good we are at reciting our problems. Like David showing up at the camp and hears Goliath for first time. He says to his brothers, who is this guy? They told David everything about Goliath. They knew how big he was, how many threats he had made, how heavy his armor and how big his spear was. They knew everything about the problem that the giant became bigger and bigger in their minds. No one saw how big God was until little David showed up in the camp. David said my God is the only giant I see. If you give me a few stones, I have already taken out a bear and a lion and I can see his head fitting right between those two on my mantle at home.
Jn 14:27 AMP says stop allowing yourself to be agitated and disturbed. Immerse your mind in my thoughts. When troubles come our way we can be stressed and upset or we can trust God. Caleb could have cursed God or been angry at God. Caleb could have complained. Why did I have to suffer with this unbelieving mob of Israelites for four decades? You should have taken Joshua and me right in and told those guys to wander until they were all dead. He didn't complain that way. Even through that wilderness wandering and he was associated with those who complained and moaned and kept saying how we long to be back in Egypt. Were they in an Egyptian spa there? Does that kind of complaining and moaning have a way of evaporating what they were in? They were slaves but no one brought that up. The luxury of Egypt? Are you kidding me? How about the lash of the taskmaster whip, that you were slaves and all you did to cry out for God to deliver you and then you complained about what he did. You didn't grow old or sour Caleb. You stepped forward with your well drenched mind to collect the promises. He never allowed his mind to drift away from the promises of God. He could have but he didn't. Lord, I'm here to collect and God graciously gave to him.
Col 3:2 AMP set your mind and keep them set on what is above, the higher things, the better things, the things of God, the glorious things. Keep your mind set. Park at the promise of God and don't go anywhere. Put on the emergency brake of life until my soul is drenched with the promises of God. First flesh and then spirit. Tendency to say why is this happening to me? Let me change that. All things work together for my good. Why having this trouble? Lord I'll count it all joy. You'll work patience in my life. You'll bring capacity in my soul, create capacity in me to face the next trial. That's how God operates. Why set our minds on things above? God is there above all this mess. We sang it this morning.
Isaiah 6 holy, holy, holy. We are sinful and you are holy and above it all. You are untouched by it all. Pain doesn't plague you. The weather doesn't disturb you. Diseases don't affect you. We are in you so everything in you cannot touch and phase us as we walk in who you are. God has resources that we don't have. We need to get in touch with those resources. He has wisdom we haven't imagined. Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly above and beyond what we ask or think. You might say I don't think that way. Look to him that can do exceedingly above and beyond what you think. My thinking is not so high. That's alright. His is higher. He giveth more grace. We like that verse so much we named our ministry after it. We got GG from it. God, this trouble is overwhelming me. I'll give you more grace. If you will take this from my life and remove it. No, I'll give you more grace. That's how God operates. Stare less at the mountain in front of us and look to the one who has the power to move it. It's so big, so great and overwhelming but look more to the God who says I can move that. Cover your ears every time the pessimist starts crowing. We'll keep looking to God. Just because someone else sings the blues you don't have to join the chorus. I have another way of thinking and living.
I determined in my heart to show up three times a week to hear something to sustain me and give me capacity to deal with them differently. I'm going to sign up for Bible college to keep me built up. Unless you already learned everything there is to know about God, then we will come to your class. I don't think so. Always more to learn.
Joshua and Caleb outnumbered 10 to 1. They had to travel with them for the next 40 years. When the mind is filled with faith, you are ready to take on a God sized challenge no matter what it is. Some things come down the pike and overwhelm us. We just need to hit that volitional switch and think with God.
I'm going to set my mind on things with God and park there. If I can do that, I will live life like more than a conqueror.


RENSSELAER — Each member of the Shenendehowa boys' volleyball team knew what was expected of the Plainsmen in Friday's Section II Division I championship match.
They were supposed to give their all, maybe take a set against the section's five-time defending champions, and then suffer another loss in the finals to Bethlehem.
Somehow, the Plainsmen got their wish.
With a stunning performance, Shenendehowa topped Bethlehem 3-0 with scores of 25-23, 25-19, and 25-15. The victory came in the Plainsmen's fifth consecutive trip to the section's championship match, with Shenendehowa losing in each of the first four to Bethlehem.
Shenendehowa advances to the regional round of the state playoffs, and will next play Saturday, Nov. 14, at Guilderland High School.


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Film Review: "Sounds of Sand"
The Sheltering Sky
The film "Sounds of Sand" by Marion Hänsel tells the tale of a family forced to leave their home after the village well runs dry. Ariana Mirza watched this parable of desperation and dignity
The film "Sounds of Sand" (Si le vent soulève les sables) by the Belgian director Marion Hänsel tells the tale of a family forced to leave their home after the village well runs dry. Ariana Mirza watched this parable of desperation and dignity
Little Shasha likes to laugh. And what she really likes is to make jokes about her father. For the big journey she is about to make with her parents and her brother she puts on her prettiest dress.
This "journey" Sasha so looks forward to is in fact a voyage into uncertainty. A whole village sets out, but they are only following a hunch, because it is unclear where there is any water still to be found. Somewhere in the north, as Shasha's father, the teacher hopes, or more likely to the west, as the village elder suspects?
Shasha's family's odyssey
Shasha's father chooses a long, painful route, confronting his family one by one with everything which plagues Africa. But his route is still no worse than those followed by other villagers; war, landmines, and the tyranny of people in power are encountered every way the compass points.
The drought has devastated the land on all sides; corrupt government troops and marauding rebels torment the population at every point.
With Sounds of Sand Belgian director Marion Hänsel succeeds in portraying a family which never loses its dignity even in the direst circumstances. The film manages this without resorting to pathos; watching carefully is enough.
Tiny gestures and minimal dialogue convey the image of an everyday life, all the more comprehensible to the viewer, the longer we accompany Shasha and her family. At some point the protagonists become so familiar it seems perfectly natural that despite everything which has occurred Shasha never loses her sense of humour, and her father stoically continues to show a sense of responsibility.
The majestic beauty of the desert
While we grow closer to the figures, the landscape in Hänsel's film remains alien and unapproachable. Using stunning images the film succeeds in capturing the majestic beauty of the desert in all its facets.
Shasha's family's odyssey begins in barren steppes where green trees have become a rarity. Even here the relentless drought has split the ground with deep cracks. As the journey continues, the scenery is increasingly encrusted and thorny. And finally every remaining path is lost in a gigantic sea of sand, on which a merciless sun beats down.
Marion Hänsel shot Sounds of Sand in Djibuti, east Africa. Although the country has been at peace since 2001, now just as before there is still extreme poverty, and the issues dealt with in the film also affected shooting: "Every day 150 people came asking for work."
As well as this, sudden hostilities between the Issa and Afar ethnic groups overshadowed the filming. "But that only happened in a particular region; I was warned not to film there, but I did it anyway."
The director deliberately avoided naming a particular location as the mise en scène for her story. Hänsel believes that what she is describing applies to so many countries in Africa that a more precise identification would simply be misleading.
Attentiveness to human suffering
The family are Muslims, but they could just as easily be Christians, or animists; the universal humanity of their story and their ordeal is what is depicted. Existential desperation born of climate change and political conflicts, the film says, does not restrict itself to a particular religious community or ethnic group.
The director found the raw material for her story in the novel Chamelle by Marc Durin Valois. She was delighted to find this blueprint, Hänsel explained in an interview, "because this novel contains everything I wanted to talk about in my film".
We are left with no doubt what this highly committed filmmaker is concerned with here. She seeks to draw attention to one of the greatest tragedies taking place in the world today.
How little the situation of the affected people has so far penetrated global public consciousness is made crystal clear in the film's key scene. When an aeroplane flies high above the desert, Shasha asks her father, "do you think they can see us?" The answer is as simple as it is sobering: "I don't think they even know we exist."
Ariana Mirza
Translated from the German by Steph Morris
Zanzibar Film Festival
Dealing with the Gruesome History of Slavery
Zanzibar was once one of the largest slave markets in the Indian Ocean area. Consequently, this year the Zanzibar International Film Festival's focus was on films that deal with the issue of slavery. Detlef Langer reports about the programme and the heated debates it stirred
Ousmane Sembene's "Moolade"
Opposing Genital Mutilation
Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene is one of the most renowned and successful directors of Africa. His film "Moolade," a manifesto against the genital mutilation of girls in Burkina Faso, won him an award in Cannes. Max Annas and Annett Busch report
Opinion Meki Nzewi
Globalization Made Africa a Mental Colony
In his lengthy and angry attack on Western culture, Meki Nzewi – lecturer in African Music at the University of Pretoria – argues that neo-colonialist capitalism has drained Africa's traditional music art from authenticity and spiritual integrity
Website "Sounds of Sand"
https://en.qantara.de/node/2082


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HomeLondon Chess Classic 2016Wesley So Wins London Chess Classic & Chess Grand Tour
Wesley So Wins London Chess Classic & Chess Grand Tour
Topalov takes a point in final round, defeats Aronian with Black.
January 5, 2017 John Lee Shaw London Chess Classic 2016
The 2016 edition of the London Chess Classic, has been won by American Grandmaster Wesley So. Having taken a grip on the tournament early on, he secured victory with a solid draw with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final round.
As for the round itself, Veselin Topalov was the winner of the day, finally coming out of the doldrums and earning himself a point. His game versus Levon Aronian, saw the Bulgarian (who had only one-point on the board up to this stage) turning the tables on his opponent with the Black pieces. In the Symmetrical English, White had the better of things early on, and Black felt it necessary to sacrifice knight for three pawns in order to achieve some counter-play. Whether this was sound or not is unclear, but the computers didn't like it very much. However, chess is not so straight-forward, especially human chess. Black certainly obtained (or, was allowed to obtain) some good play from it.
Aronian will possibly rue declining what seems to have been a safe pawn on his 29th move, Bxa6 looks perfectly payable. Was the Armenian wary of it? Or did he just decide not to allow the opening of the a-file? Answers on a postcard, but it didn't work out for him, Topalov advanced the pawn and White had some considerations. 32…Qc6(!) put things in perspective and saw Black with pressure along the c-file and towards White's rook, which had mutated into a mere blockading piece on a4. This was not all there was to it, however, with Black deciding to opt for 34…Qd7 instead of …Qc7, inexplicably un-doubling Queen and rook along the c-file. This allowed White to solve his issues.
Aronian-Topalov, after 32.Bc4.
Black played the strong 32…Qc6, pressuring the badly placed Ra4 and Nc3 as shown.
Contary to the phrase 'never look a gift-horse in the mouth', Aronian went on to give Black far too much play with his central pawns, which began to advance down the board. So potent were they, that Topalov was soon getting his piece back in order to get one off the board. This left Black a pawn up in a very strong position. From here, Topalov showed that despite his poor showing in this tournament, he is still a very potent player, who can never be under-estimated. It took a long time coming, but this was a very nice game from him and he converted his advantage very strongly. Unfortunately, it is a little too late for him in this tournament, he finishes on a rather surprising 2/9.
The final round of a tournament can often be a rather quiet affair, and that was the case for the remainder of the games, really. Tournament leader, Wesley So, also took up the Symmetrical English, but unlike Aronian, got at least something from it. He ended up sharing the point with opponent Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The two repeated a line that they had played against each other in the Leuven leg of the Chess Grand Tour in June, until Vachier-Lagrave varied with 12…fxe6 (…Bxe6 had been played in the previous game). This didn't really produce much, Black was left with an isolated pawn, but there was nothing that White could do to get at it and the players just went through the motions, really, before agreeing a draw on move 35. A rather satisfying result for So, however, who secured the tournament victory with it and that was the objective in this round.
It is not very often we see a Queen's Gambit Accepted, but Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana debated it in their game. Unfortunately, it was not a lengthy debate, and though the game lasted for 58-moves, a draw could probably have been agreed at about halfway through. The position became too simplified to really produce anything, especially at this level. Michael Adams and Hikaru Nakamura were not up for it in this round. Out came the Berlin, which saw around 18 moves of theory, then some exchanges and shuffling before the players agreed a draw on move 30. Anand-Kramnik was over even quicker, the players played a few new moves in a Queen's Gambit Declined, before repeating for a 24-move draw.
London Chess Classic, Final Standings:
So — 6.0
Caruana — 5.5
Kramnik, Anand, Nakamura — 5.0
Giri — 4.5
Aronian, Vachier-Lagrave, Adams — 4.0
Topalov — 2.0
Chess Grand Tour
Along with his victory in this tournament, So has also claimed the Chess Grand Tour 2016 title. This was made up of four events, Paris CGT, Your Next Move (Leuven), the Siquefield Cup (Saint Louis), and London Chess Classic. So achieved a very comprehensive victory, with 36 Chess Grand Tour points. His nearest rival, Hikaru Nakamura (also of the United States) finished on 24.5 points, with Fabiano Caruana making it a clean sweep of the top 3 places for America on 23.75 points.
Chess Grand Tour, Final Standings:
So — 36
Nakamura — 24.5
Caruana — 23.75
Aronian, Anand — 21.75
Vachier-Lagrave — 17.5
Giri — 12.5
Topalov — 10.75
The 2017 Chess Grand Tour, will be made up of the following five events:
Paris CGT (rapid & blitz) — June 18th-26th
Your Next Move (rapid & Blitz) — June 26th-July 3rd
Sinquefield Cup (classical) — July 31st-August 12th
Saint Louis Rapid (rapid & blitz) — August 13th-20th
London Chess Classic (classical) — date to be announced.
[Event "London Chess Classic 2016"]  [Site "London ENG"]  [Date "2016.12.18"]  [Round "9.5"]  [White "Aronian, Levon"]  [Black "Topalov, Veselin"]  [Result "0-1"]  [ECO "A37"]  [WhiteElo "2785"]  [BlackElo "2760"]  [Annotator "Shaw,John Lee"]  [PlyCount "106"]  [EventDate "2016.12.09"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }  1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 c5 {The Symmetrical English -- a solid, but not overly  ambitious choice I think it's fair to say.} 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6.  O-O e6 7. e3 Nge7 8. d4 O-O 9. Re1 {This is a bit of an obscure line. More  popular, here, are moves such as b2-b3 and d4-d5.} a6 {Straight into new  territory, here, Topalov looks to expand rapidly on the Queenside, a well  known theme in this opening.} 10. Bd2 Rb8 {...cxd4 was also viable, here, but  it tempts exchanges and is a bit drawy, Topalov maintains the tension and  sticks to his plan.} (10... cxd4 11. exd4 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Ne4 Bxb2 14.  Rb1 Bg7 {=}) 11. Rc1 b6 12. Ne2 e5 13. Bc3 h6 {Black's approach is one of  limitation first and foremost, this is the danger White faces when playing the  more 'reserved' types of opening, such as the Symmetrical English or Reti. If  one does not have concrete intent, things can quickly become passive.} 14. d5  Nb4 15. Ra1 (15. Bxb4 cxb4 16. Qb3 a5 17. a3 bxa3 18. Qxa3 Qc7 {is about equal.  White will most likely continue Nc3, with the Knight on its way to b5. However,  Black has this covered and will probably seek to mute White on the Queenside  by means of ...Qc5.}) 15... b5 {An interesting decision by Topalov, committing  himself to a line which sees him sacrifice his Nb4 for a few pawns and  activity.} (15... e4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Nd2 Nd3 18. Rf1 f5 {is equal, with  White having a few options, here, Qb3, Qc2, f3, b3 are all playable. The Nd3  is not so intimidating and is not a long term prospect for Black.}) 16. a3 bxc4  17. axb4 cxb4 18. Bd2 Nxd5 {Computer evaluations don't like things for Black,  here, but they should be largely ignored as even with the advancements that  have been seen over recent times, they still have their flaws and don't tend  to get positional sacrifices until something concrete appears. In my opinion,  things are certainly not as horrid as the +1.00 I am seeing.} 19. Qc1 c3 {  I think Topalov is committed to this, ...Qc7 is also possible, but I think it  is much too slow for the situation.} (19... Qc7 20. Nxe5 Nxe3 21. Bxe3 dxe5 22.  Bxh6 Bxh6 23. Qxh6 {and White just looks much better here.}) 20. bxc3 b3 21.  Qb1 {Slightly inaccurate, this, as it gives Black a tempo with ...Nf6 after  which the prospect of ...Bf5 should not be taken lightly. Furthermore, however,  had the Queen gone straight to b2, White would have c3-c4 as a possibility,  but now that would lose to ...b3-b2. This seems a very small difference, but  those decide chess games.} (21. Qb2 Nf6 (21... Qc7 {may be more advisable} 22.  Nc1 (22. Nfd4 {is interesting} Nb6 {(not ...exd4?? when Bxd5 is winning)} 23.  Nxb3 Nc4 24. Qc2 Rxb3 25. Qxb3 Nxd2 {does not see Black with enough for his  investments.}) 22... Be6 23. Nxb3 Nf6 24. Ra3 Qc4 25. Rb1 Bf5 {does not seem  enough for Black, after} 26. Be1 Bxb1 27. Qxb1 Ne4 28. Qc2 {and White is  better although there is lots of chess still to be played.}) 22. c4 Ne4 23. Ba5  {and White is clearly better, here and threatening to become active very  quickly, when he is simply a pawn up.}) 21... Nf6 22. Qb2 Qc7 23. c4 {giving  the pawn up in order to free his position and get active. White has thrown  Black something of a bone with his last few moves.} Qxc4 24. Nc3 Be6 25. Rec1  Nd7 26. e4 {There is nothing wrong with this move in principle, it was always  going to be on its way -- but Ra4 or Bf1 were perhaps a bit more appropriate,  here.} Nc5 27. Bf1 Qb4 (27... Nd3 28. Bxd3 {this is quite obligatory, anything  else seems to work out for Black.} Qxd3 29. Be3 Rfc8 {and Black looks to be  doing fine, here.}) 28. Be3 Rfc8 29. Nd2 {Was Aronian wary of Bxa6? It seems a  pretty safe pawn. I think it's more a case that he didn't want the  complication of opening the a-file. However, when all else is considered,  chess often comes down to playing the best move and he may regret rejecting  this pawn.} (29. Bxa6 Nxa6 30. Rxa6 Ra8 31. Rb6 Qa3 32. Qxa3 Rxa3 33. Nb1 {  is good for White.}) 29... a5 {things are fairly tidy here now for Black and  this a-pawn is no small thing.} 30. Bxc5 Rxc5 31. Ra4 Qb7 {I don't think  Topalov will have been feeling all that bad, here. His position holds quite  some potential.} 32. Bc4 Qc6 {! a very good move, putting pressure on the Nc3,  due to the bad position of the Ra4. The tables have turned, here and Black is  now in a very good place.} 33. Bd5 {Bxe6 would have been bad, after ...fxe6,  White is not in a pleasant situation because of the Nc3 and Ra4.} Bxd5 34. exd5  Qd7 {A strange decision this, taking the Queen off of the c-file, ...Qc7 was a  better choice.} 35. Ra3 a4 36. Nxa4 Rxd5 37. Nxb3 {Both sides have sorted out  their issues, here and the position is about equal.} e4 38. Qa2 Qf5 39. Re1  Rdb5 40. Rc1 d5 41. Nac5 d4 {Black is being allowed a bit too much scope with  these pawns.} 42. Ra7 d3 43. Rc7 h5 {Preparing ...Bh6, when the bishop has a  lot of influence along the c1-h6 diagonal.} 44. Qa4 h4 45. Qxe4 {White decides  to give a piece back in order to take care of Black's central pawns, but this  is not overly effective.} Qxe4 46. Nxe4 Rxb3 {so now, it is Black who is a  pawn up.} 47. gxh4 {?? an error, this pawn was very poisoned.} Bh6 {The first  part of Topalov's plan, the second part is to move White's knight on e4,  releasing his pawn.} 48. Rf1 R3b4 {Black is very much winning, here, White has  no good answer in this situation.} 49. f3 Rb2 {To the point, Rb1 would also  have been great. If Ng5 instead, Black could have simply taken on h4; Nc3  would have been met by ...d3-d2; Nf6+ and Black simply plays ...Kg7. White is  toast.} 50. Nf6+ Kg7 51. Ng4 d2 52. Rd7 {This stops nothing, due to ...Re8 and  then ...Re1, White has no control over the Queening threat.} Re8 53. Nf2 Re1 {  And here, Levon Aronian resigned. Veselin Topalov has not had a very good time  in this tournament, with only two points from nine games. However, what a  final game.} 0-1   [Event "London Chess Classic 2016"]  [Site "London ENG"]  [Date "2016.12.18"]  [Round "9.4"]  [White "Adams, Michael"]  [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "C67"]  [WhiteElo "2748"]  [BlackElo "2779"]  [PlyCount "60"]  [EventDate "2016.12.09"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nf5 8.  Nf3 O-O 9. d4 d5 10. c3 Re8 11. Bd3 Bd6 12. Rxe8+ Qxe8 13. Qc2 g6 14. Nbd2 Bd7  {A new move at this stage.} 15. Nf1 b6 {This position has been seen a few  times before.} 16. Ng3 Nxg3 17. hxg3 {The game really begins, here.} f6 18. Bf4  Bxf4 19. gxf4 Qf7 20. Nh4 Kg7 21. g3 {Very solid and tentative play from both  players -- neither gets up to much from here and they soon agree a draw.} Ne7  22. Re1 Re8 23. Re3 Nc8 24. Ng2 Nd6 25. Rxe8 Qxe8 26. Ne3 Be6 27. f5 Bf7 28.  fxg6 hxg6 29. Qe2 Be6 30. Ng2 c6 {and the players agreed a draw here.} 1/2-1/2   [Event "London Chess Classic 2016"]  [Site "London ENG"]  [Date "2016.12.18"]  [Round "9.3"]  [White "Giri, Anish"]  [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "D27"]  [WhiteElo "2771"]  [BlackElo "2823"]  [PlyCount "116"]  [EventDate "2016.12.09"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }  1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. b3 cxd4 8. Nxd4  Bd7 9. Bb2 Nc6 10. Nf3 Be7 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. Qe2 {One has to go  back to 1993 to find the last time this position occurred -- Miles-Lin, at the  Lee Cup in Beijing.} Nb4 {Caruana varies from the game mentioned above, which  had continued 13...Qa5 and had seen White win in 36.} 14. a3 b5 15. axb4 bxc4  16. Nxc4 Bxb4 17. Ra1 {Rfd1 might have been wiser, here, making Black work a  little to activate his light-squared bishop. Instead, this move rather  provokes it.} Bb5 18. Nd4 Bxc4 19. bxc4 a5 {With rather effortless equality.}  20. Rfc1 Nd7 21. Nb3 Qg5 22. c5 Nxc5 23. Nxa5 Ne4 24. Nc6 Bc5 25. Nd4 (25. Ra6  Ra8 26. Rxa8 Rxa8 27. Qd3 Qd5 28. Qxd5 exd5 29. Bd4 {=}) 25... Bxd4 26. Bxd4 {  Play has resulted in a position that is rather safe for both and not very  exciting. At this level, there is not much potential from here unless there is  a mistake. This doesn't happen and though the players play on for quite a  while, there is little event.} Rxc1+ 27. Rxc1 e5 28. Bb2 Rd8 29. Rd1 Rxd1+ 30.  Qxd1 h5 31. Qd3 Nf6 32. h3 e4 33. Qd8+ Kh7 34. Qe7 Qg6 35. Bxf6 gxf6 36. Qc5  Kg7 37. Qd5 f5 38. Qe5+ Qf6 39. Qg3+ Kh7 40. Kh2 Qe7 41. Qf4 Kg6 42. Kg3 Qd8  43. Qe5 Qg5+ 44. Kh2 Qd8 45. Qg3+ Kh7 46. Qf4 Kg6 47. Qe5 Qd2 48. Qg3+ Kh6 49.  Qf4+ Kg6 50. Qg3+ Kh6 51. Qh4 Qd6+ 52. Qf4+ Qxf4+ 53. exf4 Kg6 54. Kg1 Kg7 55.  Kf1 Kf6 56. Ke2 Ke6 57. Kd2 Kd6 58. Ke2 Ke6 {And the players agreed a draw,  here.} 1/2-1/2   [Event "London Chess Classic 2016"]  [Site "London ENG"]  [Date "2016.12.18"]  [Round "9.2"]  [White "Anand, Viswanathan"]  [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "D37"]  [WhiteElo "2779"]  [BlackElo "2809"]  [PlyCount "48"]  [EventDate "2016.12.09"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }  1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 c5 8. dxc5  bxc5 9. O-O Nc6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Rc1 h6 12. h3 {A new move, e4 and Rc1 having  been tried before.} Be6 13. Bb5 Qb6 14. Qa4 Rfc8 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 a6 17.  Be2 Rd8 18. Bf3 Nd7 19. Bg3 Nf6 20. Rfd1 Rac8 21. Be5 Nd7 22. Bg3 Nf6 23. Be5  Nd7 24. Bg3 Nf6 {draw by repetition.} 1/2-1/2   [Event "London Chess Classic 2016"]  [Site "London ENG"]  [Date "2016.12.18"]  [Round "9.1"]  [White "So, Wesley"]  [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "A04"]  [WhiteElo "2794"]  [BlackElo "2804"]  [PlyCount "69"]  [EventDate "2016.12.09"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }  1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Be2 d5 6. d4 cxd4 7. exd4 e4 8. Ne5  dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Qxd1+ 11. Kxd1 Ng4 12. e6 fxe6 {Varying from a game  that the two had played earlier in the year, during the 'Your Next Move'  tournament in Leuven. That game had continued 12...Bxe6 and been won by White.}  13. Nxe4 Bd7 14. f3 Ne5 15. Bb3 {This is a fairly simple position, the only  imbalance being Black's isolated pawn on e6.} Rd8 16. Bd2 Nd3 17. Kc2 Nb4+ 18.  Bxb4 Bxb4 19. Nc3 Ke7 20. Rhe1 Bxc3 21. Kxc3 Rc8+ 22. Kd2 Rhd8 23. Ke3 e5 24.  Rad1 Bc6 {Things are largely resolved, here, both have a fairly safe position  with no real weaknesses and the players just play on a little to show willing  before splitting the point.} 25. h4 h6 26. a3 Rxd1 27. Rxd1 Rf8 28. Rf1 Rf4 29.  g3 Rd4 30. Rd1 Rxd1 31. Bxd1 g5 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. f4 gxf4+ 34. gxf4 exf4+ 35.  Kxf4 {Game Drawn.} 1/2-1/2
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text:
Het waterschap De Aarlanden was tot 1995 een waterschap in de Nederlandse provincie Zuid-Holland in de gemeenten Nieuwkoop, Nieuwveen, Zevenhoven, Leimuiden, Ter Aar, Woubrugge, Rijnsaterwoude en Alphen aan den Rijn (Aarlanderveen en Oudshoorn). Het kantoor was gevestigd in Ter Aar.

Het waterschap was in 1979 ontstaan uit de volgende waterschappen:
 De Drooggemaakte Polder aan de Westzijde te Aarlanderveen
 De Griet- en Vriesekoopsche Polder
 De Groote Heilige-Geestpolder
 De Kleine Heilige-Geestpolder
 Polder Nieuwkoop
 Polder Nieuwkoop en Noorden
 de Noordeind- en Geerpolder
 de Rijnsaterwoudsche Polder
 de Uiteindsche en Middelpolder
 de Verenigde Bloklandse en Korteraarse Polder
 Vierambacht
 de Wassenaarsche Polder
 Zuid- en Noordeinderpolder

Zie ook
Wapen van De Aarlanden

Geschiedenis van Alphen aan den Rijn
Geschiedenis van Kaag en Braassem
Geschiedenis van Nieuwkoop
Voormalig waterschap in Zuid-Holland

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
What was Muchukunda's next birth?
Muchukunda was an ancient solar dynasty king who was the son of Vishnu's incarnation Mandhata, whom I discuss here and the brother of Vishnu's devotee Ambarisha I discuss here. Before the birth of Kartikeya, Muchukunda briefly served as the general of the gods in their battle against the demon Tarakasura. But similar to the story of Kakudmi, during that brief time a great deal of time had passed on Earth, during which all his family, friends, and citizens had perished. Since everyone he knew was gone, Muchukunda went inside a mountain cave and slept for eons. Finally he was awoken during the time of Krishna by the Greek king Kalayavana, who along with Jarasandha had just attacked Mathura (leading to the Yadavas going to Dwaraka. Angered by being awoken, Muchukunda burnt Kalayavana to ashes.
That's all that most people know about Muchukunda, but I'm interested in what happened after that. This chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam describes how after Kalayavana was killed, Vishnu appeared before Muchukunda and granted him the following boon:
O emperor, great ruler, your mind is pure and potent. Though I enticed You with benedictions, your mind was not overcome by material desires. Understand that I enticed you with benedictions just to prove that you would not be deceived. The intelligence of My unalloyed devotees is never diverted by material blessings. The minds of nondevotees who engage in such practices as prāṇāyama are not fully cleansed of material desires. Thus, O King, material desires are again seen to arise in their minds. Wander this earth at will, with your mind fixed on Me. May you always possess such unfailing devotion for Me. Because you followed the principles of a kṣatriya, you killed living beings while hunting and performing other duties. You must vanquish the sins thus incurred by carefully executing penances while remaining surrendered to Me. O King, in your very next life you will become an excellent brāhmaṇa, the greatest well-wisher of all creatures, and certainly come to Me alone.
I'm interested in the part in bold. My question is, what was the next birth of Muchukunda as an "excellent Brahmana"? Did this birth already happen, or is it going to happen in future?
The next chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam says that Muchukunda subsequently went to Badarikashrama to engage in Tapasya, but it doesn't say when or how he died. In any case, there are claims that Prahlada was reborn as the Dvaita philosopher Raghavendra, that Arjuna was reborn as the Shaivite poet Kannappa, etc. Are there any claims that some Kali Yuga figure was a rebirth of Muchukunda?
mythology vishnu puranas krishna bhagavata-purana
SwiftPushkar
Keshav Srinivasan♦Keshav Srinivasan
Past life of Pundalik – Story of Muchukunda
In the Ikshvaku (Suryavamsha) dynasty, there lived a King named Mandhata, who had a son named Muchukunda, whom he later crowned King. Once, in a battle between the Gods and the demons, the Gods were defeated. They rushed to King Muchukunda and asked for his help. He assumed the role of an able commander and protected the Gods until Kartikeya, the son of Lord Shiva, could assume the mantle. Lord Indra and the other Gods then thanked King Muchkunda, who had spent time in heaven, where one year equalled three hundred and sixty years of earth. In the meantime, his kingdom and family had all gone due to the passage of time. Indra, then pleased with him, granted him to select any boon (except liberation). Muchukunda was very tired as he had been on guard all the time and unable to get any sleep so he requested the boon for unlimited sleep with the clause that if disturbed, the person who disturbed him would be burnt to ashes. Indra granted him his boon and Muchukunda descended to earth and selected a cave where he could sleep without disturbance.
Meanwhile, there was a great Yavana warrior king named Kalayavan, who became vain and cruel as he was unmatched in battle. He learnt that Lord Krishna was the only person who could defeat him in battle and hence challenged him to war. When they faced each other in battle, Krishna dismounted from his chariot and proceeded to the cave where Muchukunda was sleeping. Kalayavan was surprised and began to follow him. Entering the dark cave, he mistook Muchukunda for Krishna in the darkness and attacked him.
Muchukunda was rudely disturbed, and his gaze fell on Kalayavan, who was immediately burnt to ashes. He then saw Lord Krishna, and was thrilled by this sight. Krishna blessed him and advised him to observe penances to cleanse himself of all sins, and promised him that his next birth would be his last one after which he would get liberation (Moksha).
Muchukunda was reborn as Pundalik which was his last birth, after which he achieved Moksha at the feet of Lord Vithoba of Pandharpur.
Legend of Pundalik
There are three versions of the legend of Pundalik with two of them mentioned in the Skanda Purana.
The first version states that ascetic Pundarika (Pundalik) was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and a dutiful son who served his aged parents well. Lord Krishna came as a cowherd to meet Pundarika and enraptured with his divine form Pundarika asked him to sanctify the place and make it a holy Thirtha Kshetra, or pilgrimage site by remaining there in the same beautiful form, on the banks of the river Bhima. This image is said to be the present day image of Lord Vithoba and the holy place is identified as the modern day Pandharpur.
The second version of this legend states that Lord Vithoba appeared before Pundalik in the form of infant Krishna (Bala Krishna) which is found in some of the manuscripts of the Puranas.
The third version is the most popular legend which stated that Pundalik was the son of Janudev and Satyavati. They lived in a forest called Dandirvan and he looked after them well. However, after his marriage, he spent all his time with his wife and began neglecting his aged parents. His parents decided to leave for Kashi in order to attain salvation as was believed by many devout Hindus. Pundalik and his wife too decided to accompany them. They made their journey comfortable by riding horses, but his parents were made to walk and perform all the chores during the journey. On the way they reached the ashram of a revered sage named Kukkuta, who hospitably gave them shelter. That night when they were all asleep, Pundalik had a remarkable vision. He saw a group of beautiful women in soiled clothes entering the ashram and after performing chores for the sage like cleaning the ashram, washing his clothes and fetching water they entered the prayer room and after prayer they emerged with clean clothes and disappeared. Pundalik remained as if in a trance with a great sense of calm and decided to witness it the next night too. He approached the women and asked them who they were and the significance behind their actions. They informed him that they were the holy rivers of India, who were defiled when people took a holy dip in their waters to wash away their sins. They then stated that he was the greatest sinner due to his ill treatment of his parents. Pundalik was shocked and suddenly there was an inner transformation in him. He then began to serve his parents dutifully and lovingly. Impressed with him, Lord Vishnu decided to test him and approached him, but Pundalik wished to complete his duties first and throwing a brick he requested Lord Vishnu to stand on it and wait for him until he finished his service. Some legends state that Rukmini was displeased with Krishna and left him, so Lord Krishna had come searching for her. After he had found her, they reached Pundalik's house, where he asked them to wait while he served his parents. He then rushed to the Lord, thinking that the Lord would be angry at the tardy reception but the Lord impressed with his unflinching attitude of service and devotion to his parents granted him a boon. Pundalik requested him to stay back on earth and bless all his devotees. The Lord agreed and the temple of Lord Vithoba came up there along with his consort Goddess Rakhumai.
Ancient texts
Pundalik is credited with the bringing of Lord Vithoba to Pandharpur. He is also said to be the founder of the Varkari sect which propagates the worship and devotion of Lord Vithoba. The legends are classified into three traditions, namely the Varkari tradition, the Brahmin tradition and the third which is an amalgamation of both traditions. The Varkari texts are Bhaktalilamrita, Bhaktavijaya, Pundalika Mahatmya and Namdev abhanga written in Marathi, the Brahmin texts are Panduranga Mahatmya from the Skanda Purana, another Panduranga Mahatmya and Bhima Mahatmya from the Padma Purana and another Panduranga Mahatmya from Vishnu Purana in Sanskrit and the third tradition are written by Brahmins Sridhara and Prahlad Maharaj but in Marathi.
Reference in scriptures
The Padma Purana and the Skanda Purana contain references to Panduranga Kshetra and Paundarikakshetra. There are stories related to various places in Pandharpur. Some archaeological excavations show similarities between Shri Venkatesha and Shri Vithoba. Both the icons have their hands on their waist (Katinyasta Kara)
http://www.indianscriptures.com/sacred-places/temples/pandharpur-vittal-temple
krsna_ramkrsna_ram
Are there any scriptures that say that Pundalika was a rebirth of Muchukunda? – Keshav Srinivasan♦ Jul 1 '17 at 16:20
@KeshavSrinivasan. I searched for a scriptural reference for an answer to the above question but couldn't find any as of now. Unfortunately detailed answers to some queries aren't found in our scriptures. Some of the questions asked in this forum incl some of yours were asked more than eleven years ago, the answers to a few of them if answered are expected anywhere between six months to three years approximately from now. Will update it if I receive the same. Some will remain unanswered as it is meant to happen that way. – krsna_ram Jul 1 '17 at 21:42
@krisna Haha, what do you mean 11 years ago? This site is just 3 years old. Anyway, welcome to the site! – Keshav Srinivasan♦ Jul 1 '17 at 22:25
@Keshav No I meant that few questions asked in this forum were asked much before at a Silver Jubilee function in 2006. Unless all of it was recorded it would be difficult to say who asked what ? – krsna_ram Jul 2 '17 at 17:27
Oh, what is this Silver Jubilee function you're talking about? – Keshav Srinivasan♦ Jul 3 '17 at 4:17
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged mythology vishnu puranas krishna bhagavata-purana .
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With an introduction from Neil DeGrasse Tyson about the importance of kid-like curiosity, this lyrical picture book biography on the beloved astrophysicist and host of Cosmos is the perfect gift for young astronomers and fans of all ages.
Neil deGrasse Tyson was born curious. And the secrets of a billion galaxies lay there—waiting for him to explore its cosmic mysteries. He just had to look up. Up beyond the city lights, up at the shining stars, up through the Milky Way, and past the veil of the night sky.
Follow young Neil's journey as he discovers the wonders of space, the thrill of science, and the joy in sharing the beauty of our amazing universe. Read his favorite mind-blowing facts and learn what mysteries are left to solve.
From On a Beam of Light author Jennifer Berne and debut paper illustrator Lorraine Nam comes the inspiring true tale of Neil's life and how he became a world-famous astrophysicist.
The future of discovery lays with you. Look up with Neil and begin your own journey into the cosmos.
Jennifer Berne is the award-winning author of On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein and Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau. She grew up in New York City, spending days at the zoos, museums, and the planetarium. At night, she had a little globe that projected stars on her bedroom ceiling. After a successful advertising career, Jennifer began writing for Nick Jr. magazine and writing books about the subjects she loves most—our amazing universe and the people who discover its secrets. She lives in the beautiful rolling hills of Columbia County, New York, in a house she designed herself. You can visit her online at www.jenniferberne.com.
Lorraine Nam is a paper illustrator and daydreamer. When she is not folding, gluing, and cutting things out of paper, she can be found cooking, reading, or traveling. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, and frequently looks out at the New York skyline from her studio window. In a clear night sky, she is able to see the occasional star. You can visit her online at www.lorrainenam.com.


With almost two-thirds of marketers employing advertising for brand campaigns, it's clear: programmatic is top of mind for many digital marketers.
Here are five things marketers should know about the state of programmatic today.
The number of programmatic platforms has exploded in recent years and the terminology can make a marketer's head spin. RTB, SSP, DSP, DMP, and so on and so forth.
In short, programmatic is acronym hell, necessitating programmatic glossaries. Given this, it's not surprising that a 2014 Forrester study found that only 23% of marketers understood programmatic buying. A year later, more than half of marketers still rate their programmatic knowledge as very poor, poor or average.
While many marketers are working to get up to speed, the pace of change and innovation means marketers can never assume that they have programmatic figured out.
For example, with programmatic increasingly being used to transact video inventory, marketers are being challenged to learn the nuances between buying display inventory and video inventory programmatically.
If programmatic is a car, data is the fuel that makes it run. Having enough quality data can make or break a marketer's programmatic efforts and data comes from a variety of sources.
Second and third-party data can be very useful, but for many marketers, collecting and putting to good use first party data – the data they gather from their own websites and online platforms – is absolutely critical to taking advantage of the programmatic opportunity.
Because of the importance of data, data management platforms (DMPs) are taking on an increasingly prominent role in the programmatic space as well over half of marketers believe DMPs are key to future of programmatic marketing.
While most programmatic inventory was remnant display inventory in the early days, that's no longer the case. As noted above, programmatic is being extended beyond display to video. And through a growing number of private exchanges, select marketers can programmatically purchase publishers' best inventory.
For marketers, this means one thing: it's more and more difficult to ignore programmatic because so much inventory, and so many different kinds of inventory, are available through programmatic sources.
Marketers expect programmatic to deliver greater efficiency and reduce costs, but as AdAge's Alexandra Bruell recently discussed, there are a number of hidden costs frequently associated with programmatic that eat up all of the savings marketers can realize on programmatic inventory itself.
Obviously, this doesn't mean that programmatic isn't worth additional cost in some areas, but as marketers get more sophisticated and realize that programmatic is not a panacea, they are increasingly looking to ensure that unnecessary costs are minimized or eliminated altogether.
Tens of billions of dollars of ad inventory are now bought and sold every year through programmatic platforms globally. It's virtually impossible to find a major publisher, ad tech firm or agency that doesn't have some programmatic product or service on offer.
Clearly, programmatic is already a very important part of the modern-day online ad market, and arguably it still has a long way to go before it realizes its full potential. But that doesn't mean that programmatic is everything.
There will continue to exist a market for non-programmatic online advertising and while programmatic will likely shrink the size of that market over time, it's still going to be large enough that marketers will need to look beyond programmatic to be successful online.
Interested in the programmatic advertising opportunities within Incisive Media? Contact Paul Harvey for more information.


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United Overseas Bank (UOB) racked up a strong performance in the third quarter despite its oil and gas loan book staying under pressure.
The bank's stellar result yesterday came a day after it announced that Mr Wee Cho Yaw will retire from the board, which he had steered for six decades.
Net profit rose 12 per cent to $883 million in the three months to Sept 30 compared with the same period a year earlier, driven by broad-based growth in both net interest income and non-interest income.
Total income rose 10 per cent from a year ago to $2.24 billion.
Net interest income increased 15 per cent to $1.41 billion, driven by higher net interest margin and loan growth. Net interest margin rose to 1.79 per cent from 1.69 per cent, which UOB said was due to "active balance sheet management" and rising interest rates.
Non-interest income rose 2 per cent year on year to $830 million. Fee and commission income from the wealth management, fund management and credit card businesses grew 12 per cent to $551 million.
Compared with a year ago, specific allowances on loans and other assets for the quarter decreased by $51 million to $247 million.
The amount of non-performing loans (NPL) grew 7 per cent year on year to $3.75 billion as of Sept 30.
"However, new formation of NPL was mainly driven by a large account in the oil and gas sector, which remained under stress," UOB said in a statement.
"Though the NPL ratio moved up to 1.6 per cent, NPL coverage remained strong at 108 per cent, or 236 per cent after taking collateral into account."
Deposits were 7 per cent higher year on year at $268 billion while gross loans increased 7.8 per cent to $234 billion. The loan-to-deposit ratio stayed healthy at 85.8 per cent.
Despite ongoing uncertainties in the external environment, we believe in Asia's long-term prospects, which are backed by its favourable growth drivers.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE WEE EE CHEONG, on Asia's long-term prospects.
Earnings per share was $2.07 in the third quarter, up from $1.90 a year earlier, while net asset value per share was $19.88, up from $18.54.
Chief executive Wee Ee Cheong said: "The asset quality of our overall portfolio was stable, apart from a couple of oil and gas-related issues, and our reserves buffer and capitalisation remained high.
"Despite ongoing uncertainties in the external environment, we believe in Asia's long-term prospects, which are backed by its favourable growth drivers. We continue to invest in capabilities to support our customers' regionalisation ambitions and rising wealth needs."
UOB said on Thursday that Mr Wee will retire from the board at the shareholders' meeting on April 20 next year, after six decades of dedicated service.
It added that it has nominated former deputy prime minister Wong Kan Seng to succeed incumbent independent non-executive chairman Hsieh Fu Hua who will be retiring early next year.
UOB shares closed two cents lower at $24.77 yesterday, after the results were announced.


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Home » Newswire » Agnico Eagle Publishes first Climate Action Report
Agnico Eagle Publishes first Climate Action Report
by ahnationtalk on November 28, 202258 Views
TORONTO – Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) (TSX: AEM) ("Agnico Eagle" or the "Company") reports that it has released its first Climate Action Report (the "Report"), aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures recommendations. The Company is committed to be Net-Zero by 2050 in absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions and, to this end, it has set an interim carbon reduction target of 30% of 2021 Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This inaugural Report outlines the Company's proposed plan to meet its climate targets and to remain among the lowest greenhouse gas emitters of the industry's senior gold companies, as well as the strategies of the Company to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. With the contribution from the sustainability, energy and innovation teams at each mining operation, the Company believes it has established a credible pathway to decarbonization and is committed to continuously assess and adapt technological advances.
The Report supplements the Company's 2021 Sustainability Report, which discusses aspects of climate change and related business risks and opportunities. Additionally, the Report is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals with respect to climate and the Company's response to CDP (formerly known as the Climate Disclosure Project).
"Climate change is one of society's greatest challenges and as a sustainability leader in the global mining industry, we also aim to be a climate action leader. The risks associated with a changing climate have never been clearer and we understand the importance of managing these risks to build a better business, capitalize on future opportunities and communicate effectively with our stakeholders," said Agnico Eagle's President and CEO Ammar Al-Joundi. "We hold ourselves accountable to high ESG standards and have strategies in place to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change," added Mr. Al-Joundi.
Highlights of the Report include:
Climate Strategy – The Company's strategy to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change is built upon Agnico Eagle's business strategy and its three strategic pillars – performance, pipeline and people
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets – Agnico Eagle continues to be committed to addressing climate-change and reaching Net-Zero by 2050 in absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions. Supporting this commitment, the Company has established an interim carbon reduction target of 30% by 2030 (based on 2021 levels), representing an approximate reduction of 350 kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent in absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions
Governance Structure – Agnico Eagle's governance structure creates clear lines of accountability, provides flexibility to adapt to unforeseen circumstances and ensures sustainable practices are considered in all aspects of its business. Accountability for climate matters at the Board level operates through the Health, Safety, Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, at the management level through the Steering Committee on Climate-related Risks and Opportunities and at the site level through each mine's Operations Management and Climate Action Teams
Climate Scenario Analysis – The Company developed scenarios based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis to assess physical and transitional climate-related risks and inform the development of its climate strategy
Pathway to Decarbonization – Key actions identified by Agnico Eagle to achieve its 2030 interim target and Net-Zero by 2050 target focus on three primary areas:
Energy efficiency initiatives, including energy reduction initiatives and opportunities at each site, such as energy management systems, heat recovery systems and ventilation on demand
Technology transition initiatives, such as electrification of material handling equipment, including the potential for a trolley-assist system for haul trucks at Detour Lake and increased use of battery electric vehicles at our operations
Increased renewable energy initiatives, including a combination of the greening of the electrical grids that supply energy to our sites and the development or deployment of cleaner power supplies at our operations
A changing climate affects us all and the Report outlines the initiatives the Company has undertaken and plans to make, toward a lower-carbon. Together with its stakeholders, Agnico Eagle will work to respond to the challenges and opportunities in the years ahead to find the right solutions for the Company and the environment.
The 2022 Climate Action Report can be accessed here.
About Agnico Eagle
Agnico Eagle is a senior Canadian gold mining company, producing precious metals from operations in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico. It has a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects in these countries as well as in the United States and Colombia. Agnico Eagle is a partner of choice within the mining industry, recognized globally for its leading environmental, social and governance practices. The Company was founded in 1957 and has consistently created value for its shareholders, declaring a cash dividend every year since 1983.
For further information regarding Agnico Eagle, contact Investor Relations at investor.relations@agnicoeagle.com or call (416) 947-1212.
Business, Environment, Indigenous, Reports
https://nationtalk.ca/story/agnico-eagle-publishes-first-climate-action-report


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Yve Arellano Arrested for Domestic Violence
The drama continues. 90 Day Fiancé star Yvette "Yve" Arellano was arrested for domestic violence amid husband Mohamed Abdelhamed's text cheating scandal, In Touch can exclusively confirm.
Yve, 48, was arrested on August 15 on one count of battery against a household member and one count of assault against a household member in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to court records obtained by In Touch. She was released on bond and her next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 6.
The arrest comes just three weeks after Mohamed, 28, was involved in a text message cheating scandal that broke in July. In a series of screenshots shared by Instagram blogger Merry Pants, Mohamed had several inappropriate text message conversations with another woman shortly after he and Yve tied the knot. The Egypt native addressed the cheating scandal in a segment on part 2 of the 90 Day Fiancé tell-all, which aired on Sunday, August 21, where he admitted to texting other women.
"You know, it's very shocking, raw, disappointing, saddening," the Albuquerque native said of her husband's infidelity at the end of the episode. "He chose to spend his time focused on starting other relationships and engaging in activity that a married man should not be engaging in. … I asked him if I could see his phone, and that happened and I saw inappropriate things. I saw pictures and calls, and put the pieces together."
Mohamed then explained his side of the story during a confessional. "I met a girl online," he said. "She was very nice, I thought we [were] friends … And then, things started to get bigger. Yve saw my phone. She saw the text messages, and that's how Yve knew."
TLC shared screenshots of the text messages during the episode. In one exchange, he appeared to tell another woman, "I would just keep you in bed for days." He followed up by sending a second text that read, "Just kidding lol [sic]."
Mohamed concluded his confessional by noting that he "wanted to make [the situation] right" by telling the other unidentified women he could no longer talk to them.
"I texted these women and told them, 'I am a married man. Please stop texting me,'" he claimed before wiping away some tears. "I know I did wrong. I told the same story to my wife and promised her that will never happen again. I do love Yve, and she doesn't deserve that."
Shortly after the episode aired on Discovery+, Yve took to her Instagram Stories to issue a statement on the situation. "Let me be clear. Of course I blame him as well," the reality star wrote. "First time I get to say anything though. Everyone was demanding I say something [and] finally get to, so just take it as facts … [and] one of these women was still married as well."
She went on to give more insight into the situation by sharing other quotes via her Instagram Stories. "Queens don't compete with hoes," one read. Another said, "And home wreckers, They, these!!!! Plural were both! #desperado."
"Thank you ladies for sharing your stories of infidelity, heartaches, & pain. Obviously we are not alone. Why commitment for some isn't a commitment," she wrote via her Instagram Stories shortly after the tell-all aired on TLC. "There's lots of healing that needs to happen in this world on so many levels. If you don't be exclusive just say so, so people can make their own informed decisions."
A rep for Yve did not immediately respond to In Touch's request for comment. Mohamed did not immediately respond to In Touch's request for comment.
Missing teen Kiely Rodni confirmed as body discovered in California reservoir
Home prices plunging in 'pandemic boomtowns' as market slumps


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It is a moral and fiscal disaster that our free nation has, per capita, more people sitting in prison than any nation in the world.
It is rare these days in Washington to see bipartisan support for anything, let alone for a major issue with far reaching implications for the nation.
This is why the bipartisan passage in the House, 360-59, of the First Step Act to reform our federal prisons is such big news. The 360 "yes" votes included 134 Democrats.
The bill focuses on improving the management of our existing federal prison population and the abysmal statistics regarding recidivism — the likelihood that an ex-con will wind up back in prison. Data point to 68 percent of those released within three years, and 77 percent within five years, will be back behind bars.
You would think that Senate Republicans would be rolling out the red carpet for the First Step Act, particularly given that it's an initiative that started in the White House.
Unfortunately, that's not happening. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is not moving to embrace this bill because it doesn't including sentencing reform.
In all my years working in public policy, one lesson I have learned is that it is an invitation for failure to try to deal with a complex issue, one having a number of separate components, in a single huge, complicated piece of legislation. The result is either no action or a sweeping — and bad — law.