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Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary
1 Kings 1 Kings 22
AHAB AND THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki . Naboth the Jezreelite—Naboth' נָבוֹת, fruits, according to Gesenius; but pre-eminence, according to Fürst. He was an Israelite resident in the town of Jezreel (the Alex. Sept. follows the Hebrew, and designates him an Israelite throughout the whole chapter) owning a plot of ground (2Ki 9:25-26) situate on the eastern slope of the hill of Jezreel, as well, also, as the vineyard, whose location is uncertain. Vineyard in Jezreel—a town in the tribe of Issachar (Jos 19:18), where the kings of Israel had a palace (1Ki 18:45). Hard by the palace of Ahab—The Sept. reads instead, "bard by the threshing floor of Ahab, king of Samaria." The dispute as to location of the vineyard turns upon the question whether "the palace" here referred to was the king's residence at Jezreel or at Samaria. Note, however, that the words in 1Ki 21:4—Ahab came into his house, &c.—are identical with those in chap. 1Ki 20:43, where the further explanation points to Samaria as his home. Further, in 1Ki 21:8, we find that Jezebel sends her letters to Jezreel, as if she were resident in some other place; and that the elders of Jezreel send her tidings (1Ki 21:14) of Naboth's death, which would certainly have been superfluous if she were at the time resident in Jezreel. So probably the vineyard was hard by the palace in Samaria, and the king came to Naboth at Jezreel to ask this possession of its owner.
1Ki . Naboth said, the Lord forbid it me—Lit., Be it to me far from Jehovah ( לִּי מֵיְהָוֹה) that I, &c., indicating both the personal loyalty of his faith in Jehovah, and his religious purpose not to sell God's heritage to an idolatrous king.
1Ki . Why is thy spirit sad?—See for סָרָה note on chap. 1Ki 20:43—resentful.
1Ki . Dost thou now govern Israel?—Either an ironical taunt. or a rallying call; for the words are usually translated imperatively: "Thou! exert thy royal sway over Israel!"
1Ki . She wrote letters—This is the solitary instance recorded in the Bible of a woman being able to write. Female education in the East then, as now, rendered it extremely exceptional for a woman to possess such a qualification. Sent the letters (lit. the letter) unto the elders and nobles that, in his city, dwelt with Naboth—a statement which affirms both that Jezreel was the native city of Naboth, and his usual abode. These elders and nobles were his fellow-townsmen.
1Ki . Proclaim a fast—An observance only proper on occasions of great distress and national calamities (Jud 20:26; 1Sa 7:6; Joe 1:14; Joe 2:12). This would impart an appearance of gravity to the frivolous but foul procedure.
1Ki . Thou didst blaspheme God and the king— בֵּרַכְתָּ אֱלֹהִים וָמֶלֶךְ. The word בָּרַךְ means to bless, reverence, adore. "Thou hast blessed Elohim [not using the name JEHOVAH] and the king." Keil accepts the words as meaning, Thou hast blessed—i.e., bid farewell to, taken thy leave of God and the king; because at departure one utters a benediction [cf. Deu 13:11; Lev 24:14 sq.; and 2Sa 16:9].
1Ki . Did as Jezebel had sent unto them—Shows their absolute moral degradation and slavish submission before the tyranny of this woman.
1Ki . Arise, take possession … for Naboth is not alive, but dead—His possessions became confiscated, falling into the king's hands (cf. 2Sa 16:4; Deu 13:16).
1Ki . Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard—From Samaria to Jezreel.
HOMILETICS OF 1Ki
THE OVERMASTERING POWER OF A COVETOUS SPIRIT
I. That a covetous spirit is unsatisfied with the most ample possessions (1Ki ). About twenty-five miles from Samaria Ahab had his summer palace, his vast park and favourite hunting seat at Jezreel—the Windsor of England, and Fontainebleau of France. After his successful wars with Syria, he gives himself to luxury and pleasure, and employs himself in enlarging and beautifying his summer residence. Not content with what he already possesses, he covets what belongs to his subjects, as the people who demanded a king were forewarned would be the case (1Sa 8:14). More particularly is he anxious to possess a vineyard owned by one Naboth, of an illustrious family, and to add it to the royal demesnes. But Naboth refuses to part with his property, and confirms his refusal in the name of Jehovah. It is the curse of covetousness to be never satisfied. As a ship may be overladen with gold and silver even unto sinking, and yet have compass and sides enough to hold ten times more, so covetous men, though they have enough to sink them, yet have they never enough to satisfy them. "This kyte-footed corruption, wherever it domineers, blasts and banishes all nobleness of spirit, natural affection, humanity, reason, discretion, manliness, mutual entertainment, intercourse of kindness and love; so that, for any fair dealing, a man had as good converse with a cannibal as with a truly covetous caitiff."
II. That a covetous spirit gives way to unmanly and helpless distress when it cannot have all it wishes (1Ki ). Like a spoilt child, because he cannot have his toy, Ahab punishes himself by yielding to a fit of fretfulness and sour temper that completely prostrated him. Avarice, like every other evil passion, leads to moral pauperism. "Had covetous men, as the fable goes of Briareus, each of them one hundred hands," writes Dryden, "they would all of them be employed in grasping and gathering, and hardly one of them in giving or laying out; a thing in itself so monstrous that no thing in nature besides it is like it, except it be death and the grave, the only things I know which are always carrying off the spoils of the world, and never making restitution." Covetousness has been well called "the great sepulchre of all other passions." The covetous monarch, surrounded with the luxuries and wealth of a kingdom, blubbers and frets because he does not own a paltry herb garden.
"Some, o'er enamoured of their bags, run mad,
Groan under gold, yet weep for want of bread."
Young.
III. That a covetous spirit is utterly unscrupulous as to the means by which its wishes are gratified (1Ki ).
1. It is at the mercy of the vilest agents. Jezebel knew how to take advantage of the weak moments of her weak husband, and, unhappily, had at her beck the agents who were ready to carry out any diabolical plot she might invent. "Big and black though the villany appear, the wicked queen resolved that Naboth should be executed for treason, and then his property, with the coveted vineyard included, would all revert to the crown as a criminal's possessions. While her poor fool of a husband, therefore, is sleeping off his wounded pride, she, never accustomed to stand upon trifles, commits the fourfold crimes of forgery, false-witness, perjury, and murder. We are shocked when we read of the massacre of Glencoe in the very midst of the open-handed hospitality of the children of the mountains. Our whole soul shudders at the story of that Russian soldier who, during the Crimean war, solicited in his dying agonies a cup of cold water from an English officer, and then pointed his pistol right at his benefactor's heart. And with kindred feelings we read of the horrible contradiction before us—an unoffending follower of God compelled to surrender his life, a victim to the machinations of a heathen queen, screening, but only in reality aggravating, her wickedness under the thin disguise of a new-born religious zeal."
2. It weakly sanctions deeds it has not itself the courage to do or prevent. Ahab must have known about the execution and its alleged cause; and he knew Jezebel well enough to know that she would not hesitate at any means by which her ends could be gained. Naboth stood between him and his avaricious purpose; and he cared not how the obstacle was removed. The sufferings of Naboth and his sons, who perished with their father (2Ki ), caused the king no uneasiness. A covetous spirit is essentially mean, cowardly, heartless.
IV. That a covetous spirit eagerly clutches its prize, little caring how it has been acquired, and little dreaming what a curse it may bring (1Ki ). Without wasting a pang of regret upon the cruel fate of his harmless victims, Ahab drives with all speed to Jezreel, and jauntily enters into possession of the confiscated estate. "He walks round and round; he admires trellis and cluster, and branches hanging over the wall. He plans improvement here and enlargement there, by way of preparing for the flower-garden he has in view. And now he turns to leave, when, just at the very moment, let us indulge the fancy, he is plucking a bunch of the dead man's grapes as a gift for Jezebel, there confronts him—like an apparition from the other world, like the ghost of Naboth, like Banquo in another scene—one he has not seen for more than seven years, never since they parted that night of the rushing storm at the gate of Jezreel—one he had thought Jezebel had either effectually frightened, or who had gone back to his mountains, or down to his grave; and yet there he is! still with the long shaggy locks, the sheep-skin mantle, the dark knitted brows, and the thunder peal about to issue from those awful lips." (Howat.) It is ELIJAH! and from his mouth the trembling Ahab receives his doom—the overthrow and ruin of his house. A covetous man may gain his unholy ends, but he gains also disappointment, misery, remorse. What is wealth, when peace of mind and the hope of the heavenly inheritance are gone?
LESSONS:—
1. The demands of covetousness are insatiable.
2. A covetous spirit is easily tempted to commit the worst crimes.
3. Covetousness prepares the instrument of its own torment.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki . Naboth's vineyard. In this narrative we have an exhibition of the following topics:—I. Covetousness. Ahab saw Naboth's garden; its situation, and in all likelihood its condition, made it desirable in his eyes. He offered Naboth a price for it which he declined, because it was unlawful and dishonourable to sell it. This ought to have satisfied Ahab, but it did not; he was annoyed and vexed at being refused, and willingly allowed his unscrupulous wife to resort to any means to secure for him his coveted prize. How many are led away by covetousness; resorting to illegal means to gain the object of their desire. David conceived an inordinate desire for Uriah's wife, and planned the death of her husband that his desire might be gratified. II. Manly independence. Naboth said to Ahab: "The Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my father unto thee." It was a great temptation to Naboth to yield to the expressed wish of the king; he might gain favour, and be remembered by the king in many ways to his temporal advantage. Many yield to temptations of this kind; they will do almost anything to gain the favour or the kindly notice of the wealthy or the influential in society. But Naboth was no sneak. He would not satisfy right to the pleasure even of the king, and told him so. It is well for men to cultivate kindliness and obliging manners, but not at the expense of their own self-respect and manly independence. III. Despotism. As soon as Jezebel made the proposal to murder Naboth, it was readily executed. It does not appear as if there was any protest against it, either on the ground of illegality or unrighteousness. There was no fear of any legal consequences. The will of the queen was supreme, and there would be no desire to resist it. Such deeds as the murder of Naboth fill the annals of despotism. IV. Divine retribution. The death of Naboth was duly announced to Ahab, and he arose to go to take possession of the coveted vineyard. He little thought that the whole proceedings were watched by another King—that the blood of Naboth had ascended into the ears of the Lord of Hosts, crying for vengeance. He thought not of these things; but God marked his sin, and sent Elijah to charge him with it, and to declare unto him God's vengeance. Even so the sinner may indulge in his sinful course, never thinking that there is an all-seeing eye resting upon him.—The Study and Pulpit.
—Voices from Naboth's vineyard I. One of these is—Beware of covetousness. That vineyard has its counterpart in the case and conduct of many still. Covetousness may assume a thousand chameleon hues and phases, but these all resolve themselves into a sinful craving after something other than what we have. Covetousness of means: a grasping after material wealth, the race for riches. Covetousness of place: aspiring after other positions in life than those which Providence has assigned to us, not because they are better, but because they are other than our God-appointed lot, invested with an imaginary superiority. And the singular and sad thing is, that such inordinate longings are most frequently manifested, as with Ahab, in the case of those who have least cause to indulge them. How many there are surrounded with all possible affluence and comfort, who put a life thorn in their side by some similar chase after a denied good, some similar fretting about a denied, trifle. Be assured that carping discontent will grow, if you feed it, till it comes to eat out the kernel of life's happiness; a discontented manhood or womanhood culminating in that saddest of conditions, a peevish old age. II. Another of the voices is, Keep out of the way of temptation. If Ahab, knowing his weakness and besetting sin, had put a restraint upon his covetous eye, and not allowed it to stray upon his neighbour's forbidden property, it would have saved a black page in his history, and the responsibility of a heinous crime. If Achan had not cast his eye on the goodly Babylonish garment, the shekels of silver and the wedge of gold, he would have saved Israel a bloody discomfiture and himself a fearful end. Each has his own strong temptation—his besetting sin. That sin should be specially watched, muzzled, curbed; that gate of temptation specially padlocked and sentinelled. III. Another voice is, Be sure your sin will find you out. Ahab and Jezebel, as we have seen, had managed to a wish their accursed plot. The wheels of crime had moved softly along without one rut or impediment in the way. The two murderers paced their blood-stained inheritance without fear of challenge or discovery. Their time for retribution did come at last, although years of gracious forbearance were suffered to intervene. And are the principles of God's moral government different now?—Macduff.
1Ki . An undisciplined nature. I. Fancies it may gain possession of whatever it covets. II. Cannot understand the motives of those who refuse to gratify its desires. III. Easily overwhelmed with disappointment and chagrin.
1Ki . Naboth had a fair vineyard; it had been better for him to have had none: his vineyard yielded him the bitter grapes of death. Why do we call those goods, which are many times the bane of the owner? Naboth's vineyard lay near to the court of Jezebel: it had been better for him had it been planted in the wilderness. It was now the perpetual object of an evil eye, and stirred those desires which could neither be well desired, nor satisfied: eminency is still joined with peril, obscurity with peace. There can be no worse annoyance to an inheritance, than the greatness of an evil neighbour.—Bp. Hall.
1Ki . Great lords often have fancies which cost them more time and money than do their chief and holiest duties. Thus Ahab thought more of the enlargement and adornment of his garden than of the good of his subjects. The desire for things which serve for pleasure is often a temptation to grievous sin. Therefore says the Scripture: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods, nor anything that is his." Let the needy be thy first care, not thine own pleasure. It is a great gain to be godly and contented. Watch over thine heart, for desires apparently lawful, if not resisted and denied, may lead to ruin.—Lange.
1Ki . True courage the fruit of righteousness. 1 Regards worldly possessions as a sacred trust.
2. Witnesses for God in the midst of prevalent idolatry.
3. Dares to oppose the wishes of an unrighteous king.
—Naboth shows, by the very first words of his reply, that he is a worshipper of Jehovah, not of Baal; and that he does not fear to confess his faith before the idolatrous king. He also indicates by the form of his asseveration that he considers it would be wrong for him to comply with the king's request. It is plain, therefore, that we have not here a mere refusal arising out of a spirit of sturdy independence, or one based upon sentiment—the sentiment which attaches men to ancestral estates. Naboth objects to the king's proposal as wrong. This is best explained by those passages of the law which forbid the alienation of landed property, and especially the transfer, of estates from one tribe to another (Lev ; Num 36:7).—Speaker's Comm.
1Ki . Godless people regard the care taken by the pious to observe reverently the divine law as so much useless scrupulousness. Even so, in our day, does the worldling look with an evil eye upon the Christian who, for the sake of the Divine Word, refuses to yield to his wishes, for either he recognizes no divine authority, or exalts his own above it. The children of this world, whose aims and designs are wholly material, will often fret and grieve for days when they are compelled to give up a temporal gain, or a promised enjoyment, whilst the condition of their souls never causes them the slightest grief. The high and mighty ones of this world often think that all other people are placed here simply to yield obedience to their whims. They cannot comprehend that all men are not to be bought with gold, and woe to that inferior whose refusal destroys their darling plans.—Lange.
—O the impotent passion and insatiable desires of covetousness! Ahab is lord and king of all the territories of Israel: Naboth is the owner of one poor vineyard. Ahab cannot enjoy Israel if Naboth enjoy his vineyard. Whether is the wealthier? I do not hear Naboth wish for anything of Ahab's; 1 hear Ahab wishing, not without indignation of a repulse, for somewhat from Naboth. Riches and poverty are no more in the heart than in the hand: he is wealthy that is contented; he is poor that wanteth more.—Bp. Hall.
1Ki . The apparently fortunate, but really unfortunate and accursed, marriage of Ahab and Jezebel. I. She seeks the sorrowful man, shares his grief, and seeks to comfort him, as is the province of a wife; but, instead of pointing him to the true Comforter, and leading his heart to higher and better things, she strengthens him in his grasping desire after others' property, and leads him on still further. II. She reminds him that he is the lord and master, and recognizes him as such, as a wife should; but, at the same moment, she assumes the dominion, and the weak man lets her manage and rule, as if she were the man and he the woman. III. She rejoices to accomplish an ardent wish of her husband's, and to make him a worthy present, as every faithful spouse should strive to do; but it is a blood-stained and stolen gift, obtained with deceit and falsehood, and Ahab delights in it. Thus both husband and wife, who together should be blest after God's ordinance, together walk on to ruin and destruction.—Lange.
1Ki . The terrible power of an impious queen. I. Knows how to take advantage of a weak and fretful husband (1Ki 21:5-7). II. Shrinks not from adopting the most diabolical means of accomplishing her designs (1Ki 21:8-10). III. Can command accomplices in carrying out any deed of villany (1Ki 21:11-12). IV. Is permitted to perpetrate the most horrible acts of cruelty and murder (1Ki 21:13-14).
1Ki . He that caused the disease sends him a physician. Satan knew of old how to make use of such helpers. Jezebel comes to Ahab's bedside, and casts cold water in his face, and puts into him spirits of her own extracting. Ahab wanted neither wit nor wickedness; yet is he in both a very novice to this Sidonian dame. There needs no other devil than Jezebel, whether to project evil or work it. She chides the pusillanimity of her dejected husband, and persuades him his rule cannot be free unless it be licentious; that there should be no bounds to sovereignty but will. Already hath she contrived to have by fraud and force what was denied to entreaty. Nothing needs but the name, but the seal of Ahab: let her alone with the rest. How present are the wits of the weaker sex for the devising of wickedness!—Bp. Hall.
1Ki . But what damnable dissimulation was it in this devilish creature to do her feats under pretext of a fast! This was like that Italian device of a pocket stone bow which, held under a cloak, shoots needles with violence to pierce a man's body, yet leaves a wound scarcely discernible; or, rather, that other, more detestable, of a pocket church-book with a pistol hid in the binding, which turning to such a page discharges—a plot to entrap him you hate, whilst you are at your devotions together, when there is less suspicion. If Jezebel proclaim a fast, let Naboth look to his life. The Jesuits enjoined a fast and set forth a sevenfold psalmody for the good success of the gunpowder plot; wherein, Rabshakeh-like, they would persuade the world that they come not up against us without the Lord!—Trapp.
1Ki . Evil masters can ever find evil servants, who do their will from ambition or covetousness. Woe, where such things befall! and shame, that in the fairest lands, as in the plains of Jezreel, are often the worst men to be found! Godlessness and corruption in courts is a poison which extends throughout the whole body politic, even to the lowest rank; no example is so powerful upon all classes of society. How many gross, how many refined, sins are committed out of sheer complaisance to high personages, whose favour men wish to seek or preserve! Woe to those lords who find such ready tools in their servants, who will be accomplices in their misdoings, and palliate, or even laud and praise, all their perverse dealings: they undermine the throne more than open enemies. The judgment and condemnation of Naboth compared with that of our Lord. There, as in this instance, offended pride, followed by hatred, accusation of blasphemy and riot; false witnesses and vile judges; and a blind, infuriated populace crying out, Crucify! Crucify!—Lange.
1Ki . Ill-gotten gains.
1. Will not bear examination as to the methods of their acquisition.
2. Are eagerly and gladly seized.
3. Never give the satisfaction expected.
4. Entail unspeakable anxiety and suffering.
1Ki . Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?—Crime traced back to the true criminal, for he, even more than Jezebel, actuated the deed. God is "swift to mark iniquity." See Note on chap. 1Ki 22:38.
1Ki . Hast thou found me?—The Vulgate errs, and Luther is thereby misled. "Hast thou ever found me thine enemy?" הַמְצָאתַנִי from מָצָא, to come at, overtake, acquire, arrest, seize.
1Ki . Will take away thy posterity—Lit. "Extinguish thee before me."
1Ki . Seest thou how Ahab humbleth, &c.—Even the external sign of Ahab's repentance God regards as occasion for reprieve, though Ahab was so notable and manifold a criminal (1Ki 21:25-26) He is "slow to anger and of great mercy" But the sentence would come upon his son, Jehoram, who, met by Jehu, was mortally wounded, and the house of Ahab thus ceased. Elijah's prophecy of Ahab's despicable death was literally fulfilled, as the following chapter shows.—W. H. J.
THE MESSENGER OR APPROACHING DOOM
THE histories of the Old Testament were designed as standing lessons of edification to the church; by them, those who are dead may be considered as still speaking to us. They speak to us of the frailty of man, of the evil of sin and its certain punishment, of the spirituality of the law of God, of the need we have of a Saviour and a Sanctifler; they preach to us, as Paul did to Felix, of temperance, righteousness, and judgment to come, and they make us tremble. He who gives the dew, the sunbeam, the rain, and the snow to refresh and fertilize the world of nature, has given to us the promises, prophecies, doctrines, and histories of His Word to enrich and vivify the world of grace. In this paragraph we learn the effect of the message of God sent by Elijah in producing in Ahab a temporary humiliation; and the effect of Ahab's humiliation in securing a temporary reprieve.
I. That the messenger of approaching doom is divinely commissioned (1Ki ). "The word of the Lord came to Elijah." Daring and fierce as was Elijah, he would never have dared to pronounce this fearful doom on the house of Ahab if he had not been divinely authorized. It is a vast privilege to be the messenger of mercy to the erring, but it also involves the responsibility of sometimes being the messenger of wrath and judgment. Woe be to him who threatens more or less than God commands: in the one case he sins by presumption; in the other, by lack of fidelity. Some men are more fitted by temperament and training to be messengers of doom. The stern and faithful Elijah would not shrink from declaring all the counsel of God.
II. That the messenger of approaching doom comes to us when enjoying the fruits of the sin he denounces (1Ki ). Ahab got his vineyard, entered into possession, and was enjoying its produce and the prospect of what he intended it to be, when he is startled by the voice of vengeance sounding in his ears. The scene is changed, the very leaves of the vineyard seem dripping with the blood of the murdered Naboth, demanding instant retribution! Every sinner carries in his breast an Elijah—an accusing conscience, which in the worst is never wholly extinct. As the serpent in the fable which, while frozen with cold, was torpid and insensible, and seemed utterly bereft of all vitality, yet when brought before the fire quickly recovered its venom and its strength, so conscience may remain dull and lifeless for a season; but when once, through the Providence of God or the force of affliction or the sentence of the law, it is quickened into life, the sinner will assuredly find that it has not lost its energy, and will never lose its sting. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? By rendering our moral consciousness so acute and discriminating, God retains a powerful hold of the mind of man, and He has wonderfully adapted His holy Word to act upon our affections, to awaken our fears, and to exhibit before us the sad consequences of guilt.
III. That the messenger of approaching doom delivers his message with fearlessness and fidelity (1Ki ).
1. The doom is pronounced with unmistakable explicitness and fulness. It is threefold in its application. The first had respect to Ahab himself (1Ki ). The second to Jezebel (1Ki 21:23). The third had respect to the posterity of both (1Ki 21:21-22; 1Ki 21:24). As the sin of one is extended to and shared by others, so is its punishment. The sinner will be made fully aware of the sins for which he suffers, and it is this that will add sharpness to his suffering.
2. The doom was justified by the excess of wickedness committed (1Ki ; 1Ki 21:25-26). These words intensify the thought of Ahab's extreme wickedness, and show the reason of the bitter judgments that were pronounced against him. He had become so utterly abandoned to sin and crime as to lose all moral principle and power to resist evil. He allowed himself to be completely governed by his wicked and imperious wife. Her influence caused him to introduce the worship of Baal (1Ki 16:31), to allow the slaughter of the prophets of Jehovah (1Ki 18:4), to let Elijah be driven into banishment (1Ki 19:2), and finally to murder Naboth and seize his land (1Ki 21:6; 1Ki 21:15). The justice of God provides that the punishment of the sinner shall be commensurate with the nature and extent of his sin.
IV. That the messenger of approaching doom may not always see the fulfilment of the prediction he is commanded to announce.
1. Threatened doom may produce a temporary repentance (1Ki ). Under the severe threatening of the prophet, seconded by the sure voice of conscience, Ahab bowed himself to the dust, oppressed by a burden too heavy for him. What could be more foreign to the habits of this proud, luxurious, and tyrannical prince than sackcloth and fasting—than torn garments and the slow footstep and dejected eye of penitential grief? What can be a greater proof of the power of God over the mind of sinners, when such a man is convinced, though he is not converted; is humbled, though he is not renewed. There may be a sorrow of the eyes, but not of the heart; sorrow for the threatened judgment, but not for the sin which provoked that judgment.
2. A temporary repentance may delay threatened doom (1Ki ). It is evident that Ahab's repentance, if repentance it may be called, was partial, transitory, and insincere, accompanied by no change of heart or life; but such as it was it illustrates God's readiness to notice the first symptoms of return. Ahab's humiliation shall prorogue the judgment: such as was the penitence, such shall be the reward—a temporary reward for a temporary penitence. If a partial penitent may be reprieved, surely a sincere believing penitent will be justified!
1. Sin cannot remain long without discovery.
2. God gives ample warning before He punishes the sinner.
3. God gives the utmost credit to the slightest symptoms of repentance: He is slow to wrath.
4. Repentance, if not genuine, though it may delay, will not finally avert, the deserved punishment.
AHAB AND ELIJAH (1Ki )
The keynote of Elijah's character is force—the force of righteousness. The whole of his career is marked by this one thing—the strength of a righteous man. And then, on the other hand, this Ahab—the keynote of his character is the weakness of wickedness, and the wickedness of weakness Think of him weakly longing—as idle and weak minds in lofty places always do—after something that belongs to somebody else; with all his gardens, coveting the one little herb-plot of the poor Naboth; weak and worse than womanly, turning his face to the wall and weeping when he cannot get it; weakly desiring to have it, and yet not knowing how to set about accomplishing his wish; and then—as is always the case, for there are always tempters everywhere for weak people—that beautiful fiend by his side, like the other queen in our great drama, ready to screw the feeble man that she is wedded to, to the sticking place, and to dare anything, to grasp that on which the heart was set. And so the deed is done: Naboth sale stoned out of the way; and Ahab goes down to take possession! The lesson of that is, my friend, weak dallying with forbidden desires is sure to end in wicked clutching at them. The king gets the crime done, shuffles it off himself on to the shoulders of his ready tools in the little village, goes down to get his toy and gets it, but he gets Elijah along with it, which was more than he reckoned on. When, all full of impatience and hot baste to solace himself with his new possession, he rushes down to seize the vineyard, he finds there, standing at the gate, waiting for him—black-browed, motionless, grim, an incarnate conscience—the prophet he had not seen for years, the prophet he had last seen on Carmel bearding alone the servants of Baal, and executing on them the solemn judgment of death; and there leaps at once to his lip, "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?"
I. I find here, in the first place, this broad principle: Pleasure won by sin is peace lost. That is my first thought. Ah! my brother, it does not need that there should be a rebuking prophet standing by to work out that law. God commits the execution of it to the natural operations of our own consciences and our spirits.
1. Here is the fact in men's natures on which it partly depends: when sin is yet tempting us, it is loved; when sin is done, it is loathed. Action and reaction, as the mechanicians tell us, are equal and contrary. The more violent the blow with which we strike upon the forbidden pleasure, the further back the rebound after the stroke. When sin tempts—when there hangs glittering before a man the golden fruits that he knows he ought not to touch, then, amidst the noise of passion or the sophistry of desire, conscience is silenced for a little while. Like a mad bull, the man that is tempted lowers his head and shuts his eyes, and rushes right on. The moment that the sin is done, that moment the passion or desire which tempted to it is satiated, and ceases to exist for the time. Passion fulfils itself and expires. The desire is satisfied, and it turns into a loathing. The tempter draws us to him, and then unveils the horrid face that lies beneath the mask. When the deed is done and cannot be undone, then comes satiety; then comes the reaction of the fierce excitement, the hot blood begins to flow more slowly; then rises up in the heart, conscience; then rises up in majesty in the soul, reason; then flushes and flares before the eye the vivid picture of the consequences. His enemy has found the sinner. He has got the vineyard—Ay, but Elijah is there, and his dark and stern presence sucks all the brightness and the sunshine out of the landscape; and Naboth's blood stains the leaves of Naboth's garden! There is no sin which is not the purchase of pleasure at the price of peace.
2. The silence of a seared conscience is not peace. For peace, you want something more than that a conscience shall be dumb. For peace, you want something more than that you shall be able to live without the daily sense and sting of sin. You want not only the negative absence of pain, but the positive presence of a tranquillising guest in your heart—that conscience of yours, testifying with you, blessing you in its witness, and shedding abroad rest and comfort. It is easy to kill a conscience, after a fashion, at least. It is easy to stifle it. As the old historian says about the Roman armies that marched through a country, burning and destroying everything: "They make a solitude, and they call it peace;" and so men do with their living consciences: they stifle them, sear them, forcibly silence them somehow or other, and then, when there is a dead stillness in the heart, broken by no voice of either approbation or blame, but doleful, like the unnatural quiet of a deserted city, then they say it is peace, and the man's uncontrolled passions and unbridled desires dwell solitary in the fortress of his own spirit! You may almost attain to that. Do you think it is a goal to be set before you as an ideal of human nature? The loss of peace is certain, the presence of agony is most likely, from every act of sin.
3. And so it is not only a crime that men count it when they do wrong, but it is a blunder. Sin is not only guilt, but it is a mistake. "The game is not worth the candle," according to the French proverb. The thing that you buy is not worth the price you pay for it. Sin is like a great forest-tree that we may sometimes see standing up green in its leafy beauty, and spreading a broad shadow over half a field; but when we get round on the other side, there is a great dark hollow in the very heart of it, and corruption is at work there. It is like the poison tree in travellers' stories, tempting weary men to rest beneath its thick foliage, and insinuating death into the limbs that relax in the fatal coolness of its shade. It is like the apples of Sodom, fair to look upon, but turning to acrid ashes on the unwary lips. It is like the magician's rod that we read about in old books. There it lies; and if tempted by its glitter, or fascinated by the power it proffers you, you take it in your hand, the thing starts into a serpent with erected crest and sparkling eye, and plunges its quick barb into the hand that holds it, and sends poison through all its veins. Do not touch it. Every sin buys pleasure at the price of peace. Elijah is always waiting at the gate of the ill-gotten possession.
II. Sin is blind to its true friends and its real foes. "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?" Elijah was the best friend he had in his kingdom. And that Jezebel there, the wife of his bosom, whom he loved and thanked for this thing, she was the worst foe that hell could have sent him. Ay, and so it is always. The faithful rebuker, the merciful inflictor of pain, is the truest friend of the wrong-doer. The worst enemy of the sinful heart is the voice that either tempts it into sin, or lulls it into self-complacency.
1. And this is one of the certainest workings of evil desires in our spirits, that they pervert for us all relations of things—that they make us blind to all the moral truths of God's universe. Sin is blind as to itself, blind as to its own consequences, blind as to who are its friends and who are its foes, blind as to earth, blind as to another world, blind as to God. The man that walks in the vain show of transgression, whose heart is set upon evil—he fancies that ashes are bread, and stones gold (as in the old fairy story); and, on the other hand, he thinks that the true sweet is the bitter, and turns away from God's angels and God's prophets with "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?" That is the reason, my friend, of not a little of the infidelity that haunts this world—that sin perverted and blinded stumbles about in its darkness, and mistakes the face of the friend for the face of the foe.
2. And then, again, God sends us a Gospel full of dark words about evil. It deals with that fact of sin as no other system ever did. There is no book like the Bible for these two things—for the lofty notion that it has about what man may be and ought to be, and for the notion that it has of what man is. It does not degrade human nature because it tells us the truth about human nature as it is. The darkest and bitterest sayings about transgression, they are veiled promises. It does not make the consequences of sin which it writes down. You and I make them for ourselves, and it tells us of them. Did the lighthouse make the rock that it stands on? Is it to be blamed for the shipwreck? If a man will go full tilt against the thing which he knows will ruin him, what is the right name for him that hedges it up with a prickly fence of thorns, and puts a great light above it, and writes below, "If thou comest here, thou diest?" Is that the work of an enemy? And yet that is why people talk about the gloomy views of the Gospel, about the narrow spirit of Christianity, about the harsh things that are here! The Bible did not make hell. The Bible did not make sin the parent of sorrow. The Bible did not make it certain that "any transgression and disobedience should reap its just recompense of reward." We are the causes of their coming upon ourselves; and the Bible but proclaims the end to which the paths of sin must lead, and beseechingly calls to us all, "Turn ye, turn ye! why will ye die?" And yet, when it comes to you, how many of you turn away from it, and say, "It is mine enemy!"
3. Ay, and more than that: sin makes us fancy that God Himself is our enemy; and sin makes that thought of God that ought to be most blessed and most sweet to us, the terror of our souls. God will not let us alone when we transgress. God in His love hath appointed that sin shall breed sorrow. But we—we do wrong; and then, for God's Providence, and God's Gospel, and God's Son, and God Himself, there rises up in our hearts the hostile feeling, and we think that He is turned our enemy, and fights against us! But oh! He only fights against us that we may submit, and love Him. If He comes to you with rebuke, and meets you when you are at the very door of your sin, and busy with your transgression, usher Him in, and thank Him, and bless Him for words of threatening, for merciful severity, for conviction of sin; because conviction of sin is the work of the Comforter; and all the threatenings and all the pains that follow and track like swift hounds the committer of evil, are sent by Him who loves too wisely not to punish transgression, and loves too well to punish without warning, and desires only, when He punishes, that we should turn from our evil way, and escape the condemnation. An enemy, or a friend—which is God in His truth to you?
III. The sin which mistakes the friendly appeal for an enemy lays up for itself a terrible retribution.
1. Elijah comes here and prophesies the fall of Ahab. The next peal, the next flash, fulfil the prediction. There, where he did the wrong, he died. In Jezreel, Ahab died. In Jezreel, Jezebel died. The threatened evil was foretold that it might lead the king to repentance, and that thus it might never need to be more than a threat; but, though Ahab was partially penitent, and partially listened to the prophet's voice, yet, for all that, he went on in his evil way. Therefore the merciful threatening becomes a stern prophecy, and is fulfilled to the very letter. And so when God's message comes to us, if we listen not to it, and turn not to its gentle rebuke, Oh! then we gather up for ourselves an awful futurity of judgment, when threatening darkens into punishment, and the voice that rebuked swells into the voice of final condemnation.
2. When a man fancies that God's prophet is his enemy, and dreams that his finding him out is a calamity and a loss, that man may be certain that something worse will find him out some day. His sins will find him out, and that is worse than the prophet's coming! Picture to yourself this—a human spirit shut up with the companionship of its forgotten and dead transgressions! There is a resurrection of acts, as well as of bodies. Think what it will be for a man to sit surrounded by that ghastly company, the ghosts of his own sins!—and as each forgotten fault and buried badness comes, silent and sheeted, into that awful society, and sits itself down there, think of him greeting each with the question, "Thou too? What! are you all here? Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?" And from each bloodless spectral lip there tells out the answer, the knell of his life: "I have found thee, because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord."
3. Ah! my friend, if that were all we had to say, it might well stiffen us into stony despair. Thank God—thank God! such an issue is not inevitable. Christ speaks to you. Christ is your friend. He loves you, and He speaks to you now—speaks to you of your danger, but in order that you may never rush into it and be engulphed by it; speaks to you of your sin, but in order that you may say to him, "Take thou it away, O merciful Lord;" speaks to you of justice, but in order that you may never sink beneath the weight of His stroke; speaks to you of love, in order that you may know, and fully know, the depth of His graciousness. When he says to you, "I love thee; love thou Me; I have died for thee; trust Me, live by Me, and live for Me," will you not say to Him, "My Friend, My Brother, My Lord, and My God"?—(Condensed from A. Maclaren).
1Ki . The inevitable doom of a wicked life. I. Does not come without sufficient warning. II. Will be commensurate with the sins committed. III. May be averted by timely repentance.
1Ki . Though much wickedness goes apparently without further evil results and without the chastisement of the just Judge in heaven, yet still all will be demanded; and at the Divine judgment-seat everything will be discovered, and everything, to the uttermost farthing, accounted for. The blood of Naboth, which Ahab thought had been swallowed up by the earth, cried to heaven, and found there judgment and vengeance. Like a lightning flash comes the word from heaven into the dark soul of Ahab, and made him feel that no net of human evil can be woven thickly enough to conceal the crime which it veils from the all-seeing eye.—Menken.
1Ki . "Hast thou killed?" Individual responsibility for wrong doings.
1. Not transferable.
2. Not to be evaded, though others commit the wrong to which we consent.
3. Unalterably recognised in punishment.
—"In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth," &c. So Aristobulus, king of Jewry, vomited abundance of blood, and soon after breathed his last, in the very place where he had slain his brother Antigonus, and acknowledged it to be the just hand of God upon himself. So Selymus, the great Turk, struck with a loathsome and incurable disease, ended his days at Chiurlus with an untimely and tormenting death, where he had disloyally joined battle against his aged father Bajazet, A.D. 1511. So Henry III., king of France, was stabbed to death by a Jacobin friar in that very chamber where he and his bloody brother Charles IX. had, some few years before, plotted the Parisian massacre.—Trapp.
1Ki . Great wickedness and terrible retribution. I. Idolatry is a great abomination in the sight of God. II. There is no possible sin an idolater may not be instigated to commit. III. The consequences of sin and its punishment extend to others.
1Ki . An unwelcome visitor.
1. The question of Ahub. "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?"
1. This question indicates past association. "Thou!" Ahab had frequently met with Elijah before: in the previous chapters we find the prophet and the king in most intimate relationships.
2. The question indicates disquietude on the part of Ahab. Directly the stately form of Elijah appeared to him, the greed, passion, and murder of the last few days crowded in upon his memory. How happy that Christian man whose very presence strikes terror into the sinful heart!
3. This question shows that criminal offenders often pass an incorrect judgment upon men who administer rebuke to them. Ahab designates Elijah his enemy. What a mistake! Had not the prophet been the instrument of benefit to the king and his country? Had he not prayed on Mount Carmel that the drought might cease, and had he not worked at the same time for the extermination of idolatry? What more could he have done, either for the temporal or spiritual welfare of his compeers? And yet Ahab calls such a man an enemy, when he was in reality his truest friend! See the blinding power of covetousness!
4. We gather from this question that the gratification of unholy desire never brings tranquillity. Humanly speaking, Ahab was in the very height of success. He was a king, the long-desired vineyard had come into his possession. What is there to prevent enjoyment? Surely nothing. Yes; God vindicates the oppressed; and though Naboth is dead, he is not forgotten. Heaven will not permit so foul a deed to go unpunished. Hence the monarch's unrest. II. The response of Elijah. "I have found thee."
1. Elijah was divinely commissioned to seek Ahab. "And the Word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it" (1Ki ). How God pursues evil men with mercy! Even punishment is but love speaking with more emphatic voice. Elijah was obedient to the expressed wish of God; he did not plead timidity at standing to rebuke a monarch; but went boldly and faithfully to perform his duty. What a happy pattern of a Christian minister!
2. The reason assigned for the search. "I have found thee because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord." The prophet, no doubt, came to rebuke Ahab, and also to be instrumental in his reformation. The king must not be left without some effort for his restoration to purity of character. When ministers know that men have fallen into deep sin, they should at once visit them, to prevent further apostacy, and, if possible, to repair the past. In doing this the prophet may meet with an unkindly greeting, but the ultimate issue will be good.
3. How high social position is frequently degraded. We find here that a king had sold himself to sin. Kings, of all men, should be righteous in their conduct, as their example must necessarily exercise a great influence upon the nation to which they belong. How fearful their responsibility! What a terrible bargain had Ahab made: "Sold thyself to work evil!"
1. It was a voluntary bargain—"Thyself."
2. It was a mad bargain—"To work evil." For how many lives would this be a fitting inscription! To work evil seems to be the life-purpose of many around us. Think of the destiny to which this will lead them! Let the time past of our lives suffice in which we have wrought evil.—J. S. Exell.
—Great is the power of conscience. Upon the last meeting, for aught we know, Ahab and Elijah parted friends. The prophet had lackeyed his coach and took a peaceful leave at this town's end: now, Ahab's heart told him, neither needed he any other messenger that God and His prophet were fallen out with him. His continuing idolatry, now seconded with blood, bids him look for nothing but frowns from heaven. A guilty heart can never be at peace. Had not Ahab known how ill he had deserved of God, he had never saluted his prophet by the name of an enemy: he had never been troubled to be found by Elijah, if his own breast had not found him out for an enemy to God. Much good may thy vineyard do thee, O thou king of Israel! Many fair flowers and savoury herbs may thy new garden yield thee! Please thyself with thy Jezebel in the triumph over the carcass of a scrupulous subject. Let me rather die with Naboth than rejoice with thee: his turn is over, thine is to come. The stones that overwhelmed innocent Naboth were nothing to those that smite thee.—Bp. Hall.
—It is Ahab's guilty conscience which forces these words from him the moment he sees Elijah. He has no object in uttering them. He feels that the last man whom he would have wished to see has come suddenly upon him, and found him—i.e., caught him—in the act of doing a great wrong. "O mine enemy," may refer partly to the old antagonism (1Ki ; 1Ki 18:17-18; 1Ki 19:2-3); but the feeling which it expresses is rather that of present opposition—the opposition between good and evil, light and darkness, through which "everyone that, doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved" (Joh 3:20).—Speaker's Com.
1Ki . Woe to the man who, through the power that love gives him over the heart of another, by means of which he might become a ministering angel, is to him as a misleading fiend. How many fires of ruinous passion, of anger, of discord, of unrighteousness, and of hatred might and should be quenched and extinguished by the power of love—the power of one heart over another, and especially by the mildness and gentleness peculiar to woman; and yet so often, by this means, they are kindled and fanned. This belongs to the catalogue of unconfessed sins of many men, and especially of many women.—Menken.
1Ki . A royal penitent.
1. Humbled by the terror of threatened wrath.
2. Did not seek to repair the wrong he had done.
3. Had the outward signs of sincerity.
4. Was granted a temporary reprieve.
1Ki . What gave Ahab's re pentance its worth, and wherein it was defective.
1. It was not merely ostensible, feigned, it was a wholesome dread and fear of the judgment of God which came upon him, causing him to fear and tremble. He bowed beneath the mighty hand of God, and was not ashamed to confess this outwardly, but laid aside crown and purple, and put on sackcloth, unheeding if he thus exposed himself to the scorn of the courtiers and idol worshippers. Therefore the Lord looked in mercy upon his repentance. Would that, in our day, many would go even as far as Ahab did in this case.
2. It bore no further fruits. He retained the stolen vineyard, he desisted not from idol-worship, he allowed full sway to Jezebel. Everything in his house, at his court, and in his kingdom, remained as of old. He did not hunger and thirst after righteousness. Fleeting impressions and emotions are not true repentance. The tree which brings forth no fruits is and remains a corrupt tree (Mat ). How wholly different the repentance of David (Psalms 51).—Lange.
—The very devils howl to be tormented. Grief is not ever a sign of grace. Ahab rends his clothes, he did not rend his heart; he puts on sackcloth, not amendment; he lies in sackcloth, but he lies in his idolatry; he walks softly, he walks not sincerely. Worldly sorrow causeth death. Happy is that grief for which the soul is the holier.—Bp. Hall.
—The repentance of Ahab resembles that of the Ninevites (Jon ). It has the same outward signs—fasting and sackcloth—and it has much the same in ward character. It springs not from love, nor from hatred of sin, but from fear of the consequences of sin. It is thus, although sincere and real while it lasts, shallow and exceedingly short-lived. God, however, to mark His readiness to receive the sinner who turns to Him, accepts the imperfect offering, as He likewise accepted the penitence of the Ninevites, and allows it to delay the execution of the sentence. Because Ahab humbled himself, the evil was deferred from his own to his son's days (1Ki 21:29). So the penitence of the Ninevites put off the fall of Nineveh for a century.—Speaker's Comm.
1Ki . Jehovah makes this announcement, not because He will punish the son for the sins of his father, but because He foresees that the son will also do evil in the sight of the Lord, and will, therefore, like his father, deserve punishment.
Exell, Joseph S. "Commentary on 1 Kings 21:4". Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary. http://odl.studylight.org/commentaries/phc/1-kings-21.html. Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1892.


Photon Phighter is a physics based arcade style game that combines the best of classic video games with a great story and game play. This game will be ready for Windows <= 7 and Steam. Then Windows 8, iOS and Android markets.
Asteroids to slow you down! Black holes to swallow you up! Space Stations! Planets, stars & moons!


"The Women's Campaign Fund is a national nonpartisan organization dedicated to dramatically increasing the number of women in elected office. The Women's Campaign Fund was the first PAC in the country to support women candidates. We support women who commit to common ground solutions. We understand the unique opportunities and challenges of women running for office."


text:
package ru.apermyakov.testtask.backend;

/**
 * Interface for restart backend.
 *
 * @author apermyakov.
 * @version 1.0.
 * @since 12.01.2018.
 */
public interface BackendRestart {

    /**
     * Method for reset backend.
     */
    void resetGame();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Your illustrations are really awesome! I used to draw and paint as well right from the start and I was talented too, but it fade away eventually and I never developed my skills quite to your level. I really appreciate your versatility and the comic book style! If I have the need for illustrations for a client project, I sure know who to ask!
Thanks! I certainly am interested in commissions that suit my style and abilities. Keep me in the loop in case anything comes up!


text:
Tipperary's successes in senior hurling will remain scant if a different approach is not taken. On the playing field, I would like to see the following in the play of the county team:
More determination and confidence in seeking primary possession of the ball; quicker delivery of the ball; it should be done instinctively.
Far more use of ground hurling - Tipperary's forte when they were very successful.
Refraining from going in to tackle the man with the ball with one hand on the hurley and the left arm around the side of the opponent. All that does is concede a free. Players should go in with two hands on the hurley and move the feet to use the body to prevent the opponent from using the ball. Many times I have seen two, and sometimes three, Tipperary players going to a Kilkenny forward and he being still able to pass to an unmarked colleague who has all the time in the world to blast the net from 15 or 20 yards.
When a Tipperary player is involved in a schmozzle some tactic such as scooping it on the ground to a colleague should be planned, rather than trying to get it into the hand which, even if successful, very seldom results it being used to any advantage.
A big difficulty in Tipperary is that the standard of club hurling is so low due to the fact that about 20 clubs have teams playing senior hurling when they are only fit for intermediate or junior. The championship is arranged so that a team is guaranteed at least 4 or 5 games even if they never win one. When the word "relegation" is mentioned you hear a remark like "relegation is no good for any club". My answer to that is that it is no good to any club with no spirit or no ambition. Until an attitude prevails in the county that a club that goes the ranks should do what's needed to get back up stronger than ever, the poor return of All-Irelands over the last 45 years will continue. No need for half of the league and championship club fixtures. Quality rather than quantity should be the order of the day—and get all championships completed at a respectable month of the year.
As regards football I look on the players and officials who have given unstinted service to the playing and promotion of the game in the county now, and down the years, as heroes. The wonderful success of the minor footballers will not automatically bring success up the line without a big effort to improve the standard of club competition within the county. The present situation where 6 or 7 clubs that have only token attachment to the promotion of Gaelic football in the county supply players to a team that succeeds in beating a single club that has traditionally promoted Gaelic football as well as hurling, does nothing to promote the game. Maybe a greater emphasis on grading teams should be tried. Ignore divisional boundaries for the championship where the weaker teams would have to play preliminary games to get into the championship proper in an effort to get more quality and intensity into the competition.
Labels: Sport

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Twins Uncensored: Individuality...Who needs it???
Apparently not the girls...As I mentioned in my last post Avery has taken to saying, "Help US!" even when it is just her. I keep trying to explain that when it's just her that needs the help she should say, "Help ME!" Alas, my efforts are in vain.
This morning Emerson knew I was getting their clothes out to get them dressed. She came in and made sure I knew EXACTLY what outfit she wanted to wear. Then she wondered off. Avery came in so I grabbed the dress I actually wanted them to wear and Avery was happy to wear it. When I grabbed Emerson to dress her she was NOT willing to wear the dress I had picked she wanted the outfit she had picked. I thought, ok, well they can wear totally different outfits today. Got Emerson dressed. When Avery saw her sister she started taking off her dress and grabbing the other outfit that matched her sister! She insisted on wearing it. So much for that!
While Im on the clothes discussion... the girls have these dresses that are the same but in a different color. The other day I was dressing Avery first and let her pick which color she wanted to wear. Usually I let Emerson pick cause she cares and Avery doesn't and I am usually dressing E first for some reason. Well, when E came in and saw which dress A was wearing she pitched a fit. She wanted to wear the one that Avery was wearing. I told Avery she got to pick this time and Emerson was just going to have to live with it. Emerson was pulling on her sisters dress and crying like the world was coming to an end. I kept having to pull her off of Avery. Avery was watching her sister and suddenly started pulling on her dress as if she was trying to pull it off and saying, "sister". She wanted me to put that dress on her sister. SO SWEET!


text:
Content Listing For Upcoming Roddy Piper DVD
Aug 13, 2019 - by James Walsh
WWE will release their new DVD Roddy Piper Unreleased 3 on August 27. Here's a content list:
DISC ONE
Let's Get Rowdy!
Beginning Lessons
Roddy Piper vs. Jay Youngblood
Roddy Piper & Ole Anderson vs. Mike Davis & Buddy Landell
Roddy Piper vs. Tony Anthony
Piper's Pit with "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff vs. Jose Luis Rivera & S.D. Jones
All American Wrestling • February 26, 1984
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. S.D. Jones
Championship Wrestling • March 31, 1984
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
Philadelphia, PA • July 7, 1984
I'm a Nice Guy
Equal Opportunist
Snuka's Life Story
No Better Villain
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff
Landover, MD • July 20, 1985
Piper's Pit with Andre the Giant
Beloved Worldwide
Piper's Pit with Jimmy Hart
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Mr. Fuji
Piper's Pit with The Hart Foundation
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude
Toronto, ON, Canada • October 8, 1989
Intercontinental Championship Tournament Match
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Rick "The Model" Martel
Wrestling Challenge • May 13, 1990
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Mr. Perfect
Syracuse, NY • November 20, 1990
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper Action Figure Commercial #1
"Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & Virgil
Intercontinental Championship Match
DISC TWO
Ronda Rousey Meets Roddy Piper
"Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & Bret "Hitman" Hart
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Sandy Beach
Wrestling Challenge • March 29. 1992
Piper's Pit with The Brooklyn Brawler
Pieces of The Rowdy One
"Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
WCW Monday Nitro • February 3, 1997
Greetings from Alcatraz
WCW Monday Nitro • September 22, 1997
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
WCW Monday Nitro • March 23, 1998
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hogan
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Rikishi
SmackDown! • April 24, 2003
Handicap Match
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Randy Orton & "Cowboy" Bob Orton
SmackDown! • October 7, 2005
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Batista & Eddie Guerrero vs. Mr. Kennedy, Randy Orton & "Cowboy" Bob Orton
SmackDown! • October 28, 2005
Do the Truffle Shuffle
RAW • April 28, 2008
Piper's Pit with The Miz
RAW • June 13, 2011
Piper's Pit with John Cena
RAW • November 28, 2011
Piper's Pit with Daniel Bryan & AJ Lee
Piper's Pit with The Shield
RAW • January 6, 2014
Piper's Pit with Rusev & Lana
RAW • December 22, 2014
The Legacy of The Hot Rod
Defiant Wrestling Closing Its Doors
Tag Team still reportedly leaving WWE
Cameron and Others Comment on AJ Lee's WWE Retirement, Teaser for Jericho – Cena Podcast, SmackDown
Audio: Miz talks about his infamous MizTV segment with LaVar Ball
AEW trading cards by Upper Deck coming in November 2021


Anything visual and creative attracts the eye and it is more so in the case of different figures and shapes on earth and in the universe -this is what Geometry tries to tell us through its varied applications. Learning Geometry could be interesting and fun, if you understand that it after all deals with shapes, sizes and figures that loom large around us and it is we who need to gauge their beauty and purpose through learning them with academic parameters.
Geometry learning is not an easy task so to say. It demands perfect skills of measurement, an eye for details and visualizing capacities in a student. Accuracy in measuring lines and drawing circles is a necessary aspect in doing Geometry for great results. Hence it would be good that a student understands the importance of Geometry and contacts an online Geometry tutor for excellent outputs in Geometry learning.
Stay tuned to an online Geometry tutor to obtain the above mentioned benefits while doing the subject. A tutor online is able to connect you to the real world of objects and enhance your visual impact through his multimedia tools and video presentations. His innovative measures to make you understand the formulas and their applications in problems help you improve your scores and gain top notch results in the subject.
Tutor Pace provides online Geometry tutor whose expertise in the field renders a great fillip to you and as such you could excel in the subject with ease.


In a January 2019 report by the Website Optimisation at Google, it was clearly stated that the crew spends a lot of time thinking about search engine optimization (SEO) as much as you do, if not more. The question now is, what do they think about and how does it affect your SEO strategy?
As you may have already known, getting a viable audience to your website via the Google search engine is one of the main things your online business can benefit from. To get this done, you need to constantly carry out website optimization for your business. Of course, there are plenty of other ways to drive traffic to your website. You can use paid media, social media, display advertising etc. However, SEO has proven several times to be an important cost-effective strategy for organic growth.
To really get the most out of SEO, though, it's important to stay on top of the latest Google Search updates.
It can be incredibly difficult to stay on top of the latest Google search updates. However, here are three strategies you can rely on, no matter what changes happen with Google's search algorithm for ranking and displaying your website appropriately to your viable audience.
Focus on small, incremental changes rather than trying to carry out transformation changes in your SEO all at once. It is the small gains one step after the other that brings about the big gains you expect. Focusing on incremental changes helps you to actually know what works and what doesn't.
Good and profitable changes are most times not convenient. Don't be scared to make them when necessary. Search features are always evolving to surface the most relevant content for users and to keep up with their changing behavior. You need to be able to respond well with these changes. The more you embrace them and experiment with them, the better your SEO results.
Try not to create multiple similar pages with an attempt to target different customers from different geographic regions. That only leads more time and cost on your part, more confusion for your website users and for search engines. Also, it doesn't add value to your customers as they can always translate your page.
Creating one great site instead of multiple microsites is the best way to encourage organic growth over time.
Although Google does not always get SEO right, working on these 3 ways for website optimization as suggested by Google could help you build a flexible strategy that works for every new change. It also has the potential of driving powerful results for your SEO needs.
Ready to put in place your own SEO strategy? Learn more with this SEO starter guide.


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Russia: EU pursues anti-trust suit against Gazprom
michael / April 22, 2015
Today, EU antitrust regulators have made the case the Gazprom has abused its dominance over European natural gas markets. The European Commission said that unfair pricing has resulted in higher gas prices in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland – most of which are almost 100% dependent on imported Russian natural gas. Regulators assert a significant markup when compared with the company's costs and benchmark natural gas prices. Gazprom, obviously, denies any wrongdoing, citing its adherence to all international and local state laws regarding gas prices.
It is thought that Gazprom is being used as political leverage against European Union officials that seek to punish Russia for its ongoing role in the Ukraine crisis. However, equally unclear is if this complaint will lead to official action against Gazprom, as there was little mention of which of the countries would be party to leading the action for the complaint or if this was Brussels' way of merely expressing disapproval through political theater. Gazprom indicated it was willing to settle the charges before a twelve week period ended and a hearing would be called.
Turkmenistan's government is taking aim at RFE/RL, a major news source in English for Central Asian affairs. They announced they would liquidate all privately owned TV and radio satellite dishes in the country with the intention of removing access to Radio Azatlyk, the Turkmen language service of RFE/RL. Access to cheap satellite dishes have in some cases allowed citizens to obtain sources of information that are out of the grasp of government officials.
A Russian nuclear scientist was arrested on suspicion of revealing classified information during a conference in Prague. The scientist, Vladimir Golubev, is a retired employee of the Federal Nuclear Center in Sarov, saying that his information is available in open source science magazines and can therefore not be considered classified. Investigators last year who opened the case ordered him not to leave Nizhny Novgorod.
The Afghan Taliban formally announced its spring offensive would be commencing on April 24, and oddly enough, named targets in the defense and interior ministries. A response statement from the Afghan government was also announced, calling the declaration "repetitive propaganda." This marks the first fighting season in Afghanistan where the Afghan National Army is handling the Taliban on its own, with no help from ISAF or foreign military forces.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has organized several military drills in Kyrgyzstan with joint units from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan noted it would not be taking part in the drills, which occurred today. These are likely a formal military acknowledgement of the general state of fear among Central Asian countries that Islamic extremism might spread from Afghanistan in the future. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan are all observer states to the SCO.
The Russian government has unveiled a new corruption monitoring index for "Eurasia." Russian officials are usually the first to behave with indignance when international organizations like Amnesty International point out their corruption issues, and as such, the Russian government has organized a body that have instituted their own rating. The new system, called the International Program for Monitoring Corruption (MONKOR) is being tested in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
April 22, 2015 in Energy, Russia.
Russia: Gazprom Will Route All EU Gas Through Turkey
Gazprom Accused of Using Gas Prices to Pressure Turkey
Gazprom Begins Exploration in Kyrgyzstan
← China Continues New Silk Road Development, Xi Visits Pakistan
CASA-1000 Final Deal Signing Imminent →


SYDNEY — Australia's new rugby league captain Greg Inglis was suspended on Tuesday for this month's two-test tour of New Zealand after being charged with mid-range drink driving just hours after his appointment.
Meninga on Monday named Inglis to replace the retiring Cameron Smith as captain, but only hours later the South Sydney and Queensland utility was pulled over by police near Sydney for speeding. He reportedly failed a roadside blood test and a later breath test. He is due to appear in court in late November and has said he will plead guilty.
At a news conference, Inglis was remorseful but said he did not intend to resign the captaincy.
"I am sincerely apologetic," the 31-year-old said. "I hope we can get this sorted and move on from this.
"As a player in this community it's not good enough. This is a lesson everyone should take out of this: if you're not right to drive, have a plan B.
"Once again I am very sorry."
Inglis said he had spoken to Meninga Tuesday morning and had not resigned or been told to resign. Greenberg and Meninga announced the decision to suspend him some two hours later.
Australia selector Laurie Daley is among several leading figures who have called for Inglis to lose the captaincy.
"Greg's been a terrific leader for South Sydney and Queensland but I don't think you can have the Australian captain going DUI," Daley said.
Inglis will not challenge the ban and it remains possible he could return as the Kangaroos captain next year when Meninga names his next squad.
Sydney Roosters captain Boyd Cordner will take over as skipper for the Tests against New Zealand and Tonga.
Inglis was pulled over by police at Lithgow, 86 miles (140 kilometers) west of Sydney. He was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.085, above the legal limit in New South Wales state of 0.05.


The Fox drama The O.C. premiered on August 5, 2003, and when it did, it not only got Phantom Planet's song "California" permanently stuck in our heads, but it also gave us a look into the lavish mansions and lifestyles of Newport Beach, CA. In such an insular, cliquish society, it's not much of a surprise that everyone always looked damn good - and hardly appeared to age.
Though the show only aired four seasons, the characters went through a number of ups and downs - from jail to alcohol addiction, death, pregnancies (yes, plural), and marriage - all without ever seeming to age much at all. The O.C. taught us about family, friendship, Chrismukkah, Death Cab for Cutie, and what it means to be young and rich.
In the world of Newport Beach, where Botox is a-plenty, it makes sense that the characters from The O.C. hardly aged from Season 1 through Season 4. But looking the same for several years can be tough for an actor. So take a look at these before-and-after photos of your favorite O.C. cast members, and see how well they maintained their character's look over four long years.
Ben McKenzie was 25 (playing a teenager) during the first season of The O.C. And while he might have passed as a teen in the first season, that was definitely not the case by the last season, in which he looked more mid-twenties than late teens.
Adam Brody was 23 when he first started playing the adorkable Seth Cohen. Over the course of The O.C.'s four seasons, Seth became a teen heartthrob and geek icon. Brody told US magazine that he looks back at the role the same way one might look back at college. "I mean, maybe it's the equivalent of, like, 'Do you miss being back in college?' - which I never went to, but... there are fun things about it. But that character? No. That was a character from 2004, and it's very much of that time... My interests don't lie there at all anymore." Throughout his time on the show, Brody visibly aged, but just barely - exactly like you'd expect a young adult to.
Mischa Barton, who was 16 when she first acted on The O.C., definitely grew up during her three seasons on the show. In fact, as Barton explained, the show kind of forced her to grow up too fast. "It's tough. It's really tough when you are young in this business. People blow a lot of hot air at you... Even when you think your head is on your shoulders, sometimes it isn't. It's just one of those things when you are growing under a microscope, and changing, and, that evolution is human." By the end of her run on the series, Barton looked more run-down than when she started, which was consistent with her character's slow downward spiral.
Peter Gallagher is known for his role as Sandy Cohen on The O.C. (among many others), but he is also known for his infamous eyebrows. Throughout the seasons those eyebrows never changed, just like Sandy never wavered in his role as a protective, honest, bagel-loving, sarcastic, and super-awesome dad. Gallagher looked even more vibrant at the end of the series than at the beginning, which makes sense, considering that Sandy's positive outlook definitely would have helped fend off premature signs of aging.


Can one receive SSD benefits for chronic heart failure?
On behalf of The Lawrence Law Firm posted in Social Security Disability for Illnesses on Wednesday, July 15, 2015.
People in Florida who are suffering from heart problems know how difficult it can be to function on a daily basis. The heart is so important to normal functioning that any kind of cardiac illness or condition can result in the inability to work and the need for help every day. It is with this in mind that a person might choose to seek Social Security disability benefits for illness. One particular issue that might make it necessary to file for SSD benefits is chronic heart failure.
Knowing what the Social Security Administration requires to approve benefits is key when applying for benefits. When it comes to heart failure, both impairment categories A and B must be met. The requirements in category A include a systolic failure and left ventricular end diastolic dimensions that are measured to be greater than 6.0 centimeters or an ejection fraction that is 30 percent or less when the patient is stable. It is not to be measured during an episode of heart failure. Another way to be approved is to have a left ventricular posterior wall with septal thickness of 2.5 centimeters or more when checked by medical imaging. There must be an enlarged left atrium that is either equal to or larger than 4.5 centimeters. It must be measured with an elevated or normal ejection fraction when stable.
For category B, there must be: symptoms of heart failure limiting the person's ability to complete activities that are required for daily living, or three or more episodes of acute congestive heart failure within 12 consecutive months with fluid retention making it necessary for medical intervention with hospitalization for at least 12 hours. Alternatively, there must be one of: an inability to perform an exercise tolerance of a specific period because of fatigue, palpitations, or chest discomfort; three premature contractions of the ventricle; a decrease in systemic blood pressure below the baseline or signs that are cerebral perfusion with evidence by being mentally confused.
Heart problems can be very serious and limit a person in numerous ways. When there is a heart illness or condition, it is important to understand whether it meets the federal requirements to receive Social Security disability benefits for illness. To obtain legal advice about SSD benefits and heart disease -- which is not provided by this post -- it may be necessary to contact an attorney.


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Q: General linear group $GL_{2}(\mathbb{Z}_{3}).$ General linear group $GL_{2}(\mathbb{Z}_{3})$ of $2\times2$ matrices over the field $\mathbb{Z}_{3}$ is defined as $$GL_{2}(\mathbb{Z}_{3})=\{a,b:a^{3}=b^{2}=(ab)^{8}\}$$ where $a=
  \left[ {\begin{array}{cc}
   2 & 1 \\
   2 & 0 \\
  \end{array} } \right]
$ and $b=
  \left[ {\begin{array}{cc}
   2 & 0 \\
   0 & 1 \\
  \end{array} } \right]
$ .
I needed the group $GL_{2}(\mathbb{Z}_{3})$ in form of elements power of $a$ and $b$ i.e. words in $a$ and $b.$ I tried like $\{e,a,a^{2},b,ab,ba,(ab)^{2},(ab)^{2}a,(ab)^{2}a^{2},(ab)^{3},(ab)^{3}a,(ab)^{3}a^{3},(ab)^{4},(ab)^{4}a,(ab)^{4}a^{2},(ab)^{5},(ab)^{5}a,(ab)^{5}a^{2},(ab)^{6},(ab)^{6}a,(ab)^{6}a^{2},(ab)^{7},(ab)^{7}a,(ab)^{7}a^{2}...\}$. But i don't know complete set in nice form. Please help me to form complete set in nice form. Thanks in advance.

A: There are only $3^4 = 81$ possible elements, i.e., all matrices
$$
\begin{bmatrix}
a & c \\
b & d
\end{bmatrix}
$$
where $a, b, c, d$ are each $0, 1, $ or $2$. You need to eliminate those in which $ad - bc = 0$. And that'll give you a complete enumeration.
As for writing these as powers of $a$ and $b$, you know that they have the form
$$
u_1 b u_2 b \ldots u_{n-1} b u_n
$$
where each $u_i$ is a power of $a$, i.e., they have the form "powers of $a$ interleaved with single $b$s".
Why? Because multiple $b$s can be simplified to $0$ or $1$ $b$, and multiple $a$s can be combined into a power.
You need only consider $u_i = e, a, a^2$, because $a^3 = 1$.
That makes for a not-too-long list.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth on the future of BH90210 and the Brenda Walsh of it all
By Rosy Cordero September 11, 2019 at 10:15 PM EDT
Warning: This article contains spoilers from BH90210 season 1 finale, "The Long Wait."
Not many people understood what the sort-of reboot BH90210 was before it premiered — reuniting the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 — but as the sixth and final episode airs tonight on Fox, many fans aren't ready to say goodbye to Tori Spelling, Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty, Gabrielle Carteris, Jason Priestley, Brian Austin Green, and Ian Ziering.
And that's exactly what series creators Spelling (whose father, Aaron Spelling, created the original series) and Garth were hoping for when they set out to bring lots of drama back into the lives of viewers from the most famous ZIP code on television. The finale, titled "The Long Wait," sets things up perfectly for the network to announce that the show will be back for another season — including the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers.
Spelling and Garth spoke to EW about everything that happened on the show's extremely short debut season, the Shannen Doherty of it all, and where things can go from here.
BH90210: L-R: Gabrielle Carteris, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling in the BH90210 "Long Wait" season finale episode airing Wednesday, Sept. 11 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2019 Fox Media LLC Cr: Shane Harvey/FOX
Credit: Shane Harvey/FOX
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The finale sets up a second season perfectly. Do you guys have some news to share?
TORI SPELLING: We hope to! We definitely wanted to keep it very meta, as the whole show has been. In our minds, writing the last episode was foreshadowing another season. Going forward, the second season would be more laser-focused on the reboot. So the fans would get a much bigger percentage of us playing ourselves and our characters from the original 90210 as we would dive into what the reboot would look like.
What was it like to step back into these characters after so many years? Was all the drama behind you?
JENNIE GARTH: It was great and it was scary. And I needed therapy after it. But it was fun to be back with my old family.
SPELLING: Strictly speaking personally and not from what's on the show, personally it was great to come full circle. I think it made all of us really realize that we're meant to be together. Our fate is for all of us to be together, somehow, in each other's lives. It's so crazy that we were on a show together that lasted 10 years. We truly were like brothers and sisters. We all had our ups and downs, and we were a family no matter what.
BH90210: L-R: Gabrielle Carteris, Ian Ziering, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Tori Spelling and Shannen Doherty in the BH90210 "Long Wait" season finale episode airing Wednesday, Sept. 11 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2019 Fox Media LLC Cr: Shane Harvey/FOX
Can we discuss the Brenda Walsh and Kelly Taylor of it all? It was great the way it was handled through comedy.
GARTH: We didn't want to ignore any of the things. We wanted to tackle things straight on and own it, because whether people said things about us or whether it really happened doesn't matter, because it was out there. We wanted to be able to use that stuff to tell stories, and it was really the most fun and creative aspect of the project. It's all so juicy, right?
SPELLING: Before we did the show, we all got together to discuss what we wanted to do and how we wanted to collaborate. Shannen, Jennie, and I specifically got together to talk about taking the perception of what people had back then versus what the tabloids wrote versus the friendship that Kelly and Brenda and Donna had that was so unique and girls everywhere loved. [Shannen] was fully on board with poking fun of that. I think that's the whole reason this show works, because everyone was game to do that at this point in their careers and lives.
Did you find that being able to laugh about the past and use comedy to poke fun at it all has helped heal any animosity from the past?
GARTH: I think it was definitely a cathartic experience, but everyone came together in a really neutral zone. We were all there because we love the show and because we have a great love for each other individually. So there was none of that petty stuff that was there from the beginning. Everyone has different personalities and everybody has different ways of working. In any work environment, you're bound to have ups and downs, for sure. I'm not going to say that didn't happen during this run, but it's different when you're an adult because you handle it differently.
As creators, did you decide not to include Shannen's real-life cancer battle on the show, or what that her decision?
SPELLING: Every actor did create their character and everyone had a different opinion about what was important to include and what they wanted to keep private. So everyone was able to make that choice.
At the end of the finale when the pilot gets picked up, it's announced that they'll have to reshoot it and there's no budget for everyone to come back. Who isn't coming back?
SPELLING: Well, we had to have a cliffhanger! We'll have to keep who it is a mystery. Maybe they'll all be back, who knows? Here's the thing, I feel like we left it as a cliffhanger. We said the stalker set the fires, but we never admitted to the stalker that they caught at the red dress doing the mutilated dolls or any of the other creepy things that were happening to them. So that's open-ended.
It's unfortunate that things didn't work out with Wyatt [Brendan Penny] but it leaves the door open for TV Jennie and Jason. What's the scoop?
GARTH: [Penny] was really great to work with and we were all sad to see him go, and it happened really quickly. But we realized it was episode 6 and we need to leave the lane open for Brandon and Kelly, potentially, if we go forward. Doing the hotel scene with Jason was hilarious. We would just look at each other and say, "Okay, let's do this!" It was fun, for sure.
Tori, how does your husband, Dean McDermott, feel about how he's being portrayed on the show? Everyone knows that it's not all based in truth, but some of the stuff is rough!
SPELLING: My husband is super-supportive. There's a major difference [between the character and McDermott]. He was in the whole way. At first we talked about how we'll be pretending all this other stuff is going on that people are saying about me, but what do we do about the home life? So he told me to go for it. Go with all the rumors that are out there. Go with everything that is written about us. There's always crap written about us every day. He's that confident and comfortable in our relationship, and he supports me 100 percent. And Ivan Sergei, who plays my husband on the show, is so lovable and such a great guy. Even though the husband character isn't very supportive, he's still likable anyways.
The series had some great guest stars, including '90s hunk Jamie Walters. What was it like reuniting with him, and who else would you like to see come back in future seasons?
SPELLING: We have 10 years of amazing casting pieces to stunt-cast in future seasons. We want to use them in interesting ways, like how we used Christine Elise coming back — not as Emily Valentine, but coming back in real life as Christine Elise, who is now a network executive. We loved shifting the bad-girl role to just her real life, which isn't her at all.
I was so excited to see Jaime, that was another thing that really came full circle for me. We were such good friends and we had lost touch, so we were so happy to reconnect. He was so happy to be back together with the group. When we talked about the reboot, I knew his character, Ray, had to be in some scenes with Donna. I really hope we can keep doing this so we can keep bringing people back. I feel like my dad was a genius at stunt casting. The Love Boat always had someone playing themselves, and with our show, it's perfect to have someone come aboard. In episode 6, we had Denise Richards play herself. I think we'll have some amazing stunt casting if we get season 2.
BH90210 will make you confront your mortality (in a good way)
Brian Austin Green reunites with 90210 BFF at Peach Pit pop-up
The 90210 revival is 'tragic' and 'funny,' says star Jason Priestley


text:
F.U.N. - GFriend's Cover of Twice's "Like Ooh-Ahh"
I'm sure many of you have seen GFriend's cover of Twice's "Like Ooh-Ahh" (and Twice's cover of GFriend's "Me Gustas Tu"). In today's new segment, F.U.N. - Fucking Unnecessary Nitpicking, I wanted to bring up the bridge in GFriend's cover because it has been annoying me for over a week.
The lyrics normally go:
Let me see How you gonna treat me I ain't no easy Better think about it Twice
In the cover, they were changed to:
Let me see How you gonna treat me I ain't no easy Better think about it GFriend
THAT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE!
Yes, in the original version, there are some grammatical problems, but that's the message is understandable.
We start with "Let me see, how you gonna treat me." Here, the Twice members are talking to a guy, asking how the guy intends to treat the girls. Then they reiterate "I ain't no easy". Yes, that's grammatically incorrect, as the double negative in the sentence implies that the girls actually are easy. Thanks to the retardification of our country's education system, many people tend to use double negatives and don't realize what they literally said is entirely different from what the intended meaning is. Here, the Twice girls are are saying that they are not easy girls. They tell the man to "Better think about it Twice" because they won't be spreading their legs just for any guy (but if you're a girl, Momo won't think about it twice.)
That brings us to GFriend's version. The first three lines are the same. However, we get to the last line and it destroys any logical reasoning. "Better think about it GFriend"? The first three lines you were talking to a guy about how you are not easy girls. Does that imply that someone in GFriend is a guy? Or that all of the members are guys?
Yes, I understand GFriend wanted to insert their name wherever Twice did, but Twice's name made logical sense when inserted into the line. But maybe someone might say "Maybe GFriend meant 'girlfriend', as in how girls call each other girlfriend." Sure, that may have been plausible if the first fucking three lines were not directed at a guy.
In conclusion, inserting GFriend's name into the song was fucking retarded.
No April 24, 2016 at 5:06 AM
I guess it means "Better think twice about liking that boring group gfriend". HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
RealJW April 24, 2016 at 8:35 AM
fuck man yeah Twice may have all the hot ladies but their songs suck donkey's ass, their newest one is also pretty terrible
No April 24, 2016 at 10:44 AM
Ah Oh, despite having an utterly retarded title, is a very enjoyable song.
I'm going to go through this atrocity they call a song just to see that.
why are you so upset at this dude?
Nayeon's Vibrator April 24, 2016 at 7:00 AM
What part of "F.U.N. - Fucking Unnecessary Nitpicking" do you not understand?
Oh LMFAO I missed that part. Quite unnecessary for real. LMFAO I was thinking you were just being a cunt. LMFAO
GONE April 24, 2016 at 8:48 AM
Unrelated - Twice's comeback was pretty awesome.
GONE April 24, 2016 at 5:57 PM
Serious question: is retarded an adjective?
Twice's Cheer up is such a shit. It's looks like the inspiration is taken from IGAB and hapiness. What is it with kpop and sticking 12478942 songs into one? Also the video is just as messy, but Momo looks hot so...
And they should've got someone who can say cheer up. All that engrish makes things eaven worse. But there Tzuyu...
RealJW April 24, 2016 at 10:04 AM
yeah it's even worse than ooh aah, the MV is super cool though, such a waste of potential I think.
Check out Lovelyz or Berry Good's new song, those two are significantly better
engrish is cute tho.
Cheer Up is a kinda weird and rather bad song, but I find the MV enjoyable.
Daddy April 24, 2016 at 3:37 PM
The song is great sans the "cheor up" but the music video is intentionally all over the place, though it's still kinda annoying. But the song isn't all over the place, it flows just nicely.
pikachuwei April 24, 2016 at 5:03 PM
But Churro Up is a great song and the MV is the best visual treat for thirsty eyes in years
I merely liked the song at first but after a few hours it's grown tremendously. The only part I still don't really like is the random 'real men' part' but otherwise everything else flows pretty well.
arimasen April 24, 2016 at 10:00 PM
the song is growing on me, but the english lyrics in the chorus specifically sound like CHURRO BABY, CHURRO BABY. and now i cant unhear it.
datdude April 24, 2016 at 1:07 PM
I interpret it like this: the singer is a black girl with attitude telling another ho to check herself (think about it guuuuuurlfriend) since the singer is top bitch that deserves respect (i ain't no easy = i ain't one to fuck with).
Fany Pack April 24, 2016 at 1:17 PM
You seem to be fucking unnecessarily nitpicky in this post, AKF.
There aren't grammar issues in the original though...It's just using slang, saying "gon" as apposed to "going to" or "gonna".
Nayeon's Vibrator April 24, 2016 at 5:30 PM
"ain't no" is a double negative. Sure, uneducated fucks talk that, but it still makes it a grammar issue.
razzmatastic April 25, 2016 at 1:53 PM
It makes me mad because all they had to do was rearrange the same four words. "I aint no easy" becomes "No I aint easy". There. Grammatically correct slang. Everybody's happy.
And as for the "I ain't no easy" it's supposed to be "I ain't no easy bitch" but obviously that'd get sensored so it's done on purpose. :P
Nicholas Jordan April 24, 2016 at 4:10 PM
난 당신과 함께 매혹하고
난 매력적인 남자니까 이해해.
TWICE's new song kind of grew on me, not going to lie, but it's the visuals that really seal the deal. Tzuyu, Mina, and Momo especially.
Ugly.bettii April 24, 2016 at 7:28 PM
Also cheer up by twice is a bop idc what anyone says
Mina's Nipple Ring April 24, 2016 at 7:58 PM
are you pinoys going to do a Lovelyz vs Twice thing?
I can already see it starting to kick off. kids today, so desperate for conflict... they don't know what it was like living through The Great Fanwars of 2008-2010. too few survived, and those that did ended up as bitter, curmudgeonly oldfags...
CitrusParty April 24, 2016 at 8:27 PM
Well, at least Yerin and Sowon are cute as usual. I thoroughly enjoyed both Twice and GFriend's performances.
I found this performance enjoyable, and my fav Sowon actually got a line this time <3
There might be a "Hani/Solji" in the group
https://youtu.be/Ij3cifGlVBA
Thread Killer April 27, 2016 at 1:04 PM
This line was written for Momo. It's like a personal ad.
Momo is an idol in heavily conservative South Korea. Like AKF said, Momo wouldn't think twice about opening her legs for a girl... because she's in heavily conservative South Korea. It's hard enough for her to find someone discreetly, especially as an idol. But how can you be any more discreet than in an innocuous song lyric?
So the whole bit is written as Momo speaking to another girl. Momo starts off asking how this unknown girl will treat her and stating she "ain't no easy" Now I know it may seem that this directly contradicts what has already been said: Momo wouldn't think twice about opening her legs to a girl. But it only seems that way if you're not paying attention! She's not saying she's not easy, since we've established she pretty much has to be in South Korea. Instead it's similar to what datdude said above, Momo is not someone to fuck with. Then the bit ends with "Better think about it Gfriend!" Basically this is Momo telling the girl better think about how she treats any relations she has with Momo. It's a threat that should said girl try to make public her lesbianism, Momo will end her.
I don't think Momo is ashamed of who she is. It appears many idols are aware, and even indulge her lesbian needs. We know about Momo because we're not stupid. But fangirls are stupid and don't know. They would burn her alive if they knew the truth. Which is ridiculous because in reality it means their Oppars won't be pursued by Momo. Ultimately if they knew the truth, it would make sense for them to love Momo. But as previously established, they're dumb. And Momo truly understands the dangers of netizen hate, especially after Tzuyugate and Jisoo. So she is secretive.
Anyways back to why the line is there! Twice couldn't sing this line, because then it would've been too obvious that it was about Momo, thus outing her and causing the witch hunt they want to avoid. How convenient there's a group named Gfriend! So they give it to them to sing, so that the line is made public. And then people will (understandably) assume that Gfriend is clumsily sticking their name into the song where it doesn't belong. Even Gfriend themselves think that! And to make it even less obvious, Twice awkwardly covers Gfriend's Rough. Which I assume is an addendum to the personal ad in Twice stating Momo likes it rough, but that's just speculation.
In the end Momo wins as brainless netizens remain unaware of her true self while she attracts perceptive lesbians to eat out in secret.
I applaud your effort. This was hilarious to read.
Blogger September 12, 2017 at 12:31 PM
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