You can tell a Brit a mile off. He's the idiot that believes everything as long as it is preceded by the word secular.
Secular is his authority, even if he's religious.
For centuries we had preaching. So when the radio was invented it was natural that independent Christians use it in the UK to get their particular message across. But Christians obey the "secular voice" because for them secular means reason. Means the only way to behave. So all a Luciferian has to do to get his policies through is to say..."the secular policy is"..... and all Christians immediately fall into line like performing seals.
"Ofcourse," the Brit agrees," preaching must be banned. Children must be given a fair choice. They need to make up their own minds." Well, if Christianity was from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil like in Genesis 3, that would be fine. But that principle IS SECULARISM. The very nature of BELIEF is that it is belief. But here's the stickler. SECULAR BELIEF is NOT the same as Christian belief. Secular Belief is a largely Leftbrain affair, although some have what they feel is a gut instinct on it. The FOLLY OF PREACHING is the SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION OF A NEW TYPE OF FOOD ENTIRELY. Its proof comes AFTERWARDS. SECULARISM only reports BACKWARDS from what appears to be there already.
FAITH however REPORTS FORWARDS. It believes in its heart and confesses in its mouth things God has said as though they were already. A Luciferian calls this lying, and bans it from school and the airwaves.
When USSR fell in 1989 there was a spare propaganda station that disbanded on a particular MW frequency. Somehow or other it was donated to United Christian Broadcasters of Northern Ireland for a Christian Radio station (now DAB,Sky and internet). The Luciferian Lords quickly used the pretext of various stunning US Christian media scandals in the late 80s to maintain a complete stronghold ban on all national Christian radio stations. This religious area is already covered by BBC, they said. What they fail to say is that Luciferians and Jesuits control all religious content in our media as they do in most churches. This is why there is hardly any preaching in Britain, as against say Northern Ireland. The "pulpit style" here is Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil "opinion formation". The irony is this is in many cases outright lies or confusing halftruths, which is why most people's Christianity doesn't actually work in Britain. The faith frequency in Britain after all this Luciferianism is so low that Evangelist Rheinhard Bonnke can be in Africa on Friday raising people from the dead, then on the Saturday in Westminster Central Hall London, having great problem with shifting headcolds. Jesus used to put people out of rooms. If Jesus were on earth as the Nazarene today, He'd probably ask Britain to leave the room. Which would be good for the Ferry Operators.
Unless a child goes to a particular type of church which are as rare as hen's teeth in the UK, they will not have heard preaching in all their years of schooling. It is banned in our free country. The "folly" of preaching is not allowed here, and yet it is the power of God unto salvation. Any wonder then the few Christians there are here know nothing of internal regeneration from on high. They use the word Christian to mean a philosophical and moral position. Have you ever tried living with one of those? It's a similar stupidity to being taught spoken French by someone who has never been outside the Birmingham Bangladeshi Community. They have trouble with English, forget French!!
Chapter 1 covers the whole subject in an introductory chapter of the same name. Hopefully this will wet your appetite to buy or download the book.
The first sermon of the Christian era was preached on a day of harvest festival – the Day of Pentecost.' It was a day that also celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses at Mount Sinai. For Moses that day had ended tragically as 3,000 drunken revellers perished amid a storm of wind and fire. Remarkably for Peter, the Day of Pentecost resulted in a similar storm of wind and fire, and 3,000 people crossed the gulf from death to life as a result of the words that were on his lips. It was truly a much more significant day to be remembered than the giving of the Torah to Moses. Now we have the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to preach and the fruit will be far more spectacular.
The era of the Spirit had commenced and church growth began to snowball according to Acts 4:4. The apostles preached incessantly – so much so that the main complaint voiced against them by the authorities was that they Had 'filled Jerusalem' with their teaching. Oh, that the same could be said over every town and city in our nations today – that these Christians have filled the city with their teaching, the word, the message they bring.
Such effects as the apostles achieved – dramatic church growth and equally dramatic hostility as a result – were not the result of inter-faith festivals, the creative arts, jumble sales or Christian rock concerts! It was through persistent preaching, day by day in the temple courts, or visiting house to house. They never ceased proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. If we today would see the same apostolic results, then we have to emulate the same apostolic methods!
The apostle Paul did nothing more nor less than this. Indeed, he said he was always eager to preach.' Only one of his recorded sermons in the book of Acts was preached to believers, so far as I can tell. The rest were aimed at Jewish and Pagan unbelievers. The record of his preaching to believers is, of course, summarised for us in the epistles of the New Testament. But what Paul had every confidence in was the proclamation of the truth to unbelievers. As converts multiplied and churches were planted he expressed his conviction that, 'God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe'." So seriously did Paul view his commission that he solemnly announced a self-imposed curse if he ever reneged on this responsibility: 'Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!' This yields a very vital and important principle: Christianity is an enterprise that expands primarily through the activity of preaching. The parable of the sower, which is considered cardinal and central to all of Jesus' parables of the Kingdom, confirms that, 'A farmer went out to sow his seed ... The farmer sows the word.
1. Both quantitative and qualitative growth in the Church of Jesus Christ has been significantly stunted in the West for decades, perhaps for a century or more.
2. Passion for Jesus Christ has almost died, even among the once faithful.
3. The Bible itself lies largely unknown by most, forgotten and neglected somewhere.
4. Faith has well-nigh faded from view in terms of its expression in vigorous prayer, in effective apologetic and interface with the world, and in terms of action that transforms lives and communities.
5. The big picture that the Bible presents, our whole world and life view, has almost totally been forgotten and is barely understood by even a minority of the Christian Church.
6. Cults and false religions have seemingly triumphed in many respects, filling the vacuum left by our abdication of responsibility and retreat from our priorities.
7. The lost have dismissed both us and our message as weightless and irrelevant — irrelevant to their lives and to the ultimate questions that are plaguing them at this time in our nation.
We have to admit that it is very difficult at the present time to preach the truth of the Word faithfully in the West. One observer of recent trends, an American writer called George Target, has said, 'Preaching is a sacred relic, a dubious thing of withered skin and dry bones, enclosed in a reliquary of fond remembrance, still encrusted with the jewels of a former glory.' That negative assessment of preaching is actually widespread today. Those who attempt to do it, therefore, are deemed to be dinosaurs — relics from a bygone era who are leading a remnant of what we could call 'Jurassic Park churches', churches full of the long-dead or dying remains of creaking old fossils. They are creatures that failed to make the transition to post-modernity and to post-evangelicalism. Even Webster's Dictionary defines preaching as 'exhorting in an officious and tiresome manner'. If that is the case, then no wonder Madonna sang, 'Papa, don't preach'. Much preaching today actually unsettles and disturbs no one. It just fires blanks. It is too short, too trite, too boring, too empty, or too powerless to knock the wings off a gnat, let alone shake a man or woman to their boots. It is no wonder, therefore, that people are staying away from our churches Sunday by Sunday in their millions, opting instead for watching low-key breakfast shows on TV, or taking a leisurely and satisfying stroll through the Sunday newspapers, or simply lying in bed later after a busy and tiring week. We need to remind ourselves that this has not always been the case. Someone once defined preaching as 'thirty minutes in which to wake the dead', and it was the Scottish theologian P.T. Forsyth's conviction that, 'The Church rises or falls by her preaching.'1 I happen to believe this is true. Good preaching shapes lives. It renews and reforms churches to become forces to be reckoned with. It can even transform whole towns, communities, even nations, as the marvellous legacy of church history can demonstrate. Frederick W. Robertson, the nineteenth-century preacher based in Brighton, once spoke of what he called 'the intense excitement of preaching'! Presumably he meant his own excitement and that of his hearers. Andrew Blackwood, who taught generations of seminarians how to preach, voiced the conviction that preaching should be at least as exciting as a good ball game. I would go further and say that preaching is a matter of life or death, and there is evidence that God Himself agrees with this. I will substantiate that claim later in this chapter, but first let me reinforce the challenge to preach the Word from the past, on through the present, and into the future.
God Himself supremely believes in the power of the spoken word. At creation it was God who said, let there be light', and then, 'Let there be an expanse to separate the waters ... Let there be water and seas ... Let there be land, dry land ... Let there be living creatures ... Let there be man.' Every time God said, 'Let there be ... '— there was! People have often coined the phrase 'mere words', but from the Bible's point of view there is no such thing as 'mere' words. Words are the most powerful thing that has ever proceeded from the human personality. God Himself is a speaking God, and He never uses an idle word. In the Bible words are seen to be powerful and creative. They are what we can call 'performative utterances' — they actually effect the content of that which they describe. They make things happen. The words that God puts in our mouths have His own divine power upon them to effect the changes that God wants. They create a new reality. Preachers, especially, have to recover the confidence that this is so. In Genesis chapter 1 we learn that words brought something out of nothing, and shaped what was chaos into a cosmos. Similarly, because we are made in His image, men and women can borrow some of God's creative force so that our words can recreate and reform a ruined world — if God ordains it — by the power of our speech. With our words, under God, we can both create and critique a new people, even bring into being a new culture, to the glory of God!
One of the words we use to describe the art or science of good communication in preaching is homiletics. The word is derived from the Greek homologeo which means 'to confess with the mouth', and etymologically can carry the idea: 'To say the same thing as, to speak in accord with, or in agreement with, something objective and outside of yourself.' Simply put, it means that through preaching we should be saying the same thing that God would say in a given situation. Preaching, therefore, can be said to be 'prophetic' in a very real sense of the word, because true biblical preaching says what God wants to say into a specific life situation. You can hear the very voice of God in biblical preaching. The One who spoke with power to generations past is still speaking today. As the Scriptures are opened, its prophetic message unfolds from the pages and speaks to our current environment and society.
The narratives that run throughout the Torah make it very clear that it was God's purpose to anoint men to preach, often in times of national crisis, for His name's sake. Jude tells us that Enoch, the seventh man from Adam, `prophesied'. We are told by Peter that Noah was a 'preacher of righteousness' for over a hundred years. Israel was led from the death camps of Egypt by Moses, whom Hosea tells us was 'a prophet. All three of these outstanding figures trumpeted God's word to their generation, and were enabled by Him to change their world for the better. All biblical preaching should resound with a similar immediacy and relevance. As Jeremy Middleton said, 'The hour can ripple with the dancing currents of the Creator's voice. It is a dangerous place to be.
Moving on, we think of the company of prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others. The concise brevity of the records of the ministry of these watchmen of Israel in our Bibles should not mislead us. These men were first and foremost preachers, not writers and poets. They were preachers conveying diagnostic and curative, revelatory and didactic ministry; eyeball to eyeball, face to face with their hearers, often over decades of influential ministry. All authentic preaching is meant to do the same thing. We can still clearly detect, beneath the surface of the writings of Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Zechariah and the rest, the kind of structure and craftsmanship, the illustration and wordplay, the rugged, direct, penetrating application, that these men of God moved in habitually, to effect the things God wanted.
So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Melo.
It is so crucial for us to understand these principles, because there is a dearth of such prophetic preaching and ministry in the Church today. No wonder then that our walls are down! No wonder that the temple of worship is so abysmally ruined! It will continue to be as long as there are no voices to declare God's heart and mind authoritatively to His people.
Looking further ahead in Scripture we discover the era of the Holy Spirit — fore-shadowed by the ministry of John the Baptist, and supremely beginning with the death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus. We know that John the Baptist broke four hundred years of prophetic silence with an explosion of holy violence against the decadence of his day. His bold, earthy directness in preaching summoned the top-dogs and underdogs of his day to abandon their moral pollution and be baptised as a sign that they had done so. Even a king was on John's 'hit list' for repentance, renewal and life. John single-handedly mounted an assault, both on the corrupt occupying Roman army, and the faithless religious establishment of his day, arraigning them for their brutality, and for their formalism and empty pride. Of course, John the Baptist lost his head in the end — good preachers often do! But Christ said of him that 'no one greater than he' had been born of a woman, and added, 'yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.' If John's ministry was so powerful and effective, what may we aspire to?
I believe it was Jesus' top priority to preach the Word. Healing is wonderful — those who have been beneficiaries of it know this — but healing, at its best, only repairs bodies for a time. Preaching can restore souls for all eternity. So preaching was, and still is, that important. Before He ascended into heaven, Christ's last order to His disciples was they should 'go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation!' (Mark 16:15).
The era of the Spirit had commenced and church growth began to snowball according to Acts 4:4. The apostles preached incessantly – so much so that the main complaint voiced against them by the authorities was that they Had 'filled Jerusalem' with their teaching.9 Oh, that the same could be said over every town and city in our nations today – that these Christians have filled the city with their teaching, the word, the message they bring.
Church history presents a dazzling gallery of outstanding preachers for us, illuminating the darkness of an otherwise black night sky, and accelerating periods of the Church's greatest advance and progress. Thank God that He has His champions in every century.
In Chapter 3 Liam Goligher will survey the main highlights and the glorious effects of this breathtaking story, and what an inspiring story it is. But our recent contemporary history has had its own illustrious role models — those who took up the baton of faithful witness and proclamation and then passed it on to others.
Borrowing from Dickens' famous opening to his novel A Tale of Two Cities, the past century has seen both 'the best and the worst of times'. No century before has seen such ideological ferment, global warfare, massive cruelty, wholesale genocide and widespread devastation threatening to push us to the brink of destruction. In the Church, tragically, the cancer of theological liberalism and worldly assimilation has accelerated a massive decline, particularly in the West. Decline in the quality and quantity of preaching has led to an emptying of the churches, even threatening their total demise. But I believe that wherever the Word of God and the Spirit of God are honoured, God will always ensure there will be a 'resurrection', and sometimes phenomenal growth in His Church as well.
Among my own recent heroes of the twentieth century are Oswald Chambers, and the triumvirate of Campbell Morgan, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and R.T. Kendall from Westminster Chapel. I am a great admirer of A.W. Tozer and W.E. Sangster; of Billy Graham, through whom I was converted; of Francis Schaeffer who taught me to relate the faith meaningfully to the culture in which I live; of John Stott, John Piper, Terry Virgo and David Pawson. Their spoken words have massively impacted their contemporaries, because they have never failed to let loose the Word of God in all of its primeval power.
So what of the present and the future of preaching in the twenty-first century? John Stott has written this: 'In preaching; God is bringing to each person's notice what holy Scripture has made publicly and permanently available, so that His timeless word comes to timely announcement, so that people believe the message and commit to the Saviour it announces.' 14 This, I am convinced, is the kind of preaching we need to see restored in the Body of Christ today — but there is a war on. There is a conflict for the minds, hearts, and welfare of humankind — particularly of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are at war! The Christian life is not like a war, it is a war, and Satan and his Republican Guard are out to halt our impact and progress in whatever way they can. If Satan cannot kill us directly, then he will try to starve us into weakness and disease, leading to a slow and certain death.
What we need, they say, is entertainment, dialogue, fun! Let's bring in the soft lighting and smoke machines! Let's keep the people entertained!
We don't need more entertainment though the best preaching is truly entertaining, in the highest sense of the word, but we do need more authentic preaching that changes lives. If Christianity expands primarily through preaching, then if preaching disappears we will grow pale and sicken. Whole churches will eventually disappear from the map. The world could go to hell without a single soul being alert to the fact, or even strong enough to care.
In any war we need weapons; weapons that are clean, Well maintained, loaded, and fully functioning. How tragic, then, that we often appear to be firing blanks. It was said of the evangelist Charles Finney that when he opened his mouth he was aiming a gun and when he spoke the bombardment began. But we often engage in play fighting, firing corks from pop-guns, or making a noise with harmless caps and paintball repeaters. There may be a lot of smoke in connection with such activities, but there is definitely no fire!
Our schedules are jam-packed with programmes, people, networking, and socialising, so that time in the study has become either scarce or non-existent amid our hectic lifestyles.
find that their preaching suffers.
Some ministers are simply too afraid to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, perhaps for fear of being disliked or alienated by their congregations.
In the name of political correctness it is possible for the message to be so diluted that it leaves the congregation a sentence or two short of really hearing the truth; short of being rattled or offended at times, because the preacher feels it is too dangerous to do this. But doesn't the Bible tell us repeatedly that biblical ministry is not for the cowardly?
Perhaps they have many leisure pursuits, meals out, time with friends, time on the golf course, spectator sports and relaxation to timetable into their diaries. Well, they all have a 11 A place, but they are not our priority.
In other words, waxy deposits have formed in their spiritual ears. In some cases they have been deafened by the booming, strident voices of men and their opinions, so that they become, in effect, stone deaf to the Spirit of God. It requires real sensitivity to hear what God would say in any situation; for some that faculty has been mislaid along the way.
Under-developed preaching skills, little or no feedback of a positive nature from others, meagre results and the weariness of a constant struggle have taken their toll on many discouraged ministers, desperate for a personal renewal.
In the face of all this, one might well ask, why preach at all? Consider this: the devil would like to silence the preaching of the Word, precisely because good preaching is so effective. If the devil wants us to shut up, and he does, there must therefore be a very good reason for us to keep on speaking.
In 2 Timothy chapter 4, anticipating social conditions similar to those I have just described, the apostle Paul wrote to his apostolic protege, Timothy. It was to be his swan-song letter, written from the place of his final imprisonment in Rome. It is Paul's lasting legacy to the Church. The context for Paul's statements was the growing battle for truth that was being waged, even in his day. Deception and lies were threatening the spiritual health of the congregations he had planted, and of others too. Paul said that such lies and deception would characterise the last days, the whole period from Christ's first to His second advent.
wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equippd for every good work.
inspiration in verse 16. Its origin is in God; it is God-breathed - the 4 God's spoken Word. What Scripture says, God says. All modern-day preachers must recover their confidence in the potency of God's Word. His Word is - Paul says, to teach, to correct, to reprove, and to build one up in righteousness. The Bible possesses the divine power to change a person's life. It is capable of making damaged individuals progressively whole, over time.
patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears aside rom the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
We usually pay careful attention to people's last words, especially when they come from a cell on death row, which is where Paul was incarcerated, but this adds a peculiar solemnity to what he is communicating here. Paul describes preaching as an activity that is done in the presence of no less a person than the triune God Himself. The charge to preach, therefore, is heaven-sent — it is not simply a good idea, it is a God idea! His criticism of our efforts in this regard is the only one that really matters. History is coming to a terrifying climax with the sudden appearance of history's Lord and Judge. Paul's single-minded fixation, therefore, is that we all preach the Word, while time allows.
So vital is it that the truth of the gospel be broadcast through human lips that Paul makes it clear that it is not merely an occasional or casual work we can do when we feel like it. Paul says we are to do it whether it is appropriate or not. There are only two times, he says, when you should preach the Word: in season and out of season — which is another way of saying, always. There is no closed season for preaching. It is always 'open season' on saints and sinners alike!
· We are to preach the word relevantly. Every word we utter is to be appropriate to the audiences we address. The preacher's task is to straighten out crooked thinking. An endless barrage of propaganda has fed people's minds. Thank God there's something more powerful in the hour we address them: the Word of God. We are reproving lapsed morals and bad choices, so yes, people need rebuking! Do it lovingly, yes, but do it! We are stirring up discouraged, timid, fearful and wobbling hearts. We are setting a course for new lives and new lifestyles. We do not preach to ceilings or to seats: we preach heart to heart and eye to eye to the people before us.
just because things haven't changed this month. We must refuse to adopt human pressure techniques or quick-fix gimmicks which seem to be on offer at every major conference we attend. Remember, the results of this are in God's hands.
It involves the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 'The truth' is found throughout the sixty-six books of the Bible, not just in our favourite texts or pet themes. Therefore, to preach the Word means to preach the whole Bible: its narrative, its wisdom literature, its prophecy, its poetry, the Gospels, the epistles. We must preach from wherever God shows us to whomever He sends us, with the message He has given us and with the power He lends us. That was Paul's burden and it must become ours as well.
There are only two reactions to good preaching: receptivity or resistance. There is no neutrality. The same sun' that melts wax, hardens clay. The problem is not with the sunshine, the problem is with the substance it shines upon. It is a fact that as a preacher, you will not always be popular, and for this reason in 2 Timothy 4:5 Paul encourages us: `Always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry', as the English Standard Version puts it. Paul is saying the same thing to us today. It may be prudent for us to shut up, to tone it down, to toe the line, but we do not have that option. We have a ministry and a charge to fulfil that the triune God Himself has called us to engage in.
So this is our great task now in the twenty-first century as it was Paul's and Timothy's in the first century AD. Christ is the one who issued it. He is also the one who will fully assess our faithfulness to this task and reward it accordingly. So, whether people love you or hate you, whether they receive you or resist you, whether you see great results or very few at all, do it anyway.
In that moment when the congregation settles itself in the pews and all is quiet and expectant as the people look to you, you are the preacher, the essential link between them and the good news.
that this man is probably the pyramid leader of the assembled people, or the invited guest of such.
Preaching is definitely a constant...it is a manner of Spirit speech....it declares and calls into being the Kingdom. But as to all the other paraphernalia, I am just not sure.


Worship for SEALED Youth is led by students. Songs included in the worship time are a mixture of new contemporary music and contemporized hymns.
Example Wednesday worship set list: Only King Forever-Elevation, Reckless Love-Passion, O Praise the Name- Hillsong.
First Baptist Church and SEALED Youth understand that one of the most important factors in spiritual growth is community. Our adult leaders work hard to create an opportunity for real spiritual growth. This is what SEALED Youth desires for each student to discover. Each group will have prayer, discussion, competitions and even serve together.
Sun Small Group: Students are separated (high school/middle school, boys/girls) for life groups.
A family that serves together, stays together. SEALED Youth are involved in serving our community in varying ways. A great way to establish a strong sense of family is to be out working for the Kingdom of God together.
Bread of Life (Feeding the Homeless) Suspended until April This is currently SEALED Youth's only recurrent mission project. Every 4th Tuesday of each month the students travel to Panama City to serve a meal and pray with those who are a part of the homeless community.
How to get involved: Meet at FBC Family Life Center at 4:30 PM that Tuesday to begin loading all materials. We leave at 5:00 PM to arrive at the location by 5:45 PM. We will serve the Homeless and stop for ice cream on the return trip. Estimated return time is 8:15 PM. If you are not a regular part of FBC please contact our office on the Monday before, so we are aware of your joining us.


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If you want to love your job and the people you work with apply today. You'll not find anywhere else like it.
Pioneer Business Systems is an equal opportunity employer. Recruitment selection is based on objective, job-related criteria. Applicants will be chosen on their merits and abilities.


Physics often deals quite rightfully with symmetries and conservation laws, while molecular biology has historically retained little of this distinguished standard. Even the simplest biological macromolecules are aperiodic, have disordered energetics, and have enormously vast phase space relevant at biological temperatures. A central biophysical problem capturing all of these aspects is the question of how a protein, once synthesized by a ribosome in the cell, spontaneously folds up to it's biologically functional structure. In this context, equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, as formulated in what has been called the energy landscape theory, has been essential in understanding protein folding, function, and evolution. Unfortunately however, geometry, structure, and transformation often fade away into the ensemble of a statistical mechanical description. A fundamental problem which is nevertheless central to protein folding and structural comparison of biomolecules is the notion of what *distance* means for higher-dimensional objects such as a polymer. Here we generalize the notion of distance between points to the distance between non-crossing space curves to uniquely define the Euclidean distance between two biopolymer conformations. We then tackle the conceptual and practical hurdles required to apply this quantity to the problem of protein folding ; we find that a simple measure of distance, with no adjustable parameters, predicts folding rates with remarkable accuracy (a correlation of 0.95). We discuss the implications of this finding.


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Hallmark Throws in a Few Twists in A Christmas Together With You
K.L. Connie Wang
Christmas is all about spending time with the ones you love. In Hallmark Channel's A Christmas Together with You, the ones you love might just be the ones you left behind and the ones you've only just met. This Hallmark Christmas movie throws in the twists! Find out more about the new movie below.
What is A Christmas Together With You about?
When Megan (Laura Vandervoort) the owner of a local cafe, learns that Frank (Harry Lennix), one of her regular customers has found a picture of his first love, she convinces him to go on a road trip to track her down.
Frank reluctantly agrees when he sees the trip might be more for Megan than for him as she is still trying to bounce back from a broken engagement.
The two set off on their adventure and find themselves opening up to each other. Along the way, Megan has an awkward run-in with a man and his dogthat she can't seem to shake off. The pair soon arrive at the address of his first loveonly to find the home vacant. Not deterred from their search, they stay ata nearby lodge where a surreptitious clue ultimately leads the pair to Frank's first love, Claire (Lisa Huget). Meanwhile, Megan learns that the man she'd met earlier, Steve(Niall Matter), is the
lodge's owner. She helps him with some of his holiday responsibilitiesandthey soon warm to each otherand find that they are each grappling with their hopes for the future.
As Megan helps Frank pursue a second chance at love, he reminds her not to give up on her dreamsor her heart. In the end, these unlikely friendsfind that sometimes the closest family is the kind we make.
Related: Candace Cameron Bure on Her 17th Aurora Teagarden Mystery With Niall Matter
Who's in the cast of A Christmas Together With You?
Vandervoort has been acting since her early teens with roles in Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark? She graduated to roles on The CW's Smallville as Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) cousin, Kara/Supergirl and as Lisa on the 2009 reboot of the popular sci-fi series, V. She starred in last year's Playing Cupid opposite La Brea's Nicholas Gonzalez.
Niall Matter
Hallmark fans are quite familiar with Matter as he has starred in dozens of movies for the network including the Father Christmas trilogy opposite When Calls the Heart's Erin Krakow and Christmas at Dollywood with Danica McKellar. Sci-fi fans will recognize Matter from his roles on Eureka and Primeval: New World. He also stars in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries opposite Candace Cameron Bure on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Related: Hallmark Channel's Complete 2021 Countdown to Christmas Schedule
Harry Lennix
Lennix is best known for his roles on Dollhouse and The Blacklist. The Chicago native has also had roles in films such as The Five Heartbeats, The Matrix: Reloaded, and Zack Snyder's Justice League.
When does A Christmas Together With You premiere?
A Christmas Together with You premieres Saturday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. ET on Hallmark Channel.
When can I watch A Christmas Together With You again?
Sunday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. ET
Thursday, Nov. 25 at 10 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. ET
Friday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. ET
Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 8 a.m. ET
Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 4 a.m. ET
Sunday, Dec. 26 at 12 p.m. ET
Friday, Dec. 31 at 12 a.m. ET
Does Parade.com have a sneak peek of A Christmas Together With You?
Is there an official trailer for A Christmas Together With You?
There is a preview that Hallmark Channel has posted on their YouTube channel. Check it out below.
Quiz: How Well Do You Know Hallmark's Classic Movies?
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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We provide legal, research, policy, and communications support to the state and local officials who manage, administer, and oversee our elections, thereby protecting and defending our democracy.
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Before joining States United, Carrie was a visiting assistant professor of political science at Florida State University, where she researched and taught classes on American politics, including mass political behavior, political psychology, and democracy. She was previously a Democracy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. She also worked in consulting and fundraising for various nonprofits.
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I know several of you have experienced it… a life-threatening illness or an accident… and miraculously, you survived!
As many of you know, Sharon and I had such an accident six months ago. Coming home from Montana, a car drifted into the lane of a truck in front of us in Colorado, lost control and swiped our vehicle on the driver's side, taking out our rear axle, causing our SUV to roll 2-3 times. All I had time to do was cry out "Jesus!" Car was totaled. My wife. Sharon, had 10 fractured ribs (several with multiple fractures), a fractured collarbone that had to be surgically repaired, and a punctured lung. I escaped with just a deep bruise on my left hip. ICU for Sharon, a lot of pain, surgery, physical therapy, long recovery… but we both are blessed to be alive!
I don't know why… I guess it was just the shock of it all and my need to help Sharon right after the accident, but I didn't immediately fall to my knees beside our mangled car in the ditch and offer thanksgiving to God for sparing our lives. I should have… but I didn't. Believe me, since then both Sharon and I have done just that… alot!
"I will extol You, O Lord for You have drawn me up… O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me! O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol [death]; You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit [the grave]!
"Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name! … To You, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it tell of Your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and me merciful to me? O Lord, be my helper!
So today, I paused after reading this Psalm and reflected… and then I made it's words my own… and did what I probably should have done after the accident in that ditch in Colorado… offered, deep, heartfelt thanksgiving to the God who spared our lives!


I was the angel. The good one. I was the one with the children and the husband. The glowing mother. The successful writer. The novelist. Not Lynn. I have a home. I was the one with the family. I was the lucky one. I am thirty something or other now. I am a daughter, a sister, wife, and a mother. An independent woman who was taught early on to love her body for the bright translations it offers up to me, 'me', at a moment's notice. My body does not belong to me anymore. It belongs to winter. That adrenaline rush. That fight/flight. I needed to have proof of the stars. So I reached out to the clouds during the day. I beckoned sunlight. I measured its weight. Felt its shape with my fingers. Found a place for it. I needed to say to the universe give me the moonlight. Let it shine its spotlight on me. Let the rain wash my sins away. It's cold. It's so cold. I can hardly feel my feet. My hands do not belong to me anymore. They belong to another world. Another king. I gravitated towards its foliage. My mother raised two girls but in the beginning of mum and dad's marriage there were whispers, issues of infertility. It was something never spoken about. It's winter. Winter clothes lost in translation. The throne that is called a tree's shiny leaves. I let its itchy arms hold me close. Bring closure to the cold-heartedness of winter. The winter guests of leaves, of lighthouses, of foreclosure. Then, only then will I happily toil this earth for you, for Peter, for Lynn, for my children, until the end of the world. Until death comes for me or eternity. I'm not tired yet. I want to stay up and watch the sun rise. Waiting for the future. Waiting for ghost matter. Plants to grow in the earth that I've toiled for you. Putting my heart aside.
Dear Peter, friend and lover, I miss you. You slipped or fell all beautiful and original folds of you through my fingers in the city I fled from as a girl. Johannesburg. I write about Johannesburg's people from memory. That love song and mad dance of pollution, climate change, global warming. I don't want you in my head anymore. Clearly you've moved on. You're married. Your wife's expecting. Your life is perfect. I still think about you. I still write about you. Love poems to myself.
A flood always comes with change. Religion is golden. It is another far-off city. I'm a Christian so I can't do that. I don't smoke cigarettes because my body is a temple, and stars always seem to silence me. It's in me to find a voice for them. I can't wish ill on another person. Can't wish revenge on them. That it's best served cold. All I can do is believe in the sweetness of human life. The best of humanity. I know that I am not responsible for your wings. For you being lost in translation. You're beautiful anyway. We're Christians but when we're flying off the handle we're also sisters, Daughters, losing our religion. I almost inherited the rain when it came. Childhood is brief. It is making me grow smaller and smaller. I see the two of us, Laura and Lynn eating chicken and ribs in a restaurant, celebrating someone's birthday in photographs. Posing, Laughing our heads off. Our childhood was brief but it was brilliant. I showered your face with kisses. The backyard was the wilderness filled with tigers and snakes. Wild tigers, and poisonous snakes that we had to catch. Pretend to kill. You're always giving me a speech now. Lecturing me on my potential. I always say I love you at the end of our conversations through the whirring loophole of the telephone. I feel this is the last city. I am not going to move house again from here. This is my last house. My last renovation. The last time I will paint these walls. My last psychiatrist. My last psychologist. And when I had the children, it was the last time that I was ever going to be alone. Be myself. I was now supposed to be a responsible adult. I had brought life into the world. I always found sanctuary in winter. Midwinter.
She could hear him singing and this made her smile. It made her happy to think that she had done that. Brought that smile to his face.
'Hello.' She smiled back at him.
'Show don't tell.' Her stroked her arm and kissed the nape of her neck.
'Isn't it supposed to be ask don't tell.' She closed her eyes.
'Something like that.' He opened the newspaper. His glasses perched at the end of his nose.
'Does this mean we're a couple? We tell each other everything, don't we.' she turned her head to admire his profile.
'Always? How sure are you about that?' She sat up and brushed the hair out of his face.
'Yes, whatever.' He answered in return.
'You're not listening to me.' She sat up and put the pillows behind her back.
'Oh, I am very sure that having a relationship means different things to a woman than it does to a man. Do you like my sister?' Laura crossed her arms when she looked at him. She knew he wasn't going to give her a straight answer.
'Yes, yes I do. What's not to like? You love her. You like her. I like her too. I think that she is very nice.' Peter never looked up from the newspaper but he was paying attention to her now.
'You're good enough for me.' He leaned over and kissed her on her cheek.
'Okay, she's beautiful. Why won't you believe that you're beautiful too? This is what I don't like about you. You're so insecure sometimes, you know and you don't have to be. You just don't.' He brushed his hand through his hair. It brought a smile to Laura's face every time he did that. He looked so handsome. It was times like these that she thought to herself that she really didn't deserve him.
'I think that I would like that very much. You making me breakfast. Promise me breakfast in bed for a lifetime and I'm yours.' Laura smiled at him, then looked back at her dishevelled appearance in the mirror.
Laura lifted Peter's shirt up over her head, pulled it over her shoulders.
'And don't you forget it.' She winked at him.
I am the last city, the sanctuary. The language of snow in Johannesburg is tired now and, I am tired of the layers of winter clothing. I just don't want Laura to resent me now for the burden that I have become in her life. Of course, Laura stopped writing seriously when the second child arrived. A boy and then when I got sick there was a girl and a boy and Peter and then me. She never brought the children with her when she came to visit me at the hospital. Sometimes Peter would come with her but he would hover. He would say a quiet, stiff, forced 'hello,' and then speak to the men. Smoke with them as they stood outside on the patio. Even when it rained he would do that. Laura would say comforting things and apologise for not bringing the children who were in their teens by now. We would talk about the same things, mill around them. The children, Peter's work. Peter was a director. Something important. Some high profile job that I could never understand really. Laura was always very happy to see me. She always bought me bitter chocolate. I was the last city. I was the city she was never going to leave. The walls that she was going to leave the same color. We spoke about that brick wall of clinical depression in full sentences. I asked her to stop coming, and then I asked her to stop bringing Peter with her. I didn't want anyone to feel sorry for me especially him. I loved him, but I also loved him like a sister loves a brother. He was the brother I never had but that was before they got married. When Laura first got married it wasn't like before. Things had changed and I had to get used to it. Couldn't just pick up the phone and call her like I used to. We couldn't hang out and chill with each other. Go on holidays with each other.
'Yes, of course mum loved dad, and dad loved her in his own way.' But Laura could never see it from my view. It didn't end there. Sometimes when she came to visit we used to fight. I used to fight with her. Ask her not to come anymore because I was so ashamed. Shamed that my life was a mess. Shamed that I was unsuccessful. That I didn't have those kids. That husband. Peter, and the children were her whole life.
I would hold onto her before she left. Peter would come over and call me 'sport' or 'kiddo'. 'Everything alright here, with the two of you.' He would always say and I would smile and kiss his cheek like a sister would kiss her brother. I couldn't make out who he was anymore. The man that I had slept with was not the same man who called me 'sport', and 'kiddo'.
I am the unknown. Yes, I slept with Lynn. It would break Laura's heart if she ever found out but Lynn was so different before she got sick. She was exciting. Beautiful. She was dazzling, and so was her personality. The first time I met her she was laughing at something Laura had told her and she looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. I think Laura saw something between us because later she said that Lynn had that electrifying effect on everyone she met. It was like I was sleeping with Laura's twin. She held my hand in the kitchen. Came up behind me and took me by surprise. I looked at her open face. I knew what she wanted me to do. Every time I looked at her I knew she wanted me to make a move. She wanted me to make that telephone call. I know what to call her now. She's emotional, her tantrums hysterical. She's unstable. There were warning flags. Looking back there were conversations. Life hurts. This painful struggle. I can't live anymore she said once but everybody says that at some point in their lives. I didn't take her seriously. Nobody did.
Life must break you and when it does, when that reckoning comes, it comes with fire. Its flame flickers in the dark.


The Nigerian Cricket Federation, NCF Wednesday made a public list of female players for matches against visiting Rwanda national team counterparts, BSNSports.com.ng reports.
Information made available through the General Manager, Mr Emeka Igwilo reveal 16 Female Cricketers have been selected to play in Nigeria's colours against Rwanda Female National team in Bilateral Series between 23rd and 30th of January 2019 in Abuja.
The Five match series includes 2,One Day Internationals ODI and three T20. All matches will take place on the turf wicket of Package 'B' National Stadium, Abuja.
The shortlisted girls had several trials held at the Murtala Mohamed Square Cricket oval in Kaduna. A total of 25 girls were in camp that opened 4th and due to close on Sunday 13th January 2019.
The Nigeria female team will also play in the 2019 ICC World Cup Qualifiers billed for Harare, Zimbabwe from 3rd to 13th of May 2019.
Nigeria and Rwanda would be using the 5 match series as a build up towards World Cup Qualifiers where either team are expected to encounter countries like Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania , Uganda and host Zimbabwe.


Does The C-Suite Love Your Branded Business Gift?
There are myriad reasons why people give. There are also multiple reasons why the recipients either adore or shrug off your gift – or worse yet, consider it an insult. Even in a business setting.
For example, in some cultures, a gift of a clock is considered to be a harbinger of death, while a knife severs your relationship. But even if you're well-versed in cultural gifting faux pas, there may be one error that you continue to make in the business arena, namely, giving business gifts that sport your company logo.
To connect with employees, associates and even those in the C-Suite, should you give a branded business gift, or should you completely avoid them?
Do Gifts Really Shape Peoples' Opinions?
C-Suite executives are some of the most appreciative recipients that you will find in the corporate world. While they might seem like the classic people who have everything, they're actually the most likely to be touched by a personal and memorable gift.
However, even though the C-Suite is appreciative, they have deeply held and sometimes confusing opinions about the gifts that they receive. This is particularly relevant when it comes to giving a gift that is emblazoned with a company logo. According to the Business Gift Satisfaction Report, gifts with company logos are most likely to be rated "not preferred" or "least preferred" when it comes to the full spectrum of business gifting. Those who received logoed business gifts were 21 percent less likely to feel appreciated.
There's a catch, though. Some of the C-Suite does appreciate gifts that sport a logo. In fact, a full quarter of those surveyed believe that adding a logo increases the value of a gift.
Who likes a logoed gift? The appeal of logoed gifts declines as people age. Young men are most likely to enjoy logoed gifts, particularly if the gift itself is valuable to the recipient. If the company's logo is engaging and the individual enjoys the company's brand, the gift recipient is more likely to enjoy a branded gift.
Today, many corporations are moving away from logoed gifts. It's just not a reliable choice for C-Suite partners.
A gift is something that is personal and memorable. An effective gift speaks to the relationship that you share with your partner, colleague, or employee. For some, adding a logo can take away from the feeling of personalization. Instead, it feels like everyone has received the same item just because they work for that company.
A gift with a logo on it does not always feel like a gift; instead, it feels like a company is asking you to advertise for them. Many C-Suite executives say thanks but no thanks, and that's been enough to tip the balance in favor of non-branded gifts. Only 35 percent of recipients reported receiving gifts with logos on them last year.
Are you looking for innovative gifts that will impress and engage your C-Suite colleagues? Talk with Knack. We're here to help you give gifts that will please – and most importantly, the gifts that will enhance your working relationship with your C-Suite partners. Curious about your gifting options? Learn more about Knack today.


I am currently reading the biography of one of our greatest U.S. Supreme Court justices and lawyers, Louis Brandeis. Melvin Urofsky's Louis Brandeis: A Life is available in both print and ebook form. This is the biography to read if you want to discover what a lawyer should be.
Brandeis didn't grow up poor, so this isn't a rags-to-riches story like the story of current justice Clarence Thomas. But it is the story of a man of principle, a lawyer who was often the lawyer of the situation rather than of the person. It is also the story of a man whose introduction to law occurred as how to learn law was on the cusp of changing, and of a man who introduced a different form of advocacy — a form that lawyers today do not practice, that is, being lawyer to the situation — which if they did, would enhance our society greatly.
Brandeis was a man of great intellect with a burning desire to understand both sides fully, something that we cannot always claim for our current justices. It was not that Brandeis didn't have blind spots, but that he had a sense of society and a person's role in it. For example, he was opposed to monopolies not because they were monopolies but because they were big, which he believed lead to inefficiency and thus societal harm. Brandeis combined great intellect, a devotion to detail, and a sense of social good in his law practice and when sitting as a justice. Brandeis wanted and needed to understand relationships in depth, not just the surface understanding that is so common today.
If you read but two biographies in your lifetime, this should be one of them (the other should be Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Michael Burlingame). Brandeis lived in a time of dynamic change, the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, and was a great contributor to the life subsequent generations enjoyed. His efforts and his approach to law practice made him unique among Americans, especially at a time of economic upheavel. Urofsky's well-written biography makes Brandeis approachable by readers; no knowledge of law required.


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Counterterrorism
Lawfare Resources on Right-Wing Extremism, Domestic Terrorism and De-platforming
By Quinta Jurecic
Monday, August 5, 2019, 4:38 PM
El Paso Skyline
On Aug. 4, in Dayton, Ohio, a gunman opened fire and killed nine people. The day before, another shooter killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas, apparently after posting a racist message to the anonymous online forum 8chan decrying an ostensible "Hispanic invasion of Texas." Though there is no indication so far that the Dayton shooting was motivated by extremist political beliefs, the violence in El Paso is the third mass shooting in 2019 to be linked to 8chan and to some form of far-right extremism.
The events of this weekend raise a number of questions about extremism and the proper response to it, some distinct and some nestled inside each other. We will be posting material specifically about these cases in the days to come, but Lawfare writers have thought through a wide range of these issues over the past two years—and in this post, I've collected our past coverage here, grouped thematically, as the country responds to the most recent violence.
Hate crimes or terrorism? The rise of domestic violent extremism within the United States creates particular difficulties for federal law enforcement. While U.S. law incorporates a definition of domestic terrorism, there is no federal law criminalizing such actions per se, and the most commonly charged crimes listed under "Terrorism" in the U.S. Code relate to acts of international terrorism—terrorism committed with some kind of link to a foreign terrorist organization. This creates an often-commented-upon distinction between acts of violence that are prosecuted as terrorism by federal law enforcement (such as those committed by people who have pledged loyalty or otherwise provided service to militant Islamist organizations like the Islamic State) and acts that have a similarly political motive but lack a link to a foreign terrorist organization (like the El Paso shooting), which are often prosecuted as hate crimes. Writing in 2015, Jane Chong and Susan Hennessey provided more details on this distinction in nomenclature:
"White Hate but Islamic Terror? Charleston, Hate Crimes and Terrorism Per Quod," Jane Chong
"The Good Reasons to Not Charge All Terrorists With Terrorism," Susan Hennessey
How should law enforcement respond? One way to address this disparity in what is and is not prosecuted as terrorism would be for Congress to criminalize domestic terrorism—though critics worry that such a law could infringe on civil liberties. But legislation is not the only route through which the federal government might change its approach to counter far-right extremism. In the wake of the Christchurch shooting, Josh Geltzer, Mary McCord and Nicholas Rasmussen argued that governments should engage in greater international collaboration to combat violence that no longer fits within the framework of domestic terrorism, and that the National Counterterrorism Center's mandate should be expanded to include this type of terrorism as well:
"Criminal Law Should Treat Domestic Terrorism as the Moral Equivalent of International Terrorism," Mary McCord
"American Terrorists: Why Current Laws Are Inadequate for Violent Extremists at Home," Jason Blazakis
"It's Time for Congress to Make Domestic Terrorism a Federal Crime," Mary McCord
"The Lawfare Podcast: Mary McCord and Jason Blazakis on Criminalizing Domestic Terrorism"
"A Road Map for Congress to Address Domestic Terrorism," Mary McCord and Jason Blazakis
"The Christchurch Shooting: Domestic Terrorism Goes International," Josh Geltzer, Mary McCord and Nicholas Rasmussen
How should internet platforms respond? Two days after the El Paso shooting, Cloudflare—the network provider whose protection allowed 8chan to remain on the internet—pulled its services. 8chan's backup provider quickly folded, and as of Monday afternoon, the site has vanished from the internet, though it may yet return. The questions of if, when and by whom noxious websites should be forced from the internet are difficult ones without obvious answers. To begin with, such removals raise concerns over free speech and the ability of private companies to police access to the internet. There is also the matter of whether removing extremist content might have unanticipated consequences. The United States is not alone in this debate, however—other countries are also grappling with how to respond to online hate that sometimes blurs into outright violence.
"Whose Responsibility Is It to Confront Terrorism Online?" Seamus Hughes
"Gab Vanishes, and the Internet Shrugs," Quinta Jurecic
"Social Media Content Moderation: The German Regulation Debate," Nele Achten
"De-platforming and the Online Extremist's Dilemma," Bennett Clifford and Helen Christy Powell
"How Content Removal Might Help Terrorists," Joe Whittaker
"Two Calls for Tech Regulation: The French Government Report and the Christchurch Call," Evelyn Douek
Is there an increase in far-right extremism? As many observers have noted, the 8chan post that appears to have been produced by the El Paso suspect includes language about Latinos and immigrants very similar to that used by the president himself—who has in the past referred to immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border as "an invasion of our Country." Trump's presidency has seen a number of violent acts by attackers with far-right views, from Charlottesville in August 2017 to El Paso almost exactly two years later. On Lawfare, a range of writers—myself included—have discussed the increasing prominence of right-wing extremist violence, particularly in the wake of the March 2019 shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand:
"CVE for White People: The Trumpist Movement and the Radicalization Process," Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes
"President Trump, Quebec and the Dismantling of CVE," Quinta Jurecic
"Far-Right Extremism and the Christchurch Massacre: Adapting to New Threats," Carrie Cordero
"Five Initial Thoughts on the New Zealand Terrorist Attack," Dan Byman
Counterterrorism,
Countering Violent Extremism,
Domestic Terrorism,
Social Media,
Quinta Jurecic is the Managing Editor of Lawfare. She previously served as an editorial writer for the Washington Post and as Lawfare's associate editor.
@qjurecic
Apple vs FBI: Pensacola Isn't San Bernardino
Nicholas Weaver Fri, Jan 17, 2020, 8:59 AM
Protecting Diplomats Following Soleimani's Death
Fred Burton Sun, Jan 5, 2020, 9:07 AM
Targeting al-Baghdadi and Selective Notification to Congress: Assessing the Issues
Robert Chesney Sun, Oct 27, 2019, 9:02 PM
Al-Baghdadi's Death … and That Presidential Speech
Daniel Byman Sun, Oct 27, 2019, 1:09 PM
Will Abandoning the Kurds Result in the Mass Release of Islamic State Fighters?
Robert Chesney Mon, Oct 7, 2019, 10:50 AM


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Ex-senator sentenced to life in prison for double murder, theft of $62 mln worth of gas
A sentence of life imprisonment was requested by Prosecutor Maria Semenenko
MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court sentenced former senator from the Karachay-Circassian Region Rauf Arashukov and his father, ex-advisor to Gazprom Mezhregiongaz, Raul Arashukov, to life imprisonment for organizing the murder of two people and stealing 4.4 billion rubles worth of natural gas.
"The court ruled to sentence Arashukov Rauf and Raul to life imprisonment," Judge Yelena Guchenkova proclaimed.
The court also ruled that 12 million rubles be seized from the defendants and used as compensation to the families of the victims.
Earlier, the jury found the defendants guilty of establishing a criminal group, as well as organizing the assassination of Aslan Zhukov, head of the "Adyge Hase" youth movement, and Fral Shebzukhov, advisor to the Head of the Karachay-Circassian Region. They were also found guilty of stealing 4.4 billion rubles worth of natural gas from Gazprom. The murders were committed to cover up the gas theft.
A sentence of life imprisonment was requested by Prosecutor Maria Semenenko.
There are four more defendants in this case: former Acting Head of the regional Russian Investigative Committee directorate Kazbek Bulatov, former head of the regional Centre for Combating Extremism department Timur Betuganov, former Investigative Committee detective Andrey Filippov and former director of the "Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Stavropol" subsidiary Guzer Khashukayev. Their sentences will be announced later.
Moscow, Cairo to pay special attention to joint projects — Egypt's Foreign Minister
It is noted that trade turnover between the two countries is growing


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undergraduate philosophy
Philosophy's Popularity as a Second Major Among Women
. March 1, 2021 at 9:50 am 0
In the United States, "among students whose first major is philosophy, 36% are women" while "among students whose second major is Philosophy, 43% are women."
[Félix Armand Heullant, "In Gedanken"]
Those are findings from Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside), who notes:
The difference between 36% and 43% might not seem large, but I've spent over a decade looking at percentages of women in philosophy, and anything over 40% is rare. For decades, until a recent uptick, the percentage of women majoring in philosophy stayed consistently in a band between 30% and 34%. So that 43% pops out.
He also finds that: "schools in which a second major [in general, not just philosophy] is common also tend to have philosophy majors that are more evenly divided between men and women."
More details here.
Categories undergraduate philosophy
Tags datagendermajorphilosophysecond majorwomen


Section 1 The Big Picture.
Section 2 High Return Facts.
THE FLESH AND BONES OF MEDICAL PATHOLOGY presents a clinically-orientated account of the subject, covering all the key concepts you need with no gaps. You can use it either as an introduction to pathology, or as a revision aid.


On March 11, 2013 Maria Bizon of Edmonton (formerly Calgary and Poland) passed away at the age of 99 years, surrounded by her loving family.
Maria will be dearly missed by her children: Irena of Poland, Alicja Chandra of Edmonton, Kazimierz (Ewa) of Poland and Aleksandra of Edmonton, her grandchildren: Chris (Renée) Chandra, Mark (Anna) Chandra, Paweł (Anna) Bizoń, Małgorzata (Mariusz) Maziarz, Urszula Wrzosek as well as her thirteen great grandchildren – six in Canada and seven in Poland. The youngest great granddaughter Evelyn was born just 3 weeks ago.
Maria has left behind her sister Elżbieta Paśko in Poland, her numerous nieces and nephews in Poland and Canada including her God daughter Maria (Zygmunt) Cynar and God son Eugene (Annette) Kujda of Edmonton. She will now join her husband Władysław and their dear son Eugeniusz in heaven. She was also predeceased by her younger brother Józef Baran and his wife Helena in Poland and her other three siblings who died at a very young age.
Maria's long life of hard work and many life struggles was filled with love and sacrifice which will not be forgotten. She was a great mother and grandmother. Her strong faith and joy of life has always kept the family together, through any life difficulties. She was also well known for her passion for gardening that drew high regard from neighbours wherever she lived.
Prayer Service will be held at Connelly-McKinley Funeral Home, 10011 – 114 Street, Edmonton on Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 6:00 PM. Reverend Roman Majek will celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, March 15, 2013, 10:00 AM at Our Lady Queen of Poland Church, 99 Street and 83 Avenue, Edmonton. Interment to follow at St. Anthony's Cemetery, 106 Street and 53 Avenue, Edmonton. The family would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Sandy Koe and Cori Paul of Good Samaritan Seniors' Clinic as well as to the staff of Unit 9Y at Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre for their tender care and compassion during her last days of life.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Covenant Health, c/o Caritas Hospitals Foundation, 3C60 – 11111 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB, T5K 0L4.


Jared Matthews is Software Quality Assurance Engineer at EnergyCAP.
As EnergyCAP, Inc. has taken its software products online, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have assumed increasing importance in our product development and quality assurance testing. This blog is about EnergyCAP's API development, and exciting changes in our quality assurance processes that are making our online software versions more robust and useful for our growing client base.
An Application-Programming Interface is a set of programming instructions and standards for accessing a Web-based software application or Web tool. Some software companies release information about their APIs to the general public so that other developers and some clients can customize applications driven by the power of those APIs.
APIs serve as an interface between different software programs and facilitate their interactions, similar to the way a Graphical User Interface (GUI) facilitates interaction between humans and computers. At EnergyCAP, we use APIs to perform almost every online task, from logging in to creating meters, entering readings, approving or voiding bills, populating bill lists, and so on.
As our developers have continued to create new software driven by APIs, we have come to realize and appreciate how crucial and beneficial automated testing of these APIs can be.
I've been in the software quality assurance (QA) profession ¬¬for more than 6 years. During that time, I've read many blogs, attended several software engineering conferences, and interacted with lots of fellow QA peers. If there is a "Holy Grail" in software QA—something that has been consistently coveted by each and every software engineer in every company I've worked for, interacted with, or read about—that one thing would be automated testing.
Automated testing, although it is a dream of every quality assurance and development manager, can be difficult and expensive up-front. The cost alone often deters many companies from fully committing to the idea.
However, when automated testing is done right, the benefits far exceed the negatives. Automated testing actually saves time and money in the long run. Although it is a costly investment to write automated tests, once created, those tests can be run over and over again for weeks or months or years at no additional cost. Furthermore, they are faster than manual tests, and can be run unattended in a variety of different configurations, greatly increasing test coverage and accuracy.
Prior to using automated testing, we would test the APIs by performing an activity via EnergyCAP that would call a particular API and perform an action. If the action was performed as expected, we knew the API was working correctly. If we wanted to test an API without using EnergyCAP, we would have to manually reconstruct the API using an application like Fiddler. This was very time-consuming and inefficient. This frustration began EnergyCAP's journey into a new world of automated testing.
The final piece of the puzzle for us was to integrate our API test suites with our software ticketing system. Jira is the software we use to plan future development, track software defects and manage test cases and test results. The result of all this development and integration work is that we now have several test automation suites that run daily at specified times. These results are displayed in real time on dashboards and provide instant feedback to our development team. We currently have over 40 API groupings being automatically run each day to simulate hundreds of API requests. And there are thousands of tests being run per API grouping!
In the past, it would have taken our QA team weeks to manually run such a robust suite of software tests. Today, the tests are run in just minutes, whenever and as often they are needed. This provides our development team with invaluable feedback, and our customers with more frequent software releases containing fewer defects, all at a lower cost than would be possible with more inefficient software production processes.
Stuck with inefficient utility bill processes of your own? See what Tucson, AZ did to take their quality assurance to the next level!
Jared Matthews is Software Quality Assurance Engineer at EnergyCAP. In his position, he works collaboratively to ensure the robustness of EnergyCAP's online software applications.


Wizcraft is one of India's leading Communication and Entertainment Company, integrating strategy, creativity and technology to provide Interactive Entertainment & Event Solutions to a global audience. Wizcraft has established a client base that includes over 500 of the largest Multinational and Corporate Houses across the world, as well the Central and various State Governments of India. Apart from corporate and Government work, Wizcraft has its own properties such as the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA), the Global Indian Music Awards (GIMA), Kingdom of Dreams and the Green Globe Foundation.
The Corporation was incorporated on 26th September, 1973 under the name Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd. (APIIC) with Authorized Capital of Rs.20.00 crores and paid up capital of Rs.16.33 crores. With the bifurcation of the state of Andhra Pradesh, the Corporation assumed a new name representative of the State of Telangana. Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (TSIIC) is a wholly owned Undertaking of the state government.
Vested with the objective of providing industrial infrastructure through the development of industrial areas, the Corporation has so far developed more than 300 industrial parks spreading over an extent of about 1,21,655 acres(including allotted area). Besides, the Corporation is also developing sector focused parks like apparel park/food processing parks/leather parks, Special Economic Zones in the state. The Corporation has also constructed 3500 industrial sheds, 4800 dormitory units, 466 commercial shops. With the advent of economic liberalization the Corporation has reoriented itself to the changing needs of economy and assumed the role of facilitator. To its credit the Corporation has developed Hi-Tech city with a private promoter. The corporation is the principle facilitator in Mega Projects like Special Economic Zone, Visakha Industrial Water Supply, Gangavaram Port, Convention Centre, Mega Industrial Parks at Parawada , Pashamylaram Financial District Hardware Park at Hyderabad.
The Corporation has to its credit the execution of civil works for various Government Departments. It has executed works covering Referral Hospitals, Navodaya Schools Polytechnic Buildings Court Complex, Building and Hostel for Indian Institute of Information Technology. Government entrusted the responsibility of constructing Games Stadia and Games Village for the National Games on Project Management Basis. The Corporation is the Nodal Agency for Government Sponsored scheme like Growth Centres, Export Promotion Industrial Parks, Integrated Infrastructure Development Centres.
2000 feet above Hyderabad, Taj Falaknuma Palace's 60 beautifully refurbished and lovingly restored rooms allow you to journey into the clouds and into the glided ages, where grandeur and excess is celebrated and savored in equal measure. Retrace the steps of Nizams, European royalty, enchanting Begums, distinguished Heads of State and walk the walk of Kings through this Palace in the sky. The former residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Falaknuma Palace has been rightfully leased by the Royal Family of Hyderabad to the Taj Group of Hotels Resorts and Palaces with Royal Family members having personally supervised part of the Palace's refurbishment. Guest can now experience the famed Nizam's hospitality which was once the sole preserve of royalty.
Namdhari Group, established its presence 4 decades ago and is still painting the nation green having dedicated team of skilled know-how, holding extensive experience in the field of advertising, marketing, events, promotions and exhibitions, their leading approach help clients to turn every dream project into reality working within the estimated budgetary constraints and stipulated time frame as-well-as in house fabrication unit offering a comprehensive key permitting to make every activity a momentous success.
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I forgot who wrote this article, Morisita or Ohga. I think these sentenses were written by Morishita from sentense structure.
On the afternoon of 25th October 2017, PENS students made "nasi goreng". Nasi goreng seems to be Indonesian rice dish.
The following is the state of cooking. First, make scrambled eggs. Next, fry it with rice.
ここでスパイスの投入です。一からこのスパイスは作成できないのでインスタントに頼ります。これで完成ですが、味見という名のつまみ食いは忘れません。Here is the introduction of spices. Since we cannot create this spice from the beginning, we depend on the instant spice. It is complete, but we will never forget the Tasting.
nasi goreng that does not rely on instant spice.
I think that the exchange was deepened through lunch. I think that they are returning home when this article is posted, but I think that it would be nice to have them as memories.


The Ventus range of weather stations offer exceptional value for monay and offer unique features within its' class.
From simple temperature monitoring and rain stations through to lightning detection and UV level monitoring there is something suitable for everyone. The top of the range W831 also includes connectivity to a PC via USB and software.