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2019 AHSAA baseball quarterfinal scoreboard
Each is a best-of-3 series.
2019 AHSAA baseball quarterfinal scoreboard Each is a best-of-3 series. Check out this story on montgomeryadvertiser.com: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/high-school/baseball/2019/04/27/2019-alabama-high-school-ahsaa-baseball-playoffs-quarterfinals-scores-scoreboard-pairings-schedule/3602326002/
A. Stacy Long, Montgomery Advertiser Published 4:15 p.m. CT April 27, 2019 | Updated 8:54 p.m. CT May 6, 2019
Baseball playoffs: Handley at Trinity
Trinity's Will Aaron (10) throws to first base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Ian Hall (13) pitches at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Cagan Hamby (12) throws to first base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Riley Owens (33) catches the ball before as Trinity's Noah Sasser (1) slides safely into third base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Riley Owens (33) throws the ball to first base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Jaxon Whaley (15) dives short of a live foul ball at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Evan Cofield (18) at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Jaxon Whaley (15) flips the ball to first base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Noah Sasser (1) throws the ball to first base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Chantz Henry (24) slides safely into first base as Handley's Jaxon Whaley (15) catches the ball at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Tyler Britton (14) catches the ball at first base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Will Aaron (10) swings at the ball at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Tyler Britton (14) blows a bubble during a break in the action at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Riley Owens (33) scoops up a ground ball at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Riley Owens (33) throws to first base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Hayden Daniel (25) swings at the ball at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Trace Bright (4) pitches at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Cagan Hamby (12) at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Handley's Cagan Hamby (12) scoops up a ground ball at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Will Aaron (10) celebrates with his team after scoring a run at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Noah Sasser (1) fields a ground ball at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Trinity's Noah Sasser (1) throws to first base at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Hewitt-Trussville 4-1, Florence 1-0, second game 10 innings, Hewitt-Trussville (33-7) advances
Baker 5-5, Auburn 3-2, second game 9 innings, Baker (23-12) advances
Bob Jones 7-4, Vestavia Hills 0-3, Bob Jones (39-8) advances
McGill-Toolen 6-6, Prattville 1-2, McGill-Toolen (27-7) advances
More: 2019 AHSAA baseball semifinals
Cullman 11-3, Hazel Green 9-8
Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 11-2, Benjamin Russell 0-3, second game 9 innings
Russell Co. 8-6, Chelsea 7-12, first game 8 innings
Chelsea 6, Russell Co. 3, Chelsea (24-13) advances
Cullman 9, Hazel Green 3, Cullman (26-13) advances
Gardendale 5-3, Hueytown 4-4, first game 9 innings
Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 10, Benjamin Russell 0, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (30-5) advances
Hueytown 6, Gardendale 3, Hueytown (34-11) advances
More: 2019 AHSAA second-round baseball playoff scoreboard
Trinity's Noah Sasser (1) fields a ground ball at Trinity High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, April 26, 2019. Trinity defeated Handley 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. (Photo: Jake Crandall/ Advertiser)
Madison Aca. 11-6, Boaz 2-2, Madison Aca. (20-23) advances
Bibb Co. 4-3, Sylacauga 2-7
Chilton Co. 2-1, Briarwood 0-13
Springville 20-16, Southside-Gadsden 4-9, Springville (30-5) advances
Sylacauga 6, Bibb Co. 5, Sylacauga (23-8) advances
Briarwood 4, Chilton Co. 3, Briarwood (18-15) advances
on the Trinity campus in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday March 29, 2019. (Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)
Mobile Chr. 5-2, Trinity 3-3, second game 9 innings
Brooks 2-9, Haleyville 1-2, Brooks (23-6) advances
Hokes Bluff 5-2, Fayette Co. 1-1, Hokes Bluff (25-3) advances
Mobile Chr. 5, Trinity 0, Mobile Chr. (23-11) advances
Sipsey Valley 6-2, LAMP 3-0, Sipsey Valley (16-14) advances
Baseball: LAMP at Montgomery Catholic
LAMP's Walker Morgan (22) slides safely into first base as Montgomery Catholic's Ross Huffman (1) catches the ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Morris Carmichael (10) pitches against LAMP at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Nathan Downes (3) fields a ground ball in the outfield against LAMP at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP's Junhyung Park (11) swings at the ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP's Lance Phung (3) swings at the ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP's Myles Herron (10) pitches against Montgomery Catholic at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Christian Ivey (11) fields a ground ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP's Myles Herron (10) adjust his cap before pitching at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP's Xavier Golden (13) tags out Montgomery Catholic's Leo Smith (6) at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP's Junhyung Park (11) catches a pop fly in the outfield at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP's Mason Belcher (9) swings at the ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic head coach Aubrey Blackwell talks with his pitcher Morris Carmichael (10) at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Christian Ivey (11) catches an infield pop fly at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Marcus Dees II (24) is hit buy a pitch at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Luke Voorhies (16) swings at the ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Ian Wright (13) pitches against LAMP at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Ross Huffman (1) drops an infield pop fly at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP's Walker Morgan (22) scoops up a ground ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Christian Ivey (11) slides safely into second base as LAMP's Walker Morgan (22) scoops up the ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Montgomery Catholic's Austin Cleghorn (2) catches the ball late at second base at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Players shake hands after the game at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
LAMP head coach Chad Smith talks with his team after the game at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. Jake Crandall/ Advertiser
Phil Campbell 6-2, Winfield 5-7
Piedmont 6-4, Westminster-Huntsville 3-1, Piedmont (33-8) advances
Gordo 8-13, Opp 5-3, first game 9 innings, Gordo (29-6) advances
Phil Campbell 11, Winfield 1, Phil Campbell (33-8) advances
Providence Chr. 9-6, Hale Co. 2-2, Providence Chr. (26-8) advances
LAMP's Junhyung Park (11) swings at the ball at Montgomery Catholic High School in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 28, 2019. LAMP defeated Montgomery Catholic 11-1 in 7 innings. (Photo: Jake Crandall/ Advertiser)
Cedar Bluff 15-7, Decatur Heritage 4-13, second game 8 innings
G.W. Long 5-8, Leroy 4-2, G.W. Long (30-5) advances
Westbrook Chr. 11-14, Red Bay 1-1, Westbrook Chr. (21-12) advances
Decatur Heritage 12, Cedar Bluff 2, Decatur Heritage (24-7) advances
Thorsby 7-4, Ariton 2-1, Thorsby (27-3) advances
Brantley 6-3, Millry 5-7
Mars Hill Bible 9-12, Donoho 0-0, Mars Hill Bible (28-6) advances
Spring Garden 4-11, Heritage Chr. 3-1, Spring Garden (25-4) advances
Sweet Water 12-4, Holy Spirit 2-0, Sweet Water (22-10) advances
Brantley 4, Millry 0, Brantley (27-7) advances
More: 2019 AISA baseball playoff scoreboard, schedule
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Review: Immortal Unchained (PC)
by Adam Jones on October 8, 2018
Command? >Fight >Item >Run >Love
Boom, Bust, or Meh: October 2018
Unleashed and unforgiving. Can you rise to the challenge? Immortal: Unchained is the latest addition to the genre of ultra-hardcore action RPGs. Take the role of a living weapon, unleashed to stop the source of a cataclysmic event threatening to end all worlds.
- Explore futuristic fantasy worlds, and sift through lies to unveil their secrets.
- Tactical, up-close and personal action with a combination of ruthless gunplay and vicious melee combat.
- Annihilate legendary bosses in godlike clashes that will be remembered for eternity.
- Undying but unforgiving: Death is not the end, but the pain is very real as you struggle to redeem your mistakes.
- Delve into the vast possibilities of builds and weapon choices to find your own playstyle and defeat your opposition your way.
OS: Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 8/8.1 64-bit, Windows 10 64-bit*
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.00 GHz or AMD FX-9590 @ 4.7 GHz
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 or AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
Additional Notes: *WARNING: 32-bit OS is NOT officially supported at this time
Developer: Toadman Interactive
Publisher: Toadman Interactive
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Rating: PEGI-16
High-budget, independently produced video games, typically referred to as AA development, haven't had much of a presence since the PS2 days, but with the advent of titles like Hellblade, Darksiders 3, Killer Instinct and now Immortal: Unchained, they seem to be making a tremendous comeback. This middle ground is one I wholeheartedly support and I was interested to see what Immortal was bringing to that category.
Violence: Immortal is a shooter, but not a particularly graphic one. Enemies bleed green or black blood when shot. They can also be dismembered, but the blood effects are minimal and any actual gore is non-existent.
Spiritual Themes: The entire plot revolves around an undead scourge so everyone, including the player, is ostensibly a walking corpse. The player character is, very early on, revealed to be a dangerous individual and is later involved in a plot-related twist that shows (not explicitly) that there was a very good reason they were locked up in prison.
After a cryptically narrated cut-scene explaining the lore of the world, your character wakes up weaponless in a prison. Having fought through your place of capture, you are greeted by a mysterious stranger, who tells you of your quest. A plague of undeath curses the land, and you are the only one who can stop it.
Now, if you thought I was describing the opening to Dark Souls, then you'd be 100% correct. However, Immortal: Unchained shares this very introduction, along with many other artifacts from the "Hardcore Action RPG" progenitor. Somewhere at Toadman Interactive, someone asked "What if Dark Souls was in space with guns?" That is pretty much the elevator pitch for Immortal. Tough-as-nails combat, maze-like level design filled with shortcuts that make traversal that much easier for the next time you die, stamina management, and any From Software staple you can think of is in this game too.
This is, by no means, a bad thing, since taking inspiration from other games to help fuel your own happens all the time and if you're going to pinch ideas, pinch them from the best. However, swapping out swords and shields for shotguns and sci-fi switches the entire gameplay loop up to be something completely new, while still oddly familiar. There are some clear growing pains in the design but Immortal's developers have the right idea.
Each loading screen features artwork and it all looks incredible
As the player progresses through the tutorial level, they will eventually stumble upon "The Core", the game's central hub from which the player is able to access the various worlds that are in dire need of an undead fixer-upper. In this regard, the game's layout becomes more comparable to that of Demon's Souls' Nexus and its structure. Each world the player visits is an entirely separate environment from the last and there's no interconnectivity between them. Given the variety in the locations you visit, this isn't surprising and works better for how the game is set up. It would definitely take the player out of the experience to go from a snowy tundra to a swampy forest just by walking a few feet. Being able to teleport down to different planets opens up the game to have more level diversity and stops the game from getting too repetitive to look at.
You won't meet many NPCs, but there are some willing to talk a little about the worlds you go to
Combat in Immortal is a major part of the game; it's pretty much everything you do and is a mostly positive mixed bag. The immediate impression I had of the system was one of a juggler trying to keep their balls in the air with one hand while also spinning plates with the other—it's impressive at first, but unfocused, trying to do too many things at the same time and now there are bits of plate on the floor. The Souls games have never been all that complex in terms of combat; Nioh did a great job of showcasing what depths those mechanics could reach when they're pushed beyond the tradition. Immortal is, however, a third-person shooter, meaning there's equal opportunity for the game to do something new or to fall back on the shallow, cover-based systems of most. The greatest gun games I've played have had accuracy act as the start of high-level game play as opposed to the skill ceiling. Vanquish and Resident Evil 6 are two such games, letting the player have access to crazy techniques that, when used skillfully, will dramatically increase the effectiveness of the player while also making them look slick. Immortal has some unique combat, but ultimately feels held back by some questionable design decisions.
Immortal's combat has some surprising strategy to it. The player can choose to aim independently or lock-on to enemies. Locking-on guarantees hits, but foes will react differently based on where they are shot. Focusing fire on a limb might cut it off or at the head and especially the back will cause extra damage, places that locking-on won't let the player target specifically. This gives the player a risk/reward scenario to play with and really adds a benefit for having both free-aim and lock-on. The problems start to arise with the fact that the game doesn't feel built to fully take advantage of this. Quite often, level design is comprised of narrow platforms that make dodging borderline suicidal since the move is rather enthusiastic and might just throw you off the ledge instead. Similarly, some levels are riddled with floor traps that annoyingly become almost invisible once the player starts aiming.
Always aim for the glowing bit
Another problem the combat has lies in its enemy design and placement. Most enemies are fine, fun to fight in a lot of scenarios, but range and enemy count become problems that the game doesn't really equip the player to deal with. There has been a lot of points where enemies outstripped whatever range I had and opened fire when I couldn't see them. Most of the time, I could read the enemy's ranged attacks well enough to dodge and evade in time. One particular enemy, however, had a lot more health, little to no telegraphing and tracking shots that were practically impossible to avoid all of. It wasn't impossible, but it was certainly frustrating. The second level is packed with these, often as support for even bigger hordes of small, rushing enemies so much that the whole planet just became exasperating to traverse.
A hail of bullets and no way to respond is an unfortunate recurring feature in this game
Immortal's repertoire of defensive options are limited exclusively to a stamina-draining dodge roll or slide if the player is locked-on. When facing the tremendous amount of gun-toting undead with level design that takes away the option to evade, it really doesn't feel like enough. Rolling is an essential part to Souls combat, but those games also have shields and techniques like parrying. Even Bloodborne, though it mostly dropped shields, had a riposte that could be used to open up enemies for enormous damage and shift momentum in the player's favor. Immortal awards players for careful aiming but the damage bonuses are minimal anywhere other than the back. This combined with the fact that melee is borderline useless and getting overwhelmed by sheer numbers and massive enemies can cause a very fatal outcome. Even with one extra protective maneuver I think Immortal could get around the problem of dodging on narrow platforms, stopping a lot of unnecessary damage. It's weird since the game feels like it's balanced with being able to block, given how dodging can become so fatally dangerous in certain circumstances.
Outside of some choice moments, Immortal does feature some fantastic level design. It's a small thing, but looping back around to earlier points and opening up shortcuts to previous locations gives me joy every time. Not every level is perfect though, as the second planet Veridian demonstrates in particular. One segment involved walking down a completely linear river covered in traps and being assaulted by constantly exploding enemies, each one leaving behind a cloud of gas that the player can't get past because of the lack of space. The whole section felt like it dragged on forever, legitimately exasperating to playthrough. However, the environments themselves are well-done as far as design and visual presentation are concerned. Each world contains varied, unique locales that, while slightly cliche, are still interesting to look at. The colors are a little flat; there's a heavy emphasis on icy blues and steel, but I believe that was intentional. The universe the player inhabits is dying, overrun with zombie cyborgs; it is no wonder everything is cold and lifeless.
Immortal has some fantastic looking environments
There are a handful of stumbles when it comes to animation. For the most part, the game is done well, movement in particular has a very believable quality to it. Unfortunately, Immortal is not perfect, and some actions look very obviously melodramatic. It's nothing horrendous, but it can take the player out of the mood. The most egregious are the melee attacks, which seem to lack any anticipation or impact. The weapons are swung (a little too slow to be useful) at a constant speed, making them look weightless. This combined with how the weapons themselves don't do much damage or interrupt enemy attacks, even if timed correctly, makes melee a thoroughly underwhelming inclusion to the character's tool-kit and a rather crippling hindrance to the player's defense.
Immortal: Unchained feels like an experiment in concept, but upon execution, is a game with a surprising amount of variety and depth to it. It's a solid adventure with some very noticeable flaws and, frustrating as it can be at times, I think I would still recommend it to someone who wants a new take on the From Software style. It's certainly not the most interesting shooter I've ever played mechanically and fans of that particular genre might be a little disappointed, but there's more strategy to unpack than your average waist-high-wall-athon.
Review code generously provided by Toadman Interactive.
+ Innovative combat system
+ Pretty environments
+ Solid level design
- Difficulty can be more frustrating than enjoyable sometimes
- Noticeably unpolished
- Some questionable enemy placement
A solid game in need of some better balancing, Immortal can be unfair but it's still worth a play for Souls fans. Not the best at what it does, but a decent attempt to innovate the genre and definitely enjoyable.
Gaming, PC, PS4, Reviews, Steam, Xbox One
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Almost but not entirely unlike an Englishman, Adam is an animation student living in the midlands. When not neck deep in fighting game training modes, he can be found drawing, jamming out or trying to organise a D&D campaign
GamingPCPS4ReviewsSteam
Review: Tiny Metal – Full Metal Rumble
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A mysterious force of darkness covers Japan, bringing warriors from all over the land and beyond to investigate. Samurai Shodown returns as a reboot to the hit series.
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Sequel to the most adorable First Person Shooter Gun Ballet. Feel the speed once again as you jump and shoot your way through the familiar cuetsy abstract world filled with clever traps and angry baddies fuming with rage. Pick out targets with precision [...]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Yorkshire terriers are notorious for barking. They are small dogs with a big attitude. Yorkies are territorial, which means they feel the need to guard their home against intruders. This innate need will often cause them to bark at the smallest noise. Many people who live in apartments purchase a Yorkie because of its small size and high intelligence, but then they often have problem of the dog barking. There are several ways to reduce your Yorkie's need to bark.
Fill a hand-held squirt bottle with 25 percent lemon juice and 75 percent water. When your Yorkie barks, squirt it in the face. Dogs do not like lemon juice in the face. You can also mix a combination of 50 percent water and 50 percent white distilled vinegar in a spray bottle to use. Try both mixtures to see which works for your Yorkie.
Fill a soda halfway full of rocks or pennies. Shake the can every time your Yorkie barks while saying, "Quiet." Use a firm and forceful voice, but never yell at your Yorkie. When the dog is quiet, offer it a tasty treat and praise.
Pick the Yorkie up when it barks, and look it in the eyes. Most dogs view eye contact as a sign of pack leadership. Do not look away from your Yorkie's eyes. Firmly tell the dog, "Quiet." Whoever breaks eye contact first is viewed as the subordinate in the dogs world. Do not break eye contact first. When your Yorkie finally looks away, place the dog back on the floor.
Provide ample toys for your Yorkie to play with if the dog is home alone and barking. Many dogs bark from loneliness or simple separation anxiety. Try to make the Yorkie's surroundings exciting and interesting with different toys every few days.
Walk the Yorkie regularly, and play often with your dog. Many Yorkies bark because they do not receive enough exercise, and they have pent-up energy.
Enroll your Yorkie in an obedience class. Many people do not think about taking a small dog to obedience classes, but they are an excellent way to bond with your dog. Simple obedience will also help in controlling unwanted barking. If a Yorkie begins to bark, you can issue the sit command or lie down command to control the barking.
Purchase another small dog or pet to keep your Yorkie company if the dog barks out of loneliness. This is an extreme move to make, and consider all factors before bringing another dog into your home. However, a companion often works wonderful to reduce barking from separation anxiety.
Never hit your Yorkie. Never use a bark collar on a tiny Yorkie. This discipline method could emotionally damage your small dog.
Yorkshire Terrier World: Need Some Help With A Barking Yorkie?


The generation of deep clinical data and innovative clinical research methods (e.g., pragmatic trials, real-world evidence).
The direct involvement of patients through self-enrollment and provision of data (e.g., activity monitors, social media data, etc.).
A patient-oriented data infrastructure (mobile health, patient platform and education) will be developed. In parallel to the implementation of these technical solutions, we will establish dedicated work streams to ensure patient privacy, data access, analytics and data governance policy development. The dedicated infrastructure that is required for TRANSFORM HF (e.g., technologies, frameworks and governance) will be available as a roadmap for pan-Canadian networks studying other patient populations.
"Cross Cutter #1", Copyright © 2018 University Health Network. All rights reserved.


Under the guise of fresh revelation, anointings, impartations, new ways to hear God and walk in the supernatural, false teachers of the NAR come to steal, kill, and destroy. But it's not just the NAR that is leading people into deception, there are other movements and denominations in the visible church that are responsible for seducing people into error. The health and wealth gospel, word of faith heresy, false philosophies, traditions, new age doctrines, and mysticism have captivated millions in the visible church. In this post I offer ten signs that will help identify those who have been captivated by false teachers and false doctrines.
1. The captivated have compromised truth through pragmatism.
Pragmatism evaluates success based on results. If for example a pastor wants to grow his small congregation, the fashionable route for him to take would be a "church growth" seminar or Willowcreek conference. This will give him the methodologies necessary to increase numbers. He will discover that it's not too difficult to grow a church in this generation. Successful business models are utilized in the church because apparently pagan entrepreneurs know better than Jesus or the authors of scripture.
All the pastor has to do is water down the gospel, focus on topical and motivational messages, create expectation, and exchange biblical terms like sin, judgement and suffering for legacy, shift, presence, and prophetic etc. Dim the lights, and let the contemporary sounds of Bethel or Hillsong bypass the minds while bringing goosebumps to the enthralled congregation and voila! – "church growth." This probably without one single convert, and certainly without any of the previous members who may be saved, growing in their faith. God has not given the "increase," a pragmatic approach has, compromise has.
Experience and results should never define our theological persuasions. When we exchange truth with "what works" we have exchanged truth for a lie. Pragmatism causes truth to be relative, and when truth becomes relative, by definition it is no longer truth. When it's no longer truth – it's toxic. The fruits of pragmatism in the church are mega churches full of false converts and biblically illiterate believers carried about by every wind of doctrine.
2. The captivated serve a personality.
Their faith is in a personality instead of the principles of God's word. These false teachers have crafted an impressive persona. Like the super apostles Paul described in Corinthians, contemporary false teachers disguise themselves as "servants of righteousness." They come across as individuals who know God intimately, and make sure everyone else is aware of their unique gifts and special relationship with God. Instead of hearing sermons that exegete the word of God, followers are subjected to countless stories and experiences – the pastor of course being the central figure.
In short, they commend themselves – the direct opposite of Paul taught: "Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding." 2 Corinthians 10:12. The captivated will drive thousands of miles to a stadium event (performance) to receive an "impartation" from their favourite personality, but that's not all that drives them that far….
3. The captivated fall for false promises.
The captivated are desperate to alleviate the cares of this world, or increase their comforts in this world. Promises of breakthrough, healing, favour, pleasant "suddenlies," transfers of wealth, supernatural encounters and miracles, entice those with itching ears or troubled souls. Like clouds without water false teachers fail to deliver. They promise their followers an encounter with God, but instead deliver an emotional experience or Kundalini spirit. They peddle their courses on how to hear the voice of God, but all you will hear is your own imagination or a deceiving spirit. The captivated believe they can decree things into existence, access heavenly portals, shift atmospheres, and perform greater miracles than Christ. They believe a Sozo course will bring inner healing, and that "pleading the blood of Jesus" will bring healing, protection, and deliverance. Year in and year out, like a hamster on a wheel, the captivated chase empty promises. After months, or even years, the island of shipwrecked souls claims another citizen. Disappointed in "God" the "church," and "Christians," these shipwrecked souls placed their hope in false promises.
After preaching in Thessalonica, Paul and Silas travelled to Berea and continued preaching in the synagogue. The Berean's saw it fit to test the doctrine of the great apostle: "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." Acts 17:11. This is what every believer should do, compare a teaching to the word of God regardless of who the teacher is. The Bereans were able to do this, because Paul reasoned "from the scriptures." In other words they were able to go directly to the source. The only infallible source – scripture, is sadly the last place those who are easily persuaded by false teachers visit. They are persuaded by eloquence, stories, signs, and appearances As a result the captives of these false doctrines grow in false knowledge and experiences without gaining any knowledge of Christ or truth. The false prophets and apostles in the New Apostolic Reformation have perfected the art of the deceivers Paul described in Colossians 2:18: "..going on in detail about visions.." (ESV)… "intruding into those things which he hath not seen.." (KJV.) The gobbledygook of NAR mystics, stories of healings and encounters with God by hipster evangelists, and words of knowledge from google assisted prophets are sufficient to dupe the easily persuaded.
Superstars in the New Apostolic Reformation have built careers based on their "miracles." Their exploits are caught on film as they roam public spaces looking for those suffering from what seems to be the greatest ailment on earth – one leg shorter than the other. A warning for those trusting in signs and wonders: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' Matthew 7: 21-23.
Captivated leaders teach that signs and wonders must always accompany any evangelistic endeavour. They have this in common with the rich man in Hades (Luke 16) – both believe something miraculous will convince the lost. The rich man reasoned with Abraham "but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent" Abraham's answer – "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." Those who teach that the gospel is not good news unless there is a demonstration of power are blinded to the fact that the power is not in signs and wonders, it's in the gospel: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Rom1:16.
The gospel is sufficient and scripture is more sure than any modern day sign or wonder.
6. The captivated are victims of peddlers.
While tithing is NOT taught in the new testament (giving cheerfully, not under compulsion, and according to our ability IS taught) it's become a tool in the hands of unscrupulous teachers, some of whom threaten that if you don't give your tenth, the rest of your money will be cursed, and you give a foothold to demons. Teaching tithing has become a "get rich quick" scheme, and a great way for false teachers to accumulate wealth and maintain their empires (mega churches) It does not stop at tithing, there's usually some sort of building fund, missionary fund, social justice cause, and other causes that members are asked to give towards. Another means of raking in the dollars are workshops, conferences, online courses and books. You are going to pay to learn how to: hear God's voice, shift atmospheres, receive healing, walk in intimacy with God, experience supernatural powers. The captivated spend an awful amount of money in order to gain some sort of advantage or deeper knowledge, they are in a constant state of always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. The captivated and their money are easily parted as they pay for their never ending quest to hear and experience God.
7. The captivated who begin to ask questions are penalized.
You are never going to be in that inner circle, or part of the clique in "church" unless you prove yourself worthy. Under the guise of a "culture of honour" leaders are able to excuse their failures, avoid critique, promote their false doctrines, and maintain a firm grip on their ignorant followers. Once you invest time, and more importantly money, you will climb the food chain relatively fast. Display blind loyalty to the leader, salivate over their unfounded stories and visions, accept their teachings without question, and you will be rewarded. But if you dare to step out of line, you will discover that the "culture of honour" is an excuse to employ a "culture of shame" upon truth seekers. You may even think you are going mad or imagining things, and at first you will lay all the blame on yourself. This just shows how effective the brainwashing and manipulation has been. It's a common story – those who are in the final stages of exiting a church that teaches false doctrines will tell you how they suddenly lost favour in the eyes of their leaders when they asked legitimate questions. They are asked to step down from positions, they are shamed, ostracized, patronized, and rumours are spread about them. This serves as a warning to potential mutineers by creating a fearful atmosphere.
8. The captivated become pharisaical.
Point 7 demonstrated this fact. Approach a false teacher or one of their followers in sincerity and humility with a scriptural rebuttal concerning their teachings or revelations, and you will probably experience a venomous response. Their first cry will be "don't judge." This verse is used out of context when defending false teachers. "Don't judge" really means don't judge hypocritically: "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Matthew 7:5. The same chapter instructs us to beware of false prophets and examine their fruits (7:15-20) "Judge not" does not mean: never discern, never test all things, or ignore those who bring a different teaching! Those who use this verse to silence critics of false teachers or false teachings, are in fact judging someone for correct judgement. In other words, they are self-righteous and hypocrites – pharisaical. They will preach love and tolerance, but are unloving towards those who are trying to warn them that their souls are in grave danger. They will tolerate false teachers, doctrines of demons and demonic manifestations, but will turn their backs on family or lifelong friends who attempt to reason with them from the scriptures.
Another example of hypocrisy can be found in the area of healing. Bespectacled pastors will tell you the atonement guarantees healing, and that if you are not healed it can only be your fault. Their own healing rooms, Sozo courses and supernatural students cannot heal them. They go for surgery and rely on medication like the rest of us (that's not to say God does not heal – he does, according to his will.) These teachers who cannot heal themselves or each other, charge for courses on healing. The fake healers who stretch legs in shopping malls will never be found filming a miracle in the ICU wards of hospitals.
9. The captivated believe they can change this world into a paradise.
"As above so below" has become the mantra of New Apostolic Reformation proponents.
The correct translation: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10.
Until then, believers will go through many trials and tribulations, they will be mocked, not celebrated, persecuted not praised, and while God still heals some according to his will, many believers will have to endure sickness and disabilities. The captivated want to be settlers in this world, they are not sojourners looking forward to the day when Christ will come and rule, they want to be little gods and take dominion for themselves. They translate the word "kingdom" as dominion and comfort in this present age. They attempt to "set the world right" because their focus is on the temporal instead of the eternal.
10. The captivated have been placated.
Not much has changed since the days of Isaiah, there's a reason people follow contemporary false prophets – they want to hear "smooth things." This is why the captivated are so intent on defending their favourite false teacher. They are not just defending a personality, they are defending the message that has tickled their ears. They have bought into various lies – God guarantees wealth and health, they can walk in any supernatural gift they choose etc. They have not been taught the crucified life. They want dominion, power, favour and success. They have been placated by smooth operators, from the blatant health and wealth charlatans to the spiritual mystics who have exchanged sound teachings for nonsensical sayings and encounters with a divine agent.
False teachings have serious consequences, not only for those who teach error, but also for their hearers. The Apostle Paul took false teaching seriously: " I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears." Acts 20: 29-31.
Those who sit under false teachings are not interested in death to self, but in elevating self. They want to satisfy their passions; they want to appease self. And so they listen to those teachers who commend themselves in this regard. These teachers boast of their exploits. Some have cameras following them as they perform their crafty "miracles" in public. Others will let their followers on twitter know all the details of their lives, from their pets names and activities to the latest colour nail varnish they are using. Their followers know more details of their idol's lives than they do the gospels. One thing is for certain -they are going to let you know "the Lord" told them this or that. This gives credence to their teachings and revelations, and elevates them above the ordinary believer.
Not all of them are blatant motivational speakers and easy to discern as being a fraud. Some of them talk of mysteries, deep revelations, and the desire to bring in billions of souls for Christ. It is these "apostles" and "prophets" in particular that are luring many into their web of deceit, simply because they come across as passionate, deep, and spiritual. Those who are prepared to "search the scriptures" and compare the teachings of these well known celebrity teachers will find that they twist and narcigete scripture. While it's easy to identify those who are wallowing in the obvious lusts of the flesh, it is more difficult to spot subtle sins like spiritual pride. Spiritual pride captivates those who have been told that they are an amazing breed who will supersede the works of Christ. Many are swept up in movements such as the New Apostolic Reformation. Their ministry, their stories, their revelations, and their claims of how God has used them are simply a spiritual veneer over rotting flesh. The really tragic part is that many sincere and passionate people who want to do God's will are deceived by this version of appeasing self.
3. SLAVERY instead of freedom.
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." Galatians 5: 1-6.
Paul is warning the Galatian believers not to fall for the false teachings of the Judaizers. These false teachers were persuasive, but their teachings were based on the law instead of grace. Unfortunately legalism did not end with the early church. Today there are movements and denominations that place a heavy and unnecessary burden on their followers. Considered by many evangelicals to be a cult, The Seventh-Day Adventists (SDA) have a legalistic approach towards dietary laws and keeping the Sabbath. A greater threat however, and possibly influenced by SDA is the Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM). I say greater threat in the sense that I know many folk who have become disillusioned with Charismania, or who have come out of the New Apostolic Reformation, and have somehow get entangled with the HRM.
Some within the HRM claim to have superior insight and an authentic faith through engaging a Hebrew mindset, keeping certain feasts, using the real names of "G-d" such as Yeshua or YHWH. In reality, it's just back to another form of slavery. Read about the Dangers of the Hebrew Roots Movement here. While types and shadows in scripture are beneficial, and serve a purpose, they do not make us one bit more spiritual or accelerate our conformity into the image of Christ.
4. SHAKEN in mind concerning end times.
• letter – they had possibly misinterpreted his first letter to them, or there were forged letters doing the rounds.
The result of the false teaching was that they were shaken in mind, meaning that they had lost sound reasoning due to their fear or agitation of what might shortly transpire. They were like a ship being tossed on the high seas. If there is one subject that troubles people, or can cause them to be shaken in the mind, it's eschatology, and that's the context of these verses. It's a subject that still causes much consternation. Natural phenomena such as the blood moons, books such as The Harbinger by false prophet Jonathan Cahn, and the fear-mongering by Jim Bakker in an effort to sell his survival food buckets, have caused many to be shaken in their minds.
An eschatology that causes you to fear, feel superior, or divide you from brothers and sisters in Christ needs to be revisited.
6. SEPARATION from the body and head.
Many people who come out of Word of Faith, Prosperity and New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) churches can struggle to find a church where sound doctrine is taught. For a time, they may be isolated, which is not ideal but understandable in their situation. It's common for them to be condemned by those who remain under the "covering" of NAR and other unsound churches. The fact is that those who have come out of those churches have done so because they are connected to the head, and covered by Christ, while the one's deceived are in danger of being disconnected from the head (if connected at all) and are under a carnal covering.
7. SHIPWRECK of their faith.


E-mail writing skills are indispensable, as we use all e-mail for most of our conversations. E-mail is also seen as a default means of communicating with the public in formal and business life. In contrast to cell phone messaging, where we only share your information, e-mail is seen with greater awareness and as a means of communicating effectively.
This drastically reduces the amount of e-mail communications with couriers, mail, etc. Pupils and undergraduates, staff, managers, politicians, businessmen, etc. find e-mail to be the most comfortable way to communicate. How can e-mail find the formal and essential benefit? In order to apply for a position.
Bulk communications for a thing like a marriage invite, raising public consciousness, dissemination of formal messages or notices. What is the point of considering good e-mail writing skills? E-mail is a vaild sample and can be stored for later use. As this is not a matter of oral communications, a false interpretation of information is possible.
That is because speech communications is different from what is spelled because it is lacking physical speech. There is a physical lack to convey the information with hands-on communicative skills such as speech and other expression. So you have to show your personality or impressed the readers with words to show politeness, trust and professionality.
Basics of e-mail writing: Excluded in newsletters e-mails, any unsolicited e-mails, should be easy and to the point. If possible, use the picture of the business stationery or a digital sign in your message when sending a company-related message. It is indispensable because e-mail has been available to the recipient for a long period of inactivity.
Writing an e-mail: This is a topic that is primarily viewable to the user or messageiewer. So, if the topic is interesting or inquisitive, the viewers can open the message or simply remove it. In other words, the topic of the e-mail is therefore crucial and should therefore be conspicuous in order to arouse its interest.
Best practice for message subjects: ? Be right to the point when it comes to sending your e-mails professionally. Make it brief and concise, as it will help the recipient determine the importance of the post. If it is a kind message, which is intended for any requests such as birthdays, celebrations or celebrations, you indicate the requests directly.
But if it's unprofessional, like criticising or pointing out a bug or error, the topic should be a little serious. So, insert the issue in the e-mail text, but not in the topic. E-mail bodysuit; Always begin by saying hello or Sir/Madam, darling, etc. to the receiver.
When the recipient is a high-profile individual such as a policeman, magistrate, stage manager, etc., it is good that the show shows your appreciation as it reflects your attitudes towards them or their work. "in response to your regular postal service. Note the dot or the line clearly.
Signed e-mail Do you have your electronic signatur at the end of the message. Therefore, the use of self-portrait signs is indispensable, as they have an influence on the spirit of the readers. It is a last but also basic reminder of writing skills by using emails. When you want to yell at someone or rant and when you send an e-mail.
Don't have it sent immediately. Store it in your designs and ship it later if you still want to. There is a good chance that you are no longer looking to use it. Activate the sending of e-mails after a few seconds. Also make sure that your e-mail is no longer being corrupted.
Here you can find out whether your e-mail has been opened. Don't send an e-mail unless you are clear about what you want to say.


text:
Q: AutoMapper Map derived classes to property of base type collection I'm trying to map two different objects to objects that are derived from an interface. Additionally, I need to have another property mapped to the derived types from the dtos. Given this object structure:
public interface ICoverage
{
    string Name { get; set; }
    string Code { get; set; }
}

public class CoverageA : ICoverage
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Code { get; set; }
    public string Current { get; set; }
}

public class CoverageB : ICoverage
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Code { get; set; }
    public bool HasRecord { get; set; }
}

public class Application
{
    public int ApplicationId { get; set; }
    public string Code { get; set; }
    public List<ICoverage> Coverages { get; set; }

    public Application()
    {
        Coverages = new List<ICoverage>();
    }
}

public class StagingDto
{
    public string Referrer { get; set; }
    public string Code { get; set; }
    public CoverageADto CoverageA { get; set; }
    public CoverageBDto CoverageB { get; set; }
}

public class CoverageADto
{
    public string Current { get; set; }
}

public class CoverageBDto
{
    public bool HasRecord { get; set; }
}

This mapping below works but I am wondering if there is a better way to do it:
         cfg.CreateMap<StagingDto, Application>()
            .AfterMap((src, dest) => dest.Coverages.Add(new CoverageB()
            {
                HasRecord = src.CoverageB.HasRecord,
                Code = src.Code
            }))
            .AfterMap((src, dest) => dest.Coverages.Add(new CoverageA()
            {
                Current = src.CoverageA.Current,
                Code = src.Code
            }));

Ideally I'd like to stay away from having to create any extension method.

A: For me it looks a bit better:
cfg.CreateMap<StagingDto, Application>()
    .ForMember(dest => dest.Coverages,
        opt => opt.ResolveUsing(src => new ICoverage[]
        {
            new CoverageA
            {
                Current = src.CoverageA.Current,
                Code = src.Code
            },
            new CoverageB
            {
                HasRecord = src.CoverageB.HasRecord,
                Code = src.Code
            }
        }));

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home Opinion How India regained its standing in the Indian Ocean Region
How India regained its standing in the Indian Ocean Region
by thesquadron.in April 1, 2022
written by thesquadron.in April 1, 2022 0 comment
In 2009, around a year after China Merchant Port started construction of the strategic Hambantota Port on the crucial Malacca Straits-Persian Gulf trade route, a former foreign secretary of India dismissed the view that Beijing was trying to encircle India through military bases in the Indian Ocean, famously saying that a "string of pearls" was a "pretty ineffective murder weapon".
That may be the case, but the Chinese used the string of pearls to effectively choke Indian foreign policy in the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. This was a region where India was once the pre-eminent power.
The rise of Maoists in Nepal, which India itself facilitated, the ascent to power of a pro-Chinese regime in the Maldives in 2012, the massive Chinese investment in Sri Lankan infrastructure through high-interest loans, and the dalliance between the Bangladesh army and radical parties in the country with Beijing before 2014, all sent a message that India was willing to adjust to a growing Chinese presence in the Indian sub-continent and, indeed, live with it.
When Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi took over in May 2014, he came up with the "Neighbourhood First" policy and then expanded it to the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) by enunciating the "Security and Growth for all in the Region" (SAGAR) policy at Port Louis in Mauritius on March 12, 2015, while commissioning Kora class corvette Barracuda, the first India-made warship to be exported.
Since then, the Modi government has tried to regain India's space in the subcontinent and the IOR by enhancing the security of the region, holding the hands of countries and regimes in trouble, usually economically, and adopting a non-reciprocal and non-intrusive diplomatic mindset.
That India's interests in the Indian Ocean and beyond are a priority is evident from the fact that last year, the charge of handling Australia, a maritime neighbour, and a strategic ally, was given to the foreign secretary and, more recently, the charge of handling two other very close allies, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Israel, were brought under the purview of the top civil servant in the ministry of external affairs. A number of India's envoys to the neighbourhood, including the IOR, have the experience of working in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) — the envoys to Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, the UAE, and Israel are cases in point.
Despite India being seriously hit by Covid-19 infections over the past two years, the president, the PM, external affairs minister, national security adviser (NSA) and foreign secretary, all travelled to Bangladesh last year. Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar, and NSA Ajit Doval have travelled to the Maldives at least thrice, and a couple of times to all countries in the neighbourhood and the IOR. While Doval has been in constant touch with countries such as the UAE, Israel, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Mauritius on handling religious radicalisation, Jaishankar handed over the elaborate coastal radar system to the Maldives on March 27.
And, rather than extract a pound of flesh from a neighbour hit by high debt and rampaging inflation, India has provided economically hit Sri Lanka with nearly $2.5 billion support between January and March. While the total Indian development portfolio in Sri Lanka is more than $5 billion out of which $570 million is an outright grant, India has also extended a $400 million swap facility, deferred loans of $515 million, and offered $500 million line of credit for fuel and a $1 billion credit facility for procurement of food and essential items. Since January, Indian Oil Corp has sold 40,000 metric tonnes of fuel on credit to the cash-strapped island nation.
In the Maldives, India's development partnership ranges upwards of $2.6 billion in grants, concessional loans, budgetary support, capacity building and training assistance. This includes the $500 million Greater Male Connectivity Project, four lines of credit worth $800 million, buyer's credit of $240 million and financial support including budgetary support of $800 million.
In Mauritius, India helped build the new Supreme Court and is involved in the country's iconic Metro Express project and the construction of a new ENT hospital. In January, Modi and Mauritius PM, Pravind Jugnath, inaugurated a social housing project and launched the construction of a Civil Services College and an 8MW photovoltaic cell farm project.
Given its proximity to India and Modi's close relationship with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, New Delhi has given developmental assistance to the tune of $8 billion to Dhaka to promote larger connectivity through land and sea.
Nepal has proved trickier because the country's political leaders have, time and again, played New Delhi against Beijing to get double the benefit. Rather than acting as a big brother and dictating terms to Kathmandu, India has simply ensured round the clock power to Nepal as well as fuel through a dedicated pipeline. Since 2014-2015, India has given ₹5155.27 crore of aid to Kathmandu despite Nepal becoming increasingly subservient to Chinese diktats.
India's support to the neighbourhood and IOR is not only through developmental assistance but also taken the form of providing Covid-19 vaccines and humanitarian support to the entire region.
It has taken time, but India is now closer to its once pre-eminent position in the IOR than it has ever been in the past two decades. It helps that many Asian and Southeast Asian nations, and also the West, are concerned about Beijing's growing footprint in the region — through trade, military bases, and infrastructure projects (funded through debt that usually comes back to bite as Sri Lanka discovered).
With India looking at its strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific with its Quad partners as well as key allies such as France, the UAE, and Israel, a new chapter has been added with New Delhi trying to forge close cooperation with Indonesia. The visit of NSA Ajit Doval to Indonesia on March 17 for the second security dialogue was to engage Djakarta in mutual security and cooperation as all the ingress routes to the South China Sea are under its jurisdiction. While Indonesia wants to maintain a balance between India and China, the dramatic economic fall of Sri Lanka (and the growing tenor of protests against the regime there) has made it evident to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries that fence-sitting is no longer an option in the present global turmoil. But India, as the signs show, is back in the game.
The views expressed are personal
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'Unnecessary educational burden': Centre on teaching students regional languages
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Just Like That | Notes on R-Day then & now, the Right & Left...


ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he and North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un had a "good conversation" during his recent surprise visit to Pyongyang, and Kim is "prepared to … lay out a map that would help us achieve" denuclearization.
Pompeo noted that the administration's objective is "complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization" with North Korea.
Pompeo, who was confirmed Thursday at Trump's second secretary of state, met with Kim over Easter weekend to lay the groundwork for Trump's planned summit with Kim in May or early June.
The U.S. is demanding that North Korea relinquish its nuclear weapons program, and it has built an international sanctions regime to pressure the regime into doing that.
"Only time will tell if we can get that done," Pompeo told Karl.
The former CIA director and North Korean leader have a "good relationship," and their meeting "went very smoothly," Trump said in an April 18 tweet.
Pompeo is in the Middle East on his first trip as the nation's top diplomat, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Jordan.
See Jonathan Karl's full interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on "This Week" Sunday, April 29.


Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive, by Stephanie Land.
"Maid" answers all of those unspoken shoulds in a plain-spoken rejoinder to everything one hears about poor people on cable news. Land's story is not defensive, but it is a defense of sorts – an unapologetic account of how a smart, talented woman ended up a homeless mother, in and out of bad relationships, and reliant on public benefits and meager pay earned by cleaning houses. And she apparently does need to defend herself, mostly against the brazen shoppers who announce "you're welcome" when they see her using benefits at the grocery store. But also against her relatives and even one of her oldest friends, who cruelly points out during a phone call that her tax dollars are paying for Land's federal assistance.
Land grew up in a middle-class home and was enjoying a sort of bohemian existence in her 20s, working in cafes and bars with plans to attend college and pursue a writing career, when she found out she was pregnant. She put school on hold to have the baby, a decision that caused her boyfriend to turn vicious. Things got darker after Mia's birth, and ended with a call to a domestic violence hotline and then the police.
Her book is not, however, a treatise on public housing, labor or welfare policy. Land is an expert in her own story, and she wisely sticks to it. We see the little tricks Land used to make her daughter feel like a regular girl out to lunch with her mom – buying a sandwich on clearance at a food co-op, where Mia was able to get a free piece of fruit. As she reluctantly consigned Mia's old baby clothes, she started to tell the sales clerk that she had been keeping them for another baby, but having a second child seemed impossible now. "I'd been saving it for no reason," she ended up saying.
Yet the book, with its unfussy prose and clear voice, holds you. It slows down when Land dwells on the houses she cleaned and nicknamed (the Sad House, the Sick House, etc., which I struggled to care about), but she doesn't linger there long. Land doesn't indulge in diatribes or bog the pages down with obligatory data. She sticks with small details that show the cost of being poor – forgoing treatment that might relieve her chronic back pain and instead relying on costly over-the-counter meds that only mask the symptoms; not being able to afford a day off when Mia is miserably sick. Though this isn't a policy book, and doesn't pretend to be, it does offer a personal indictment of the policies that govern the lives of the working and lower classes.
It's also not a success story, though Land does find some just before the pages run out. "Maid" isn't about how hard work can save you but about how false that idea is. It's one woman's story of inching out of the dirt and how the middle class turns a blind eye to the poverty lurking just a few rungs below – and it's one worth reading.


text:
7-Eleven's Free Slurpees Are Back At All Locations Across Canada On July 11
All 7-Eleven stores across Canada will be giving away free Slurpees.
Summer is right around the corner. Beat the heat by grabbing a free 7-Eleven Slurpee across Canada on July 11. The skies are getting sunnier, the weather is getting hotter and you'll definitely need an ice-cold Slurpee to cool you down.
7-Eleven Canada is celebrating 7-Eleven Day by giving away 885,000 free Slurpee drinks across the country. Not only are they celebrating 7-Eleven Day, but they're also celebrating serving Canadians for 50 years!
On Thursday, July 11, all 590 7-Eleven locations in Canada will be offering free Slurpees to customers. From BC to Ontario, the 12 oz. Slurpees will be given away in a free commemorative cup.
Doug Rosencrans, VP and GM of 7-Eleven Canada said, "We are honoured to be celebrating 50 years in Canada." He continued, " We are grateful for the love and support of Canadian Slurpee fans and their loyalty that has made Manitoba the Slurpee Capital of the World."
Rosencrans finished the statement by saying, "This is our opportunity to thank Canadians for the 50 incredible years of memories, and to celebrate 50 more to come!"
Not only will you receive a free commemorative cup, but 7-Eleven will also give customers free rewards. If you scan your 7-Eleven Day cup you can get 1000 free 7Rewards points.
The company also just announced that they're teaming up with Uber Eats, which means you'll be able to order food and drinks from 7-Eleven through the app.
Try some of their new Slurpee flavours including Sour Patch Kids Orange and Fanta Lite Mango Passionfruit!
For more information on 7-Eleven Day, you can visit 7-Eleven's website.


Many comments imagine scenarios in which, the comment argues, foreign purchase of a U.S. firm would harm the United States. One comment asks whether I would favor allowing Iran to purchase Boeing. The answer is "no," because Boeing is a defense contractor and foreign nations should not be allowed to purchase companies that do highly classified defense work, unless the companies agree to spin off the defense-related parts of their business to U.S. firms. Parenthetically, I do not think that Iran poses anywhere near as great a long-term threat to the United States as China does. China may within a few decades become as powerful as the United States, and both China and the U.S. are Pacific powers. Iran is not a potential superpower and Iran and the United States do not share an ocean. Another comment suggests that if China owned Unocal it might order it to export all its U.S. oil production to China, and then we would have to buy more foreign oil and so we would become even more dependent than we are on foreign oil nations, many of which are unstable or hostile. But if we are worried about our dependence on foreign oil, forbidding foreign purchases of U.S. oil producers is an extremely oblique response compared to, for example, imposing higher gasoline taxes, which would reduce demand for oil and hence for imported oil. Another comment states that even if China had trillions of dollars invested in the United States, this would not inhibit it from invading Taiwan. Well, it would certainly increase the cost to China of such an invasion! Finally and ingeniously, one comment suggests that if China had bought Unocal it could have infiltrated spies into the United States in the guise of oil workers and managers and also exert malign political influence on U.S. government policy. The first concern can I think be dismissed; China has sufficiently extensive business relations with the United States already to be able to plant as many spies in this country as it wants to, and it would certainly not replace more than a tiny fraction of Unocal employees (if that) with Chinese; nor would we permit it to do so. The second concern has somewhat more merit. Although foreigners are not permitted to make contributions to American political campaigns, in the 1990s the Chinese apparently did make some indirect contributions, and conceivably American middle and upper management of a foreign-owned company might be inclined to make contributions or provide other support to politicians who favored the nation that owned the company. I have never heard of such a thing, however, and I am skeptical that Americans working for a company owned by a nation such as China with which the United States has somewhat tense relations would seek to aid that nation--or even would find a politican wishing to do so for the manager to support. Such a politician would be (moviegoers will recognize) a true Manchurian Candidate!
Most of the comments centered around a possible security threat from Chinese companies buying American companies in various industries, such as the American energy sector that CNOOC tried to enter by bidding for Unocal. Even accepting China as a potential military threat-which is possible but still uncertain- the comments opposing this purchase based on security (or other) reasons were not persuasive. Some claimed that China could gain important information or even secrets by owning a company like Unocal, but it was never made clear what these were. All pipeline, customer information, etc. is public knowledge, as are most advanced methods for extracting oil and gas. If they need help on gaining access to methods used by other companies, many energy consultants are ready to help them in ways that are fully legal, and are not fully controlled by US policy. Someone suggested that CNOOC might replace American employees of Unocal with Chinese ones. On the whole, there is nothing to that fear. To be sure, they could bring in some Chinese executives, although that would be at the expense of running the company efficiently. For other employees, They could not get immigration permits to replace the vast majority of Unocal employees in this country. China does not allow American or other foreign companies to take over Chinese companies in some sectors, or even to enter certain sectors. But why is that a reason for the US opposing CNOOC's bid for Unocal? The case for allowing that bid is that it helps the US for the reasons outlined in my original comment, not that it helps the Chinese, or because of some slavish adherence to principles of "free trade". Chinese ownership of American companies may not be sufficiently important "hostages" to discourage a military attack on Taiwan or elsewhere. But the point I tried to make on this issue is that China, not America, bears the economic risk from ownership of American assets, since these assets would be taken over by the US in the event of any military conflict, the way German assets in the US were taken over during world War II. There is evidence, in studies by Solomon Polochek and others, that trade does reduce the probability of conflict between nations, but many other factors are also relevant. So a few examples are not decisive, whether they go in one direction or another. I believe that even the quantitative studies by Polochek and others are far from decisive, but they are the best we have so far. On an issue raised that is somewhat removed from the main subject, I do believe American airlines should be allowed to fail, as Eastern, Braniff, TWA, and others did fail. To get closer to our present topic, we should remove the obstacles that prevent foreign airlines like BA or Lufthansa from taking over American ones. I believe we should go further, and give many foreign airlines the right to transport passengers between different points within the US.
I agree fully with Becker and therefore can be brief: foreign nations' purchase of U.S. companies should not be discouraged even when the foreign nation is a communist country potentially hostile to the United States and seeks to acquire the producer of a vital raw material, such as oil. Hence I do not think that the purchase by the Chinese government-owned oil company CNOOC of the U.S. oil company Unocal should have been prevented. China holds vast amounts of U.S. dollars. To the extent that these holdings exceed China's need for financial reserves, China can benefit from holding dollars only by exchanging them for valuable goods, such as goods produced in the United States or assets of U.S. companies. We should want China to be able to make such purchases, since otherwise it will be less willing to hold dollars, which is to say less willing to sell us valuable goods in exchange for pieces of paper. Of course there are some goods we should not sell, such as weapons designs more advanced than China can obtain from any other country. But there is no way in which China can obtain a power advantage over the U.S. by spending $18.5 billion on an oil company. Suppose--this seems to be the fear of the members of Congress who opposed the proposed acquisition--that the Chinese government, having bought Unocal, ordered it to sell all its oil to China. Would that hurt the United States? Not much, and in the long run not any, because oil is a fungible commodity, and the U.S. would replace Unocal's oil with that of other producers. There would, however, be short-term costs involved in recontracting for the replacement oil. But so provocative an action by CNOOC would in any event be unlikely because China would know that we would retaliate. In this connection, the fact that almost a third of Unocal's oil reserves are in North America, far from strengthening the case for blocking the merger, weakens it; for those reserves would function as hostages against China's using its control of Unocal to impede U.S. access to oil. The fact that China wanted to give us these hostages is actually a hopeful sign for the future of Chinese-American relations. It suggests that China envisages peaceful, constructive commercial relations with the United States. Otherwise it would not spend billions of dollars to acquire assets that ultimately are under the control of our government.
There were many good comments. The common thread in many of them was that an economic analysis leaves out equally or more important "cultural" or "sociological" factors that cannot be reduced to economics. I do not deny the possibility that factors about which economics may, at least at its present level of development, have little to say may be extremely important in explaining the phenomenon of terrorism, and specifically why sympathy for Islamist terrorism appears to be more widespread in Western Europe than in the United States. One is simply the fact that because of our proximity to Mexico, most low-wage immigrants come from there rather than from the Islamic world. Another is that, as a nation of immigrants, the United States provides a more welcoming environment for immigrants; the Western European countries, in contrast, were, until recently, mainly nations of emigrants, and they may simply not have learned yet how to assimilate large immigrant populations. In addition, as Becker mentions, the fact that the United Kingdom has a serious problem of Islamic extremism doesn't sort well with the fact that it has relatively open labor markets and a porous safety net, much like the United States. One factor retarding assimilation of immigrants in the United Kingdom may be the class system. But I believe that economic factors are important contributors to Europe's Muslim problem, and being underemphasized deserve special consideration. When mentioned they are usually related to poverty, it being assumed that poverty foments terrorism. But as I said in my original posting, the evidence for this is weak. What is important is the effect of economic institutions on the self-selection of immigrants and on their incentives when they arrive. If economic institutions such as open labor markets and a low safety net encourage the immigration of strivers, they and their children are unlikely to feel like resentful outsiders. The materialism of America's capitalist culture came in for some knocks from some of the commenters. But as Samuel Johnson said, people are rarely as innocently engaged as when trying to make money. Commercial values historically and today are inimical to the pursuit of Utopian fantasies and the glorification of violence. Several comments misunderstood me to be arguing that long vacations cause terrorism. That of course would be absurd. My point was that a system of regulations that discourage work create a barrier to the integration of immigrants. As one commenter pointed out, Paul Krugman's statement that productivity is higher in France than in the United States mistakes a problem for a solution. A nation that makes it difficult for low-skilled workers, who therefore are not highly productive, to find jobs will have a high measured productivity, but that productivity advantage is an artifact of failing to make full use of the nation's productive labor resources. Several comments expressed in the manner of Krugman a preference for the French way of life, with its greater emphasis on leisure. But this preference fails to reckon with the profound costs in economic stagnation and diminished fertility, which in combination with public policies that discourage work have forced Europe to import huge numbers of Muslim workers without being able to assimilate them. The problem will not be solved by celebrating the joys of leisure. The policies that encourage leisure have contributed to Europe's serious, perhaps critical, problems. To these problems Paul Krugman seems oblivious.
As some very good comments indicated, the causes of terrorism are far from well understood, and neither Posner nor I claimed we had anywhere near the full answers. Still, some things are reasonably clear. To be sure, there have been non-Muslim terrorists in Japan, Germany, Italy, and even the United States, but they have been less coordinated across countries, of shorter duration, and much less lethal. For reasons given in some comments, Islamic terrorism cannot be linked simply to the invasions of Afghanistan or Iraq since a considerable degree of destructive terrorism preceded these events. I do not believe that the main explanation for the more extensive Muslim terrorism in Europe is that the less ambitious Muslim immigrants go to Europe. That may be true on average, but I believe their ambition is more likely to be sapped by high unemployment rates, high welfare payments, and greater discrimination. As I noted, Britain is partly a counterexample to my thesis on the connection between terrorism and restricive employment and other regulations since unemployment rates are low there too as well as in the US, and payments to those on the dole are not generous in Britain. But it has long been recognized that Britain has accepted foreigners much less readily than the United States, and that foreigners there feel less integrated into mainstream society. Some of you stressed, correctly I believe, that terrorism may be greater in Europe partly because Muslims are a larger fraction of the populations of France, Britain, Spain, and some other European nations than of the US. That could have encouraged greater discrimination against Muslims in Europe, and hence greater resentment. Larger relative numbers also encourages bigger enclaves of Muslim populations where radical clerics and others can more easily espouse their brand of hatred of the West. I did not claim that America is stronger on all family values than Europe. I was objecting to the claim that the French and other European labor and other legislation that reduced working time improved family values. Surely, fertility should be one of the most sensitive indicators of family values, and also sensitive to the amount of leisure, yet fertility rates are generally much lower in all European nations than in the US. And the growth in property crime, and to a lesser extent in violent crime, in Europe while American crime rates were falling is partly related to the much higher unemployment rates in Europe, especially among their Muslim and other minorities. The data still indicate that America is generally the first choice of immigrants, Muslim as well as others, although perhaps by a smaller margin than in the past. The change in where immigrants go is partly due to the fact that it has become more difficult to get into the US, so more Muslim and others go to Germany, France, Spain, and other European nations. Someone made a relevant point about the distinction between hours spent not working and leisure time. It has long been known that many Swedes, for example, spend much time painting their houses, etc because of the high rates of taxes on additional earnings. But it is also true that vacations are much longer in most European nations than in the US, and Europe has more work holidays. Switzerland is indeed another interesting example. It is difficult to become a citizen there and foreigners are isolated. However, unemployment rates of immigrants are much lower there than in other European countries, and that could help explain the low levels of Swiss terrorism. Still, comparisons of terrorist activities in Switzerland, Britain, Spain, France, and other European nations is an excellent research topic.


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Gruesome and tragic headlines from the past few months have thousands of people of faith scratching their heads, asking: why does God allow this evil to happen? Isn't he supposed to be all-loving and all-powerful? The question is even more pressing for people who are directly involved and suffering enormously.
This problem – known to philosophers as "the problem of evil" – is as old as the book of Job. Many theologians and artists, from Augustine and Aquinas to Dostoevsky and Thornton Wilder, have grappled with this fundamental question. In fact, we can survey the theological problem, its emotional gravity, and its strongest resolutions by looking at a handful of excellent films.
Oxford mathematician and philosopher John Lennox has often emphasized two very important things about this classical problem from the outset. I'll follow his lead here.
First, we have to first acknowledge that there is both an intellectual and emotional component to the problem. Secondly, both components amount to one of the best (if not the best) arguments against God that there is – and believers need to be humble enough to admit it.
These two Woody Allen films sum up the intellectual side of the problem of evil (also neatly summed up in the Epicurus quote at the top of the article). In Hannah and Her Sisters, his character – who is in the middle of a profound existential crisis – asks: "If there's a God, why is there so much evil in the world? Just on a simplistic level, why were there Nazis?" In Crimes and Misdemeanors, a jaded humanist at a family Seder says that Hitler "got away with" the slaughter of 6 million Jews. Where was God in the Holocaust? Why didn't he stop it? Or at least punish the wicked after it happened?
Countless theologians and Christian thinkers have wrestled with the problem of evil on this intellectual level, as Woody Allen often does. For example, writer Fyodor Dostoevsky made the suffering of innocent children the sturdy basis of his character Ivan's atheism in The Brothers Karamazov. Theologian David Bentley Hart calls this argument against God "far and away the best argument" (nota bene, all you atheists), and the one that occasions his own periodic loss of faith.
But to the soul of someone whose child was just kidnapped, or who has just been diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer, such legalistic answers mean little – especially when the suffering looks so senseless, and so preventable. These answers may address why God permits evil in the abstract; but why is he permitting it right now, in this way, to me, to my child? At this point, no amount of intellectual maneuvering will do – the problem is, as philosopher Peter Kreeft calls it, "not just an intellectual experiment," but a "rebellion of tears." This is the emotional side of the problem of evil.
We see this side very clearly in that same movie, Shadowlands. CS Lewis, who was able to speak eloquently about the problem in the abstract, is personally devastated when he has to confront suffering in his own life: the loss of his first and great love, Joy Gresham, to cancer.
The power and pain of the emotional side of this problem is also masterfully portrayed in two Ingmar Bergman movies: The Seventh Seal and The Virgin Spring.
The Seventh Seal, which has the famous scene of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) playing a game of chess with Death, meditates over and over on the silence of God in the midst of great despair, and even questions his existence – a motif that is obviously very relevant for those going through great suffering.
To my mind, though, the two films that deal most brilliantly with the problem of evil are Signs and The Tree of Life, for this reason: they provide the hope of a resolution, one which engages both the heart and mind.
Signs, on the face of it, doesn't seem like it's about this philosophical problem at all; the M. Night Shyamalan sci-fi thriller follows a family in a small rural town dealing with crop circles and an imminent alien invasion.
But underlying the film is a profound meditation on the problem of evil. The protagonist Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a former Episcopalian priest who renounces God after his wife is killed in a random, horrible traffic accident. For Hess – as for C.S. Lewis and countless others who have wrestled with the problem – theological explanations seem to fall short. Something is missing; it's God's voice, offering some reassurance, where instead there's only silence and what seems like indifference.
The key scene in the film comes in a discussion between Hess and his younger brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) about the arrival of the aliens. Hess explains that there are two groups of people looking at the alien lights in the sky in two different ways: one group feels that they are on their own, and sees everything, including these lights, as evidence of blind luck, coincidence, even chaos; the other feels that "there'll be someone there to help them," and sees signs and miracles where the first group sees coincidences.
This is a glimpse into the darkness and despair wrought by the experience of suffering. It's not that God doesn't love us – it's that he was never there at all.
In both of these films, we see that the mind wants explanations about God's ways. But the suffering heart needs to hear his voice, to know that he cares, or that he's even there at all. And both films, in their way, reveal that voice.
In Signs, a bundle of seemingly unconnected and random threads – including Hess' wife's last words – suddenly weave into a big and beautiful tapestry that makes sense of everything. This restores Hess' faith that someone has been watching out for him; that his profound loss and his wife's painful death are ugly threads that will, in some way, end up a necessary part of a perfect whole. As we saw in Shadowlands, this isn't a message Hess could hear from a friend or neighbor – instead, he had to "hear" it from God, and see it in his own life.
This glimpse of the ultimate reality of eternity stirs hope in Jack's heart that "all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well" – not in spite of suffering, but because of suffering. Suffering is the groundwork laid in order to build shared, everlasting love.
Neither Signs nor The Tree of Life denies the problem of evil, or tries to explain it away. There are grim portrayals in both movies of random illness, evil acts, and tragic death – lived realities that hurt like hell.
Even for those with this essential faith, intellectual problems still linger. For example: Why do certain people suffer so much more than others? How could eternity ever "undo" or "excuse" the horrible damage that has been done, especially to innocent children? And what about the suffering of animals – does that go unredeemed?
I think Hess and Jack would continue to wrestle with these questions beyond the final frames, just as we all do in our lives. But we see a fundamental hope taking root in both characters, grounded in a distinct understanding of who God is. This understanding, if we share it, matters; it means that when confronted with atrocious human evils like the Holocaust and asked "where was God," we're compelled to say: right there in the gas chambers, lifting up the suffering.


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