The WannaCry Ransomware Cyberattack which took place 2 months ago should have been a wake-up call to companies worldwide to update their I.T. infrastructure, but how many companies took proactive steps to ensure it wouldn't happen again?. Yesterday a new variant of Petya Ransomware was unleashed, starting in the Ukraine and then spreading to Russia and beyond. Over 2000 companies were affected including Russia's top oil producer, Rosneft, and computers at the Irish offices of WPP and Maersk shipping.
"Sophos is responding to a new variant of the Petya ransomware family that has affected organisations across Europe. Petya was first discovered in 2016 – it is ransomware that encrypts MFT (Master File Tree) tables and overwrites the MBR (Master Boot Record), dropping a ransom note and leaving victims unable to boot their computer. This new variant is particularly virulent because it uses multiple techniques to spread automatically within a company's network once the first computer is infected.
What does the Petya Ransomware do?
The Petya ransomware encrypts files and documents on an infected machine, like most ransomware and it also replaces the original Master Boot Record (MBR) of an infected machine so that this computer can no longer boot into Windows. The new boot code is used to show the ransomware note and explains how to pay the ransom. Sophos has detected and protected customers from several further variants in the last few hours.
How does it infect a computer?
Sophos is still analysing how this threat first enters a company network, but they have noticed that this new outbreak uses the "EternalBlue" exploit as a way to spread within a network after the initial infection. The exploit attacks vulnerable Windows Server Message Block (SMB) service, which is used to share files and printers across local networks. Microsoft addressed the issue in its MS17-010 bulletin in March, but the exploit proved instrumental in the spread of WannaCry last month.
The new Petya variant can also spread by using a version of the Microsoft PsExec tool in combination with admin credentials from the target computer.
Keep an eye out for Irish Tech News podcasts on Ransomware and other threats that cybercriminals pose to businesses.


Academic writing is hard, especially if you've grown accustomed for the last five years to posting whatever random 450 words pass through your head at a given moment. Writing even something as basic as a literature review was like trying to run a marathon on sixteen tabs of Benadryl.
Too many units. Someone on the welcome weekend panel — none of us can remember who it was — told us all to max out our units. Never again.
Blogiversity. I was talking to Jo Boaler last night (name drop!) and she admitted she didn't really get the whole blogging thing. I said I didn't really get the whole peer-reviewed journal thing. Then I recommended blogging in two ways. First, I showed her the time I asked you to help me identify a core practice of teaching and you came through with 100 (mostly) measured responses. Second, I showed her our ongoing soon-to-end-I-swear investigation of pseudocontext. I'm sure it would've taken me many months more to come up with my working definition of pseudocontext had you all not come through with so many examples.
EDUC250B – Statistical Methods in Education. Eric Bettinger. Required.
EDUC325B – Proseminar. Hilda Borko, Brigid Barron. Required.
EDUC396X/176X – Casual Learning Technologies. Shelley Goldman. With an emphasis on iPhone apps in education. This one's candy. Here's the syllabus.
These are the ones I gave my highest rating in my aggregator.
Doha, Qatar. January 28-29. Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools.
Naperville, IL. February 25. DuPage Valley Mathematics Conference.
San Diego, CA. March 7. California Charter Schools Conference.
Calgary, Canada. March 21. Calgary Regional Consortium.
Edmonton, Canada. March 22. Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium.
Glad to see you progressing nicely.
I can empathize regarding literature reviews. In fact, I have a really good book on how to write lit reviews if you want to borrow it. Hit me up and I'll send it to you, it did me wonders early on.
Keep up the gradskool work!
Oooh, love the greatest hits lists of papers. Thank you!
I also love the "favorite papers" list, and I'm encouraged that I haven't read a single one on your list. That just means there's more good stuff out there, right? I should look back now and make up a list of my own. If nothing else, it might come in handy in a year or two when I'm preparing for comps.
I think one reason academic writing is hard is that your audience is just one person (who won't be reading eagerly to hear what you have to say, but will be trying to finish reading a slew of similar papers in time to get to something more interesting). I struggled terribly writing for classes. Maybe if you posted your papers as blog posts?
Thanks for the favorite papers list, I'll come back to that.
I always took the minimum number of credits as an undergrad and in grad school. Even then, there's not enough time to savor the parts you like.
Didn't know there was a math conference coming in Naperville! Think I'll sign up. Are you going to be around during the networking sessions?
You mention the value to you (the blogger), which is relevant of course. But also relevant: the difference in audience!
Thanks for the list of favorite papers. I love (and had forgotten about), "A Lesson Is Like a Swiftly Flowing River." I'll have to read the others.
'Regarding the tweet "By the time you see a paper in a journal, the field has moved on" – that's exactly why conferences are highly valued in computer science, unlike most other fields. Wish interdisciplinary scholarship/hiring committees would realize that.' They do, as long as the department letter reminds them.
Incidentally, the archival conference tradition in CS is somewhat archaic now: in biology and bioinformatics journal publication delays (3 months) are less than conference publication delays in CS (6 months). The slow turnaround of CS journals is really not defensible any more. CS is no longer a fast-moving field.
The thing about academic writing that always annoyed the crap out of me while I was doing it is that it is more about doing combat in the academic arena than it is about communicating.
Unfortunately, it's a prerequisite to getting one's doctorate, which makes it a necessary evil. Heavy Sigh.
However I love that you were able to give Jo Boaler a fresh insight into the value of blogging! Way to go, Dan.
Thanks for the papers! It inspired me to read "Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to Professors" again.
I'm still puzzled about their finding of a negative correlation between professor effectiveness (student success in follow-on courses) and student ratings. The paper hypothesizes that perhaps student ratings reflect grades: if the students get higher grades, they rate their prof more highly. That puzzled me. How do students know their own grade? Are students rating their prof after they've taken the final exam and after they're assigned their course grade? After re-reading the paper, I noticed that it doesn't really say very much about how or when student ratings are conducted. Or is it that students are rating profs more highly if the prof teaches to the test, and ratings profs lower if the prof deviates from material that'll be on the test? I find hard to know what to make of these numbers without knowing more about the situation on the ground.
Do you have any insights on that paper, based on your in-class discussion?
On your heavy schedule: yeah, well, all I can say is, I told you so. My sympathies, and hope this quarter is more manageable for you!
You sound ten years younger than usual when you write about your grad student life. How interesting.
But what I am here to say is not that! Since you are talking with Jo Boaler, can you ask her if she would do a Math Future event? I get a lot of requests to arrange that. She does not have to prepare slides (like you did) – we can just interview her. The benefit, compared to me emailing her, is that you can explain what a webinar is and why they are good for people, while you are at explaining the web.
So……After one semester away, What do you miss about the classroom? What don't you miss?
Adam: So……After one semester away, What do you miss about the classroom? What don't you miss?
Thanks for the prompt, Adam. That question deserves a lot more reflection than I can give it right now. Off the cuff, I'd say I miss most the daily interaction with students. Which is the sort of thing that I'm so obviously supposed to say it's almost a cliché. I miss the kids for a lot of different reasons but one in particular is that it was spiritually healthy for me to be surrounded by people who don't care even a little bit about the problems I care about and whose own problems are far outside my own experience also. They don't care that I have twenty things to do before 5PM and I still haven't returned my mom's phone call. They're worried about what the girl sitting across the room thinks of them or if she's even thinking of them at all. Experiencing that diversity of anxiety was great for me. It helped me keep my own anxiety in check. Whereas now that my anxieties are shared by absolutely everyone I interact with, there's no one to keep my assumption in check that my problems are the most important thing in the world to everybody.
I don't miss the schedule of teaching, which was always monotonous (with its nine-to-five-ishness that I shouldn't complain about) and at times dehumanizing (with the bell that tells me when I can go peepee). I don't miss the lack of time for extraneous projects when I was teaching. Even in my last year, when I was 40%, there was time for a WCYDWT media project now and then but that was it. This year, I'm traveling, speaking, working with interesting people, advising startups, talking to publishers, etc. None of that will be any good to me if I lose track of the classroom experience, obviously, but I'm happy to have the time now for more projects.


text:
Health Membership
Online GPs
Private Diagnostics Insurance
Young people at higher risk of asthma attacks, says Asthma UK
According to new research from Asthma UK, young people are at…
https://i1.wp.com/www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Join-our-team-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1 628 1200 Ben Hardicre https://www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cignpost.svg Ben Hardicre2019-01-31 10:26:342019-01-31 10:26:34Young people at higher risk of asthma attacks, says Asthma UK
The technology disrupting the health sector
Could digital technology make doctors of us all? Advances…
https://i1.wp.com/www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/work-with-us-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1 628 1200 Ben Hardicre https://www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cignpost.svg Ben Hardicre2019-01-23 09:39:472019-01-23 09:39:52The technology disrupting the health sector
Have you got seasonal affective disorder?
The change in seasons, colder weather and shorter days can negatively…
https://i0.wp.com/www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Untitled-design.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1 628 1200 Ben Hardicre https://www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cignpost.svg Ben Hardicre2019-01-16 13:05:352019-01-16 13:05:39Have you got seasonal affective disorder?
EastEnders cast to run marathon for dementia awareness
It was announced last year that the much-loved actress Barbara…
https://i2.wp.com/www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/New-Project-30.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1 628 1200 Ben Hardicre https://www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cignpost.svg Ben Hardicre2019-01-10 16:03:202019-01-10 16:03:20EastEnders cast to run marathon for dementia awareness
NHS Reveal 10 Year Plan
The Prime Minister has revealed a 10-year plan for the NHS, which…
https://i2.wp.com/www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/New-Project-29.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1 628 1200 Ben Hardicre https://www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cignpost.svg Ben Hardicre2019-01-09 10:31:542019-01-09 10:31:54NHS Reveal 10 Year Plan
Fat-clogged cells explain why obesity can cause cancer
Scientists have discovered that excess fat can prevent the body…
https://i1.wp.com/www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/New-Project-25.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1 628 1200 Ben Hardicre https://www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cignpost.svg Ben Hardicre2019-01-09 10:29:482019-01-09 10:29:48Fat-clogged cells explain why obesity can cause cancer
Cervical screening: Millions missing smear tests
About three million women across England have not had a smear…
https://i2.wp.com/www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/New-Project-28.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1 628 1200 Ben Hardicre https://www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cignpost.svg Ben Hardicre2019-01-09 10:22:292019-01-09 10:22:29Cervical screening: Millions missing smear tests
Mental Health at Work initiative launched by Royals
Whether you work with 10 people, 10,000 people or just yourself,…
https://i2.wp.com/www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/New-Project-27.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1 628 1200 Ben Hardicre https://www.cignpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cignpost.svg Ben Hardicre2019-01-09 10:19:482019-01-09 10:19:48Mental Health at Work initiative launched by Royals
Membership Terms & Conditions 2018
Privacy Notice – PDI
vdoc
vdoc Terms & Conditions
Cignpost Health Video
Website terms of use | Privacy Policy
Cignpost Health Membership Terms
Inchora House
Building X92
Cody Technology Park
GU14 0LX
Cignpost is a trading style of Cignpost Health Limited. Cignpost Health Limited (part of the Inchora Group of companies) is a registered company in England & Wales. Registered number 8957224 Registered and Trading address is: Inchora House, Building X92, Cody Technology Park, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 0LX

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


January 9, 2018 - This PA has been reissued as PA-18-568.
November 29, 2017 - Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for International Research Collaboration on Drug Abuse and Addiction Research (R01, Clinical Trial Optional). See Notice NOT-DA-17-059.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages collaborative research applications on drug abuse and addiction that take advantage of special opportunities that exist outside the United States. Special opportunities include access to unusual talent, resources, populations, or environmental conditions in other countries that will speed scientific discovery. Projects should have relevance to the mission of NIDA and where feasible should address NIDA's international scientific priority areas (http://www.drugabuse.gov/international/research-priorities). While the priorities will change from year to year, in FY15 priority areas include: linkages between HIV/AIDS and drug abuse; prevention, initiation, and treatment of nicotine and tobacco use (especially among vulnerable populations such as children, adolescents, pregnant women, and those with co-morbid disorders); the neuroscience of marijuana and cannabinoids; and the effect of changes in laws and policies on marijuana and its impact.
In summary, the International Program advances NIDA's mission through fostering international cooperation in drug abuse and addiction research, while integrating NIDA's Divisional research priorities and crosscutting research issues within the frameworks of NIDA, NIH, and HHS health policy and U.S. economic and foreign policy considerations.
Amphetamine type stimulant abuse and synthetic and other designer drug abuse are growing problems in the United States and around the world. Studies are encouraged to assess the nature and extent of amphetamine type stimulant abuse and synthetic and other designer drug abuse, their short and long term sequelae and prevention and treatment approaches.


text:
Ireland Club Team
IQRugby
Millar Succeeds McIlrath As Ballymena President
Clubs up and down the country are already preparing for next season, and AIB League Division One outfit Ballymena are no different. There will be changes both on and off the pitch at Eaton Park next season.
The Annual General Meeting of Ballymena RFC took place recently at which the club officers for next season were elected, and the club's long-serving Honorary Secretary Guy McCullough, giving his 18th such report, supplied a comprehensive review of the 2007/08 campaign.
Wishing club stalwart Ian McIrath well as he steps down after eight rewarding years as Ballymena's President, McCullough said: "Ian McIlrath has just completed his eighth year as club President, his fronting of our pre-match luncheons, being as usual, a very entertaining feature of the season.
"Ian, always very generous, in every sense of the word, has now decided to retire, although he will still play a very active part in the club. I am personally very delighted that Dr. Syd Millar has agreed to be nominated for this position."
Millar, the former Ballymena, Ulster, Ireland and Lions prop, will take up the role having recently ended his reign as Chairman of the International Rugby Board.
Jacques Benade's second season as the Braidmen's director of rugby was a trophyless one, with his team finishing 11th in AIB League Division One and 9th in the Ulster Senior League. They also lost to Garryowen in the third round of the AIB Cup and were beaten by Belfast Harlequins in the Ulster Senior Cup final.
Determined to bounce back from those disappointments, Ballymena have started quite a rigorous player recruitment drive.
A number of local players have been snapped up for next term, including flanker David Bradford from Malone, Stephen Ferguson, a young prop from City of Derry, and Coleraine winger Nigel Hall.
Ulster have allocated the club Ian Humphreys, Ian Whitten, a talented centre from Queen's University, and Ballynahinch winger Tommy Seymour.
In his annual report, McCullough said: "We hope to register an Australian out-half or centre, who is a teacher with a UK passport, and recommended by (our former coach) Tony D'Arcy and who is coming over to Ballymena.
"A Welsh Universities wing forward and another flanker who represented English Universities are both coming over, having just completed their studies. It is also planned to secure an overseas or foreign player well before the deadline of October 1."
Amongst the players who have moved on from Eaton Park are Donovan Raw, Hugh Mitchell, Matthew Burke and Rhys Botha.
McCullough added that 'Ulster are wishing to release Seamus Mallon from his contract, but apparently he wishes to remain in the province so we may see quite a bit of him next season.'
It has also been confirmed that former player Chris Galway has been appointed as the club's fitness and conditioning coach, with second row Ian Caldwell, last season's Player of the Year, installed as the new senior captain.
BALLYMENA CLUB OFFICERS – 2008/09 SEASON:
President: Dr Syd Millar; Chairman: Ray Buchannan; 1st XV Captain: Ian Caldwell; Public Relations Officer: Les McCracken.
Directors: David Smyth (AIB League Rugby); Glenn Boyd (Community Rugby); Ken Hutton (Finance); Rodney Cole (Marketing); Roy Aiken (Grounds and Property); David Beggs (Fundraising and Events); Les McCracken (Communications).
Honorary Secretary: Guy McCullough; Honorary Treasurer: Ian Simpson; Chairperson Ladies' Committee: Maggie Lyttle.
All Ireland League
Club and Community
Previous Story Leinster And Munster Tag Provincial Championship Weekend
Next Story Kelly 'Looks Forward' To Connacht's Challenge Cup Campaign


Bryan. The husband. The father. The electrician. The archer. He's many things, to tell you the truth.
While on our annual vacation to Cape Cod, he decided to focus on mastering his archery techniques.
His love for archery began as a child. His Dad won many competitions. Bryan remembers at the early age of five, coaching his father. He told him, "The trick is to focus on nothing but the target."
Now that we're parents, we realize the importance in taking time out for ourselves. Bryan and I often talk about this. I want to do yoga, he wants to hike in the mountains, I want to play the ukulele, he wants to do archery... but we just seem to run out of time! Watching him really buckle down and taking the time to go shoot his bow, makes me want to do the same. With my ukulele, yoga mat, or camera, that is.
On our vacation, I decided to join forces and do this mini shoot of Bryan working on his archery skills. He's quite good! He seems to be able to correct his form more and more each time he shoots.
He tried to get me into archery. Before kids, we loved playing darts together. We bought a board for our first apartment and would often have a few beers while we played in our kitchen at the end of the day. That board now hangs in our garage, collecting dust but recalling fun memories. We'll dust you off someday, dartboard!!!
I guess I have something called a hyper-extended elbow which gets in the way of shooting. It was incredibly painful when the bow snapped back, giving me one of the worst bruises I've ever had. There are ways around it, but it feels very awkward and I'm quite honestly scared of getting hit again!
I'm proud of Bryan. Archery gives him a place of focus, stamina, and stimulation. All of which will help him in his daily life and the future of his health!
Capturing memories for me and for you!
Contact me so we can create the perfect session for you!


text:
Albert. B. Albrecht
NEW CASTLE, PA. – Albert B. Albrecht, age 97, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, and formerly of Richmond, Indiana, died Friday, January 20, 2023, at UPMC Jameson. Born March 18, 1925, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Alfred and Sophie Bernnard Albrecht, he was a long-time resident of this area. Al earned a BA degree in math from Ohio Wesleyan University and also received a BS degree from Ohio State in metallurgical engineering. He had a long career in the Machine Tool Industry and worked at various companies including Monarch, Kennametal, Sandvik, and Textron. Al came to Richmond in 1986 as a co-owner and Vice-President of NATCO. He has written many technical articles on machine tools and is the author of The American Machine Tool Industry, Its History, Growth, Restructuring and Recovery. Al was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and was named outstanding senior. During World War II he played drums in the 717th Third Air Force Army Band. Al also volunteered as a percussion coach for the Richmond High School Band from 1991 to 2002. In addition, he performed in several musical productions at the Civic Theater and took private drum students at his home. Besides drumming, his hobbies included sailing his Highlander, traveling, gardening, photography and tracing family history. On June 25th, 1949, he married his beautiful and beloved wife, Nancy Cecil, and they were devoted to each other for 70 years. Al attended First Presbyterian Church in Richmond. Survivors include his four daughters, Jane (George) Yates of New Castle, PA, Kathryn (Mark) Borchers of the Woodlands, TX, Julia (Todd) Griffith of Ligonier, PA and Amy (Chuck, deceased) Peters of Martinez, GA. Other survivors include 13 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. He took great pleasure in being involved in their lives. He also enjoyed the companionship of 8 collie dogs. He was preceded in death by his wife, Nancy on May 19, 2019; parents; and twin sister, Alyce. Visitation for Albert B. Albrecht will be from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Friday, January 27, 2023, at Doan & Mills Funeral Home, 790 National Road West, Richmond. Funeral service will follow at 11:00 a.m. Friday, January 27, 2023, at Doan & Mills Funeral Home with Pastor George Yates officiating. Burial will be in Earlham Cemetery's Veteran's Field of Honor. Memorial contributions may be made to: Help the Animals, 2101 West Main St., P. O. Box 117, Richmond, IN 47374. Condolences may be sent to the family via the guest book at www.doanmillsfuneralhome.com.
January 27, 2023 at 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM


text:
María de Sicilia (2 de julio de 1363-25 de mayo de 1401), reina de Sicilia.

Fue la hija y heredera de Federico III de Sicilia y de Constanza de Aragón y Navarra.

Reinado
Al morir su padre cuando ella era aún muy joven, Artal de Alagón asumió la regencia y el gobierno efectivo recayó en una de las familias de barones que actuaron como "vicarios". En 1379 fue traslada a Barcelona por orden de su abuelo Pedro IV de Aragón, para ser educada por su tía Leonor.

En 1391, previa dispensa del papa, contrajo matrimonio con Martín el Joven, sobrino del rey Juan I de Aragón, que tomó el título de rey de Sicilia. En 1392, ambos regresaron a Sicilia con una fuerza militar y aplacaron la resistencia de los barones gobernando conjuntamente hasta 1401, cuando ella falleció en la ciudad de Catania.

Tras su muerte, Martín el Joven rechazó el Tratado de 1327, firmado por el último rey Federico III, y gobernó Sicilia en solitario.

Ancestros

Referencias

Bibliografía

Reyes de Sicilia del siglo XIV
Reyes de Sicilia de la casa de Aragón
Duques de Neopatria
Reyes de Sicilia del siglo XV
Mujeres gobernantes del siglo XIV
Mujeres gobernantes del siglo XV
Nacidos en Catania
Fallecidos en Lentini

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


commented on "Community service once per month. Every 3rd Thursday, from 9:30am to 4:30pm. Welcome voluntary payment by Koha / ..."
Community acupuncture 3rd Monday every month.
Community service once per month. Every 3rd Thursday, from 9:30am to 4:30pm. Welcome voluntary payment by Koha / Donation.
The first date was the 2nd Dec 2017. There were 5 clients on 2nd Dec with very generosity donations. The second one is be on 30th Dec 2017, and then on 15th Jan 2018, 19th Feb 2018. Next one will be on 15th March 2018.


text:
Cinema Journal
The Desiring-Image: Gilles Deleuze and Contemporary Queer Cinema by Nick Davis (review)
Scott C. Richmond
10.1353/cj.2014.0014
The Desiring-Image: Gilles Deleuze and Contemporary Queer Cinema by Nick Davis
Scott C. Richmond (bio)
The Desiring-Image: Gilles Deleuze and Contemporary Queer Cinema by Nick Davis. Oxford University Press. 2013. $88.11 hardcover; $28.45 paper. 338pages
The Desiring-Image is not the first book to investigate the cinema's articulation of desire in a Deleuzian idiom, but it is almost surely the most ambitious. Davis proposes the desiring-image as the sequel to Deleuze's time-image. Recall that for Deleuze, the movement-image gives way after the trauma of the Second World War to the time-image: a cinema of duration and temporal accumulation in which time is figured directly and often irrationally, without reference to the movement and causality that organize the prewar movement-image. Davis's central claim is that, in much the same way, in the late 1980s and in the wake of the AIDS crisis, the time-image dissolves in favor of the desiring-image, in which cinema figures desire as a productive force, not necessarily or paradigmatically localized in particular subjects or organized particularly around sex or sexuality. Not to put too fine a point on it, Davis offers up The Desiring-Image as a sort of third volume following Deleuze's Cinema 1 and Cinema 2.1
Such theoretical ambition is a welcome rarity in recent film studies publishing. Thankfully, it is matched by Davis's evident theoretical acumen. But The Desiring-Image is only sort of a sequel: unlike the Cinema books, it is marvelously lucid and carefully explanatory. The Desiring-Image [End Page 164] will serve as an excellent and accessible primer (or review) of Deleuze's film theory for audiences well beyond Deleuze specialists. (It may even set the stage for a reluctant seduction of Deleuze skeptics such as myself.) Crucially, it is not, however, only that. Where much Deleuze-inspired work in film studies merely repeats the same reified concept-objects from the Cinema books by turns, ignoring the broader context of Deleuze's (and Deleuze and Guattari's) philosophy and falling into what Kara Keeling has memorably called "Deleuzobabble," The Desiring-Image aspires to the oft-neglected Deleuzian charge to create new concepts.2 The real rarity of The Desiring-Image lies not so much in the quantity of its ambition but in its quality: this is an unabashedly creative book, both in its aspirations and in many of its particulars.
The Desiring-Image is by turns elating and exhausting. At its best, the book follows through on its Deleuzian promise to create new concepts. Its method for doing so is to explore and expand the combinatory possibilities opened up by the intersection of three fields: film theory, queer theory, and Deleuzian philosophy. As Davis points out, these fields have really only ever come together two at a time.3The Desiring-Image seeks to work each against both of the others. The value of such a methodological proposal does not lie in their intersection as such (although this promiscuous rapprochement between weirdly disparate fields is timely). In Davis's hands, these intersections enable the real achievement of the book: the reinvention of "new queer cinema" as the desiring-image.
The promise of new queer cinema was always an anti-identitarian aesthetics of cinematic desire. In B. Ruby Rich's sense of the term, starting in the early 1990s, films such as My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991) and Poison (Todd Haynes, 1991) offered up figurations of people and their desires, which departed, sometimes radically, from the easily understood and reified identity categories of "gay" or "lesbian."4 Nevertheless, much of the scholarship around new queer cinema has redounded to a fairly conservative and identitarian project of canon formation, legislating inclusion or exclusion on the basis of who is fashioning representations of whom. Davis is able to show, convincingly, that the desiring-image is a name for a qualitatively new formation of desire arising in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which traverses not only "new queer" classics but also such unlikely candidates as David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers (1988) and Naked Lunch (1991)—unlikely because of Cronenberg's heterosexuality and...


i received a $1 off irish spring deodorant man. coupon printed from the catalina machine on each transaction!
the irish spring is one of my boyfriend's favorite body washes, so i'll definitely be stocking up this week.
the clearasil seems to be cheaper at most wags locations. this was the cheapest at my store, but others have reported $2.99 prices.


text:
Jamie Feild Baker
Jamie Feild Baker is Chief Academic Officer and Director of the Grauer Institute at the Pomfret School. An educator by profession, Jamie served as the Executive Director of the Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence in Memphis, Tennessee; prior to that she was the Institute's Director of Strategic Partnerships. She is a recognized consultant in strategic planning, accreditation, as well as a respected advocate of innovation in education and the importance of mentoring and support systems for new teachers.
Melody Bianchetto
Melody Bianchetto, CPA, is Vice President for Finance at the University of Virginia. She oversees the functions of financial administration, research administration, student financial services, university budget office, and procurement and supplier diversity services. Both of her children are alumnae of the World Peace Game.
Elizabeth Powell, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. faculty in 1994, where she teaches MBA, EMBA and Executive Education classes in leadership, management and corporate communication. She is currently co-director of the MBA/MEd dual degree, designed to promote innovation in education reform.
Michael Mallory
Ron Brown Scholars
Gloria Rockhold
Albemarle County Schools
Gerry Gorman
Emergency Messaging Controls
John N. Hunter Jr.
John Hunter is founder and executive director of the World Peace Game Foundation. He is creator of the World Peace Game and has taught the Game in various school settings since 1978. He is the author of World Peace and Other Fourth-Grade Achievements and is an international speaker who has presented to various audiences including TED, the Aspen Institute, Google, the United States Pentagon, and the National Association of Independent Schools.
READ MORE ABOUT JOHN
Jacqueline Dugery
Jacqueline Dugery is program director for the World Peace Game Foundation. She is responsible for overseeing the World Peace Game camps and master classes. Jacqueline has 25+ years developing and managing programs in the nonprofit sector and is the proud mother of two World Peace Game Alumni.
Robin Lynn Wright
Robin Lynn Wright is Executive Assistant to John Hunter. She volunteers her time to coordinate requests for speaking engagements for Mr. Hunter, as well as designs and updates the written materials used by the World Peace Game Foundation. Robin is currently the Director of Sales Operation in the healthcare industry.


text:
package org.heavenus.bible.assistant;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.preference.PreferenceActivity;

public class SettingActivity extends PreferenceActivity {
	@Override
	protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

		addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.setting_preferences);
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
AntiquesHistory
Did You Ever Hear About the Largest Antique Ever Sold?
Like most kids, you probably grew up singing and playing "London Bridge is Falling Down" on the playground. The nursery rhyme is quite old and predates the bridges we know in London in the modern era by many centuries. That particular bridge from the song was first built in 1209 and stood until 1831, though there have been bridges across the River Thames since Roman times. However, the bridge that was there since 1831 was sold – and shipped across the world – in what was the record-breaking sale of the largest antique on record.
Via/ Flickr
The bridge had been built to handle the horse traffic of a city of less than 2 million people, not the automobile traffic of a bursting metro area of 8 million people. Despite withstanding 2 world wars, the steady stream of cars that passed on the bridge each day proved to be too much for it. The bridge was built to replace the medieval structure and stood in its place until 1967 at which point it was sold and shipped to a little city in Arizona of all places!
Via/ Library of Congress
Businessman, inventor, tinkerer, and heir to a vast fortune, Robert McCullough, had bought and then sculpted the land surrounding an abandoned Army installation in the desert of Arizona. This land was special, though, in that it was on the Colorado River. McCullough dredged certain areas to create an island in the middle of Lake Haversu, his own magical vision. With a dream this big, the island needed a bridge that was equally fantastical. He named the newly formed channel the Little Thames.
When the British government offered up the decrepit New London Bridge at auction in 1967 after deciding a new bridge would be built, there weren't a lot of other interested parties and McCullough's bid of just under $2.5M was a sure shot. The cost of getting the bridge to the States was expected to cost about $240,000 over 3 years. However, the final cost to get the bridge to the U.S. has been said to have been as much $10M. Each brick of the New London Bridge was unstacked and then each brick numbered in a meticulous process which ensured that the structure could be reassembled in Arizona with no problems.
So that it would not begin to fall apart again, the stones were affixed to a cement base in order to make the New New London Bridge stronger than it had been when it spanned the shores of the River Thames. This also made the bridge a little bit smaller than the original. Some of the facing stones were also cut down to reduce shipping weight.
Via/ U.S. Border Patrol and Customs
London Bridge was classified as an antique according to a U.S. customs form from 1968, making it the largest antique ever sold. In order to regulate taxes and prosecute cases of fraud and cultural theft, the U.S. Customs Department has very specific guidelines on what is and is not an antique. Surprisingly, many older works of art are not considered antiques, yet this was not the decision in the case of London Bridge.
The bridge at Lake Haversu City was unveiled in 1971 when the city was still developing. Via/ Flickr
Today the London Bridge is a tourist offering in Lake Havasu City which draws lovers and history buffs alike to its cobbled surface and offers a view of the Columbia River and the surrounding mountains that one would certainly never see in London.
The lost regal City Hall train station of NYC: Click "Next Page" below!


text:
FIX YOU the new EP out now
The new EP
When I was a teenager, the songs I could relate to the most were the ones that felt as if they had been written about me and what I was currently going through in life. Like many of us at that age, I often felt lonely, excluded and misunderstood, so these songs quickly became my sanctuary, my place to hide and my sole remedy.
Lately, I've been wondering, what if I could go back in time and send a message to my 14-year-old self to comfort her and make her feel strong and valuable in her fragile, turbulent and insecure reality?
A message about desperately trying to make things right that are far beyond repair.
About obsessive, idolatry and unreciprocated love that gives us a false sense of meaning in life.
About believing that casually being together with someone, for the sake of doing what everyone else does, could fix everything.
And finally, about learning to stand up for ourselves.
Based in Switzerland, Claudia Balla is a singer-songwriter who has established her name as an exciting talent and one to watch.
Claudia entered onto the scene in 2013 with her debut album "Enough". The record combined soft, stripped-down melodies with powerful piano ballads which made her a force to be reckoned with in the European music scene and paved the way for bigger things to come.
In 2016, Claudia released her sophomore album, "Fire", featuring her statement single "Perfect". The thought-provoking song powerfully deals with the current social status of women and the challenges still imposed on women around the world. The contemporary pop production, dark harmonic elements and honest lyrics resonated within the hearts of listeners across the world.
Her duet, "Miracle", recorded with fellow Swiss songstress Mané, tackles the delicate and pressing issue of climate change. The track is accompanied by a captivating music video which vividly highlights the devastating effects of climate change with images of human consumption on the planet.
Her EP, "Fix You", sees Claudia blossom further, as she explores a new path by venturing into the realms of country pop. The EP consists of four exquisite and heart-warming songs that each have their own unique charm and will leave you wanting more.
In her recent duet, "Likely", Claudia teams up with Swiss star Sonia Grimm, a delicately exquisite winter-themed single.
"Likely" narrates a tale of raw and honest emotion, longing for the person we love to return our affections. The bilingual track features English and French, as Sonia is from the French- speaking Geneva. The beautiful fusion of languages is authentic and refreshing and adds to the magic of the song.
The video is set against the backdrop of the mesmerizing Swiss Alps, featuring stunning waterfalls, forests, and an enchanting fairytale-like castle. The video follows Claudia's long quest that leads her through the woods, across creeks and deep into the mountain snow to be finally reunited with Sonia who is waiting for her at the castle.
The video resonates with the hearts of many, reflecting the sense of longing people around the world feel to be reunited with family and to spend precious time with the people we love during the current time. The beauty of the scene makes us believe that the moment will be even more special when it arrives.
If you'd like to get in touch, please send an email to: info@claudiaballa.com
Copyright © 2020 Claudia Balla. All rights reserved.
Webdesign-Z


As an Engineering Manager you will be guiding the careers of software engineers, partnering with product managers to create innovative products, and forging the technical vision for your team. You are a servant leader who focuses on technical mentorship and coaching. You work with feature teams, helping them learn and adapt to a changing environment. You help developers find technical and leadership opportunities. Above all, you are a change agent who pushes yourself and those around you for excellence.


Moisturizes. Limits the penetration of pollution into the epidermis. Cleanses, removes makeup and traces of pollution.
The Anti-pollution Pack includes 1 Moisturizing Lotion HP (6.76 Fl oz) and 1 Cleanser P (6.76 Fl oz).
A very safe and pure moisturizer. It is based on an exclusive patented technology which limits the penetration of pollution into the epidermis while allowing the skin to breathe. Moreover, it contains antioxidants which help to protect the skin from the negative effects of pollution.
All the products in the Anti-pollution Pack are: paraben free – metal free (no Nickel, Chromium or Cobalt…) – fragrance free – EDTA-free - BPA free (no phthalates, bisphenol, non-toxic plastic) - sulfates free (no SLS & SLES) – gluten free - silicone free (no dimethicone) - alcohol free - mineral oil free (petroleum free) - lanolin free.
More than 78% of natural ingredients: Cleanser P (91.2%), Moisturizing Lotion HP (78.8%).


Holiday cottages near Hexham for self-catering holidays in Northumberland.
Hexham holiday cottages sleep from 4 people - visit Hexham Abbey, Hadrian's Wall and go golfing, cycling and fishing.
There can be no denying that Hexham is one of the country's favourite market towns, and it has received this accolade in the media on more than one occasion. It's a busy market town beside the famous river Tyne in the centre of the Tyne Valley.
The Hexham area is perfect for the self-catering holidaymaker as a base for their stay in Northumberland. Its central location is perfect for explorers of some of the areas fantastic attractions including the Kielder Water and Forest Park and the incredible Hadrian's Wall.
There is a good variety of self-catering accommodation and around the town, from cottages (sleeping 2 - 12) and lodges in the more rural environment- many of which welcome dogs - to apartments and houses nearer the town. All offer unparalleled and easy access to the area. And in support you'll find a good variety of independent shops, antique and curio shops, a couple of supermarkets and of course, the busy town market and farmers' market where you will find the best in fresh local produce and food, including organic bread, meat and plenty of local delicacies and speciality foods.
Big house for a holiday in Northumberland near Hexham with 3 bedroom, sleeps 6, Pets friendly, Barbecue, Pub within 1 mile, Wifi, Cot Available.
Exceptional holiday cottage in Northumberland near Hexham with 4 bedroom, sleeps 8, No pets, Barbecue, Pub within 1 mile, Wifi.
Self-catering accommodation in Northumberland near Hexham with 3 bedroom, sleeps 6, Pets friendly, Barbecue, Golf nearby, Wifi.
Exceptional holiday cottage in Northumberland near Hexham with 3 bedroom, sleeps 6, No pets, Cot Available, Fishing Nearby.
Rent a big house in Northumberland near Hexham with 5 bedroom, sleeps 10, Pets friendly, Golf nearby, Pub within 1 mile, Wifi, Cot Available, Newly Listed Property.
Of course when it's time for a break away from the kitchen, you can always opt out of self-catering and visit one of the excellent restaurants, cafés or local inns, all serving freshly-prepared food, much of it sourced from local producers - why not, you are on holiday!
The focus of the town centre is undoubtedly the 1,300 year-old Hexham Abbey, with its original crypt, although the abbey itself has undergone many alterations since the 12th Century. There are also two medieval towers, the Moot Hall dating back to the mid 14th Century and the oldest purpose-built prison in England, Hexham Old Gaol, also from the same period.
However, Hexham is not just history and heritage. As a modern-day market town it offers all the facilities and services you would expect to find in a similar town of its size, plenty to do on a weekend city break. It also has an active arts scene and the town's award-winning Queen's Hall Arts Centre offering a wide-ranging programme during the year that includes drama, dance, concerts and European cinema.
And for those who wish to get out and about the great outdoors, aside from using the town as a base for exploring the wonderful Hadrian's Wall, there's horse racing at the nearby Hexham racetrack, cycling, golf, fishing, perfect beaches and other pursuits guaranteed to keep the group or the family totally occupied during their holiday. Also popular for stag parties and Hen night accommodation with diverse entertainment on hand, but to avoid disappointment, the really large holiday houses should be booked as soon as your group are ready to commit, there is many more cottages sleeping just 2 - 4 people.
Rent a big house in Shropshire near Bridgnorth and Ironbridge with 7 bedroom, sleeps 14, Pets friendly, Barbecue, Golf nearby, Pub within 1 mile, Wifi, Cot Available.
Accommodation for a large group in Carmarthenshire near Carmarthen with 6 bedroom, sleeps 12, Pets friendly, Barbecue, Ground Floor Facilities, Golf nearby, Pub within 1 mile, Cot Available.
Weekend and weekly rentals in Cambridgeshire near Ely with 6 bedroom, sleeps 12, Pets friendly, Barbecue, Ground Floor Facilities, Pub within 1 mile, Cot Available.


Eugene Alletto, Quarterback/Founder and CEO of Bedgear®, pioneered the technology based sleep solutions category in 2009 when he learned that his son wasn't sleeping well due to bedding-related allergies. He was advised to use a mattress protector to keep away dust. At that time, the only products available were at medical supply chains and made from vinyl, which caused his son to sweat and overheat, disrupting his sleep. Recognizing a need in the marketplace for improved bedding products, Eugene utilized his manufacturing resources to develop Bedgear's PERFORMANCE™ line of technology driven sleep solutions.
Experts at innovation, we have mastered advanced textile fabrication techniques to engineer top-of-the-line sleep essentials that deliver the clean, cool, fresh environment your body needs to regenerate and recover while you sleep. The success of Bedgear is not built solely upon heat and moisture-wicking performance products, but also upon being innovative and willing to take risks when it comes to developing new products to deliver superior sleep quality to enhance your active lifestyle. Creating differentiated products built on our patent-pending sales process to fit your sleep position and body frame, Bedgear is redefining the way people look at sleep.
In our creation of our unique line of PERFORMANCE bedding products and building recognition of sleep as an activity, we aspire to innovate products and processes that are personalized and inspirational.
Our mission is to help you achieve more each day by providing you with maximum recovery at night. Our collection of personalized PERFORMANCE pillows, mattress protectors, sheets, blankets, lounge and travel accessories utilize heat- and moisture-wicking fabric technologies, including Dri-Tec®, Ver-Tex® and Air-X® ventilation system. With these innovations, Bedgear enhances your ability to temperature regulate at night, and to sleep more comfortably, to fuel all your daily activities.
You can't cheat sleep - but you can get more recovery out of the time you spend in bed!
Bedgear's PERFORMANCE brand of innovative technology driven sleep products was invented to define sleep essentials that provide you with more recovery at night. To ensure that PERFORMANCE conveys bedgear's unique level of quality and commitment to our customers, we have set out to measure each product in the bedgear family based on the tangible metrics of evaluate air flow, heat dissipation or insulation, moisture transfer, flexibility and fit. From this set of standards, we have created what we call a Performance Base Rating (PBR) for each product in, as well as trademarked the term "CFM" in the bedding class of goods. CFM, or cubic feet per minute, is related to the ASTM (Association for Standards in Textile Manufacturing) test for measuring the air that passes through a fabric. At bedgear, we have established that a minimum of 100 CFM must apply before a product can be considered worthy of joining our line of PERFORMANCE branded products. Airflow measurement is then further assigned to tiers of efficacy up to level 5, or a completely ventilated fabric that allows 100% air pass through. Bedgear protects its intellectual property and respects the intellectual property rights of others.
Bedgear owns utility patents, design patents and an extensive family of PERFORMANCE trademarks by which we indicate and convey the unique quality and technology found in our innovative PERFORMANCE line of products for the bedding industry. We protect these patents and marks to ensure the category of performance bedding always maintains its vision and focus on products that provide functional benefits for improved recovery at night, and doesn't become commoditized with lookalike merchandise.
Gear up and maximize your time in bed.
86,400 seconds a day, what have you traded for them? Make every second of every day count for something. Do something good today. Wasted time just wastes life.


Blindfold Hearts is one of a number of traditional games available for Ios produced by Kid friendly software, all fully accessible with a combination of Voiceover and self voicing. Hearts, as many people know is a trick taking card game of the same family as Whist, Spades or Bridge. In these games, each player plays a card from their hand and the highest card of the sute the trick is in wins that tricck, thus if the first person plays a nine of clubs, the second a ten of diamonds and the third a seven of clubs, the nine would win the trick because the diamond doesn't count (and presumably the person who played it was out of clubs). In hearts, the object is to avoid tricks containing heart cards, or the queen of spades which, when won score penalty points against the person who wins them. The winner of the hole game is the person with the least penalty points.
However, if you find yourself collecting lots of hearts your not doomed, sinse if you can acquire all 13 hearts and the queen of spades, you will shoot the moon and cause everyone else to score 26 penalty points.
Kid friendly software's hearts is a version for Ios. While unlike their Crazy Eights, it doesn't yet have the ability for you to play against others, at the same time it does have all the above stated rules of hearts, and easy controls, just flicking through the cards and double tap to play, two fingers swipe up to view your hand, two fingers swipe down to view the points, and two fingers double tap to review the played cards. You can also swipe left and right with two fingers to jump streight to cards of a given sute.
Blindfold hearts will let you play two versions of the game, a three player version where each player has 17 cards, or the more standard version where each player has 13 cards. The game is free to play, however each time you play it uses a coin, (every time you start a new game, not continue a previously running round). You can purchice the starter pack which contains unlimited coins and also unlocks the four player version for 5 usd, as well as buying different amounts of coins, or viewing videos to earn more coins. In addition,you can pay 2.5 usd to gain the ability to customize the skill levels of your computer opponents.
There are many things to set in the game to get the experience you want. You can set the target score of penalty points someone has to reach before the game ends, (it's 500 by default but you can turn it down), set the music and sound and which of your Ios voices represents what in the game. Additionally, as mentioned previously you can fully customize your computer opponents, though bare in mind the differences between the difficulty levels are quite marked and where a poor player might roll over like a doormat and play like a dope, a "very good" computer player likely won't. .
The game also has comprehensive instructions, and a stratogy guide to help newcomers get to grips with the rather cutthroat world of hearts.
As usual, find Blindfold Hearts in the ap store, and also note all the other Kid friendly software games that you might want to check out at the same time.
Hearts is an addictive, strategical game, and having it playable on a portable device, whether whiling away a long train journey or just playing a hand or two while waiting for the bus makes for a great experience. Also, it's likely more rules and perhaps some different varients of hearts might show up in the future.


This can only happen if the victim is a Muslim. Have you heard of a Jew or a Christian or a person of no faith or of any other faith been incarcerated in a prison without trial and due process of law? Of course not. Babar Ahmad, as reported in The Muslim News, has been jailed for over SEVEN years without charge or trial and we haven't seen any campaign by the human rights groups to get him released until very recently is a shame and says a lot about rights of Muslims in the West. Babar Ahmad is a BRITISH citizen and he has no rights in this country. Why is our judiciary refusing to put him on trial? Is it because they will find he is not guilty? Shame on our justice system. It is unjust, but only to Muslims. Other Muslims are also held in prison under the terror laws without charge, trial and they are not told why they are held in prison. They are all Muslims. And, of course, the US has held over 600 Muslims in Guantanamo Bay without charge or trial or due process of law. Over a hundred are still there – years in the dreaded prison where many if not most have been tortured. Many other Muslims are held in Bagram in Afghanistan without trial. Others in secrete prisons around the world being tortured. All done by the US with the help of Britain. And then they talk they invade Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and very soon Syria to give them democracy and respect of rule of law!


text:
Bitcoin, Encryption, Drug Use, and the FBI's Own Bitcoin Wallet; What's the War on Drugs "Really"
Oct 8, 2013 -edited
Last week, the FBI shut down the underground website known as "Silk Road" and confiscated the bitcoin wallet of Ross Ulbricht, the site operator, on drug charges.
The estimated value of Ulbricht's bitcoin wallet is $80 million, but the FBI has been unable to crack the encryption code. Escrow accounts were not as protected. The FBI also seized (stole if you prefer) various escrow accounts, moving the funds to its own bitcoin wallet.
Bitcoin Background
On the off chance you do not know what bitcoin is or how it works, Wikipedia offers a history and description of bitcoin that is rather fascinating.
Also consider Mish Interview With "Bitcoin Jesus"
FBI Unable to Crack Bitcoin Security
With that background, please consider the Extreme Tech report FBI unable to seize 600,000 Bitcoins from Silk Road operator
Closing down the Silk Road and arresting its alleged operator has left the FBI in uncharted territory. After shuttering the hidden site, law enforcement went to work confiscating the money and materials belonging to supposed drug kingpin Ross Ulbricht, but this usually routine procedure is proving especially troublesome in this case. The cache of more than 600,000 bitcoins in Ulbricht's personal fortune are still inaccessible to the FBI.
The only way to move Bitcoins out of a private wallet is to have the corresponding private key to authorize the transaction. The FBI has been unable to get through the encryption protecting Ulbricht's wallet, leaving all those Bitcoins — amounting to roughly $80 million at current rates — out of reach. Based on publicly available data, this is about 5% of all Bitcoins in existence right now.
Funds held by users of the site, however, were not so well-protected. Before completing transactions on the Silk Road, users would load Bitcoins into an escrow account on the site. The agreed upon coins would only be transferred to the seller's private wallet once the buyer had verified delivery of the goods. When the feds took over the Silk Road, there were over 26,000 Bitcoins in user accounts that were relatively easy to snatch up.
The FBI has transferred all 26,000-plus seized Bitcoins to its own personal wallet, but because Bitcoin transactions are tracked publicly, it didn't take the internet long to find the FBI's wallet address. Users have taken to transferring tiny fractions of a Bitcoin to the FBI with public comments attached decrying the war on drugs and the arrest of Ulbricht. Users have even helpfully tagged the wallet address as "Silkroad Seized Coins."
While authorities have control of Ulbricht's wallet, that's not the same as having the funds. It's akin to seizing a computer from a suspect with valuable data inside, but being unable to access it because strong encryption was used to prevent access. Ulbricht himself surely has the necessary information to unlock his wallet — otherwise there would be little use in accumulating $80 million worth of Bitcoins. It's possible prosecutors will use the leverage they have on him to work out a deal that includes turning over the encryption keys.
"Silkroad Seized Coins"
As Extreme Tech reports, bitcoin users located the FBI's wallet and tagged it with the address Silkroad Seized Coins.
People are transferring bitcoins to the FBI's wallet along with statements. Many of the transactions are for 0.00000001 BTC.
According to Bitcoin Calculator, 1 bitcoin is worth about $134 at current prices.
0.00000001 BTC is worth less than a thousandth of a penny (worthless).
What's the Seizure Really About?
Pater Tenebrarun on the Acting Man blog gets to the heart of the matter in Bitcoin and the Silk Road Bust.
By now it is well known that the proprietor of the 'Silk Road' internet marketplace for drugs and other illicit products has been busted by the FBI. Of course, the idea that the State should prohibit drug use by adults is highly questionable. If one studies the history of legislation in this regard, it soon becomes clear that while these prohibitions have been variously dressed up in Puritan morality or appeals to the need to preserve the 'Volksgesundheit' (the peoples' health), these laws really were largely protectionist measures.
For instance, it is no coincidence that marihuana use became illegal around the time chemical concerns such as Du Pont de Nemours introduced artificial fibers. Making the plant that produces marihuana illegal at the same time removed the biggest competition to artificial fibers – hemp.
Similarly, drug prohibition leaves the field of supplying the population with various uppers and downers in the hands of the pharmaceutical industry, which is producing dangerous psychoactive medication by the wagon loads these days. What the long term consequences of feeding the population with various benzodiazepines and other types of psychoactive drugs that influence the serotonin, norepinephrine or dopamine balance in the brain (such as the infamous and widely prescribed antidepressant Prozac) are is not really known, but we do know that a great many mass murderers that have gone 'postal' in modern times have been taking such psychotropic drugs.
Today here is a vast variety of anti-depressants, stimulants, 'mood stabilizers', anxiolytics and anti-psychotic drugs on the market that produce billions in profits for the pharmaceutical industry. We would wager that if the prohibition of currently criminalized drugs (most of which are produced by nature) were rescinded, this business would suffer a steep decline.
The senseless 'war on drugs' has not achieved a single one of its purported objectives. Drug use has not decreased because of it. However, it has had a huge cost both in terms of money and lives. So why is it continuing in spite of the crushing weight of evidence proving that it does more harm than good? That's simple: if you want to know why, follow the money.
A huge amount of money is made because certain drugs are illegal. If prohibition were rescinded, a major source of revenue for criminal cartels would dry up, and a great many minions of the State would see their jobs becoming redundant. Moreover, a major source of their funding would disappear as well, which is currently available to them via 'civil forfeiture'. As we pointed out previously, this pays inter alia for the militarization of the police, which these days can deploy a great many lethal toys as a result of this source of income.
In Prohibition: Up in Smoke we argued that the changing social mood could actually lead to an end of prohibition in spite of all the vested interests arrayed in favor of maintaining it.
The 'Dread Pirate' apparently believed in non-coerced free markets, which he cited as a major reason to open his online drug bazaar. What is perhaps not widely known is that he was actually not busted because of any weaknesses in the TOR-based 'dark web'. He simply made a number of stupid mistakes that allowed the authorities to track him down by employing standard investigative procedures.
For readers interested in the technical aspects of the bust, this article at 'The Verge' has more detail on the topic. As the Verge maintains, the 'Dread Pirate' may have been busted, but the 'Dark Web' lives on. Note here that the TOR network is not merely something that is exclusively used by criminals. For many a regime critic and political dissident living in an authoritarian regime the anonymity of the 'Dark Web' is a literally a life saver. Naturally, governments everywhere dislike it, regardless of whether they are democratic or authoritarian: they dislike it simply because it is not under their control. However, there seems nothing they can do about it short of shutting down the internet altogether.
War on Drugs, a Failure
As Tenebrarum points out, there is no reason at all to stop consenting adults from taking whatever drugs they want. Ironically, many prescribed drugs are far worse.
The background on Hemp is rather interesting. I wrote about hemp in regards to biofuels way back in 2006 in The Politics of Ethanol. Here is the pertinent information, copied from my 2006 article, from a MIT.EDU report on "Hemp and the Environment" (the MIT link no longer works).
Hemp and the Environment
An acre of hemp produces four times as much paper as an acre of trees. Every pot-smoking hippy in the country knows that. The problem is, why doesn't anyone else? In this short article, I will attempt to educate you, the reader, of the many ways in which hemp can Save The Planet. No kidding.
Herbicides are also virtually unnecessary as the plants grow 6 to 16 feet tall in only 110 days. The complex root structure prevents erosion and decays quickly after harvest.
That's all well and good, but what do you do with the hemp? Well, as I mentioned above, its great for making paper. That's most of the reason that industrial hemp is illegal in the U.S. See, in the mid-1930's, there were two industries that had just made breakthrough machines that would make paper productions much more cost-effective. One was the hemp industry, the other was DuPont. Coincidentally, the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act was passed, effectively making hemp illegal by charging transfers $1/ounce or, for unregistered dealers, $100/ounce, even for industrial grade hemp.
So, with hemp out of the way, DuPont was free to become the giant corporation that it is today, and to produce the great majority of the toxic sludge that contaminates our Northwestern and Southeastern rivers. Had hemp become our primary paper source, this pollution would have been vastly reduced, and here is why: Hemp means no deforestation, which results in less topsoil erosion, more oxygen, less carbon dioxide, less destruction of natural habitats, etc. Hemp paper is much easier to bleach, and does not require chlorine, which means no more thousands of tons of toxic sludge pouring into the water. Scientists in Sweden have developed a hemp-bleaching process that uses only natural enzymes and some pounding of the pulp.
Cotton, the other big evil, is grown on 3% of the world's arable land and uses 26% (wow!) of the world's pesticides and 7% of the world's fertilizer annually. It requires heavy irrigation, depleting the water supply even as it poisons it. Many developing countries grow cotton as a cash crop, trying desperately to pay off foreign debt. While the country's land and water is being destroyed, food crops are neglected, so the people go hungry.
Hemp can be used to make clothing that is, if treated properly, soft like cotton and far more durable, thus rendering cotton unnecessary. Adidas and Ralph Lauren already have hemp products, and Calvin Klein insists that hemp will hit the fashion industry full-force in the years to come.
While an acre of trees is about 60% cellulose, an acre of hemp is nearly 75%. How much hemp is necessary to meet current US energy needs? Somewhere between 10 million and 90 million acres, depending on how efficient the production is. Every year, the US government pays farmers (in cash or "kind") to *not* farm what they call the "soil bank", which happens to be about 90 million acres of farmland. The math is pretty simple.
Hemp seed oil is very similar to petroleum diesel fuel, and produces full engine power with reduced carbon monoxide and 75% less soot and particulates. Hemp stalk (different than the part that can make paper and textiles) can be converted into 500 gallons of methanol/acre.
It seems so simple, you must be saying. If this is true, why are we still using petroleum and paper and cotton? Well, there are corporations who sponsor politicians that have a reason to keep hemp down, like, the oil industry, etc.
So here we are. Hemp is still illegal, but numerous psychic drugs promoted by the health-care industry are readily available (at an insane price of course).
And some states like California have a three-strikes policy of prison for life, promoted by the unions who make inordinate sums of money as prison guards.
US Incarceration
Wikipedia discloses the sorry story of US Incarceration.
The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. At year-end 2009, it was 743 adults incarcerated per 100,000 population.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), 2,266,800 adults were incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons, and county jails at year-end 2011 – about 0.7% of adults in the U.S. resident population. Additionally, 4,814,200 adults at year-end 2011 were on probation or on parole.[11] In total, 6,977,700 adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison) in 2011 – about 2.9% of adults in the U.S. resident population.
In addition, there were 70,792 juveniles in juvenile detention in 2010.
Although debtor's prisons no longer exist in the United States, residents of some U.S. states can still be incarcerated for debt as of 2011.
What's the War on Drugs "Really" About?
One of the alleged reasons for the war on drugs is to prevent money from getting into the hands of terrorists. But if drugs were legal, prices would crash, theft would plunge (drugs are expensive and addicts don't have the money), and terrorists would not make anything off drugs. Millions in prisons would not be there, and the pension problem of states would be far less.
Clothes would be made out of hemp, which has fiber softer than cotton. Hemp plants and seeds can be converted into biofuel far better than corn (which requires high quantities of fertilizer and water, and needs to be replanted every year).
Yet the extremely costly war and economically asinine war on drugs continues. Why?
The unions, the religious-wrong, the plastic manufacturers like Du Pont, the fertilizer companies, and the economic fools all want it that way.
Republicans Accused of Altering Bombshell Memo: Shut Up and Release It
This secret memo charade is getting old. Just release the damn memo. If it was altered, let's see who did it.
Intercept Political Idiocy: "Unclear Whether Trump is Foreign Agent"
I thought the Russian collusion madness had long ago reached a peak. I was wrong.
Make America White Again: Haiti, African Nations 'Shithole' Countries
Trump raised a stir today by calling Haiti, African nations 'shithole' countries. Trump wants immigrants from Norway.
Power of the Pen: Trump Uses Executive Order to Chip Away at Obamacare
President Trump is off and running with executive orders. Call it the power of the pen. Wikipedia notes Trump has 49 to date. This compares to 354 for Bill Clinton, 291 for George W. Bush, and 276 for Barack Obama. Trump's latest order cuts into Obamacare. Rand Paul helped pave the way.
Russia Meddling "Act of War", Michael Moore Trapped, CIA Admissions
Idiotic comments regarding "Russia's act of war" against the US for meddling in the Us election has reached consensus.
Catalonia Parliament Votes 70-10 for Independence: Best Wishes to Catalonia, the Nation
Friday morning, the Catalan parliament voted 70-10 to declare independence from Spain. In return, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy demands direct rule. How will Rajoy accomplish that?
Brilliant Ads Help Explain the Rise of AfD in Germany
A German reader who does not support the AfD emailed some political ads that help explain the party's rise.
What's Trump's Real Collegiate Record?
Whose academic record is in question: Trump's or Obama's?
Trump's Best Tweet Ever
President Trump's tweets are often confusing, contradictory, unintelligible, bragging, or contain factual errors. Here's a Tweet I endorse 100%.


text:
Q: karma-webpack-tape: Show Line Number when Test Fails As the title implies, I want to be able to see the line number when a test fails in my suite. I'm relying on the karma-tap plugin, the tap framework, and dots reporter.
A little context: source-maps are working properly, so exceptions thrown in a test file report the correct line as well as a stack trace. However, when a basic test fails, the "failed" message is outputted without anything about the line or module.
Chrome 50.0.2661 (Mac OS X 10.11.4)  should be equal FAILED
    {
      "operator": "equal",
      "expected": 0,
      "actual": 1
    }
Chrome 50.0.2661 (Mac OS X 10.11.4)  should be equal FAILED
    {
      "operator": "equal",
      "expected": 0,
      "actual": 1
    }
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
...........................

My initial thought was that this is just a limitation of Tap, but I can't imagine that's true. My full Karma config is shown below. Is there something in the configuration that would cause the output of line numbers during a test to fail?
{
    plugins: [
      require('karma-webpack'),
      require('karma-tap'),
      require('karma-chrome-launcher'),
      require('karma-sourcemap-loader')
    ],

    basePath: '',
    frameworks: [ 'tap' ],
    files: [
      'tests.bootstrap.js',
    ],
    preprocessors: {
      'src/**/*.js': ['webpack', 'sourcemap'],
      'tests.bootstrap.js': [ 'webpack', 'sourcemap' ]
    },
    webpack: {
      devtool: 'inline-source-map',
      externals: {
       cheerio: 'window',
       'react/lib/ExecutionEnvironment': true,
       'react/lib/ReactContext': true,
       'text-encoding': 'window',
       'react/addons': true,
      },
      module: {
        preLoaders: [
          {
            test: /\.js/,
            exclude: /node_modules/,
            loader: 'babel'
          },
          {
            test: /\.js$/,
            include: [
              path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/components/'),
              //path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/containers/'),
              path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/layouts/'),
              path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/reducers/'),
              path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/stores/'),
              path.resolve(__dirname, 'src/util/')
            ],
            exclude: /-container\.js/,
            loader: 'isparta'
          }
        ],
        loaders: [
          {
            test: /\.js$/,
            exclude: /node_modules/,
            loader: "source-map-loader"
          }, {
            test: /\.(png|jpg|jpeg|gif|woff|woff2)$/,
            loader: 'url?limit=25000',
            include: path.resolve(__dirname, 'src')
          }, {
            test: /\.svg$/,
            loader: 'file-loader'
          }
        ]
      },
      node : {
        fs: 'empty'
      },
      resolve: {
        modulesDirectories: ['src', 'node_modules']
      }
    },

    webpackMiddleware: {
      noInfo: true
    },

    reporters: [ 'dots' ],

    client: {
      captureConsole: false
    },

    port: 9878,
    colors: true,
    logLevel: config.LOG_DEBUG,
    autoWatch: true,
    browsers: ['Chrome'],
    singleRun: false
  }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Liverpool's title procession is on hold, but there are more immediate football ramifications
Football has been put on pause, but it isn't as simple as just pressing the start button again in a few weeks time.
Joel RabinowitzStaff Writer
The Premier League won't resume until 4 April at the very earliest. (Image: Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
It's been quite some 24 hours. From the Premier League insisting on Thursday evening that all scheduled games would go ahead this weekend as planned, England has now followed in Europe's footsteps in putting its own leagues on hold.
In truth, it shouldn't have required a manager or player to test positive for coronavirus for that decision to be taken, but once the news about Mikel Arteta was announced, it became impossible for the league to justify a business-as-usual approach any longer.
The planned resumption date is currently 4 April, but as the situation continues to develop it would not be a major surprise if this gets pushed back even further. Right now, it's therefore impossible to say with any degree of certainty when football will eventually resume again.
As of today, Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton have confirmed that their entire first team squads have gone into self-isolation, with several other clubs including Leicester City, Watord and Bournemouth also directly affected.
Liverpool, coronavirus and the Premier League – our most burning and other questions answered
Liverpool are about to win the Premier League title, and now I'm questioning everything
And on Friday afternoon, Liverpool announced their own decisive action in choosing to voluntarily suspend training at Melwood, with all players given their own individual fitness plans to follow at home for the timebeing.
Given the rapidly escalating nature of the situation, it's encouraging that the club have taken their own precautionary measures at this stage to protect the health of its players and staff members as much as possible – but it also points towards a wider issue around which has been largely overlooked up until now.
Much of the discussion in recent days has centred around the logistics of fulfilling the remaining fixtures, whether they'll be played behind closed doors, the possibility of the European Championship being postponed until 2021, and, from a Liverpool perspective, if and when they'll eventually be crowned Premier League champions.
But now that the league is officially suspended, many, if not all clubs, will effectively cease to operate in the interim period for at least several weeks, and perhaps longer than that. In the scenario where the league does resume on 4 April as currently planned, clubs may only have had a very minimal period of preparation time together (if any) having completely abandoned their usual training regimes.
That means managers won't have been able to implement any kind of tactical plans with their teams as they usually would, and even if players stringently follow their own tailor-made fitness programmes from home, none of them will be close to match-sharp by the time they do take to the field in a competitive fixture again, which then raises another set of questions in terms of potential injury risks.
Jürgen Klopp often talks about the importance of rhythm and momentum, which, again, is now completely out of the picture for the forseeable future, and may well make the next set of matches (whenever they do happen) a really bizarre spectacle.
All that may seem rather trivial given the severity of the wider societal picture, but football has now been enveloped by it all, and we are in unchartered territory. No manager or player will have ever encountered a comparable scenario, whereby they are effectively prevented from carrying out their jobs on daily basis by something completely beyond their control.
The idea that everything could return straight back to normal with the flick of a switch on 4 April – if indeed fixtures can be resumed by then – is fanciful. In the meantime, health remains the absolute number one priority. Everything else must take a back seat.


I want to share with you a very personal experience. Not because I am proud of it . . . but because I am tired of the shame that I feel when I have experienced it, and hope that this visual can help you understand a little more about the voice in your own head, and the dark trap it can feel like.
This pregnancy has been a big struggle for me. I know I talked about it briefly a few posts back, but I want to get a little more real with you about some of the battles I have been fighting. The battle of "Am I enough?" has been a silent one for me for a long time. I have shared with all of you the times in the past when I have had to face that deamon, but I wanted to describe ways in which it still tries to show up now.
Being enough isn't just a one-time battle, but a lifetime pursuit.
Every day we will face triggers—reminders of trauma from the past—that try to take us to our weakest points. Sometimes we will feel armed and ready for them, other times they will shake us to our core. Fear of inadequacy is not always a fight we will be prepared to win.
For the first time in months, this week I finally felt pretty good. I went out and bought maternity clothes—so I would stop trying to squeeze into my old pants and feel depressed when they didn't fit. A few weeks back I had discovered I was low on iron and it was really messing with my emotions—and that was finally leveling out. Morning sickness had faded away, and I had stopped dry heaving every time I walked into a room. I had overcome a lot of the triggers that had come up during the early months of my pregnancy—I talked about a few posts back—I was feeling ready to embrace this changing body and just enjoy the miracle that was growing inside of me. Life was feeling pretty good.
I couldn't wait for my doctor's appointment—and hear that reassuring sound of the baby's heart beat. Everything went smoothly, until my doctor stepped right onto the landmine that I had thought I had covered pretty well. She looked up from her chart and said, "My only concern is . . . you have gained a lot more weight then we want you to at this point." I looked over at Scott with a get me out of here look on my face. I tried to hold back the tears as I listened to her remind me of the "healthy choices" I should be making.
My soul sunk low—believing every fearful word in my head. I got the kids off to school and as I walked in my house and shut the door, I burst into tears. Every fear—all the dark memories of the past—surrounded me. I felt trapped. For a split second I was taken back to a moment when I was sitting in the bathtub almost 8 years ago. Tytus was just a few weeks old. I had already started to feel the tension and knew that something wasn't right. Emmett came walking into the bathroom. After weeks of wondering what was wrong whenever he was around, I had come to the conclusion he didn't want me because of my just had a baby body. All I needed in that moment was for him to look over and tell me I was beautiful, but instead he looked into the mirror, checked himself out for a few minutes and then announced he was heading out.
The fear came back as strong as it had been that day, and in the few weeks that followed. Chaos is what followed. Murder. Truth of affairs. A life turned upside down. Somehow my little mind was just sure, it all started with a changing body—a body too fat to love.
And there it was again—this toxic feeling of wondering if I was going to be enough.
I changed my clothes, got in my car and drove to the only place I know where pure darkness cannot follow. As I sat in the chapel at the temple I opened up a set of scriptures to a random page. I looked down in the middle of the page and there was a scripture I know well.
"For perfect love casteth out all fear". Tears filled my eyes as I was taken back to another memory—the day I had to write Emmett's funeral. In all my anger, and fear, and shame, and guilt, and humiliation . . . that was the only scripture or quote I read that felt worthy of being on the bottom of the program. Everything else seemed like a sham—in that moment, those were the only words I could believe.
So again those words spoke to me. As I sat there I tried to picture perfect love. All I could see was the Savior. He is perfect love. He is the only one who can take it all away. The fear, the pain, the unknown, the uncomfortable, the guilt, the anger, all the 'I am not enough's, the grief—losing a loved one, or losing a relationship you cherish . . . He has the power to carry it away and bring peace. He has angels standing around us daily ready to go on errands, just for us. To take away the darkness we feel trapped in, and to help Him carry in the light.
With that truth, no amount of fear can take us down. We have to remember we only have one enemy, and his goal is to bring us fear—to remind us often that we are not enough—it is never from God.
We all have scars. Instead of shaming the parts of us we think make us not enough, I was reminded that—because of Him—I have the power to love me, which makes me even more capable of loving those around me. I have the gift to heal after divorce, abuse, infidelity and murder. I have a healthy body capable of creating life. I have a strong spirit and a trusting heart. Because of Him, I have the power that can help me find my truths, over and over again. I can move forward. I have the ability to let go of the pain of losing a relationship with a stepdaughter I adore. I have the chance to forgive the people who have hurt me in my life. Because of Him, I can be forgiven when I have forgotten who I am. I am capable of anything. I am worthy of fighting for.
Because of Him, we can overcome. Because of Him, we can feel light. Because of Him we can one day feel perfect love. And because of Him . . . perfect love casteth out all fear.
Here we are 13 weeks. We will find out December 20th if it is a boy or girl. What do you think?
You and your baby bump are beautiful!
Not that this has anything to do with it, but are you sure your doctor isn't on crack?
You are beautiful! Seriously. Your doctor is cray cray. Commenting on weight gain should be off limits since no one gains at a consistent rate and no one is the same. I had months were I gained a bunch and months were I didn't. The only goal is having a healthy baby.
Oh Ashlee!! I am SO EXCITED for you and Scott and the rest of the family! You deserve happiness, security, joy, peace, hope, love, etc. etc. etc. I am anxious to find out what you are having, I can't wait. BTW, this is Shelly in Ephraim and I am excited for you and thankful for your strength and wonderful example. P.S. I needed this post today as that ugly voice has been yelling at me for a few weeks and I have been struggling. However, I am going to make that scripture my mantra for the coming season!! Love ya!!
That voice is the thief of all JOY, you are wise to seek peace in the temple.
You are beautiful. You are enough. You are special.
As women, our bodies are the ONLY way spirits can go from spirit world to earth side. �� wow, what an amazing and beautiful gift we were given. Look at yourself everyday and remind yourself of that special miracle, and find 5 things you love about yourself.
You are incredibly beautiful. Not just physically, your spirit shines through!!! I feel so honored to know you. That little baby is blessed to get you for a momma!
You are radiant! Pregnancy glow plus the Spirit of the Lord:). Don't let anyone (especially the adversary) every convince you otherwise!! Thanks for being such a light and inspiration! God bless you and your beautiful family!!
First of all, you look absolutely beautiful!
Second of all, I can totally relate to this. A doctor told me the same thing during my first pregnancy and told me to eat healthier and that I would risk having a "big baby" that would be difficult to deliver. I felt awful and scared about what the doctor said about a big baby, but I continued gaining weight as I found that I could not stop it no matter what I did, and even though I was not eating too much or anything.
When I gave birth to my first son he ended up weighing 6 pounds, which is not a big baby at all. So all the fear I had let someone else put in my head turned out to be nothing.
Thanks for sharing your story! God bless you and your family!
Thank you for sharing your insecurities and how you are able to overcome them. I have the best ob in the world. He was referred to me by several ladies in my ward and is so wonderful, understanding and will take as much time as you need to talk to him. I have used him for my past 3 babies and though it's a bit of a drive for me, it is totally worth it. I'm not sure where in Utah you live, but his name is Dr. Christian Froerer and he is in Murray at Cottonwood. You may not be looking to switch, but I have had a more harsh and critical ob and it made the experience not great at all!
For some reason, this thing doesn't want to let me comment on each of your comments . . . I will figure that out. But thank you for your kind words. I had a hard time pushing publish, sometimes I gets so old feeling like I should share my insecure vulnerabilities. So I appreciate you all taking the time to comment and leave me some love. I am so thankful for all of you and your willingness to share a little bit of your lives with me.
I had those same thoughts when my ex husband had an affair on me. I wanted to blame my body. I told myself that if I would have been thinner or didn't have stretch marks etc. then he would have loved me. It is hard to not pull out the beat up stick when all you wanted was love from someone else. Oh how I've learned, That was 15 years ago... I have the same body now as I did back then yet I love my body now and recognize the affair wasn't about me or how I looked. I learned to push Satan out of my mind and focus on all of the things the lord had given me. Over the years I have healed and found a man that loves this rocking body!! ;) You are absolutely gorgeous. I have followed your story for years and it is awesome to watch you over come time and time again.. You've got this! You've shown the world what it is to STAND!
Oh my...you look AMAZING! I would find a new doctor because seriously, they should be supportive. That is crap. A good doctor would recognize that this is your 6th pregnancy (I think its 6th...or is it 5th...anyway....) You gain weight a little faster with each pregnancy in the beginning and you show sooner because your body knows what to do. Trust your body. Trust what it is telling you it needs. The weight gain will all even out in the end...at least it always seemed to for me. Hang in there and know how amazing you are. Trust that you will always be enough because the Savior makes up any and all deficits when we trust in Him. HUGS!
I too am pregnant... Only a week behind you, pregnant with my fifth. This pregnancy has also been a huge struggle for me. The morning sickness has been horrible. The only way to stave it off is to eat every hour. I can't exercise or the nausea hits me hard. It's hard to even do basic things like make meals or play with my kids. I feel that in just a short time, I've lost my body, my feelings of well-being and pretty much my capability to be a good mother. I've been struggling with major feelings of inadequacy so I really needed this post today! Thank you for reminding me why I'm doing this and how amazing my body is. �� And also.... I think your bump is adorable! You look amazing! Truly pregnancy suits you well!
First of all, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND WORTHY! The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy and would love to destroy us. A family member of mine shared your Christmas is Here on FB, I read it. How beautiful of a story, so I felt led to read more written by you. I'm a mother of two and have grandchildren. I remember feeling like you have about your body. Through the years, I have felt your same feelings and been through some of the same relationship issues as you. 6 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I went through chemotherapy and lost my hair, I felt super ugly some days and reminded myself that my family, heart, life, health mattered not my looks. During that darker time, I was in church and the message was regarding feeling down about ourselves, and not believing we are enough. The pastor mentioned that when we do this we are in direct conflict with God and how he has made us, the things He allows us to go through, etc. There was forever revelation for me that day. My hair no longer mattered, my heart and the fact that NOTHING could separate His love from me and/or my family's love became primary focus. I no longer concern myself with the jiggle belly that came from having two C-sections that formed a cross scar on my stomach! I often don't wear makeup like I used to. I like to look good and feel good about looking good, sure, I no longer focus on that. I focus everyday on life. The cancer recurred again 4 years ago, and I'm all clear again. God gave me another chance to show others Him everyday. It seems He is doing that with you! Your writings speak deep to the heart, your honesty is what many of us need to know that we all struggle with these issues. Thank you for your obedience to His call on your life and what you are doing through Him. Merry Christmas to you and your family. May 2019 bring you much health, pure joy, and His peace.