text:
Owh. That heart is not mine. My lil heart is still virgin, hoho ;) Btw, smart kan? Tak ey? Handsome mungkin, hehe :D
Actually, a person who is try sleeping with broken heart is not me instead Alicia Keys, hakhak :))
The title of this entry was chosen according to music tag. Since I have 1 more paper to go and it's on Sunday, so I feel free to do this tag tonight. Banyak-banyak tag yang saya dah buat, I thought this is the exciting one. I got it from Anis. K, malas nak memanjangkan benda yang pendek. Before I proceed with questions, let read its rule 1st!
Actually, a person who is try sleeping with broken heart is not me instead Alicia Keys, hakhak :))
The title of this entry was chosen according to music tag. Since I have 1 more paper to go and it's on Sunday, so I feel free to do this tag tonight. Banyak-banyak tag yang saya dah buat, I thought this is the exciting one. I got it from Anis. K, malas nak memanjangkan benda yang pendek. Before I proceed with questions, let read its rule 1st!
put your music library on shuffle. For each question, press the next button to get your answer. You must write that song title as the answer to the question, no matter how silly it sounds! Most of the time they seem to work though, strangely enough. Ok, go! when you're done, tag 20 people in this note and make sure to tag the person who sent you this. The answer to #20 is the title of your notes.
1. If someone says, "Is this okay?" you say
The Time - Black Eyed Peas. get it? I mean I need more time to answer whether it's ok or not. ngee :D
2. How would you describe yourself?
Beautiful Dangerous - Slash ft Fergie. hahaha :)) dangerous tu mungkin yup. beautiful tu sila
3. What do you like in a girl?
Real Love - Masari. strongly agree :). it's real love that you don't know about n_n *u 2 refer 2 guy :p*
4. How do you feel today?
Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida. hoyay~ the only one who can handle me today --> I :p
5. What is your life's purpose?
Love Like Woe - The Ready Set. I wanna get a love like woah oh oh oh from everyone ♥♥♥
6. What's your motto?
Shut Up and Kiss Me - Orianthi. Oit! kenapa dapat lagu ni? eyuw,,, emokah??? hakhak :p
7. What do your friends think of you?
Obsessed - Mariah Carey. Owh, begitukah kawan-kawan? obsessed on sleep tak? tehee ^^
8. What do you think of your parents?
If It's Love - Train. ♥ this answer :).
if it's love. infinity of luv. i confess you are the best thing in my life. wink2 ;);)
9. What do you think about every often?
Falling for you - Colbie Caillat. falling for someone since I believe he is waiting for me somewhere. Erk??? but not every often. sometimes je la. hikhik ^_-
10. What is 2 + 2?
Knock You Down - Keri Hilson ft Kanye West. Kwang3~ memang patut knock you down. 2+2 pun tak tau ke? 2+2=22. hakhak =))
11. What do you think of your best friend(s)?
Takin' Back My Love - Enrique Iglesias ft Ciara. tak mahu... I don't wanna takin' back my love. Nah, ambil balik ♥ (:
12. What do you think of the person you like?
Somebody To Love - Justin Bieber. the person I like is somebody to love or somebody to be loved? O'oww @_@
13. What if your life story?
Check It Out - Nicki Minaj ft Will I Am. mia,,,hahaha :)) the right song came just at the right question *thumbs up*
14. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Whataya Want From Me - Adam Lambert. It messed me up. Need a second to breathe. hehe:D agak-agak tension la konon bila diaju dengan macam-macam soalan kan. gagagagaga:D
15. What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Two is Better Than One - Boys Like Girls ft Taylor Swift. sweet. so maybe it's true that I can't live without you. maybe 2 is better than 1. *mb j ek not totally* ^.~
16.What will you dance at your wedding?
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum. zEri is currently love this song :) it's a quater after one, I'm all alone and I need you now... la la la
17. What will they play at your funeral?
Raise Your Glass - Pink. errr~
18. What is your biggest fear?
Beautiful - Eminem. Ey apa pulak biggest fear? biggest dream la. wakakaka =))
19. What is your biggest secret?
I Like It - Enrique Iglesias ft Pitbul. I like it since no one knows except my besties and now I decide to keep holding it forever :p
20. What will you post this as?
Rule 2. Next 20 people to do this:
Huh -_- don't you think to tag 20 people is a lots??? K in short, the rest yang rasa free nak buat this tag, you are welcome to try this fun :) Tak aci main tipu yup. Terima saja la what song do you get for each question. Sangat
senorok seronok!!! Try la ;)
p/s: mak saya ada cakap "tak baik hancurkan hati orang, nanti SAKIIITTT dia"


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Weird XML problem adding AAMs or taking the CA role on a new server
The other day I was upgrading the WFE servers to 64Bit and were rotating some WFEs in and out of the farm. While doing so I was moving the Central Admin around and got a failure running the command psconfig –cmd adminvs –provision.
The exception in the PSCDiagnostics log was this:
10/28/2009 10:48:59 7 ERR An exception of type System.Xml.XmlException was thrown. Additional exception information: Unexpected end of file while parsing Name has occurred. Line 27, position 14.
System.Xml.XmlException: Unexpected end of file while parsing Name has occurred. Line 27, position 14.
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseQName(Boolean isQName, Int32 startOffset, Int32& colonPos)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ThrowTagMismatch(NodeData startTag)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseEndElement()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadNode(Boolean skipOverWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadDocSequence(XmlDocument parentDoc)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.LoadXml(String xml)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAlternateUrlCollection.HasMissingUrl(String xml)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPContentDatabase.UpdateAlternateAccessMapping(SPAlternateUrlCollection collection)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAlternateUrlCollection.UpdateAlternateAccessMappingInContent()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAlternateUrlCollection.Update()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAlternateUrlCollection.Add(SPAlternateUrl alternateUrl, Boolean fUpdate, Boolean throwIfExists)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPAdministrationWebApplication.Provision()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebServiceInstance.Provision()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.CentralAdministrationSiteTask.ProvisionAdminVs()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.CentralAdministrationSiteTask.Run()
at Microsoft.SharePoint.PostSetupConfiguration.TaskThread.ExecuteTask()
You will also be able to see these errors in the Application Event log with event IDs 100 and 104 and they essentially say the same thing.
The app pool and the web site provisioned but the Central Admin doesn't show that server as having that role, the CA even works from that server. While doing some mucking around (that's a technical term if you don't know it) I tried to change the AAMs to include the new servers name in the AAM list. Well basically I got the same error just in the "friendly" SharePoint error as seen below
Finally broke down and gave Microsoft a call and after some looking around I have found out that there was an issue that was fixed in the re-release of the SharePoint's August CU. Well that was fine but what exactly is it that was going on?
You can see in the KB what was going on: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2000628
In a nutshell, in the central admin content db a field for the AAMs is too short — nvarchar(1023). The AAM XML in the db is truncated anything after 1023 characters and you have a malformed XML and thus the end of file exception.
This was causing a problem adding the CA because it needs to read that field and update it…This will also be a problem with any web apps which the AAM XML exceeds the 1023 limit – you would reach this pretty quickly if you added 4-5 AAMs for your sites. Here is an example of the XML, I formatted it to make it easier to read:
<AlternateDomains Count="4″ Name="Some Web App">
<MappedUrl> http://SomePublicURL.com </MappedUrl>
<IncomingUrl> http:// SomeIncomingURL#2.com </IncomingUrl>
<IncomingUrl>http:// SomeOtherIncomingURL#3.com </IncomingUrl>
<MappedUrl> http://SomePublicURL.com </MappedUrl>
<IncomingUrl> http://SomeOtherIncomingURL#4.com </IncomingUrl>
<MappedUrl> http://SomePublicURL.com </MappedUrl>
That was about 870 characters, give-or-take. You can see how we can reach the 1023 limit pretty easily.
Disclaimer: DO NOT DO THIS ON YOUR PRODUCTION FARM WITHOUT GETTING APPROVAL FROM MICROSOFT SUPPORT OR YOU MIGHT BECOME UNSUPPORTED!
Now the workaround (approval was given) was to run the following on the Central Admin Content Database (needed to do this on the CA content DB because adding the new Central Admin was failing) Delete from DatabaseInformation where Name = 'AlternateAccessMappingXml'
That was it…deleting from the DB allowed the process to read the XML from the field (which wasn't there) and continue without error. Now if you still have AAMs that will cause the XML to exceed 1023 then it will still be truncated but the write operation will still succeed and you can go about your business. Next time there will still be an problem
Something to note: If you are consolidating a lot of portals into one central SharePoint portal and you plan to point your old URLs to the new portal, you should consider updating the system to at least August CU.
October CU is out
The October Cumulative Update for WSS and Moss is out.
The detailed information for WSS is here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974989
The Detailed information for MOSS is here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974988
Downloads can be found here:
WSS: http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=974989
MOSS: http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=974988
If you need to know how to slipstream the install have a look at this TechNet article — http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261890.aspx
On a side note, I ran into a weird problem that is fixed in the August CU that I will tell you about next week; it caused some really weird issues.
New Technical Diagrams for Sharepoint 2010
These are just released on TechNet. SharePoint 2010 technical diagrams…These will be a big help with understanding and planning http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/cc263199(office.14).aspx
Migrating SharePoint to 64 Bit — The Databases
This is the second post on my migrating series and the first step in the process….
Because the impact on the users is to be minimized, this is taking place on A Friday night…Argh! Anyway that is how it goes in this business, it's gonna be a long night.
So there are a couple of ways to upgrade the databases, in place keeping the same name, move the DBs to a server with the same name, or move the DBs to another server with a different name. I will spare the specific details, you can find specific information on TechNet here. I can see this decision being driven not by what might be the easiest or best but what hardware you may or may not have. No matter what method is chosen, unless you load the server OS or are the DBA, there isn't a lot of involvement on the SharePoint side for this phase of the migration, at least they way it is being done. However, for me, this is the most risky and scariest part…
The process…
There isn't any hardware to create a parallel environment or an extra database server to migrate to so the process was to do the migration in place with the current servers.
Don't do anything in your environment until you TEST, TEST, TEST. When you think you have it TEST IT AGAIN! Remember, every environment is different with it's own quirks and issues.
Here is what was was done:
- Full backup on the databases early enough for the backups to finish before starting. If you have to start a day or so before then start then.
- Stop the Farm.
- Run any transaction log backups on the databases
- Detach the databases from SQL (this might not be necessairy but it makes me feel better)
- The DBs are on SAN so the SAN was detached from the W2K3 server
- Reload the server with W2K8 and any post installation configurations for the environment
- Reattach the SAN to the server. W2K8 should see the disk and not be a problem (see notes)
- Load SQL 2008
- Reattach the DBs to SQL
- I would run a consistancy check on the DBs
- Restart the SharePoint Farm — TEST IT!
Some things to note:
- You will want to record the SAN LUNs, size of volumes and their associated drive letter on the Windows 2003 server before restaging the server
- When you reattach the SAN to the server with W2K8 the disks might look like foreign disks. you will need to import them
- Check permissions on the reattached disks, local users will be orphaned but domain users and groups should be there and OK
Here are some commands to stop the services on the SharePoint servers….pretty basic and you probably know this already but here they are none-the-less.
To Stop
@echo off
@echo Stopping services...
iisreset /stop /noforce
net stop "Windows SharePoint Services Timer"
net stop "Windows SharePoint Services Administration"
net stop "Office SharePoint Server Search"
net stop "Windows SharePoint Services Search"
net stop "Windows SharePoint Services Tracing"
To start
@echo off
@echo Starting services...
net start "Windows SharePoint Services Tracing"
net start "Windows SharePoint Services Search"
net start "Office SharePoint Server Search"
net start "Windows SharePoint Services Administration"
net start "Windows SharePoint Services Timer"
iisreset /start
This should get you to 64 Bit SQL server. Remember it isn't the only way to migrate to 64 Bit SQL Server and you need to TEST IT!
Migrating SharePoint to 64 bit — The Beginning
Well with the impending upgrade to SharePoint 2010 and 32 bit not being supported going forward, everyone that is on 32 bit will have to migrate their servers to 64 bit before they can upgrade. If I had my wish I would be able to stand up a parallel environment, including a mirrored SQL Server and migrate with very little downtime. However, in reality, that isn't going to happen so there has to be a more creative way to migrate. There are several ways to go about it but this is the way I want to proceed and still try to minimize downtime…(wish me luck)
The migration needs to be in a series of steps and this is what I am wanting to do:
- Migrate the SQL Servers first
- Migrate the application tier
- Migrate the WFEs
There are a lot of things to consider:
- How many SharePoint Farms need to be migrated?
- Is there a parent child relationship with the SSP?
- Content Deployment?
- Indexing and Query?
- How much data is in your SharePoint environment?
- Can you have any downtime? How much?
There are more but you get the idea…it isn't necessarily an easy task if your users demand little downtime and you have a large farm with a lot of data…don't get me wrong there are risks every time you make this kind of change in any farm.
I will post some of the issues I see as the migration goes and what was done to either mitigate them, specific procedures done, or workarounds.
Moss Object Caching
First I wanted to thank Sean McDonough for his blog post MOSS Object Cache Memory Tuning is not an Intuitive Process it assisted a great deal with a stability problem we were having with a publishing portal.
So here was the problem: The company has an internal portal (yes it is on a 32 Bit machine) that is getting around 65-70K unique visitors per day. It wasn't until the last couple of weeks that the traffic was that high, but due to a DNS change the old portal is now pointing to the new SharePoint Site. Soon after the change, the site just was not stable at all. We were seeing a lot of app pool resets, slow response, and a lot of out of memory errors.
After doing some searching we found that the Object cache settings was set to 1GB (the default is 100MB)! You can read about SharePoint caching here on TechNet. The thing is, the object cache sits in the worker process and on a 32 Bit system there is only the 2GB application memory space. With the added pressure on the application memory it just could not handle it.
Using Sean's blog and his recommendation of looking at the SharePoint Publishing Cache/Total number of cache compactions, we reduced the cache to 300MB (it was set at 500MB as an arbitrary number that the application team would agree to) watched it for a day and we saw an increase in the compactions to 2-3, at 500 the counter was at 0. We then increased the memory to 350MB and watched it for a day and continued until the optimal setting was found for the Object Cache.
Imagine what would happen if you has a single web application for publishing sites? Every site collection admin could change this setting. Now just because the setting is at something like 500MB doesn't mean that they will automatically reserve that amount of memory, it just means that if needed the cache will grow to that amount but on a 32 bit machine it would have a great impact on all of the sites in the web app. This got me thinking, how can I control this? I could not find a global setting in the central admin nor could I find an STSADM command (out of the box) to run. PowerShell!
I created a PowerShell script that I could use to loop thru the site collections on a web app and set the cache back to the default (or whatever you want it to be). Here is what I did.
$site = new-object Microsoft.sharepoint.spsite("http://mosssite")
$webapp = $site.Webapplication
foreach ($sites in $webapp.sites){
$cacheSettings = new-object Microsoft.SharePoint.Publishing.SiteCacheSettingsWriter($sites.url);
if ($cacheSettings.objectcachesize -gt 100){
$cacheSettings.ObjectCacheSize = 100;
Note: dont forget to dispose!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
There I was--checking the news--and behold--the ATM bandits have struck again! That is of course what I am calling them--the police are still deciding if the 2 events are "related".PAHLEASE! What I am loving about this whole thing is how really Montana this has all been. First we have the guys on the tractor taking out the ATM, taking it down the road and smashing it and taking the money. Get er' done, Earl. Now this:
(From Sept. 8, 2009)
The Ravalli County Sheriff's Office is seeking information about an ATM machine theft from the Stumble Inn bar in Victor Monday morning.
An unknown suspect or suspects forcibly entered the bar through the front door and removed a white ATM machine that was bolted to the floor.
Investigators are currently attempting to determine how much money was in the machine.
Stolen ATM found in Missoula
Sep 9, 2008 05:20 PM MDT
Reporting from KPAX in Missoula
The Missoula County Sheriff's Department have found the ATM machine stolen from Ravalli County in Missoula.
The ATM was found smashed into pieces at the wye just before 9 a.m. Monday.
The machine was stolen from the Stumble Inn bar in Victor Monday morning.
Unknown suspects forcibly entered the bar through the front door and removed a white ATM machine, prying it from the floor.
So many levels of funny. First of all-- the Stumble Inn is about 15 minutes down the highway from me in a building that looks like if someone DID stumble in it would fall over. 2nd--when I first heard the story (living in the middle of nowhere like I do) I thought they said someone had gone into the bar and stole a white AT"V" that was bolted to the floor. My only thought was--why in the world did that bar have a 4 wheeler bolted to the floor and if they were that desperate why didn't they just steal one from a dealership?! (I've obviously lived here too long!)
Just thought you should know that we are in the middle of a crime wave here--a spree as it were! I so want to interview these guys when they catch them.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
4 comments:
- McEwens said...
Well, if you want to catch them.,, try placing an ATM outside, I am sure they will find you!
- September 10, 2008 at 8:14 AM
- Dolly said...
Lisa- get ON that trail and track 'em down!!! Find the clues and get the reward. You can do it-and be the first to interview them!
- September 10, 2008 at 10:44 AM
- Carla said...
Lock up your tractors, ATV's, and ATMS! Well, locking up, or chaining up really isn't working is it????? HHmmm, the plot thickens!
- September 10, 2008 at 8:06 PM
- Carla said...
I awarded you!!! You make me smile girl! Have a great day!
- September 11, 2008 at 1:46 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Guest Posted by MAXIMUS
I am pleased to provide the blogosphere with an exclusive about racist activity at the Virginia State Board of Elections. The full story about racial discrimination, retaliation for filing said complaint, and hostile work environment at the State Board of Elections under former Director Jean Jansen and current Director Nancy Rodrigues---this TEN PAGE story can be found by clicking on this link: http://www.edr.state.va.us/searchhearing/2008-8658%20Decision.pdf
But Maximus, how can we have racial discrimination and then retaliation for filing the complaint under two Democrat Governors? And MAXIMUS, why hasn't the mainstream media reported on it? Because my plebes, the Dems turn a blind eye when folks engage in this activity in a Democrat Administration. We will have none of that...the MSM has been scooped by the benevolent MAXIMUS who is fearless about sharing the facts with you.
The above document link is a TEN PAGE document...so don't just stop reading at page one...it gets interesting. This is what we have learned about the leadership of Jean Jansen and Nancy Rodrigues. Here is an excerpt:
Issue: Retaliation (grievance activity participation and hostile work environment; Hearing Date: 09/17/07; Decision Issued: 10/02/07; Agency: State Board of Elections....
Decision Issued: October 2, 2007
"On December 9, 2005, the Grievant filed a grievance alleging race discrimination, failure to receive the same opportunities to provide input as other employees, preferential treatment for certain employees and a request that the Agency's organizational structure be reviewed by an outside entity.
The Grievant's position in these grievances was substantially upheld. On April 9, 2007, the Grievant filed a grievance alleging that, since the prior two (2) grievances, she has been subject to a hostile work environment and also subject to retaliation.
Subsequent to filing this grievance, the Grievant requested that the Director of EDR issue a ruling that her grievance qualified for a hearing. Such a ruling was issued by the Director of EDR on July 2, 2007 and the issue of hostile work environment and retaliation was qualified for a hearing. On August 10, 2007, EDR assigned this appeal to a Hearing Officer. On September 17, 2007 a hearing was held at the Agency's location. APPEARANCES Grievant Grievant Representative Agency Party Designee Agency Representative Witnesses ISSUE Whether the Agency, since an earlier grievance filing by the Grievant, has subjected the Grievant to a hostile work environment and retaliation.
Page 3 of 10
BURDEN OF PROOF In claims of hostile work environment or retaliation, the burden of proof is upon the Grievant to present her evidence first and prove her claim by a preponderance of the evidence. A preponderance of the evidence is evidence which shows that what is sought to be proved is more probable than not. 1 FINDINGS OF FACT After reviewing the evidence presented and observing the demeanor of each witness, the Hearing Officer makes the following Findings of Fact: The Grievant filed a timely grievance asserting that she had endured a hostile work environment and that, because of the filing of prior grievances on her behalf, she was subject to retaliatory treatment from management. 2 The Agency declined to qualify the grievance for a hearing and the Grievant requested a compliance ruling from EDR. On July 2, 2007, the EDR Director ruled that the grievance was qualified for a hearing. The State Board of Elections ("The Agency") has employed the Grievant for approximately twenty (20) years. Her current position is that of the Virginia Election and Registration Information System ("VERIS") Operational Manager. On December 8, 2005 and December 9, 2005, the Grievant filed grievances alleging race discrimination, failure to receive the same opportunities to provide input as other employees, preferential treatment for certain employees, a request that the Agency's organizational structure be reviewed by an outside entity and the issuance of an arbitrary or capricious performance evaluation. 3 The Grievant's allegations and position in these grievances were substantially upheld. It is of particular importance that in one (1) of these grievances, the phrase "As recently as late July, she was still clinging to the familiar VVRS" was deemed by the reviewer to be inaccurate and was, pursuant to the grievance, removed from the Grievant's performance evaluation. 1 Grievance Procedure Manual ("GPM") Section 5.8 and Section 9 2 Agency Exhibit 1, Tab 1 3 Grievant Exhibit 1, Tab 4 and Tab 1 The Hearing Officer heard testimony from many witnesses and all indicated that the Agency had difficulties as it transferred from the Virginia Voter Registration System ("VVRS") to the new VERIS program. The Hearing Officer heard testimony from the Deputy Project Manager for the implementation of the VERIS program that she had been told by various employees of the Agency that the Grievant was difficult to work with, and that she did not want to implement the changeover from the VVRS program to the VERIS program. In point of fact, she found her to be a wealth of information and very easy to work with...."
click on the above link for more on this story of racial discrimination and retaliation at the hands of management of the Virginia State Board of Elections.


text:
Troodles' big Damn Star Trek discussion. You may want to grab a potty break.
This is definitely one of the times where my flammable workplace gimp suit comes in handy. I work at a theater as an usher. I could do worse, and have, but I digress. Today was a "perk" kind of day.
I was allowed to clock off early so I could go to an advance screening of the new J.J. Abrams contribution to the Star Trek Franchise. Finally, A movie I can watch the crap out of. I'll be honest, I fully expected him to not "get it" in the slightest and laugh at the audience instead of with us, but he gets us. He really really gets where our heads are at.
It's not just the special effects, which are undeniably bad-ass. It's not just the costumes that I personally love and now want a pair of Romulan boots. It's the teeny weeny things that a fan would pick up: It's the verbal exchange between the characters, their personal struggles and what ultimately draws them to become who they become. I love the nods to the original television series and even smaller nods to previous movie soundtracks, especially during battle sequences.
This movie made me laugh, cheer, and love the experience of sitting in a theater again. Things like this movie are why I like the fandom.
I would go into detail about the finer points of the movie, but I really don't like "spoiler pigs" who one-up their readers and spoil the experience. Go. Enjoy. You're welcome.
Now, on to Star Trek related crap: Shatner's not in it and I profoundly do not care. He pretends not to either, but he devotes a fair amount of time griping about it.
Personally, I'm chalking it up to some karmic blowback from the "get a life" remark. I didn't find an unsullied version, but you get the drift. My take on the whole situation is this: the first time you laugh AT my fandom instead of WITH us, is the end of any damn-giving that this blogger plans to engage in. His geek pass got revoked right after that SNL episode, at least in my eyes.


text:
Riley Steele Strip For Me (2009) BDRip - CD1
Release Year: 2009
Studio: Digital Playground
Cast: Heather Vahn, James Deen, Krissy Lynn, Manuel Ferrara, Mick Blue, Paris Kennedy, Riley Steele, Sadie West, Scott Nails
Genres: Feature
Video language: English
Riley Steele shows off her lusty, expert skill as a stripper with a ?wicked ass lap dance?, ready to tease, secude and entertain your wildest fantasies. She?s an exhibitionist with no limits, wanting to engage in naughty sex acts with gorgeous studs. A slow, erotic dance of unbridled sexual need ignites in six sizzling scenes of unquenchable desire.
File size: 699.7 MB
Download Riley Steele Strip For Me (2009) BDRip - CD1


text:
Show, don't tell: Round 1
9 July 2009 6 Comments
Round 1 in the Show, don't tell showdown: Patty Wickman versus ubiquitous Christian painting hanging in most every American baptist church.
Above is Patty Wickman's surreal A Thief in the Night. Wickman, an art professor at UCLA, is a master (in my opinion) of turning beautifully simple subjects into powerful metaphors.
Which do you think is more powerful imagery? Which is more likely to cause the viewer to more deeply engage the subject matter? Which one employs imagination? Which one tells and which one shows? And (ironically) which one is more likely to change a person's attitude or worldview?
Christians in the past 100 years seem to have forgotten how to be creative, use our imaginations, when communicating visually. For some reason we feel the need to reduce the Gospel (and any other theological tenets we hold dear) to what is more or less propaganda. We obviously aren't reading our Gospels very closely. The parables are a prime example of using art — storytelling — to show people an idea or principle rather than just saying it out loud. Granted, the culture was different then than now, and we may not be able to do exactly as Jesus did, but the point remains: People won't respond to a direct statement in the same manner as they will to something that is illustrated, painted, drawn out.
And, for what it's worth, the painting of Jesus knocking at the door (of your heart as so many mistakenly believe) is based on a verse, as far as I know, that's almost always taken out of context. The imagery is generally used to appeal to non-believers. In reality, the verse is speaking to the church of Laodicea in the context of repentance.


text:
Tree Fairy
Hand made fondant fairy, flowers and leaves, rice crispy tree trunk, a lot of disco dust "pixie dust". I love making that cake. 14 in cake and tree top was 8in cake and half of sport ball cake.
Tags: birthday
2 Comments
great job!
Thank you very much!


text:
This book is suitable for Young Adult readers!!!
There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
Yeah, well, if only.
The boy, Ethan Wate was your ordinary small town boy who dreams of the day when he will leave his hometown to go to university and to forget all the memories Gatlin keeps. The memories of his dead mother, the memories of the father that has kept to himself since his wife's death, the memories of the downright awful people that live in the town and their constant gossiping...
He wants to escape, he wants a life away from the craziness and the routines everyone around him has. But that chances so fast. In the first chapter all he though about was leaving, afterwards all he though about was the new fascinating girl in town, Lena Duchannes.
Problem is, she's not a normal girl and not everyone in town likes her... Actually everyone started to hate her just because she was an outsider and because she was the niece of Macon Ravenwood, the town's creep that never leaves his house..
That's not all, though. Lena's family has a big secret and a curse looming over them, threatening Lena's future.
The story was good. I liked it but the pace was a little off. For a big part of the book there was this running around and I'm not sure why. The thing with first books in a series is that nothing is really clear because we haven't found out the whole story wet and it's hard to follow sometimes.
I'm not sure if it was because it's from Ethan's P.O.V (I'm used to reading books with female main characters, not that I have anything against those with male main characters, it's just they are not that common) but there was something not quite wright for me.
I wanted to read the story more because I wanted to see what happens, not because I was driven by some unseen force...
Anyway, I did like the book no matter what. It's a fact that I wanted to read it and that it held some interest for me to want to finish it.
I liked the characters because everyone had something to bring to the table and I was curious to see what they are going to do next. The side characters were quite interesting and I especially loved Ridley and even though she is dark, she had a certain flirty and mostly naughty air around her and it was fun to watch.
I will give the book 4 stars because there were some pretty good moments in it and because I want to watch the movie and read the next book but the book is more of a 3.5 rating...
I'm conflicted about it because it was definitely not one of those books that make me what to cry because it's over but it was interesting nevertheless.
I give it:
You can find the book on Goodreads,
And purchase it from:The Book Depository, Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
And you should check out the authors on Goodreads (Garcia), Goodreads (Stohl) and their website (Garcia) , website (Stohl).
Here are the other covers I found:
See the rest of my reviews here.
Until the next time,


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Reports are circling around that Neil Warnock has left QPR not sure if it's of his own accord or even if it's true as there's been nothing official yet.
Fans yesterday were very unhappy with the F.A Cup performance but surely that can't be the reason?
Many will say the hierarchy will want a bigger name in charge and what better time then the January transfer window?
What's your thoughts guys??


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Exclusive access sheds new light on problems facing young people today
Unprecedented numbers of children are being diagnosed with mental health disorders, being medicated, or are facing a crisis of identity. For nearly a hundred years the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in London has been at the forefront of exploring young minds, working to offer understanding, advice and solutions to a wide range of problems. This insightful and sensitively filmed new series goes behind the doors at the Tavistock for the first time. The first film follows two children, Ash and Matt, and their mothers, as they attend the Tavistock's Gender Identity Development Service, and wrestle with life-changing decisions such as taking hormone-blocking drugs. It's the only NHS-run gender clinic in the UK and has seen a 100 per cent increase in referrals in recent months. The second film follows three children who attend Gloucester House, a unique NHS-run primary and early secondary school for children with complex emotional, social and behavioural problems. It has a specialist team of teachers, mental health nurses, therapists and support workers who work intensively with its 18 students, many of whom have been excluded from mainstream schools. One in three British teenage girls are now said to report symptoms of anxiety or depression: episode three tells the stories of two such girls – Demi and Maisie. Both have repeatedly self-harmed, and Demi has even attempted to take her own life. We hear their stories, watch as their families reach breaking point and witness the intensive support they receive from Tavistock clinicians.


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Just wanted everyone to know that my sister is on her way to Virginia to visit me! We have lots of crazy sister trips planned. I am going to "unplug" on this trip and wont be blogging. I will have access to e-mails and such, but I'm definitely taking a break.
So in memory of last April's trip here is a reminder of how cute she is...
I'll take lots of pictures and hopefully have lots of fun stories when we return...whenever that might be.
Ta, Ta.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
5 comments:
- Ellie VanCaster said...
Oh I hope you have a fantastic time Susan-sounds
very fun!
- April 9, 2013 at 5:13 PM
- Sea Gypsy said...
I hope you have a great time! See you when you get back.
- April 9, 2013 at 10:35 PM
- Tina said...
have a lovely, memory filled visit!
- April 10, 2013 at 10:01 AM
- Countryfolk Keepsakes said...
YAY!!! What fun!
I've been thinking about Peri and her travels across country. Especially with the crazy weather!
Have fun and I'll see you all soon! ♥
- April 12, 2013 at 1:18 PM
- Elizabeth Golden said...
Hope you have a fantastic time! Take lots of pictures, stay up late, eat lots of good food, tell stories, and have an adventure or two.
- April 17, 2013 at 1:31 AM
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The Hidden Heart
Laura Kinsale
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers IncFormat: Paperback
When her eccentric naturalist father dies on the upper reaches of the Amazon, young Lady Tess Collier sets out to follow his last wishes: return to England and marry well. But Tess, who had accompanied her father on his expeditions since childhood, is as unconventional as she is beautiful.
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Keyhole Garden: Feeding the Soil
If you are interested in how we created this keyhole garden, please read the post Keyhole Garden: Making the Bed. After we formed the shape of the garden bed it was time to improve the health of the soil.
According to Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Homescale Permaculture, the key to creating a garden "that's bursting with healthy plants, well-balanced insects, and thriving wildlife" is to increase the life in the soil. Healthy soil is teaming with life; bacteria, fungi, amoebas, worms, millipedes, spiders, and so much more. All of this soil life is actively working to break down organic matter into nutrients that are more usable by plants. Gardeners who focus on "feeding" the soil with compost and organic matter have little need for added fertilizer, as the soil life transforms these materials to nutrients for plants. Read this Soil Biology Primer to learn more about the fascinating world of soil organisms.
Sheet mulching (very similar to Lasagna Gardening) is one way to create healthy soil by adding tons of organic matter. This method fundamentally consists of two layer:
- A weed-suppressing layer of newspaper or cardboard
- A One foot deep layer of organic matter (straw, spoiled hay, leaves, yard waste, grass clippings, wood shavings, as well as compost and well composted manure, if you have it)
This process can become more elaborate as you can choose to have multiple layers, as with Toby Hemenway's "Ultimate, Bombproof Sheet Mulch". But if you remember these two steps you can develop your own mulching style.
I like to mulch my garden beds in the fall so that by the following spring all of the organic material is broken down and a well composted soil remains, ready for seeds or seedlings. How we mulched the keyhole garden:
Mulching the Paths
- Cardboard- for weed suppression
- Wood chips- for weed suppression and to secure cardboard
Mulching the Garden Bed
- Newspaper- for weed suppression
- Straw- organic matter
- Compost- organic matter
- Leaf mulch- weed suppressant and for added organic matter
*NOTE* Add water to each layer, this will help to hold the layers in place while also providing water to help kick start soil life activity.
*NOTE* Compost and Leaf Mulch were purchased from AgRecycle. Please review our Garden Resources for local sources of compost and mulch.
Please check out the slide show below to see how we mulched the keyhole garden!
Sheet Mulching: Step by Step!
September 15, 2010 3:43 am
A good post…I enjoyed reading this, nice layout and clear info!
Jennifer permalinkJanuary 9, 2011 9:55 am
I love this idea and want to try to implement this in my own backyard. Would springtime (after last frost) be too late to start the layout and begin planting?


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If you are interested in making a meaningful contribution to the betterment of Downtown Prince George, we want to hear from you! We strongly encourage our downtown business and property owners to get involved, but anyone is welcome to join in on our committees. Respective committee meetings are held once a month and typically last one hour.
Beautification Committee
Goals: To increase the aesthetic appeal of Downtown Prince George. This committee oversees beautification initiatives including the façade improvement grant program, graffiti mitigation, litter control and handing baskets. Beautification Committee Terms of Reference: PDF Download
Events and Promotions Committee
Goals: To increase foot traffic to and awareness of businesses downtown. This committee oversees our own events and promotions and supports outside groups who are looking to coordinate their own activities in the downtown. Events & Promotions Committee Terms of Reference: PDF Download
Business Development Task Force
Goals: To increase the overall and proportionate number of retail stores in the downtown. This committee develops advocacy and funding strategies to that end. Issues addressed include neighbourhood safety, parking, retail organization, civic infrastructure and placemaking. Business Development Task Force Terms of Reference: PDF Download


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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.comments2017-05-17T14:32:48.393+05:30The other VedaVedashree Khambete-Sharmahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-28338762906958466962017-05-11T09:24:26.782+05:302017-05-11T09:24:26.782+05:30Nice post. Quite like the new look and feel of you...Nice post. Quite like the new look and feel of your blog page.Ch4https://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-14994331391956541982017-04-24T17:06:47.914+05:302017-04-24T17:06:47.914+05:30@Ch4: Thanks, I'm toying with the idea :) Perh...@Ch4: Thanks, I'm toying with the idea :) Perhaps after the next book.Vedashree Khambete-Sharmahttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-62642032039368234552017-03-09T09:17:50.808+05:302017-03-09T09:17:50.808+05:30Branching out into children's fiction?Branching out into children's fiction?Ch4https://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-39839189613093466602017-03-04T17:01:59.889+05:302017-03-04T17:01:59.889+05:30I quite like this piece of short fiction.I quite like this piece of short fiction.Ch4https://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-87699777572518950032016-06-30T16:27:37.043+05:302016-06-30T16:27:37.043+05:30She's doing very well, Rakhi. Thanks for readi...She's doing very well, Rakhi. Thanks for reading and commenting :)

Vedahttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-47086689034400195242016-05-05T17:33:33.381+05:302016-05-05T17:33:33.381+05:30I love this post.I love this post.Ahttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-42638474666094688652016-04-19T11:06:35.972+05:302016-04-19T11:06:35.972+05:30Long time reader but first time commenter. Really...Long time reader but first time commenter.
Really liked this one Veda! How's Pookie? Rakhihttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-36339955465046666072016-03-18T12:13:10.020+05:302016-03-18T12:13:10.020+05:30This is very nice blog and informative. I have sea...This is very nice blog and informative. I have searched many sites but was not able to get information same as your site. I really like the ideas and very intersting to read so much and Please Update and i would love to read more from your site
Thanks

Ayushi Kumarhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-64615697090659740882015-10-29T14:08:28.487+05:302015-10-29T14:08:28.487+05:30Hi Pavithra, I'm not a stay-at-home mom. I a...Hi Pavithra,

I'm not a stay-at-home mom. I am however, an advertising professional with a full-time job (as opposed to a freelancer, who can decide her own hours). What little time I get after my job and after my daughter goes to sleep, I use for writing my next book. Hence, the low post-rate on this blog.

You are correct, in that companies will happily hire mothers with older children, rather than mothers of newborns. It's because they think these women can work longer hours. As for long-term employees, assuming a woman starts working at 24 and stays at the same firm, how many years till she is considered 'long'term' enough to consider having a child? Should this really be a factor in her decision even?

And yes, some women do find the challenges of new motherhood impossible to negotiate with a full-time job and so they quit after taking the maternity leave. But are you really saying that there have been no known instances of young, single men quitting a week after joining a company, for no other reason except they found the job too boring / too demanding / too low-paying? I don't know what field you work in, but in mine, these cases are a dime a dozen.

Or are you saying that if a woman is ambitious, she shouldn't have children and if she does, then she should put her ambitions on the back-burner till her kid starts going to school? Because both those suggestions are equally unfair - the first because neither you nor I get to decide that for the woman in question, and the second, because a break of four years puts you so far behind in the rat race that you could end up reporting to your own juniors.

Companies *are* profit centres, yes, but aren't human resources as valuable an asset as any other for them? The amount of time and effort that's spent in training an employee, it's a cost that's a waste if the employee quits. So, is the solution to hire employees who won't quit because they get pregnant or to adopt policies (flexi-time, work-from-home, etc.) that make these employees want to continue with your firm, long after childbirth?

Nobody is asking for handouts from companies. But this penalising of women for having a functioning uterus has to stop. Women didn't ask to be the sex that bears children and it's about time the world realised that if half its workforce is women then the rules and policies of the workplace need to take their needs into consideration.

Vedahttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-44365089401944989662015-06-22T18:04:13.860+05:302015-06-22T18:04:13.860+05:30Nice post! And I might be in super denial, but mos...Nice post! And I might be in super denial, but most of it is true for 30 as well, right? RIGHT? Phttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-43637640115633055142015-05-12T16:15:20.136+05:302015-05-12T16:15:20.136+05:30If moms are as efficient as you claim them to be, ...If moms are as efficient as you claim them to be, why isnt that reflecting in the number of posts you have written after you have become a mother? Dont mean to be snarky or smart-assed, its still much more than how much bloggers end up blogging, especially in the first year. Cant complain, since its a full time exhausting job and its also likely that your priorities change (Sleeeep!) when you get some free time.

Imagine this situation: A young single man comes to you for an interview and tells you that he has plans to travel the world for six months, starting next year. And you know he is going to be running around for visas and stuff. He currently plans to join the company once he returns, but you know how it is with world travel- its life changing, he might or might not come back. He might stay back in a monastery in Nepal or a whorehouse in Romania. Of course, there is still the possibility that he might come back unscathed from all this. Oh, and I am not even talking about paying him while he travels the world.

Its just that with pregnant women/new moms you never know how its going to go. They might decide that spending time with their kids is important and choose to not join back work. And I am not saying it like some sort of a pre-medieval grandmother going "Once motherhood is achieved, nothing else matters". Its a choice women have and some of them choose to exercise it.

At the same time however, I think companies love to hire mothers. Moms with kids old enough to go to school etc. They really do have all the qualities you described above and the fact is that they have decided to work which means they will be great at it. And do correct me if i am wrong but i dont think companies shy away from hiring older women with kids who are qualified enough for the job.

Its the difference between hiring a guy who has spent a year traveling the world and one who is going to go for his first round-the-world trip in a few months.

And in same vein, I highly doubt if companies throw away long term employees who take a few months off for maternity.

Companies are profit centres- why shouldnt they get a bang for their buck? Why, when the others are making money, should ICICI and Axis act as kind benevolent grandfathers who take in pregnant women?

( I dont work for these companies or represent them in any way, nor am I a part of a HR team of some other company which makes such decisions, just to clarify)firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-84202526293367855662015-01-09T23:02:08.881+05:302015-01-09T23:02:08.881+05:30Dont worry too much about it .. it's her bagga...Dont worry too much about it .. it's her baggage (Aditya Panscholi, Ajay Devgn) speaking :) but full marks on 'Queen" though. lavanyahttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-67105332955955569812014-07-24T02:29:23.176+05:302014-07-24T02:29:23.176+05:30Welcome back! We missed you. It is also seriously ...Welcome back! We missed you. It is also seriously unfair that you withhold pictures of Pookie from us. At least send private messages and called them Pookie pics!

Much love and welcome to the club.Ratihttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-36217291071199128762014-07-08T15:57:12.845+05:302014-07-08T15:57:12.845+05:30As soon as I read your post, I alerted the others ...As soon as I read your post, I alerted the others "She's one of us!". email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-29688025539215300622013-11-20T20:51:03.386+05:302013-11-20T20:51:03.386+05:30Congratulations . Been there , done that Veda!It w...Congratulations . Been there , done that Veda!It will all level off and come around , eventually, anyway :)lavanyahttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-87242580562199967482013-11-19T11:55:10.760+05:302013-11-19T11:55:10.760+05:30Congratulations :) Congratulations :) Shrutihttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-88181113101599611062013-11-17T16:51:38.225+05:302013-11-17T16:51:38.225+05:30Congratulation, Vedi. Best wishes to both of you. ...Congratulation, Vedi. Best wishes to both of you. And a big hug. :)
firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-3313102053771093302013-11-08T16:15:25.713+05:302013-11-08T16:15:25.713+05:30http://www.harmonycentral.com/t5/Bass-Forum/An-ode...http://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-86570251302727222742013-09-17T16:01:13.474+05:302013-09-17T16:01:13.474+05:30just stumbled across your blog....loved this one i...just stumbled across your blog....loved this one in particular....makes me want to dig out my old copy of P&P and swoon over You-Know-Who all over again...and then (only then) read your book :)Shrutihttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-50712806172862881732013-08-14T12:48:32.094+05:302013-08-14T12:48:32.094+05:30Been a while you updated this, no? Been a while you updated this, no? thirdeyesurferhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-10759659759491222013-06-29T01:45:57.409+05:302013-06-29T01:45:57.409+05:30http://flutterfingers.tumblr.com/post/52369583406/...http://flutterfingers.tumblr.com/post/52369583406/postcard-bombay-the-project-began-as-aPrasidh Dalvihttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-36365975996677801582013-06-29T01:41:09.849+05:302013-06-29T01:41:09.849+05:30Hi, share exactly the same thoughts with you on th...Hi, share exactly the same thoughts with you on this. The true romance you share with Bombay is what we feel about this city, so we did a little stalking at the city in its most intimate romantic spaces.

And this city doesn't disappoint. Have a look.

http://flutterfingers.tumblr.com/post/52369583406/postcard-bombay-the-project-began-as-a

 Prasidh Dalvihttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-2335400838631665862013-06-10T23:37:20.082+05:302013-06-10T23:37:20.082+05:30I have naturally dead straight hair, not even a li...I have naturally dead straight hair, not even a little curl at the ends. Thought I admit all these things are true, I used to want voluminous wavy hair so badly. I would get caught in the rain, still straight. Sleep in a braid, next morning, still straight. Curl it with pens, still straight. I was that girl sitting in the corner of the room while her friends played with her older sister's curling email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-39036677580185339132013-05-30T16:47:44.239+05:302013-05-30T16:47:44.239+05:30Just wondering how you made this stuff so interest...Just wondering how you made this stuff so interesting to read.. :)
firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21990752.post-19316735180291631052013-05-01T12:57:07.799+05:302013-05-01T12:57:07.799+05:30Congratulations. Good luck with it.Congratulations. Good luck with it.Da Rodenthttps://firstname.lastname@example.com


text: OK, I've heard that you can convert a Glock 23 to a Glock 19 with just a barrel and mag swap. Does anyone know for a fact that this is true? I've heard you can swap down like that, but not up from 19 to 23. So, If I buy a Wolf barrel for a 19 and a couple of mags, can I shoot my 9mm ammo in my 23? This is just for fun and to have another range gun, and I don't really need a 19. I have TONS of 9mm ammo to play with. Thanks! :thumbup:


text:
Granted this is odd.
But I was taught to be thankful for the small things and if you have enough small things to be thankful for they will outweigh the big bad things. Yesterday was Thanksgiving. That's when I found a Carolina wolf spider (Hogna carolinensis) in my shower.
Wolf spiders have pretty formidable faces with eight eyes. In the photo, one pair of eyes is hidden at the top of the head. I'm not sure if they eat the crickets or merely scare them into leaving. The jury is out on that one.
Happy post Thanksgiving.
Happy post Thanksgiving.


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(Memphis) In a conference call Thursday with President Obama, Memphis Mayor A C Wharton listened along with mayors across the country as the President asked them to help get teen's summer jobs.
Idle time during the summer for teens can promote bad behavior and even increase crime.
Mayor Wharton agrees with President Obama that mayors across the country should partner up with private businesses to promote job growth for those teens during the summer.
But he says Memphis isn`t stopping there.
The city is promoting constructive activity all together for teens.
"Some of it has to do with young people having a sense of opportunity and needing someone to give them that first window into the workplace," said President Obama.
Mayor Wharton says the city is expanding summer programs that offer jobs and mentor teenagers.
"What we`re doing in Memphis and what we will be submitting to the president is for those employees who cannot bring in ten young folks to work for obvious liability reason that does not let them off the hook," said Mayor Wharton.
Those companies are giving money for mentorships instead of actual jobs giving teens in the program a chance to meet and eat with some of the city's top local businesses.


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The Lion Book of Two-Minute Christmas Stories
Elena Pasquali
Publisher:Lion Hudson Plc
This collection of ten Christmas stories, retold with warmth and wisdom, includes a retelling of the Nativity story from the Gospels as well as tales and legends associated with Christmas traditions from around the world. Together these stories reflect the message of peace and goodwill at Christmas. Each story is retold in a short but continuous narrative, with quick and quirky illustrations adding to the momentum. The playful element is enhanced by text that 'interacts' with the pictures by means of join-in words so that they are fun to share with children. The large text and carefully managed readability mean that such a book is also great fun for young children who are learning to read. Part of Lion's Two-Minute series which also includes Bible Stories, Parables, Bedtime Stories and Animal Stories.
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What About the Failures? October 19, 2010Posted by jetson in Personal.
Tags: Atheism, Atheist, Bible, christian, Christianity, god, miracle, religion
18 comments
You simply cannot have it both ways. For almost every miracle, there is a failure, or more often, massive failure. When a bus goes over a cliff, and a single person survives, God gets the credit for the miracle. But why does God not also get the blame for the other deaths? The moment you give credit to God for a miracle, you are by default stating that God is also responsible for the tragedy as well. Even the Chilean miner accident had tragedy.
Sure, all of the miners were saved – thanks to the rescuers, and everyone else involved. But a miracle from God? Are you kidding me? Someone even claimed that God was the 34th person in the mine along with the miners! Seriously? What was he doing down there? If God's miracle saved the miners, why were they stuck in the mine for more than two solid months? How much more incompetent can the creator of the universe actually be? And how is the collapse not the fault of God in the first place?
Anyway, it sure gets old hearing about all of the miracles of God, while conveniently ignoring the disaster that required the miracle in the first place! It's disgusting. And many people do this without giving it a second thought. God, they say, was the reason that there were survivors in a particular disaster. But simultaneously, God certainly is not to blame for the tragedy and untimely and horrific deaths of the rest of the group. And no one seems to notice, nor care. The last thing on the mind of miracle thumpers is the fact that the miracle was even necessary.
I suppose that if California ever experiences a massive earthquake, one that has long been feared and seems as likely as all of the prior earthquakes, God will get all of the miracle credits, while perhaps hundreds of thousands will surely die as the ground swallows them whole, or perhaps a large chunk of the coast crumbles into the pacific, forever reshaping the coast line. But who will actually blame God for the disaster? Did God create the earth, and all of it's natural disasters? There are certainly plenty of Christians who have no problem blaming tsunamis and earthquakes on sinners. I guess we'll never know for sure, since God is conspicuously absent from modern times (assuming you believe he physically interacted with ancient humans some 2,000 years ago and earlier.)
As one who is quite certain that many modern humans are simply unable to abandon imaginary gods, I have to say that I am wholly unimpressed by miracle claims where credit is given to God. This god, who is also given full credit for actually creating the entire universe, and everything in it, is apparently incapable of managing the world, and the universe in such a way as to allow his beloved humans to live without fear of getting buried alive by a volcano, or be drowned on an otherwise beautiful beach by the sudden appearance of a tsunami. There is even a ready made excuse for such ineptness – free will! That's right – free will is the reason that suffering is allowed by God.
Yeah, I tried to understand that one, and I was left with the same bewildered feeling. Pathetic.
Creationists, You Were Lied To February 6, 2010Posted by jetson in Personal.
Tags: Atheism, church, creationism, god, intelligent design, religion
10 comments
I feel sorry for some of you, but not for those of you who remain steadfastly ignorant, on purpose, of how life has evolved on our planet. The ones I feel sorry for are young children who are being deliberately lied to by people who think that the stories in Genesis reflect the actual truth about how the world and its life came to be, by the hand of their god. As a parent, I find it reprehensible that some parents allow their children to be dogmatically and religiously indoctrinated into a system of mythology and superstition that requires absolute suspension of disbelief, in order to hold on to their warm blanket of God.
Richard Dawkins has said that believing that the earth is less than ten thousand years old is equivalent to believing that the distance between New York and San Francisco is less than ten meters. That is a scale of ignorance that defies logic, even to a young child. Yet every day, children are lied to, on purpose, by people who think they are doing right by their god, that they are somehow defending the honor of their god by plugging their ears whenever observable reality steps in and say's hello.
If you still want to believe that a god worked its magic and created everything, I can't stop you, nor would I want to. But I will actively voice my opinion and concern when you deliberately lie to children by teaching them that something written by an unknown story teller, thousands of years ago, before humans learned what shape the planet is, is a fact. And when you teach them that science is wrong, and that science is atheist, or that science hates gods, or any other conflation between what real scientists have learned and contributed to humanity, you show your willingness to actually lie to your own children. For these things I will always speak out, and remind creationists that they were lied to by someone.
We can remove the ignorance that has spread over the most powerful and free country in all of humanity if we just stop allowing mythology and superstition to insert itself where it does not belong. If parents want to take their children to church, and teach them about their religious beliefs, I have no problem at all with that (although I think that children should always be allowed to decide about religion when they are old enough to decide on their own.) Just keep your religion out of the public education system, stop worrying about what science is doing if you don't care to embrace it, and don't lie to your children on purpose just to defend your personal superstitions. It's embarrassing as a fellow human to see this happening.
Religion, Science, and Conflation January 10, 2010Posted by jetson in Personal.
Tags: abiogenesis, Atheism, beliefs, conflation, creationism, intelligent design, science, theory of evolution
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As a new blogger, and as one who takes great interest in science and its contributions to human knowledge, I felt it was time to address the topic of what I perceive to be a serious problem. Namely, the conflation of topics, theories, and fields of study related to what we have learned, using the scientific method, about our universe, and our planet and its life. What exactly is going on? Well, for one thing, when one attacks a scientific theory because it conflicts with their religious beliefs, it seems they will stop at nothing to confuse and conflate the theory with a series of arguments that really have nothing to do with the theory they are attacking.
For example, the theory of evolution. This theory is an attempt to discover and understand how life forms have, and continue to, evolve over time. From the earliest evidence of life, up to the current range of life including plants and animals. The theory of evolution does not give an account of how life on planet earth got started. Since there is evidence that the planet was once devoid of life forms, the assumption is that life "somehow" got started. Given that evolution does not attempt to answer the specific question regarding how life got started, then using that fact against the theory is, to put it plainly, pointless. To be sure, there are scientists spending plenty of their valuable time and effort on abiogenesis, the study of how life on our planet first got started.
Regardless of how life got started, it is evolving. There is little doubt or disagreement about this. There is certainly plenty of disagreement about the ToE among outspoken believers that life was placed here by a god. But it is quite clear that it stands today as the only scientific explanation over the evolution of life on earth. To claim that it is not is nothing more than admitting ignorance of the theory, misunderstanding what the theory is telling us, or outright refusal to accept it, usually on religious grounds. If there exists any scientist out there with a genuine study that refutes the ToE to the extent that it no longer stands, they have yet to come forward and prove it.
Another example of conflation between science and religion is the idea that science is atheistic. Hogwash. There are many scientists who have done great work, who are Christians. There is no conspiracy between science and religion. There is no group of atheist scientists trying to shut down religion. There are no atheistic scientific theories. To put it clearly, science is how we discover how the world works. Religion, on the other hand, is how we used to explain how the world works. Before science came along, people relied on religious leaders to explain things. Science has been attacked ever since.
To conflate issues between science and religion, is to deliberately mislead and confuse people with incorrect information. While it is always ones right to reject science, it is hardly appropriate to claim a better answer than we have through science in favor of a religious answer, especially when you don't have evidence to support it. If you think you have a better answer to a scientific theory, you have every right to present your evidence, using the proper scientific method. You are also quite obligated to understand the theory, why it is important, and what the theory actually means. Anything less will get you the ridicule and derision you deserve. There are far too many honest, hard working scientists around the world to have to stoop to a level of ignorance that keeps them from doing good work that actually helps humanity!
Are You a Christian? January 4, 2010Posted by jetson in Personal.
Tags: Atheism, Atheist, Bible, Catholic, christian, Christianity, church, god, religion, The Bible
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If you believe that Jesus was the son of God, and is also God, then you are more than likely a Christian. There are billions of Christians in the world today. Because of my religious background, I refer to Christianity more often than other religions. I was once a Christian in the Catholic Church and I was baptized and confirmed, so there is really no denying my official status. According to the Catholic Church, I am still A Christian! Obviously, I have decided not to be a part of the Christian Church, but I'm hardly willing to go through the trouble that it takes to get removed, or as they call it, ex-communicated.
I would like to say that I have no reason to think that all Christians think alike, or that all Christians believe the same things, or that all Christians are anything more than, at the very least, believers in Jesus Christ, the son of God (god of The Bible, of course.) I have more Christian friends than I do friends of other religions, as far as I can tell. I do not have very many atheist friends, as most atheists keep their disbelief to themselves. Most of my friends don't know that I am now calling myself atheist. The main reason for this is because it doesn't really come up, and I am exactly the same person I was before I made the claim of my disbelief. I don't feel it needs to be announced to all of my friends, but at the same time, I'm not going to go out of my way to hide it if it comes up.
So, even though I have chosen to withhold my belief in God, and I am willingly deciding that I may end up burning in hell for all eternity, I am still exactly who I was before I started this blog. The one exception is that I feel very strongly about speaking out against belief systems that directly challenge my freedoms, and my right to believe whatever I want, and my right to associate with anyone I choose, no matter their beliefs. I will not sit by and watch young earth creationists attack the scientific knowledge gained from the hard working people around the world who, by their very efforts, are helping billions of people in various ways as a result. I will not stand by while religious believers try to stamp out my ability to freely speak out against ideas that I don't agree with. I refuse to allow religious believers to wage bigotry and hatred against homosexuals and their human rights because their god told them it was evil. And I will not sit quietly while some religious believers use their beliefs to attempt to impart their morals on everyone around them.
For the many millions of Christians who are not actively engaged in those activities, please do your part to speak out against those that do, or find another church or denomination. As well, don't allow anyone to misrepresent the messages of compassion that Jesus was spreading when he walked the earth. Help the rest of the world by allowing others to disagree, and to find their own beliefs, or their own ways of dealing with their lives and the lives of their families and communities without interference from anyone. This world needs more tolerance of opposing ideologies and beliefs – there is literally no other way it can work.
If my blog is offensive to you as a Christian, then I suggest you point it out to me in the comments, and allow me to respond. Or, if you are one of those religious believers that I am speaking directly to, then stand up for your beliefs and let me know that as well. If you believe homosexuals are sinners bound to burn for all eternity, then say so. If I call it bigotry, then at least you were bold enough to say it yourself and I know exactly who I am dealing with.
Are you a Pretender? November 22, 2009Posted by jetson in Personal.
Tags: Atheism, Atheist, Bible, Christianity, god, Hell, Priest, religion, The Bible
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Do you pretend to believe in God? I used to. When I stood in Church on Sunday mornings, after being dropped off by my parents, I could barely understand anything the priest was saying. I'm sure most of it was scripture from various sections of The Bible, but it was so difficult to understand, and impossible for me to remain interested as a young boy. I wonder how much more interested I would have been as a child if The Bible had been presented as ancient mythology? As I remember back to those times, I was definitely hiding my disbelief to some degree. What I can't quite figure out though is, why was I doing that?
Why did I find it necessary to pretend to listen and care about God and Jesus and all of the other mythology I was being taught? None of it mattered to me, really. But there was something causing me to pretend, and not to speak out about it. I wonder if it is the same phenomenon that causes people who know that Santa is not real, to keep it a secret for those who still believed? Somehow, it feels the same, but there was definitely more mystery behind the God belief, as well as a Church full of adults who could have been blindly believing in something they had no way of knowing was real or not. Did these adults examine the idea at all, or did they just swallow it all without question? Why does religion have such a stranglehold on the human brain? I won't claim to know the answer, as I am not qualified to speak authoritatively on such matters. But I am free to talk about the issue from a personal perspective. I was simply afraid to speak out.
There is a brief period in the lives of many children where they are afraid to talk openly about Santa Claus in front of their peers. I think it is based on the fear of ridicule. Most of us outgrow Santa, and we realize that what he is supposed to accomplish every year is physically impossible without magic. So we are reluctant to mention it at some point among our friends because we are afraid of being ridiculed, and even afraid of being the one who ridicules. If my best friend still believes in Santa an I was the one who broke the news to him, I might cause him embarrassment or shame. If that same friend already knew that Santa was a myth, then I would be the one embarrassed if I mentioned my belief. That period though, doesn't last that long.
So it could be with religion as well. It is entirely possible, and very likely in my opinion, that many people inside the Churches every Sunday are simply pretending to believe. They are afraid to drop the pretense based on fear of ridicule. They are well aware of the social system of out-casting non-believers, and they are not about to risk such ridicule. So they pretend. What's the harm in pretending anyway?
If God were real, you would never get away with pretending anyway. What a sad conundrum for people – force yourself to believe, because it's impossible to trick God – to be in a state where they must suspend disbelief in order to please a non-existent, mythological character from an ancient book. After all, Hell awaits those who don't believe. How much more powerful can the message be if it doesn't hold your eternal happiness hostage? Just keep pretending.
I have told my kids to pretend to be happy. It wasn't exactly original, but it came to me as an interesting experiment. I would tell them that they did not have to actually be happy, they could stay as angry as they wanted, but they had to "pretend" to be happy. This way they could be angry and no one would have to know that they were actually angry. When they were younger, it worked fairly well. It didn't take them too long though to discover that I was tricking them. To pretend to be happy was satisfying enough to get them out of their funk. Maybe that's all that religion really is.
If an adult can pretend to believe in God, then the only possible way this could harm them is if God were real, and He knew they were merely pretending. Family and friends would never know the difference, and when death finally arrives, there will be no witness to the final destination of the pretender. The person died a "good Christian", and no one was the wiser. I wonder if it is worth it to spend your life pretending though?
With the experiment I used on my children, I ended up telling them that I was only trying to get them to realize that being angry was a state of mind, and one that they can turn off and on as needed. They could choose things that are worth getting angry over, and ultimately control their anger so that it doesn't control them. I believe it is healthier to distinguish between pretending and reality, so that the two don't remain ambiguous when it comes to who you actually are. When I "let go" of pretending God was real, I was finally free from hiding my feelings. I didn't run around screaming about it, but I was definitely freed from the bonds of religion and its grip on skepticism. I no longer worry about what others think. I am getting more comfortable as time goes by.
It may not be easy to stop pretending to believe, but it is not impossible. You have to consider questions like: What would the universe and world look like of God were not real? If God were real, would he really allow such suffering as we see today? If God were real, and He held the title of all-loving creator of humans, would He allow innocent babies to be slaughtered for the gain of one group of "selected" humans? If God were real, would you even need to pretend? If God were real, wouldn't you know without a doubt – wouldn't everyone know without a doubt? If God were real, would atheists still exist?
Think about it – and stop pretending, you'll feel better when you come out of the closet and free yourself from the mythological stories and beliefs of people who had no idea what the universe is, or that the earth was not flat, or that gods didn't control lightning, love, nor require sacrifices from petty humans. Let go, now.
Do You Fear Atheists? November 21, 2009Posted by jetson in Personal.
Tags: Atheism, Atheist, Bible, Catholic, Christianity, god
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What does the term "atheist" mean to you? Does it conjure up a specific image, or definition? Have you ever investigated the term objectively? Since I have attached the term to myself, I have heard all sorts of definitions and descriptions, as well as hatred and fear of the term, and anyone who calls themselves atheist. This is a major problem.
My family, as well as some of my closest friends know very well that I do not believe in any gods, including God of The Bible – even though I was raised and indoctrinated into Roman Catholicism. I say indoctrinated simply because I had NO choice in the matter as a young boy. While growing up, I had enough doubt that I never took religion very seriously. Neither did my parents as far as I could tell. But today, I use the term atheist, and even within my own family, I can tell there are some serious misconceptions about what the term actually means. Brace yourself for this completely objective definition of the term: a disbelief in a god or gods.
Surprised? Many people, given this simple definition, are still concerned simply because society has granted religion and its gods a very special privilege over thousands of years. This privilege is not well warranted however, if you consider what has happened in the last 100 years. Even well before serious scientific discoveries, religion provided the "answers" to everything. It was granted immunity to any investigation into its claims. It stood alone as a sole authority on anything it wanted to claim absolute knowledge of, and anyone who disagreed was considered either immoral, or blasphemous.
A disbelief in a god or gods say's almost nothing about the person who holds this view. If I were able to say that anyone who holds a Christian view is stupid, or immoral, then I would quickly be labeled as completely ignorant, a liar, and probably some form of hateful bigot. And that would be correct! So it goes that if someone has a disbelief in a god or gods, that person may be one of the kindest, most trustworthy people you ever meet. Even if it turns out that there is a real god out there, there will be people who don't believe. That would only make them ignorant, or incapable of accepting a fact. It would not make them a bad person.
So why are atheists, people who don't believe in a god or gods, considered to be one of the least admired "groups" in the world? Because the most popular religions have decreed, on their own, that those who do not believe are somehow bad, or destined to hell, or an infidel worthy of killing in extreme cases. Unfortunately, this consideration of non-believers is completely without any supporting facts.
There is absolutely no evidence anywhere that would support an assertion that non-belief in a god or gods makes someone bad. There is not even evidence that a believer is inherently better, simply because he believes. The dichotomy between belief in a god, and disbelief is simply a matter of what the person thinks is true or not. A person takes in the information provided regarding the Christian god, for example, and then decides on their own whether the god is real or not. Many people just cannot accept the evidence, or the writings, or any of the arguments in support of a god. When an atheist gets into a debate with a Christian, the only good outcome will be that they remain friendly with each other, and agree to disagree.
I am living proof that atheists are not bad people, and there are literally millions more just like me. There is NOTHING at all to fear about atheists. They are simply people; people who have no more power or influence over anyone else than any other group. We do not hate, we do not incite violence, we do not commit immoral acts, nor do we condone illegal behavior. We don't "worship" science, or scientists. We do not all agree with each other on everything. We are not a cult. We don't hate Christmas. We are not any more or less sinful than a Christian. We have no agenda outside of speaking out against any and all forms of religious based laws placed on us as citizens of the United States.
I have many friends and colleagues that I care about and respect. I have not shared my disbelief with all of them simply because there really is no reason to. I don't have many friends and colleagues who tell me about their religious beliefs, so I offer the same level of respect by keeping my non-belief to myself. However, I have felt compelled to share my atheism with some of my closest friends because I feel like I would be lying about who I am. This is purely a matter of how close I am with someone though.
I believe that if my friends and colleagues were to write a few sentences about me as a person, there would be almost no evidence about my religious beliefs, or lack thereof (with the exception of a few who know exactly how I feel.) Those few might mention my disbelief, but I doubt they could make any claim that would show me as a bad person, or somehow less moral than a believer. I have close Christian friends who might go as far as to say that I am lost, and that I will eventually find my way back to God.
To be sure, atheists are in an uphill battle, much like blacks who used to be considered "less human" than whites, and much like gays, who are still considered to be immoral, bad, or confused about their sexuality (although gays have made awesome progress.) Atheists have to continue speaking out against religious bigotry (from extremists.) They have to continue to speak out against the idea that they are not good people, as well as speak out against religious oppression through laws that are not purely secular.
I can tolerate all sorts of cultural rituals and habits that society drags along through tradition. Most of it doesn't bother me so much that I feel I need to act. But looking at the United States for example, we still have a very long way to go if we are to maintain the freedom of religion that our country was founded upon. Even if the majority of the people are religious, they do not hold a special right to impart that religion on the rest of us. No one has that right, and our founding fathers gave no such special status to any religion – no matter how popular.
Don't be afraid if someone doesn't believe. Just state your opinion, why you believe, and respect the opposite opinion from an atheist. Help spread the word that atheists are sitting in the next cubicle, they are sitting in the next foxhole, and they are walking past you in the streets, serving your meal at a restaurant, and depositing your paycheck into your bank account. They number in the multi-millions, and they do not seek to destroy everything you believe in. They simply want to be a part of the human society that allows freedom of thoughts, beliefs, and the freedom to disagree. That's what we all want, isn't it?
My Journey to Atheism October 4, 2009Posted by jetson in Personal.
Tags: Atheism, Atheist, atheist journey, beliefs, christian, church, religion, sunday school
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Mine is not an unusual story, nor is it a particularly fascinating one, but I find it useful to share so that others can see how people shed their religious beliefs. Yes, people do shed their religious beliefs – they even switch religions altogether! That fact alone should shed some light on the problems we have as humans who think that a particular religion is the correct one. I remember going to church when I was about six years old. I went to church and to Sunday school with my sisters – we were in different classes though, because of our different ages. We had books, with pictures and stories, just like regular school. As we got older, we were taught about the Catholic sacraments and that we would eventually complete them all. I can't remember what the goal was, I guess it was to become a permanent, card carrying member of the Catholic church.
The difference for me was that my parents were not particularly religious. They weren't always in church with us, and they would drop us off at Sunday school and run errands. Needless to say, they did not push religion on us in our daily lives. I guess I am happy about that! We were overseas when I was young, and when we moved to the states and settled, my mom's goal was to make sure we were confirmed. I even picked Mark as my confirmation name! After that though, we stopped going altogether, and I was thrilled – church services were quite boring as far as I can remember.
That was thirty years ago and I can't remember ever going to church for anything other than the occasional wedding or funeral since then. I never really gave religion much thought along the way, other than the discussions that come up occasionally among friends. Every now and then, I would wonder why people would cling to religious beliefs, so I guess I was agnostic at the time. I had heard the term atheist back then, but, like everyone else, I thought it meant something terrible. How wrong I was.
Most recently, within the past year or so, I picked up a copy of "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. I took it home and within the first few pages, I was intrigued. Midway through the book I was enthralled, and by the time I reached the end, I was an atheist. Yes, it was that easy. So I didn't leave religion kicking and screaming, nor did I endure any emotional emptiness or sadness for leaving behind God. I did however, run smack into the wall of hatred and bigotry that is espoused towards atheists by the fundamentalist believers of various religions. Man, was that ever a wake up call! It actually made me nervous and concerned that I would be scorned at and ridiculed. Sadly, it is all too real. I have never been personally attacked because I don't run around screaming out loud that I am atheist.
As I dug deeper into the atheist worldview (which is bizarre enough given that atheists are only defined by their non-belief in a god or gods status), I noticed a very strange similarity between atheists and the gay and lesbian cultures in the United States. There is a strong negative emotional element towards both groups, and sadly, atheists are even more reviled according to a recent survey. I even read a quote from former president George H.W. Bush where he said "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." Ouch. This negative emotional tendency seems to be grounded in religious beliefs, as opposed to rational thought. I do not personally have a sexual attraction to other males, but I am in no way concerned that some males have that preference. Nor do I have any concerns over anyone's personal religious beliefs.
I have since read many other books including "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris. I have also joined various web groups and bloggers who share their stories, and who write and argue in defense of non-believers everywhere. I can say with great certainty that I completely support everyone's right to hold their own beliefs – including non-belief! Sadly, I have not seen too much tolerance for non-belief, rather I see an onslaught of messages and attitudes that cannot imagine a world without God. These same people are certain that people like me will surely end up in Hell (something that I don't believe is real.) What a lovely thought as I walk among people around my city. What is even more sad is that there are competing religions that have the same convictions, which means that all but one group may have it right, but everyone else – to Hell with them all.
I have honestly never felt better about who I am. I treat people with respect and courtesy, I help people in any way that I possibly can, and I donate to charities each year. I treat my children well, I don't try to force my beliefs on anyone, and I respect those who are willing to discuss issues with an open mind, meaning they are willing to admit they could be wrong. I do get a bit more frustrated when I run into people who use their religion to replace things that science has done for the world. I get frustrated when people claim to know their god in ways that no one ever could – unless their god has chosen them and given them special knowledge, of course. I get frustrated when fundamentalists attempt to get religious texts inserted into public science curriculum's as an alternative to current scientific theories such as evolution (these same people have no problem taking anti-biotics, a direct result of evolutionary theory.)
Anyway, that's my story, not exactly a journey I guess. I have much more to say, and I will add more blogs as I can. I am still on my journey as I read The Bible – yes, I have never actually read it. And I don't think very many Christians have read it either, nor do they concern themselves too much beyond what their pries, preacher, or pastor reads in church. I keep a copy on my iPhone so that I can refer to it in discussions, and read passages to better understand them. I have found that the atheist community in general have more knowledge on The Bible than many Christian apologists who claim to know what it all means.
The Bible – A Series of Passages (I) September 3, 2009Posted by jetson in Personal.
Tags: Atheism, Atheist, Bible, Catholic, christian, Flood, Genesis, god, Noah
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I am a new blogger! I'm just a regular guy with no particular expertise on life, other than my almost 47 years of living it! My journey has brought me to consider that humans have no particular reason to consider that religion, its gods, or its tenets are required to live happy, healthy and fulfilled lives. I am an atheist (please look up the definition before you claim to know what it means!) It is not easy to say this publicly given the stigma attached to the term. To save you the trouble, atheism is simply the belief that there are no real gods.
I do not believe in any of the thousands of gods through human history. I am fairly certain that all gods are man-made, as a method of explaining the unknown, and of filling minds with a reason for our existence. I also believe that gods were created as a method of controlling large groups of people through fear, shame, and guilt. Notice I said, fairly certain – which means that I have no way of proving that a god does not exist, and I will never be absolutely certain. It does not mean that I am entertaining the idea that a god is possible either, so it is safe to say that my atheist view is going to remain intact for the rest of my life.
Before I start my series on Bible passages, I would just like to add that I have no desire to promote atheism in particular, this is about my personal journey, and what I have come to believe thus far in my life. I have many friends and colleagues who are Christian, Muslim, and Jewish, for example. I respect their individual journeys and beliefs, and I will only speak out when specific religious beliefs are forced upon myself or others.
I spent my time in Catholic churches and Sunday schools, I went through the Catholic Sacraments, and never did I believe or consider that what I was being taught was actually real. I knew little about religion or Christianity in general, heck, I used to think the Pope was in charge of Christianity! I took much of it as metaphorical, and much of it as mythological – just like the religions and gods of ancient cultures and societies, as I was taught in public school. Perhaps I was somehow predisposed to rational or logical thought – like a Vulcan (when I was a baby, I did have sharp ears – no kidding!) The only thing that ever made me nervous was being surrounded by adults in church who seemed to believe that God was real. I was nervous because I was afraid that not believing would hurt me, somehow.
I would like to present some passages from The Bible that I never heard when I was young. Passages that I firmly believe are withheld from Sunday masses and services across the Christian communities simply because they would likely raise a lot of questions, as well as present a message that is not exactly loving or peaceful. My reason for presenting these passages is to share my thoughts, and to invite people to share their own views on the purpose or meaning of these passages. I am certainly not an authority on scripture, but I can read and comprehend the messages, so that works for me. Besides, given the vast number of different interpretations of Biblical passages and stories, my interpretation is certainly as valid as the next person.
Genesis 6:5-7
6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
I did hear this story when I was young, but not in such dramatic and cruel detail as the actual words from The Bible. It's so easy to tell people that were not around at the time that God was angry, so he flooded the earth, and allowed Noah and his family, and a bunch of animals to live. When I heard the story, I literally thought that there were a few people around who were being "bad" in Gods mind. I also took it as pure mythology. It never occurred to me that God killed hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people, as well as every other living thing that creepeth on the earth, including birds!
Which brings me to the cruelty and violence of this passage. I'm picturing people of all ages, going about their daily routine of living, the youngest being hardly aware of God, all unaware of their pending deaths by flood. I'm picturing people desperately grasping to their children and their loved ones, trying to stay alive, only to be overwhelmed and cruelly killed by the relentless flood from God, the one who was so unhappy with man, which He, Himself created. God created man, man chose to be evil according to God, so God decides to kill all humans and animals? I am a father myself, and it has never crossed my mind to kill all of my children, and their pets, and every living thing in my backyard, because they disobeyed me or somehow angered me. But who am I to judge.
I find it odd also, that Noah was the single man on the entire planet who was "with God", such that God chose Noah and his family as the only ones allowed to survive. Apparently God wasn't in the mood to really start over, so he chose Noah to keep the human race going. That's not exactly starting over now is it? The god of The Bible was always described to me as all loving, all knowing, and the one who created everything, including man. It disturbs me to think that a god so powerful as to create the universe and all it contains, and then to create humans in his image, only to discover that those humans were not so great after all, and instead of truly starting over, He relegates the responsibility to Noah. Apparently Noah was perfect enough, even though he came from Gods original mold, or so say's The Bible.
So, God kills everyone in order to restore the earth, and remove the continuous evil perpetrated by all men (and women and children and birds?) The story comes across as a soft, loving story of a god who was merciful to Noah and his family, and specific pairs and sevens of clean and dirty animals, such that he spared them their very lives and made the world a much better place. There are even beautiful toys sold in most major retail outlets that depict the story – a nice, colorful boat, filled with cute little animals, and Noah and his wonderful family of good people. Strange how the toy sets don't contain the dead people and animals as well, you know, so the children really know what was going on. As it is, most children are never told that there were obviously innocent people killed in the flood. We have to assume that every single person, and every living animal, was guilty and deserved to die. I for one, find this extremely cruel and unnecessary.
I'm not sure what God's goals were, but I'm assuming He wanted everyone to worship, praise, and love Him as the one and only god. I think it is clear after thousands of years, that nothing even close to that goal was accomplished. In fact, I consider it a monumental failure on Gods part. Maybe God will try again in the future to kill everyone who is evil…