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Studio One Producer Free With Presonus Audiobox
Presonus Studio One 'Producer Edition' Free With Audiobox
You can get your hands on a studio quality DAW and interface in one package. Every Audiobox USB Interface comes with Studio One Artist Edition and for a limited time Presonus are going one further.
From the 1st of June to 31st July if you buy an Audiobox USB Interface they will give you an upgrade to the Producer Edition of Studio One free of charge!
That means you get Rewire support, VST/AU and MP3 Import/Export. Allowing you to expand your Studio one with 3rd party plugins and integrate it into any existing setups.
How To Claim:
Purchase your Audiobox with us, printing out your invoice.
Download and fill out this form.
Then get it sent to Presonus UK Distributor Source before the 1st of August.
Michael Jackson producer Teddy Riley uses Studio One as his main DAW, the workflow and sound quality allow him to produce and create without restrictions.


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Thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. Been a while since I've enjoyed one from start to finish! Love Kate Winslet she never disappoints
I loved the movie! Love Idris Elba and Kate Winslet! The scenery was amazing and the dog(s) did great! My own yellow Labrador "Austin" was used in the cabin scene while another yellow Lab "Raleigh" was the main canine actor. I was thrilled to see my dog on the big screen and have his name in the credits too!
my bad....was told it was based on a true story....thought it was pretty good until I found out it was fiction and then it seemed ok but somewhat lacking!
I enjoyed it from start to finish. Beautiful scenery, great acting.
After waiting 3 months for this movie to be released, I found it to be very disappointing. There are so, so many directions that this movie could have gone to create an exciting story...but downhill was the only way that I saw it go. We "meet" a woman who, at the beginning of the movie, was so in love that she was willing to risk her life to get to her own wedding; but three weeks later, she is having sex with another man in a freezing cabin with a hole in the roof...and "falls in love" with him. That is so hokey...but so the norm for movies these days. Very sad...and a waste of time to see. Someone said that the book was better. I think I'll read that and forget the two hours that I wasted on this movie.
Great story
The book was wonderfully written! I was excited to see the movie since I have read all of Charles Martin's books. However, the movie was quite different...not according to the moral values of the book. I was very disappointed with the movie although the actors were great. I wish the movie had followed the book....for example, the dialogue with his wife. I find it hard to believe that the author gave the OK for this movie.
Loved it.. Saw it twice.. Loved everything about it !!
Loved it.
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text: I'm considering setting up a dual-headed beowulf for the sake of high-availability and some load-balancing of non-parallel tasks. I understand I will have to put two ethernet cards in each head and otherwise set each of them up as though they were the only head in the beowulf cluster, and that each head should treat the other head as though it were a node, but can any of you think in advance of any other potential issues/problems with such a setup? Have any of you done such a thing and have any suggestions or warnings you'd be willing to share? I won't be using NIS or Kerberos, but I have a scheme in mind for dealing with password management (from our last discussion on this topic--thanks to everyone for their suggestions). I can take care of the high-availability aspects (IP address takeover, heartbeats, etc.); I just want to make sure I don't break the beowulf part in the process (particularly the firewall(s) and the internal network). I welcome all suggestions. Once I have this working, I'd be happy to post a summary statement of what it took to get this working, to help anyone in the future who might be considering this option. Victor


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All Six Keep Talkin' teasers linked on the left as well.
Under Par Productions celebrated the premiere of Keep Talkin' this past Thursday. Thanks to Coors, Finlandia, Redbull and the Martini Ranch, everyone had a blackout good time. Chad Otterstrom and Bryan Redniss tossed out thousands in product to the packed bar from Neff, Allyance, Academy, Rossignol, Emage, Bluebird, smith and Bonfire. It looked like everyone left with something. Riders were dancing, the ladies were flocking, the guys were drooling and some puking. The movie was insane with tons of sweet tech tricks and Chad's ridiculous ender part. The party was a blast in the face with free booze, fun times and entertaining snowboarding followed by a beautiful hangover that lasted till Saturday. Check out the photos provided by Jason Legge, Tom Dadorian, Zach Horwitz, Holly Canfield and Ninja—go get this movie! Thanks for the funtimes it was soooo hot!


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And we are so privileged again tonight to go back to the book of Revelation. What an exciting and wonderful study of God's prophetic truth we're having. Revelation chapter 12 tonight, and we're going to be looking at verses 13 to 17, this the last section of this great twelfth chapter.
This is part three in our study of the war of the ages. Let me remind you of this text by reading it, beginning in verse 13, "And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus."
Now as we have been learning in our study of chapter 12, the nation Israel has suffered severely though the ages. In fact, this is not at all isolated to this part of the book of Revelation but is found in many, many parts of the Scripture, both in the Old Testament historical passages, and in Old and New Testament prophetical passages as well. And even in the gospel record of the New Testament in the book of Acts we see the overtones of the terrible persecution against the Jews that was indulged in by the Romans. And though they maintained a certain amount of kindness toward the Jews, there was inherent hostility going both directions. The story of Israel is a story of historical hostility and occupation, punishment, judgment, death. And that's going to be the case throughout all of time until the Lord Jesus comes back to establish His kingdom.
Here we are in the twelfth chapter of Revelation, looking ahead at a time known as the Tribulation, or the Great Tribulation. And during that time we're going to see and have already seen the nation of Israel suffering its most severe time of trial.
Now some of the suffering that Israel has undergone and will undergo is at the hand of Almighty God. God Himself who promised in the very beginning that if they disobeyed Him and did not follow Him and did not obey His Word, they would be punished, has made good His promise and has punished them through the ages.
The purpose of God is always remedial. The purpose of God in chastening the nation Israel is always with a view to bringing them to repentance and salvation. We could call it the judgment of love. Israel has also suffered, however, on the other hand, constantly and severely at the hands of Satan. His purpose is not remedial, his purpose is destructive...to bring them not to repentance and salvation but to bring them to death and hell. And this is the violence and the wrath of the judgment of hatred. And so this people, this unique people, the Jews, have been hit from two sides, the two most formidable powers in the universe, that of Almighty God and Satan himself. Through the centuries they have suffered in these two ways. And yet, as bad it has been, the worse is yet to come. In Jeremiah chapter 30 verse 7 speaks of a time in the future called "The time of Jacob's trouble." Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 said, "It will be a time of trouble, a time of tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall." It will be the worst of times. Why? Because God's final fury will be poured out on the world and on unrepentant and unbelieving Jews who will be destroyed in hell. And Satan's final fury will be poured out on those who believe in Jesus Christ and particularly on the nation Israel who will be slaughtered under his power.
The great persecution is yet to come. The great judgment by God is yet to come. And while the Jews would certainly be hoping against hope that the worst is in the past, it isn't. I thought of that this May as I wandered through the holocaust museum, Yad Veshim(??) in Jerusalem and saw all the memories that they have managed to incarcerate, as it were, in that facility for everyone to see, to remember the horrors of the holocaust so that, they tell you, it will never happen again. But it will. And far worse. As I said, God has judged His people for their disobedience but always with a view toward bringing them to repentance.
But on the other hand, the great persecution of Israel in the future will be led by the architect of all anti-semitism and that is Satan himself. The holocaust to come in the time of Tribulation will surpass all other persecutions of the Jews combined as the whole hosts of demons overrun the earth and aid in Satan's destructive efforts. In fact, it is really Satan's final attempt to abort the promised reign of Jesus Christ, the promised salvation of Israel and the promised kingdom.
During the time of the Tribulation, Satan will go after the Jews as a nation. He will certainly go after believing Jews who have come to Christ and all the other Jews who might come to Christ during that period of time, as he attempts to bring a screeching halt to the plan of God for that nation and for the world through them. He will do all he can to stop the ministry of the hundred and forty-four thousand but will be unsuccessful in stopping them because they will be sealed and protected from the death that he would want to impose upon them as they preach the gospel during the time of the Tribulation. He will certainly want to do everything he can by his demonic powers to thwart the flying angel who is flying through heaven preaching the gospel, but he will be unsuccessful in stopping him. He will want to do everything he can to silence the two witnesses of Revelation 11, and you remember that he will not be able to do that until the proper and appropriate time has come. And when he does succeed in killing them, they will rise from the dead in just a matter of three days. He will attempt to slaughter on a wholesale level the nation of Israel. He will be unsuccessful in doing that and the worst dream of Satan will come true, that which is promised in Zechariah's prophecy, the Jewish nation will look on the one whom they have pierced, they will mourn for Him as an only son, a fountain of blessing and cleansing will be opened to them and they will be saved and their kingdom will come.
God certainly has allowed Satan to be effective in his persecution. And He has allowed Satan to kill many Jews and even many believers through the ages. And God will allow that in the time of Tribulation because it does accomplish God's own purging purpose. You remember the prophet of old said that God will purge out two thirds of those in Israel who will not believe. But Satan wants them all and God will not let that happen. He will preserve the remnant so that they can go into the kingdom alive.
The prophet Daniel saw this coming and it's worth our time to spend a moment in Daniel 12 because it's very, very essential to understand that the Jews have had the promise of protection in the end, as well as the promise of judgment and slaughter. In Daniel 12:1, "Now at that time Michael the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people will arise, there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time, and that time your people everyone who is found written in the book will be...what?...rescued." Yes there will be a purging, and two out of three of the rebels will be purged, but those who are the elect among the Israelites whose names are found written in the book will be rescued. God will save them from the slaughter of Satan to take them into His kingdom. Others who have died, verse 2 says, will arise and awake to everlasting life. And then he even goes on to talk about matters regarding the kingdom.
Look at verse 7 for just a moment of Daniel 12. Daniel is having a vision. He sees two individuals standing on the bank of the river, one on each side. And one said to the man dressed in linen who was above the waters of the river...how long will it be until the end of these wonders? And I heard the man dressed in line who was above the waters of the river as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven and swore by Him who lives forever, that it would be for a time, times and half a time. There's the exact same designation we just read in Revelation 12. That's that three and a half year time. And as soon as they finish shattered the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.
So there is definitely going to be a shattering of the power of the holy people, an onslaught against God's people Israel, and I believe that encompasses other believing people who are the children of Abraham by faith. As soon as that slaughtering is done, during a time, times and half a time, then all the other events, namely the bringing in the kingdom, will be completed.
Down in verse 10, "Many will be purged, purified, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand and from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be twelve hundred and ninety days." He adds thirty days to the three and a half years which probably is associated with a mopping up time.
Now what that tells us is there's coming a terrible purging from God's viewpoint, a refining and a purifying of His people. The pure will be protected, the wicked who act wickedly will be judged. It's all going to start at the abomination of desolation which is at the midpoint of the Tribulation and it's going to go on for three and a half years, this onslaught against the holy people, breaking and shattering their power. And all the while that God allows that purging to be done by Satan, at the same time He will protect the elect of Israel and even raise those martyrs who have been killed who are among the elect to enjoy the eternal life that they have been given.
So Daniel looked and saw essentially the very same scenario that John is now seeing back in Revelation 12. And you can return to that text. Satan then is going after Israel. He will be thrown out of heaven, as we saw in our last study, and he will be thrown down to the earth. And I suggested to you that that probably begins, at least in my mind, I think it's most reasonable to assume it begins at the beginning of the time of the Tribulation. And while the full-blown hostility doesn't start until the midpoint, the first half of the Tribulation, Satan is beginning to set up His power base through Antichrist. You remember that he signs a pact for a seven-year period, Daniel 9 says. He starts to move into the place of political authority which gives him the position to do what he does at the midpoint. And then to take over his power throughout the earth. Satan wants to be aided in the world by a human force, he needs then a commander of all the forces of the world, he needs a world ruler, and it's going to take him a little time to set it up. So I believe the first thing he does along with his demons when he hits the earth is begin to establish the power base of Antichrist. Brings along the false prophet, the proliferation of demons, not only those that have been cast out of heaven but those that have been belched up out of the pit and those that have been loosed from the river Euphrates namely two hundred million more, all really begin the major strike at the midpoint and after. And the goal of Satan is to destroy Israel and to abort the kingdom and to stop the reign of Jesus Christ. But he will not succeed because God will protect His chosen people, His elect.
I can't resist just going back, for a moment, to Hosea chapter 2 because I want you to see that this is something that again was given by the prophets of old. In Hosea 2, just to pick it up at verse 14, "Therefore, behold I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her, I will give her her vineyards from there and the valley of Achor is a door of hope, she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. It will come about in that day, declares the Lord, that you will call Me Ishi...that's my husband...and no longer Baali, or Baal, for I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth so that they will be mentioned by their names no more. In that day i will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground, I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land. I will make them lie down in safety, I will betroth you to Me forever. I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and compassion. I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, then you will know the Lord."
What he's promising them is salvation and the conditions of the kingdom. "And it will come about...verse 21 says...in that day that I will responde, declares the Lord, I will respond to the heavens and they will respond to the earth and the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil and they will respond to Jezreel. And I will sow her for Myself in the land, I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion. I will say to those who were not My people, you are My people, and they will say, You are my God."
Hosea says there's a day coming when I will save you. And not only will I save you but I will take you into the kingdom. And it will be a kingdom on the earth, grain and oil and wine, all of those kinds of things that exist in the world. This indicates a salvation and a preservation of the nation Israel. Satan then is not going to be successful.
Now I've already told you how it's going to end, but let's go back and look at the battle anyway. In this text three attacks are given. Satan has a first attack, a second attack and a third attack. Let's look at attack number one.
We are now in the time of Tribulation. We've already been there in chapter 6 through 11, only we viewed it from God's side. Now we're in that same period viewing it from Satan's side. Verse 13, "And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child."
Now this is attack number one. When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, we already studied that in verses 7 to 9, Michael and his angels, you remember, waged war and the dragon and his angels waged war, actually the indication is that the dragon and his angels started it. They were not strong enough. There was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down. And the end of verse 9, "And his angels were thrown down with him." And, of course, they came down to the earth. Thrown down, it says, in verse 9, to the earth.
I suggested to you that it's very possible that that battle could have been initiated by the Rapture, as saints are moving up into glory and Satan and his hosts try to stop them, Michael and the angels come to their rescue and the net effect on Satan is he is thrown down to the earth and he's out of the sky for good and no longer will he be the prince of the power of the air.
Now he is thrown down to earth and he has some seven-year period or whatever amount of period, certainly by the midpoint he's here in full fury, I would assume he's been here before and probably is here for the full seven years. Although we need not be dogmatic about that. But he's down here and he has a period of years to unleash his final strategy. It does involve setting up a human leader so that he can get the human armies and the human forces that he needs to do the human killing that he wants done. He enters into a covenant with Israel, this individual, and that's why I believe Satan probably comes down right at the beginning so that he can move into the life of this individual and have him do what he wants him to do, namely that covenant of Daniel 9. That sets up everything for the holocaust that unfolds most significantly in the middle.
However, mark it in your mind that persecution will begin before the midpoint, because we find in chapter 6 verses 9 to 11 that in the opening of the seals, before we've even reached the midpoint, there are already souls who have been slain in the past and they're under the altar. They have been slain for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. And you will note, by the way, that in verse 17 of chapter 12, those are the very people that Satan is making war against, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.
So it seems that the persecution begins before the midpoint. The midpoint is when it focuses on Israel. Up to that point there's a treaty between Antichrist and Israel, and that's when the full-blown persecution really starts. But first of all, when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to earth, what does it say? He persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. And we told you in our first study back in verses 1, 2 and 5 that the woman is Israel and the male child is Christ, the Messiah, the One who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron, that being the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 5.
So Satan eventually concentrates on Israel. Now verse 13 says he persecuted. The Greek verb means to pursue, to chase, or to hunt. The idea here implies hostile forces which is the usual usage of this verb in the New Testament. And we will find more details about that hostility over in chapter 13, just to mention them briefly to you. It says that the dragon, verse 4, works his agenda through the beast who is the Antichrist, and it says in verse 7 that he makes war with the saints, he's able to overcome them and get authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And we'll see more about that in the future.
But he goes after Israel. He pursues them to the death. Now Jesus Himself warned them about, I think, this first wave of attack back in Matthew 24. I can remind you of...I know a familiar text, remember this, verse 15, "When the abomination of desolations spoken of by Daniel the prophet happens, the immediate response...verse 16...Let those in Judea...what?...flee." Why? Because he is going to chase you. Let them flee to the mountains, don't even go down into your house if you're up on the roof to get the things that are there. And if you're out in the field, don't go back to get your cloak. And if you have babies you're trying to nurse, woe to you and pray that your flight's not in the winter or on the Sabbath, because there is coming a Great Tribulation.
It's going to be so great that it's never been so in the history of the world, and if the days weren't cut short, nobody would survive. But for the sake of the elect, and I believe that has reference to the elect Israel as well as other believers from the Gentile nations, but certainly significantly refers to Israel. If it weren't for your sake...if it weren't rather for God's sake cutting it short, even the elect would be devastated.
And so he says you've got to run because he's going to come after you. One of the ways Satan is going to try to woo these people back out of their security is false christs and false prophets and false signs and false wonders. He's going to try to lure these people back, believing that the Messiah is here, the Messiah has arrived. Don't be fooled, Jesus said.
Mark 13 also speaks of the very same event. We won't take the time to read it, it's similar text. Mark 13 verses 14 through 23. Some people think Luke 21:20 to 24 is referring to the same event, but it isn't, it's referring to the destruction of Jerusalem, that's Luke 21:20 to 24 in case you want to compare that. But the destruction of Jerusalem uses some of the same terminology because it was a little bit of a foretaste of the horrible holocaust in the future. The massacre, by the way, in 70 A.D., the destruction of Jerusalem, took the lives of one point one million Jews. Now without modern warfare, to slaughter a million one hundred thousand Jews with hand weapons is some kind of massacre.
So Israel's situation is going to be terrifying. It's going to be tragic. And they need to run because verse 12 says Satan is going to start to pursue. He's thrown down to the earth, and he goes after the woman. Again, as I said, it could be that he's not thrown down till the midpoint, but it seems to me he may have been around setting up this strategy before, we can't be certain. But he goes after Israel. Why? To destroy the purposes of God, the plan of God for the nation Israel, the salvation of that nation.
Now I believe that in this fleeing...in this fleeing and this chasing by Satan there are going to be some people who help the Jews. Look back at Matthew 25 for a moment, or just listen, I'll read it to you. Do you remember in the Matthew 25 section of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus' message on His Second Coming? He talks about the judgment of the sheep and the goats, remember that? And it's very interesting what He says. He says, we can start in verse 31, "Son of Man when He comes in glory, all the angels with Him, He's going to sit on His throne." There's going to be a judgment when He arrives. And all the nations are going to be gathered before Him and He'll separate them one from another, as the sheep are separated from the goats. He puts the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. The sheep represent the saved, the elect, the believing. The goats represent the unbelieving. The king will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you are blessed of My Father, enter the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." You're the chosen. You're the redeemed. You're the saved. Not just Jews, but all who are saved and who are still around at that time.
Why are you saved? I was hungry you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty you gave Me drink, I was a stranger you invited Me in. This is the judgment of the nations. And these are particularly sheep out of the Gentile world. And He is saying to them, the reason you are going into My kingdom along with My elect nation, along with believing Jews who also will go into the kingdom and in a sense are His sheep, but He's directing this judgment toward nations, Gentile nations. The reason you're going in, He says, I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me. I was in prison and you came to Me.
And they're going to say...When did we do that? And He's going to say, in verse 40, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it unto one of these My brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." You know what I believe this points out? Gentile nations are going to come to the aid of Israel. And in that end time as the elect of God, the elect nation and also some of the elect Gentiles, of course, who will be mingled, as it were, among the believing Jews are going to become objects of protection by Gentiles who also will believe. I believe they demonstrate that they too have come to faith in Christ by the way they treat those who are being persecuted by Satan. Then He'll say in verse 41, "To the ones on the left, depart from Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels, because I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink..." In other words, you were on the side of the persecuting force, right? So everybody is going to wind up on one side. And the people who identify with the persecuted are going to identify with them at the cost of their life and they're going to be the ones who are saved, they're the ones who believe, they're the ones who confess Christ and they're
the ones who will receive the kingdom.So, in this pursuit as the Jews flee for their lives and as he...that is the Antichrist and the false prophet operating under the power of the dragon...go out to try to slaughter them all, they're going to be helped, that is to say, the fleeing believers are going to be helped by the nations, people out of the world. And I don't think it's a national kind of judgment, we say the nations, it means individual Gentiles...those who help Israel, those who help the believing remnant are going to give evidence by that help that they identify with them and therefore have believed in Christ. Those who don't will give evidence that they have identified with the enemy.
So there's going to be some assistance, but that's not all. Now go back to Revelation chapter 12. There's going to be more than just that. It says in verse 14 that God is going to come to their aid and the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent.
Now this is figurative language but it has the idea of rescue, or escape. The imagery is actually taken from Exodus chapter 19 verse 4, "You yourselves have seen...says the Lord...what I did to the Egyptians...He's talking to Moses here...and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to Myself." The eagle's wings then become a metaphor for God delivering His people, allowing them to escape a pursuing, killing, threatening force. You remember the whole force of the Egyptian army under the leadership of Pharaoh was coming after Israel and God say I picked you up, as on the wings of an eagle and flew you to safety. Wings in Scripture speak of strength, they speak of speed, but mostly, they even speak of protection, such as the hovering wings, but mostly they speak of a flight to safety.
Another Old Testament passage that perhaps we can comment on is Deuteronomy 32 verse 9, "For the Lord's portion is His people, Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance, He found him in a desert land and in the howling waste of a wilderness, He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spreads His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. He made him ride on the high places of the earth." Here again is that magnificent imagery of an eagle involved in the protection and the care of the people of Israel.
And then all of us, certainly, who have read the Psalms have a special love for that magnificent ninety-first psalm, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust." And verse 4, "He will cover you with His pinions and under His wings you may seek refuge." Again the great protective care that God gives and a sense of safety because the same God who can cover us with His wings can put us on His wings and fly us to safety.
The great eagle, of course, is the largest bird known to them. These birds flew the highest and they flew the fastest. Isaiah comments about that, doesn't he, in chapter 40 verse 31 where he talks about mounting up as eagles.
The term "eagle" actually is probably making reference not to what we know as a bald eagle or an American eagle but to a bird in ancient times was called griffin. A griffin was a huge bird, a type of vulture, actually, that was four feet long and had a ten-foot wing span. That was the grand and great imagery of the eagle who would come and take them away. The Lord then is not only going to deliver them by the protection of believing Gentiles, but the Lord Himself is going to provide some way of escape. What does it mean? I don't know. Does it mean some kind of an airlift? I don't know. Does it mean El Al is going to fly them all away into the desert? I don't know. It is an actual bird? No. The language is picturesque, but it is not a literal bird. Somehow God is not only from the help and care and sympathy and understanding and faith that comes from the Gentile nations, but somehow miraculously and divinely and explicably God is going to step in and fly them away, it says. It says, "In order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place." Remember back in verse 6 it said the woman fled into the wilderness? Now we know why, because Satan was chasing and she fled into a wilderness where she had a place prepared by God. And she was to be there a thousand two hundred and sixty days, that's the last half. The heat comes at the midpoint. The Jews start to flee, they run for the wilderness. They are helped during that three and a half year period by believing Gentiles who come to faith but God Himself also comes to their rescue.
Now you say, "Well where is their place? Where is it that God hides them?" Well we don't know for certain. There's an interesting statement, however, in Daniel 11:41, I don't want to reveal in public their hiding place, but it may be that we know it. Daniel 11:41, talking here about the time of the great final war during the Tribulation, it says, "He will enter the beautiful land," that's Israel, "many countries will fall." Now this is under the tremendous power of the king of the north. But, verse 41, "These will be rescued out of his hand, Edom, Moab and the four most of the sons of Ammon." Why would God spare Edom, Moab and Ammon? Those countries, those are the ancient names of the countries directly across the Jordan Valley east of Israel. Could it be because they were the place where the Jews were protected? Wouldn't that be a wonderful twist if the Arab nations became the protectors of believing Israel and therefore maybe themselves came to the knowledge of God in Christ? Who knows?
But anyway, back to Revelation 12. We're not sure where the place is, could be a place like that. Some people think it's the rose-red city of the dead called Petra. In fact, I have read that some people have stashed Bibles in the caves there for the Jews when they get there. Maybe a bit presumptuous, but it is interesting. That's a city in Edom that is encased in rocks and the entrance to it is only the width of a man, and yet it's a whole civilization in there, they carved it all out of the rock. It's a magnificent place.
You say, "Well won't Satan know where they are?" Well he'll know where they are, he can get a helicopter and have the Antichrist send his guys over and look down on them, but it won't matter. He won't be able to do anything. They're going to have a place and in that place they're going to be protected by God.
The term "wilderness" generally referred to land east of Jerusalem as well.
Now notice what's going to happen. It says she's going to fly into the wilderness to her place where she was nourished. That literally means fed. Now you've got this remnant of believing Jews, those who have come to Christ and perhaps those who have not yet but will come to Christ, we're not sure how all this breaks out, but God is going to protect those who are His own. And I think compared with Daniel it seems to me that He's going to protect the elect. He may be in the process of protecting a least a portion of the elect before they've even become believers. Part of that coming to faith may be occurring out in this wilderness place. But they will be coming to the knowledge of their Lord and Messiah throughout the whole seven-year period under the influence of all those who have been preaching.
So the Lord takes them out there and when He gets them out there, they're cut off from the whole world system. They've got a problem. How they going to live? How they going to survive? How are they going to eat? Down in chapter 13 verse 17 it says if you don't have the mark of the beast of the number of his name, you won't be able to buy or sell. You can't get any supplies, you can't get any resources. You can't get any food. What's going to happen? How about manna? How about quail? He did it before, He could do it again, right? Who knows what God will do, we don't. But there have been miraculous judgments, why not miraculous provisions? This is going to last for a time and times and half a time. You've got to know that this is going to be one frustrating deal for Satan. He knows they're there and he can't get to them.
By the way, I think Daniel also spoke of this time in chapter 7 verse 25. You can go back and read that. Notice at the end of verse 14, just to note. When the Lord does spare them He spares them from the presence of the serpent. That's the point I made earlier. Satan can't get to them. They're out there. They're in their place. God is nourishing them for this three and a half year period and probably more and more are fleeing there all the time as they come to faith, and they're running from Antichrist. And some who haven't yet come to faith are running with them because he wants to kill all the Jews. And then there are Gentiles helping and assisting them in the flight. No doubt they'll be coming from all over the world and maybe that's part of how God uses airplanes to airlift them like a great eagle, who knows? But He's going to protect them. And Satan can't get near them.
Now that leads to attack number two, verse 15. "And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood." Apparently Satan is so thwarted in his initial attempt and he can't get to this great multitude of elect that are in the place God has for them, he can't get to them so he has to resort to long-range war tactics. He himself can't get there...whether it's Michael and his hosts preventing it, or whatever, he can't get there. So he's got to operate through some long-range tactic. So the serpent then poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman. Now that imagery is quite interesting...it's quite interesting. It is not uncommon for those great animals who live in water to draw water in and then blow it back out of their mouths. If you remember the crocodile, the alligator, they will do the same thing, take in water and blow it out and so does a great whale in the sea, ingesting a tremendous amount of water and spraying it back out. The serpent is cast in that same imagery as some monster who is blowing out this...this great river of water out of his mouth, pouring it out. Again that imagery is not uncommon in the Old Testament. Jeremiah maybe has a couple of notes that will give you a point of reference. Jeremiah 46:8 talks about Egypt rising like the Nile, like the rivers whose waters surge about. And you know what happened. The Nile would rise up just exactly the Mississippi is doing right now, only the Nile would do it every year and just drown everybody. And then in chapter 47 of Jeremiah verse 2, he says that the waters are going to rise from the north and become an overflowing torrent, overflow the land and all its fullness. In other words, judgment has come, disaster has come like a flood. That's the imagery of that language. This could be and most likely does refer to some kind of army. Again in Daniel 11, and I know we're jumping around, but you've got to deal with these texts. Daniel 11 verse 26 speaks of an army that overflows with destruction, that just floods the land. The dragon is figurative, and the serpent is figurative, so we assume the mouth is figurative and therefore if the mouth is figurative it's possible that the river is figurative. That's possible.
Some great force comes like a flood, attacking the people of God in the place where they are being protected. This is attack number two. Verse 15 says they come after the woman and they want her to be swept away with the flood. Literally they want her to be drowned, that's what the word means, to be immersed in a flood and carried away by it. They want her to be completely consumed and destroyed. That's the goal of Satan.
Listen to Psalm 124, "Had it not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say, had it not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled against us, then the waters would have engulfed us, the stream would have swept over our soul, the raging waters would have swept over our soul." There's that same imagery. Seeing the force of the enemy like some kind of drowning flood. Similarly in Isaiah 59 verse 19, talks about those who fear the Lord, and the name of the Lord and His glory from the rising of the sun and He will come like a rushing stream. So force and power is associated with the movement of those kinds of waters.
What this tells us is that the frustrated dragon/devil is going to put together a force of men and demons to come after the people of God. But look what happens in verse 16. "And the earth helped the woman. And the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth." What is this? Well, I'm not sure what this is either, except it's the end of this army, the end of this host. It's reminiscent, isn't it, of Exodus 15. What happened to the army of Pharaoh? They were drowned, the water swallowed them up. It's also reminiscent of another most interesting passage, Numbers chapter 16, maybe this is as close a parallel as we can find. This is about Korah, Dathan and Abiram who had been behaving wickedly, as you know. And in verse 28 Moses said, "By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds for this is not my doing. If these men die the death of all men, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. If these guys can do this and have no consequence, then I'm not from the Lord. But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord. Then it came about as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split opened...major earthquake...and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up and their households and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol and the earth closed over them and they perished from the midst of the assembly. And all Israel who around them fled at the outcry, for they said the earth may swallow us up."
I don't know what's going to happen, maybe well could describe a similar situation, where the earth just opens up and this whole army is plunged into death instantaneously. Now that could fit. After all, what common phenomena goes on repeatedly during the time of the Tribulation? Earthquakes...earthquakes. I mean, that's back in Matthew 24 where Jesus says there will be earthquakes. And in Revelation chapter 6 a great earthquake, verse 12, a great earthquake comes in connection with the sixth seal which puts it near to the end of the three and a half year period. Maybe it's that great earthquake of 6:12 that splits the ground and swallows the force.
Satan's relentless. He couldn't get after Israel himself. Attack one was thwarted when the Lord delivered them to safety. Attack two is thwarted when the ground opens and swallows the force. So here comes attack number three in verse 17, "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, went off to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." He's not reached his absolute boiling point. He has not been able to destroy God's people, he never has been able to do that. That's the history of Israel. God is going to have His remnant, they're going to be saved, they're going to be delivered and they're going alive into the kingdom and they're going to be made of Jews and they're going to be made up of Gentiles. But when he can't get the woman and he can't get that...that group of Israelites that are out there and whatever mingled believing Gentiles may be with them, they are dominantly Jews that are hidden away, then he turns, verse 17, and he goes after the rest of her offspring.
Who's that? Well some would suggest that it's the hundred and forty-four thousand. Well it surely could include them if...we know they're out there preaching and preaching and preaching. It certainly could be them. Some have suggested it could also be the Gentile believers who are by faith the sons of Israel, are they not? And I would suggest to you that it would also include them. I think it's all who are the sons of Abraham by faith, I think it's the hundred and forty-four thousand, anybody else who is naming the name of Jesus Christ all over the earth. I just think he goes after every follower of the Lamb that he can find across the faith of the earth. He goes after everybody, he says, who keeps the commandments of God and holds to the testimony of Jesus.
The commandments of God refer to just that, biblical law, biblical teaching. That word entole appears, for example, twenty-five times in the writings of John, twenty-four of those twenty-five it means New Testament commands, the commands of the gospel, the marks of a true believer. The testimony of Jesus means the testimony that Jesus gave, the word of Christ, the revealed truth of Scripture. Anybody who obeys God and adheres to Scripture, he goes after them.
And does attack number three work? No, it doesn't work. We already saw that, didn't we, in the seventh trumpet, chapter 11 verse 15, Christ will reign and He will reign forever and ever. And the saints are going to be triumphant. God is going to protect them and take them into the kingdom. We know there will be many Gentiles in the kingdom, that's very clear because Christ rules the nations with a rod of iron. So the Gentiles have to be in there and in the thousand-year period will develop people and people and people and repopulate the world.
Well, it's an incredible picture. From the standpoint of Israel, the worst is yet to come. And yet from the standpoint of Israel, the best is yet to come. Will come their final judgment by God in the purging and refining, will come their final great holocaust at the hands and the power of Satan, but will also come their salvation and the promised kingdom. And in the end, Satan will be bound for the thousand years and then at the end of the thousand years, cast into the lake of fire.
When I study these kinds of things, and I've just given you a small portion of all that is here, but when I study these kinds of things, I am repeatedly overwhelmed that God has saved me. Aren't you? That He has chosen me, that He has called me to Himself and redeemed me. And all of this is something that I will never experience because He has planned for me eternal glory. Inconceivable. Father, we look at this and all we can say is thank You, thank You that You have chosen us. We don't know how far this is away, it could be in the life time of people here that the church is taken away, Satan is thrown out of heaven, he hits the earth, the demons are released, the abomination of desolation comes, the judgments are falling all over the place and Satan is unleashing his venom. Lord, we thank You that we were not appointed unto wrath but unto glory. We thank You that in the end You will keep Your Word, Satan will not be triumphant, Jesus Christ will come and He will reign. Israel will believe. They will be saved and a host of Gentiles across this earth too numbered to be counted. Many will die as martyrs but they will awake to everlasting life. Many will live protected and they will go into the kingdom. We thank You that we'll come back only after all the holocaust is over to join You in the Kingdom. We aren't worthy, we aren't at all worthy, but we are thankful. Give to us a zeal, Lord, to communicate the saving message with all those who come across our life that we might be used by You to lead them to deliverance from the judgments to come. We thank You for such a privilege in our Savior's dear name. Amen.
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Boxing ace Stuart Hall has said he is prepared to go through hell in order to reign victorious in his hunt for world title glory this weekend. The Darlington dazzler makes his bid for the vacant IBF crown against the seasoned South African Vusi Malinga on Saturday night at the First Direct Arena in Leeds. The British bantamweight champion is looking to end the year on a high for British boxing, and has admitted that he will do whatever is necessary to make sure he achieves a lifelong ambition by winning the illustrious IBF world title. "I can't believe that the time is near at hand," admitted Hall. "I've been working and preparing for this opportunity for so long and to get the chance of getting my hands on a world title is a dream come true. I'm ready for this fight and whatever it takes, even if it means going through hell and back, then I'm willing to do that. I have everything in my favour and feel this is my time now, I want to go out there and do myself and the country proud," he said. The 33-year-old knows that his experienced counterpart, who has been in with the likes of Mexican superstar Leo Santa Cruz, will be equally hungry to have his hand raised come the end of the fight. Though Hall is defiant and believes he can knockout the man dubbed 'Marvellous'. "When you get to this level every fight and every fighter presents a new challenge. I have shared the ring with some skilled and crafty fighters on my route here and know that Malinga is not coming over here to lie down," said Hall. "He's going to do everything to make sure he goes back home with the belt but I believe I'm going to have too much for him. My will and my drive for this fight is unbelievable and I've done some really excellent work to get me ready and in shape for this fight," he said. "Malinga is going to see the best Stuart Hall in there, one who is ready to do that bit extra in everything. I'm going for the knockout and believe I can get it because I don't want to leave anything to chance and I want to take the decision out of the judges' hands," Hall declared. Hall, who is coming off an impressive win over tricky American Sergio Perales in his last fight, has said he would like to avenge his close points decision loss to Jamie McDonnell back in 2011. McDonnell was stripped of the IBF bantamweight title that Hall fights for this weekend, and should he win, it could set up a domestic blockbuster next year. "Of course I would like to fight McDonnell again in the future because I believe I have the beating of him," said Hall. "Our fight was very close and I believe I have grown and learned so much from then. My aim is to get this world title first and foremost on Saturday and then I can look down the line. A rematch with McDonnell definitely appeals to me - it would be a huge domestic fight particularly if there is world title on the line," added Hall.
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text: A man standing on the sea-shore is perhaps as ancient and as primitive a symbol of wonder as the mind can conceive. Beneath his feet are the stones and grasses of an element that is his own, natural to him, in some degree belonging to him, at any rate accepted by him. He has place and condition there. Above him arches a world of immense void, fleecy sailing clouds, infinite clear blueness, shapes that change and dissolve; his day comes out of it, his source of light and warmth marches across it, night falls from it; showers and dews also, and the quiet influence of stars. Strange that impalpable element must be, and for ever unattainable by him; yet with its gifts of sun and shower, its furniture of winged life that inhabits also on the friendly soil, it has links and partnerships with life as he knows it and is a complement of earthly conditions. But at his feet there lies the fringe of another element, another condition, of a vaster and more simple unity than earth or air, which the primitive man of our picture knows to be not his at all. It is fluent and unstable, yet to be touched and felt; it rises and falls, moves and frets about his very feet, as though it had a life and entity of its own, and was engaged upon some mysterious business. Unlike the silent earth and the dreaming clouds it has a voice that fills his world and, now low, now loud, echoes throughout his waking and sleeping life. Earth with her sprouting fruits behind and beneath him; sky, and larks singing, above him; before him, an eternal alien, the sea: he stands there upon the shore, arrested, wondering. He lives,—this man of our figure; he proceeds, as all must proceed, with the task and burden of life. One by one its miracles are unfolded to him; miracles of fire and cold, and pain and pleasure; the seizure of love, the terrible magic of reproduction, the sad miracle of death. He fights and lusts and endures; and, no more troubled by any wonder, sleeps at last. But throughout the days of his life, in the very act of his rude existence, this great tumultuous presence of the sea troubles and overbears him. Sometimes in its bellowing rage it terrifies him, sometimes in its tranquillity it allures him; but whatever he is doing, grubbing for roots, chipping experimentally with bones and stones, he has an eye upon it; and in his passage by the shore he pauses, looks, and wonders. His eye is led from the crumbling snow at his feet, past the clear green of the shallows, beyond the furrows of the nearer waves, to the calm blue of the distance; and in his glance there shines again that wonder, as in his breast stirs the vague longing and unrest that is the life-force of the world.


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Name: Vic Wintriss
Member since: 2008-02-28 04:50:52
Last Login: 2010-02-22 20:29:40
Homepage: www.wintrisstech.org
- Lead Developer on iARoC
Recent blog entries by sdvic
Prizes are again $1,000 for first prize, $500 for second prize and $250 third prize.
Check out www.iaroc.org for complete information and entry forms. Check out the video of last year's competition.
The registration deadline has been extended to June 1st, 2009. The first 15 teams to register will be accepted.
The Wintrisstech Roomba Robot contest application deadline has been extended to June 1, 2008. Each entrant gets a free Roomba Create and a free Sun Microsystems SPOT controller. Other Wowee prizes will also be awarded. The contest is at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego during the San Diego County Fair, June 21 and 22. The contest is limited to 21 entrants. Two events will be held...the Urban challenge (a maze) and the Gold Rush Challenge (free-for-all run to the finish line through obstacles). All robots must be fully autonomous... no radio control. Robot platforms other than the Roomba are acceptable. The competition was a great success! Results below: With 13 robots lined up side-by-side ready to blast off, with teams from as far away as Alaska, tension fills the air. First prize goes to the team that gets to the finish line ahead of all the others avoiding a field of obstacles along the way. This is the "gold rush challenge" at the first annual International Autonomous Robot Competition (iARoC) held as part of the Kid's Best at the Del Mar Fair on June 21 and 22. Sponsored by Wintriss Technical Schools, a local nonprofit institution dedicated to changing kids lives by teaching them the Java programming language, the competition featured an Urban Challenge that required the robots to find their way through a maze without any human guidance, and the Gold Rush Challenge free-for-all. Mathew Alexander, 13, team leader for team Kaos screamed as his team's Lego robot got upset by a stronger Roomba Create robot. Intentionally damaging a competitor's robot is forbidden by contest rules. In this case it was accidental, and the Lego robot was righted and valiantly struggled forward against a field of much larger machines. Persistence paid off, and team Kaos, the only Junior team, won their division and the $1,000 first prize along with two Wowee robots. "Cool", said Ryder Sherwood, another member of team Kaos as he received a Wowee RS Media walking robot for his team. Other team Kaos members were Colin Mitchell, Gavin Kleege, Jordan Alexander, Neil Alexander (mentor), Nevis Kleege (mentor) and team mentor Mike Mitchell who proudly accepted the engraved Junior Division first place trophy with his team. Final scores to establish team standings were computed from the total points earned from a technical presentation, best time run in the Urban Challenge and finish position in the Gold Rush Challenge. Torrey Pines High School came in first in the Senior Division with 900 total points out of 1,000 possible, winning $1,000 and two Wowee robots. Mark Vismonte, team leader for the Torrey Pines team was clearly proud of his team's accomplishment, besting experienced teams from the bay area and even the professional demonstration teams that entered the competition to demonstrate their programming prowess with no possibility of winning any cash prizes. Other members of the Torrey Pines High School Team were Ling Yeung, Prithvi Undavalli, Joel Jauregui and William Wood.Team mentors were Carmen Foltz and Rafael Send. Several adult demonstration teams entered the competition to demonstrate to the student teams what can be done by professionals. Team Rumba de Roomba: Llewellyn Falco and Jason Kerney; Team Spot On: Clark Scheff and Zebulon Evans, Team Cougar from CSU San Marcos: Dr. David Schaafsma Chris Kemper and Jon Kemper; Sun Microsystems Laboratory team: Lachlan Gregor, John Harris, Arshan Poursohi, Stephen Giandomenico. Thanks to the generousity of Wintriss Technical Schools board member, attorney Randy Moore and a stipend from the school, Soldotna High School was able to travel from Alaska and participate as part of their first visit to San Diego. Team Alaska members were team leader Will McDermid, Alex Kauffman, Aaron Gordon and team mentor Doug Gordon. Second place team SD Squirrel from Carmel Valley, led by Matt Allen, scored 700 points out of a possible 1,000. Squirrel team's mentor is Stanley Kurdziel who is a programmer for Leap Wireless. Other members are Ryan Kemper and Sean Kemper. They received a check for $500 and two Wowee robots. Third place went to team Gunn CS, from Gunn High School in Palo Alto. Team leader Elliot Kroo led team members Kevin Yang, Anand Gupta, Morris Alper, Jeanne Wang, Josh Pailey(mentor) and Lisa Fawcett to a third place finish with 600 points out of a possible 1,000. Cathering Zhang was the team mentor, and accepted a check for $250 and two Wowee robots along with her team. Other teams competing were: Westview High School, Vinay Biligiri, Henry Bradlow, Danny Baldo, Brian Duffy, Davis Burton, William Ho, and Stephan DiPadova, Tammy Neuhaus (team mentor); Poway High School, Kyle Zampell, Steve Stark (mentor), Alex Swaisgood, Alan Burley, Chris Holiday, Nick Stark, Burt Burley, Rodger Dohm (team mentor); Lynbrook High School Funky Monkeys (San Jose), David Liu, Aashish Sreedharan, Daiwei Li, Michael Wachenschwanz, Johnathan Chai, Chinmay Jaju, Toshitaka Tachiban, Matt Hong, David Giandomenico (team mentor), Jaya Sreedharan (team mentor); Monta Vista High School (Cupertino), Aravindh Dorai, Jean Feng, Prashanth Vijay, Sriram Cherukupalli, Greg Klein, Alex Martin, Andy Feng (team mentor). Judges were Paul Webber (Chief Judge), Ogun Tigli, Gus Wirth, Woody Zuill and Kent Deines. Sponsors were Sun Microsystems, Dixieline Lumber, Wowee Robots, Outsource Manufacturing, Vision Design, Johnston Creative Solutions, Fedex Kinkos and the San Diego Java Users Group.
Wintriss Technical Schools is hosting the First International Autonomous Robot Contest in San Diego, June 21-22, 2008 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, during the fair. Each entrant gets a free Sun Spot controller and a Roomba Create. Cash prizes. www.iaroc.com
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Wet Hawaii weather brings hail, dampens vacations
HONOLULU – For about a week, Hawaii's famous sunny weather has been replaced with thunderstorms, large pieces of hail, and the arrival of what weather officials say was the first tornado in four years to hit the islands.
The tornado formed as a waterspout offshore. After 7 a.m., it pushed more than a mile inland, tearing off part of a roof and carrying it several hundred yards through the coastal town and Honolulu suburb of Kailua. No one was injured.
A 30-minute hail storm Friday over windward Oahu was "unprecedented," for Hawaii, said Tom Birchard, senior meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Honolulu. Not only is it highly unusual for hail to fall over Hawaii, but some stones that measured as large as three inches are likely record-breaking, he said.
Small stones were reported to have fallen on other islands over the course of about a week of heavy rains that closed schools, caused sewage spills, flooded homes and dampened vacations. There were landslides, power outages and roads blocked by trees, boulders and mud.
Thunderstorms were in Friday's forecast but heavy rains were expected to subside by Saturday.
It's the tail end of Hawaii's rainy season. "The rain is not all that unusual but the hail and strength of the thunderstorms are unusual," he said.
The weather service estimates the tornado had wind speeds of 60 to 70 miles per hour and stretched 20 yards wide. The twister damaged or destroyed several roofs and toppled trees and power lines.
The last tornado to hit Hawaii was a waterspout that traveled from the ocean over Kauai's south side in 2008. The same thing happened on Lanai in 2006. Both caused less damage, however, as they struck less densely populated areas.
The weather service was still compiling total rainfall amounts but Birchard said records will likely be broken. For the seven-day period ending Friday, the highest rainfall level was nearly 46 inches in Hanalei on Kauai.
Visitors to tourism-dependent Hawaii were urged to check weather advisories and warnings and to follow all recommendations. "As the storm continues to pass through our Hawaiian islands, we remain open for business," said Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO Mike McCartney.
Mike Zellman was hoping to trade cold weather in Hamburg, Germany, with sunshine in Hawaii. He and his wife, clad in windbreakers, spent Friday afternoon at the state Capitol and planned to take refuge from the showers in a Honolulu shopping center.
"In the morning, we wanted to go to Diamond Head but it was closed because of the wonderful weather," he said sarcastically. The weather has affected "everything" during their three days on Oahu so far: "Beach time. Nature time. The landscape," he said.
While there were reports of hotels crowded by guests stranded from canceled flights, George Costa, director of Kauai's Office of Economic Development, said hotels were faring well as rain subsided Friday. "There are several road closures due to landslides and most of the inconvenience is being experienced by the resort staff not being able to report to work," he said.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a crowd at U.S. Pacific Command headquarters for a ceremony that it was nice to be in Hawaii, "rain and all."
"The rain here is not the same as it is elsewhere, It has a different flavor to it," he said. The ceremony was moved indoors to an auditorium.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie declared a disaster for Oahu and neighboring Kauai, which were the first islands to see the brunt of the storms starting last weekend. Since Monday, nearly 100,000 gallons of a heavy mixture of storm water and untreated wastewater spilled into streams during five different sewer spills on Oahu, city officials said.
As the weather system moved on to Maui and Molokai, residents also dealt with flooded homes and blocked roads. The Department of Water Supply advised central and south Maui to boil water before drinking as a precaution avoid possible contamination with rainwater.
The Coast Guard warned mariners to brace the vessels for gusty trades forecast for into next week. A small craft advisory was issued for all waters around the islands, which will be vulnerable to a line of thunderstorms producing strong winds of nearly 40 mph or greater and possible waterspouts.
At least six boats broke away from their moorings within the past week and one boat sank after being struck by lightning Monday.
Associated Press writers Audrey McAvoy and Treena Shapiro contributed to this report.


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Below are a handful of my favorite Guadalupe flies.... most I would consider droppers but when they get picky I'll even throw some dbl small set ups.
In order clock wise top:
#20 Zebra midge olive and black
#20 biot midge in olive
#18 biot mercury midge emerger
#18 Barr's emerger
#20 sparkle RS2 black then grey
#20 Micro pheasant tail
#20 Micro flash back pheasant tail
#18 Greg's emerger
some close ups.....
Biot midge emerger.
Micro pheasant tail.
These are going to be part of a box I am donating to the auction during the Troutfest2015 Banquet. Thanks Rafael Torres! for the idea!
Some of my go to's...
Fun with fur and feathers
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Re: Some of my go to's...
Great work Russell! I hope to win your creations with my donation!
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Giving the gifts of smiles
The Catawba County chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police collected more than 100 toys and stuffed animals to donate to sick and needy children and adults spending the holiday season in the hospital.
FOP volunteers distributed the gifts Tuesday at Catawba Valley Medical Center and Frye Regional Medical Center. Santa and Mrs. Claus were also on hand to give away the gifts and make recipients smile.
"We're here to see smiles," said FOP president Carl Pope, who is retired from the Highway Patrol. "Whether it's from the adults or the kids, we just want to see smiles."
This is the FOP's 21st year collecting and donating toys as gifts during the holidays.
"We always wish there were no children here," said Carroll Darnell, a FOP member. "But we're glad to help when we can."
The FOP placed collection bins at area businesses, including Fast Lane restaurant in Hickory and Visions Hair Design in Newton.
Devin Ekanayake and Marc Johnson, from Fast Lane, also attended the gift distribution.
"We're good friends (with the volunteers), and we're just here to help out some needy kids," Johnson said.
Pope's wife, Jammie, said the community was overwhelmingly supportive of the FOP's mission to provide a gift for the needy this holiday season, despite the economic downturn.
"They really pulled together, but we've had a lot more families (needing help) this year," said Jammie, who dressed up as Mrs. Santa Claus for the toy distribution. "We've had help from people we don't even know."
Jammie said she relied on word of mouth and Facebook pages to get the word out about the FOP's need for donations.
Each patient also received a treat bag filled with candy, fruit and other goodies. Darnell collected and organized the treat bags from items donated by local grocery stores.
"I just hit them all and see what they can donate," he said.
Jammie said she never grows tired of helping needy families at Christmas time, and through the years, she acquired a collection of stories about her experiences with the FOP.
She recalled visiting one woman in the hospital who was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"She was so depressed," Jammie said. "The nurse said she wouldn't see anybody."
The cancer patient agreed, however, to see Jammie and Mr. Claus. When the pair walked into the woman's hospital room, Jammie said the patient's face lit up with a smile. Santa Claus gave the woman a doll, and she asked Jammie and Santa to pray together with her.
"That really means a lot," Jammie said, fighting back tears.
The group of FOP volunteers made their way through CVMC on Tuesday, first distributing gifts to the hospital's two pediatric patients then making their way to the cancer floor.
Santa Claus, also known as Gary Freund, gave each child he saw a stuffed animal and offered everyone a "Merry Christmas."


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You know you're "addicted" to tea when ....
When you start ordering free catalogs just because. I received the Republic of Tea's with a sample today, and my dad called me bananas.
When you have a new cup of good green tea (and one of your favorite companies!) in the car waiting while you have chinese and enjoy most of a pot of an unammed dark oolong with dinner…then go back to the cup of green as soon as you enter the car!
When your family members threaten to take away your credit card because they are concerned about how much tea you are purchasing.
When you cannot go in a travel or excursion without packing your favorite tea variety and tea pot.
When you see your neighbour get out of his vehicle carrying a large Davids Tea bag and you get super jealous.
I would be jealous too.
Oh man, I'd so ask what was in there!
Or when you see an empty DavidsTea cup lying in the middle of the drive thru you're sweeping at work, and get super jealous. Then go in telling everyone sadly "… and they had Pom Tango. D: That's from the new Spring collection."
When you're annoyed at tea bags in your cupboard not just because they are well, um… tea bags! but also that it's more defined in serving size and you can't cheat your tea spreadsheet and add more than there actually is so that it looks like you are drinking it down faster…
When you see an abandoned cup of water with a teabag sitting in it in the break room at work, and you feel bad for it because you know the tea is probably overstate.
And have to resist the desire to remove the bag from the cup.
Or worse yet, resist the urge to find the owner of said cup and offer to brew a proper cup of tea for him/her.
When you look in your cupboard of 60+ teas, can't seem to find one you "feel" like drinking and come to the conclusion you don't have enough tea. You then buy more tea, even though you have nowhere to store it.
When you get a few new teas and insist everyone who walks in your house for the next two days smell the tea.
When you go in the kitchen to grab tea and your family suddenly disappears because they know you are going to make them smell some tea and give them an introductory course for that specific tea.
When you keep on checking the tracking status of your tea orders, even though you may have checked no less than a half hour ago.
When USPS's site and Steepster are the top two most visited sites on your browser.
Guilty of the first. I keep telling myself, "No! You just checked ten minutes ago! >:["
I know. It's awful! It's like I think it'll somehow get here faster if I keep checking on it.
lol if only!
When you are moving your furniture around and accidentally find a hidden tea stash of dozens of sample bags; but no one says anything because they know you are basically a tea squirrel.
You should get that as a plush toy… tea squirrel.
Oh my gosh, that would be the cutest plush! I'm saving for the winter! I vote Tea Squirrel as our mascot. :3
I'd buy the plush, Tshirt or button!
I second the vote for a Tea Squirrel mascot!
And I agree with Kasumi, especially about a button…I can't help myself when it comes to buttons!
A tea squirrel would be cute….but a tea kitty (imo) would be even better. grins
Tea kitty! That sounds cute. Oh, maybe a tea totoro.
"Tea squirrel" gets some interesting results on google, as does tea kitty…
Tea marsupial? You could hide tea in the pouch.
Do I see a series of comics in my future to draw up? :P Lariel, I love that idea!
Heh, I was just thinking it should be a comic.
I'd love a comic. =P
Lariel – Tea kitty… I'm melting just thinking about it. Bit of a cat lady, here.


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Stewart Downing has hailed Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, revealing he was surprised to hear the defender was retiring from football.
Carragher has been a key figure in the Liverpool dressing room, even if he hasn't contributed to the on-field aspect as much as he would have liked in recent seasons.
Downing told The Mirror about Carragher's influence in the changing room: "I was as shocked as anyone when Carra announced he's retiring. He has been outstanding in the last couple of weeks and I thought maybe he's got the itch back to give it one more year.
"But I can understand it in a way, because he's not one of those to be sitting around - you can see he's frustrated when he's not playing.
"It would be great to get a top-four spot and to win something - for him to go out on a high.
"You could see what the League Cup meant to him last year, so it would be nice to win something for him, and we still have the Europa League to do that.
|Jamie Carragher is 45/1 with BetVictor to open the scoring in Liverpool v West Brom
"I think top four is realistic if we play as we have in the last two matches -Daniel Sturridge has been a big signing, he's given us an added dimension with his movement and goals.
"If we play as we have been, we have a chance. We've dropped points in games we should have won, but we have a lot of winnable games. It's just about consistency."
Even though Carragher has signalled time on his playing career, Downing fully expects the Liverpool player to remain in football, believing he has all the attributes to become a great manager.
"Carra's going for the whole game and you can see he's got the potential to be a manager, the way he thinks about the game and knows so much about every player.
"After [the loss to] Oldham, I won't repeat what he said in the dressing room - you wouldn't want to know - but he was the first to say something.
"With people like Carra and Stevie Gerrard, when something needs to be said, it's said. They've been here such a long time and understand what is needed.
"Ask any full-back who's played with him - you can probably hear him from the sidelines yourselves. I've been left-back and you're thinking, 'He just doesn't stop!'
"Some players can switch off in games but he's always on the case, and there aren't many of those around any more.
"It's a real shame he's stopping, and he will be a huge loss to us."


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this is a discussion within the NFL DRAFT BOARD Community Forum; The official pro day schedule reaches a conclusion today after three full weeks of workouts, and that's no April Fools joke. Many scouts who were at the Texas workout yesterday will travel to Dallas for SMU's pro day. The Mustangs' ...
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USC & UCLA Pro Days
The official pro day schedule reaches a conclusion today after three full weeks of workouts, and that's no April Fools joke.
Many scouts who were at the Texas workout yesterday will travel to Dallas for SMU's pro day. The Mustangs' top prospect, receiver Emmanuel Sanders, will stand on most of his combine numbers, just catching the football and running routes for the scouts in attendance.
Hawaii pro day takes place today in Carson, California. John Estes, one of the top centers in the nation, did not receive a combine invitation but he will headline the workout. Also participating is linebacker Brashton Satele, who we featured in the March 25 pro day tracker. Satele, you may remember, is awaiting word from the NCAA on whether he will receive a sixth season of eligibility. No final decision has been made yet.
The Hawaii workout will also allow players who live in the Los Angeles but attend other colleges another chance to work out in front of scouts. San Jose State defensive lineman Carl Ihenacho is one such player. He's struggled in recent workouts since returning from knee surgery that was performed late last year.
One player we failed to mention who had a solid workout during the USC pro day yesterday was cornerback Kevin Thomas. He was timed in the low 4.4's and looked terrific in drills. Scouts commented that his performance yesterday was an improvement over his combine workout.
On the other hand, the news is not as bright for UCLA defensive tackle Brian Price. The buzz is getting louder that scouts were not impressed with his performance on Tuesday. The word in scouting circles is that Price looked poorly conditioned and he struggled. There's a common opinion that Price, who many thought was a lock to be selected in the first round, could slip into the second frame. Others contend that he is a prospect who plays much better than he tests.
Wed., March 31, 5:30 p.m.
All in all, Wednesday was not a good day for USC safety Taylor Mays, who failed to show any kind of improvement.
Charles Baus/Icon SMI
Some notes and observations from USC's pro day in Los Angeles:
Taylor Mays did not improve in the position drills after poor showings at the Senior Bowl and NFL combine. He was stiff, he practiced upright, and he looked very robotic, uneasy and off-balance while breaking to the ball. He struggled changing direction at full speed and was asked to repeat drills on a few occasions.
As was the case earlier this year, several scouts said they think a move to linebacker is in the offing for Mays. Scouts in general are starting to compare him to former Dallas Cowboys first round pick Roy Williams; an oversized college safety with poor skills in pass coverage.
Receiver Damian Williams decided against running the 40 today, but did participate in position drills and he looked terrific. He ran crisp routes and caught everything that was thrown his way. It was an improvement from his practice session at the combine.
Tight end Anthony McCoy went against the recommendation of doctors, who said he needed seven days of rest due to his tonsillitis, and participated in position drills. Like Williams, the big tight end looked terrific. He also ran good routes and displayed soft, wide receiver-like hands.
Offensive tackle Charles Brown, who only participated in the bench press and vertical jump at the combine, ran his first 40 in a time of 5.3 seconds, but hurt his left hamstring.
Defensive end Everson Griffen posted a hand time of 4.60 seconds in the 40 -- that's .05 faster than his best mark at the combine.
Underrated reserve offensive lineman Nick Howell posted a 5-flat in the 40. Howell, who played several positions on the Trojan line as a backup, is getting late-round consideration. Earlier in the day, he completed 38 reps on the bench.
I wonder if Mays falls to us at 32 if we would consider moving him into the vacated Fujita spot. Urlacher made the move from safety to LB pretty seemlessly.
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Re: USC & UCLA Pro Days
Hmmmm...Mays is a gamble...
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Re: USC & UCLA Pro Days
S Taylor Mays -- The fact that Mays did not run the 40-yard dash at USC's pro day on Wednesday might have disappointed fans but it makes sense. He blazed a time of 4.31 seconds at the NFL combine and covers a lot of ground on film, so the bigger priority was showing that concerns over his stiff hips in coverage are exaggerated.
However, Mays didn't look fluid or comfortable changing directions during position drills. He still projects as a first-round pick because there will likely be at least one team that falls in love with his size/speed combination enough to take him on Day 1.
DE Everson Griffen -- Griffen improved his 40 time to 4.60 after running a 4.66 at the combine, which is impressive considering he is in the 270-pound range. It's another step in the right direction for Griffen, who has shown scouts he's versatile enough to line up at end in a base four-man front or outside linebacker in a base three-man front. Don't be surprised to see him sneak into the first round.
WR Damian Williams -- We would have liked to have seen Williams run the 40 after he posted a 4.52 at the combine, but that's still functional NFL speed. More importantly, Williams showed during drills why he projects as a second-round pick by running crisp routes and catching the ball well.
TE Anthony McCoy -- McCoy decided to go through position drills despite the fact that he's got tonsillitis, and the move paid off. He looked athletic running routes and caught the ball well, something he struggled with during Senior Bowl week. Factor in McCoy's above-average blocking and he should come off the board early in the third round or perhaps late in the second.
OT Charles Brown -- Brown pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury while running the 40 and he did not participate in position drills. Brown also missed the Senior Bowl and did not run at the combine because of a calf injury, but he looked good during position drills at the combine. The injuries don't appear to be serious and Brown shows good feet on film so he still projects as a second-round pick.
CB Kevin Thomas -- His stock continues to rise after a strong workout. Thomas improved his 40 time from 4.48 to 4.43 and looked quick transitioning out of breaks, showing teams during position drills that he can snatch the ball out of the air. Thomas projects as a fifth-round pick and could move up a bit more because teams are sure to go back to the film for a second look.
Other workouts
CB Perrish Cox -- He was not allowed to work out with his former college teammates at Oklahoma State's pro day, so Cox performed for 10 teams in Waco, Texas, on Tuesday. There were substantial discrepancies in his 40 times -- mid-4.4s with the wind, mid-4.5s against it -- but all were improvements over the 4.63 he ran at the combine.
In addition, Cox has lost four pounds since the combine, and he looked to be in excellent shape at 191 pounds. Though he showed during his workout that he has a lot of natural ability and his film indicates that he could be a playmaker, Cox projects as a late-second round pick because of character issues.
S Nate Allen -- Allen re-aggravated the quad injury that prevented him from working out at the combine during South Florida's pro day. He showed some toughness by participating in position drills, and he's hoping the injury will heal enough for him to run for teams before the draft. On film, Allen's greatest strengths are his range and fluid hips, so we expect him to run well when he gets the chance. In the meantime, he's missing the opportunity to push Mays for the No. 3 safety spot on our board.
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Re: USC & UCLA Pro Days
CB Kevin Thomas -- His stock continues to rise after a strong workout. Thomas improved his 40 time from 4.48 to 4.43 and looked quick transitioning out of breaks, showing teams during position drills that he can snatch the ball out of the air. Thomas projects as a fifth-round pick and could move up a bit more because teams are sure to go back to the film for a second look.
I like this kid.
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Trip World Walkthrough and Guide
Welcome to the Trip World Walkthrough where our team of contributors will help you work through the game via a step-by-step tutorial. A Gamewise walkthrough aims to take you all the way through the game to 100% completion including unlockable quests and items.
If you are stuck on something specific and are unable to find any answers in our Trip World Walkthrough then be sure to ask the Trip World Forum / Community for help and advice in the discussion box below and they will get back to you as soon as possible with an answer!
Finally, if you have been playing Trip World and wish to help other users, feel free to sign up and start contributing!
Trip World Overview
Trip World is a platform game developed by Sunsoft and released on Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS.


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Drumming on a table, for some, could be construed as a rather bad habit and something to be avoided in polite society - much like picking your nose... and eating it.
However, like eating your own bogies, practitioners of table tapping clearly garner much pleasure from the habit; so it is with this in mind that we take a look at TableDrum - the 21st century Audio Augmented Reality app.
- Format
- iOS
- Price
- 69p
- Where
- iTunes
First things first - this app is jolly good fun and it also works, for the most part. At this very moment this reviewer has an iPhone, running the app, tucked in beside the trackpad of his computer; with pretty good accuracy the app is mirroring each and every stroke. Each bash of the keyboard is resulting in a resounding thump of a virtual drum, bringing a little bit of fun to the app-review work scenario.
To use TableDrum, you'll need a few implements and a variety of surfaces to bash said implements against. In our tests we used a pen on a cereal bowl and our fingers on the table itself - one sound resulting in a drum beat, the other a cymbal crash. This worked pretty well and we managed to cobble together a decent beat which TableDrum followed precisely. However, when we upped a gear and rattled out some quick-fire beats the cymbal in particular struggled to keep up and started to miss some of our taps.
This is forgivable as the app is clearly designed with fun in mind rather than the serious musician, and if we're being nice (which Pocket-lint clearly is) we'd say a bit more experimentation may have yielded more accurate results.
Of more concern was the necessity to use headphones, as clanging on various surfaces masked the sounds coming from the iPhone (our pen on cereal bowl being a case in point). The makers do say that for best results use headphones, but we can't help feel that would-be tappers may want to share their expertise, something which headphones don't lend themselves well to.
Initially you're given the classic drum kit to play with, and this can be added to with Ethno/Jazz and Electro/Glitch kits for 69p a go.
Nevertheless, TableDrum remains a very decent effort at its currently discounted 69p price and is well worth a download, however when/if it reverts to its original price it may not represent such good value.