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Getting to Know Mac OS X Finder Windows
Learning Finder Window Basics
You'll spend most of your Mac OS X time doing things that are creative, fun, entertaining, and educational, which is as it should be, because your Mac is eminently suited to all of those worthy activities. However, you'll also spend a significant amount of Mac OS X time on activities that are, to be honest, not so fun and interesting. I'm talking here about the day-to-day tasks associated with your files, folders, discs, removable drives, and hard drives. This is the less glamorous and cool side of Mac OS X, but it's a side you can't avoid.
Fortunately, these workaday Mac chores are made easier by Finder, which is the application you use to work with everything from files to drives. This section introduces you to all the basic Finder techniques you'll need. To get you started, Figure 3.1 points out the major features of a typical Finder window.
Figure 3.1 A typical Finder window and its features.
Opening Finder Windows
You can open Finder windows in several ways. If you click the Finder icon on the Dock, one of two things can happen:
- If no Finder windows are currently open, a new Finder window appears showing the contents of the default location you select (initially, this is your Home folder, but you can select any folder you'd like).
- If at least one Finder window is already open, Finder displays the window you used most recently.
You can also open a new Finder window by selecting File, New Finder Window (Command-N). When you open a new Finder window, you see the contents of your default location (this is initially set to be your Home folder).
The Mac OS X Finder uses a web-like model in that each new Finder window you open starts a "chain" of windows (thus, the Back and Forward buttons in the Finder window toolbar). The first window in every new chain you start by using the New Finder Window command is always the folder you define as the default. You can have many window chains open at the same time, which is another similarity to web windows. (You can quickly jump into specific folders using the toolbar, the Sidebar, the Go menu, and keyboard shortcuts.)
→ To learn how to navigate Finder windows, see "Navigating Finder Windows."
By default, when you open an item (such as a folder), its contents replace the contents of the previous item that appeared in the Finder window you were viewing. (You can change this behavior globally with a preference setting.) You can also override this behavior so the new Finder window is separate from the first one by holding down the Command key while you double-click an icon. This opens a new chain of Finder windows, with the contents of the item you opened displayed in the first window.
After you have one Finder window open, you can open other Finder windows (either in the same chain of windows or by starting a new chain) to view the contents of a different folder, volume, disc, and so on. To view the contents of a folder, volume, or disc shown in the current Finder window, double-click the icon for the item you want to open, or select an item and select File, Open (or press Command-O). The contents of the item you opened replace the window's current contents and the name shown at the top of the window becomes the name of the item you opened.
You can also choose different views for Finder windows. When you open a new Finder window, it always assumes the view you selected the last time you viewed that item in a Finder window. You'll learn more about Mac OS X Finder window views later in this chapter.
To reiterate this sometimes confusing behavior of Mac OS X windows, the view in which a new window opens is determined by the view you used for that window the last time you viewed it. In other words, windows retain their view settings, even if the window from which you opened a separate Finder window is different. For example, if you viewed the Applications folder in List view, it appears in List view whenever you open it in a new Finder window until you change the view in which it appears.
Along the left edge of every Finder window is the Sidebar. This handy tool consists of several sections. In the Devices section are all the volumes mounted on your Mac, including hard disk volumes, disk image volumes, your iDisk, CDs, DVDs, and so on. The Shared section will display icons for the servers that are available on your local area network (LAN). In the Places section of the sidebar are some of the folders in your Home folder and the Applications folder. You can add any folders, applications, documents, or other files to or remove them from this area to completely customize it. Finally, the Search For section of the sidebar allows you to quickly find content based on predetermined searches, and you can also store smart folders and Spotlight searches here. The purpose of the Sidebar is to enable you to quickly open a Finder window that displays the contents of any item it contains.
When you select a volume or folder in the Sidebar, its contents appear in the Finder window. The currently selected item is highlighted, so you can easily tell what is selected. (The name of the currently selected item appears at the top of the window as well.) If you select a document or application, that item opens just as it does when you double-click it.
Configuring How New Finder Windows Open
To configure how Finder windows open, perform the following steps:
- Select Finder, Preferences or press Command-,. When the Finder Preferences window opens, click the General tab if it isn't selected already (see Figure 3.2).
- On the New Finder Windows Open pop-up menu, select the location where you want new Finder window chains you open to start.
- If you prefer that when you open an item, the item's contents always appear in a new Finder window chain, activate the Always Open Folders in a New Window check box. However, because this option can lead to a proliferation of Finder windows, I recommend that you leave this option off. (Remember that you can always open a new Finder window chain by holding down the Command key when you double-click an item.) A better way to view content is to use the Column view, which enables you to quickly move to any location, as you will see later in this chapter.
Figure 3.2 Use the General pane of the Finder Preferences window to configure how new Finder windows open.
On the pop-up menu, you see various volumes mounted on your Mac along with your Home and Documents folders. To choose one of these as the starting location for new Finder window chains, simply select it on the menu.
To select a location not shown on the pop-up menu, choose Other. Then use the Choose a Folder dialog box to move to and choose the folder that you want to be your starting place. Navigating such dialog boxes is very much like navigating in a Finder window in the Column view.
→ To learn more about Mac OS X folders, see "Understanding the Standard Mac OS X Folders."
Working with Spring-Loaded Folders
Mac OS X Finder windows can be spring-loaded (this feature is turned on by default), meaning that they pop open when you drag an item onto a closed folder. This enables you to quickly place an item within nested folders without having to open each folder individually. Simply drag an item onto a closed folder so the folder is highlighted and "springs" open. After the delay time (which you can set) has passed, the highlighted folder opens in a separate Finder window chain (unless you are viewing the window in Column view, in which case a new column appears for the item onto which you are dragging the item). You can then drag the item onto the next folder and continue the process until you have placed it in its final destination. When you release the mouse button, what happens depends on the Finder preference you have selected. If new folders open in the same Finder window, you remain in the location in which you placed the item. If new folders always open in a new Finder window, you return to the window in which you started (however, the destination folder will remain open in its Finder window).
You can configure your Mac's spring-loaded behavior by following these steps:
- Click the General tab in the Finder Preferences dialog box.
- Activate the Spring-Loaded Folders and Windows check box to turn this feature back on if you have turned it off (it is on by default).
- Use the Delay slider to set the amount of delay time (the time between when you drag an item onto a folder and when that folder springs open).
Scrolling Finder Windows
When the contents of a Finder window can't be shown in the amount of space the window currently has, you use the scrollbars to view contents that are out of sight. You have the following options:
- Drag the scrollbars.
- Click above or below or to the left or right of the bar to scroll one screen's worth at a time.
- Click the scroll arrows.
- Press the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll vertically.
- Press the Home key to jump to the top of the window or the End key to jump to the bottom.
- Use the arrow keys or Tab (and Shift-Tab) to move among the items in the window (which also scrolls the window when you move outside the current view).
You can modify several aspects of scrolling behavior. You can change the location of the scroll arrows. Also, rather than moving an entire page each time you click above, below, to the left, or to the right of a scrollbar, you can set the scrolling such that you move to the relative location you click instead. You can also turn on smooth scrolling, which smoothes out the appearance of a window when you scroll in it. Follow these steps to modify these scrolling features:
- Open the System Preferences application.
- In the Personal section, click Appearance.
- Choose one of the following options to change the location of the scroll arrows:
- Together—Select this option to place the scroll arrows beside each other, either at the bottom of a vertical scrollbar (see Figure 3.1, earlier), or to the right of a horizontal scroll bar.
- At Top and Bottom—Select this option to place the scroll arrows above and below a vertical scrollbar (see Figure 3.3) or to the left and right of a horizontal scrollbar.
- Choose one of the following options to change how scrolling works when you click in the scrollbar:
- Jump to the Next Page—Select this radio button to scroll a screen at a time.
- Jump to the Spot That's Clicked—Select this radio button to move to a position in the window that's relative to where you click in the scrollbar.
- Activate the Use Smooth Scrolling check box to turn on smooth scrolling.
Figure 3.3 You can configure Finder to place the scroll arrows at opposite ends of a scrollbar.
Resizing Finder Windows
To change the size of a window, drag its Resize handle (pointed out earlier in Figure 3.1) until the window is the size you want it to be.
You can also use the Zoom button to make a window large enough to display all the items it contains or until it fills the screen, whichever comes first. Click the button and the window jumps to the size it needs to be to show all the items it contains or until it fills the available screen space. Click the button again to return it to its previous size.
You can also use this button to quickly swap between two sizes for a window. Make the window a size you like. When you click the Zoom button, it expands to its maximum size. Click the button again and it returns to the previous size. Each time you click the Zoom button, the window returns to the size it was previously (either the maximum size or the size you set).
If you have a lot of Finder windows open on the Desktop, you can use this resizing behavior to make working between multiple windows more convenient. Select an open window and make it the size you want it to be so it is out of the way and you can store many windows of this size on your desktop; make it just large enough that you can see the window's title. You can click the Zoom button to open the window to work in it. Then, click the Zoom button again to return the window to its small size. Use the button to toggle between the two sizes. When you need to work in the window, make it large by clicking the Zoom button. When you are done, click the button again to make it small. You might find this even more convenient than minimizing windows (which you'll learn about shortly).
Resizing the Panes of Finder Windows
As you learned earlier, Finder windows have two panes. The left pane is the Sidebar, whereas the right pane is the Contents pane, which displays the contents of the item you are viewing in the Finder window. You can change the relative size of the Sidebar by dragging the line that is located between the two panes. Drag this to the left and the Sidebar takes up less room in the window. Drag it to the right and the Sidebar takes up more window space.
The Sidebar retains your settings as long as you work within the same Finder window chain. When you open a new chain, the Sidebar becomes its default size.
Closing, Minimizing, and Maximizing Finder Windows
Among the most distinctive features of Mac OS X are the three stoplight-type controls located in the upper-left corner of windows (refer to Figure 3.1). The red button (on the far left) closes the window. The gold button (in the middle) minimizes the window, which shrinks it and moves it to the right side of the Dock. The green button maximizes the window, which makes it as large as it needs to be to display all the items in the window until that window fills the screen (and returns it to the previous size, as you learned in the previous section).
→ To learn how to use the Dock, see Chapter 2, "Getting to know the Dock."
The Close, Minimize, and Zoom buttons work even if the window on which they appear is not active. For example, you can close a window that is in the background by clicking its Close button without making the window active first. (When you point to a button on an inactive window, the button becomes colored so that you know it is active, even though the window itself is not.)
Moving Finder Windows
You can move a Finder window around the desktop by dragging its title bar or its status bar.
Using the Finder Window Views
You can display the contents of a Finder window in four different views: Icon, List, Column, and Cover Flow.
Using the Icon View
You can view Finder windows in the Icon view by clicking the Icon view button in the toolbar; by selecting View, As Icons; or by pressing Command-1. The objects in the window become icons, as shown in Figure 3.4.
Figure 3.4 A folder window in Icon view.
→ You can customize the Icon view for Finder windows. See "Customizing Finder Windows."
If you find that a window in the Icon view is messy, you can use the Clean Up command (View, Clean Up) to straighten up the window for you. This command neatly arranges icons so they line up in an orderly fashion.
To arrange icons by a specific criterion, select View, Arrange By, and then select the criterion by which you want the window's icons ordered. Your options are the following: Name, Date Modified, Date Created, Size, Kind, or Label.
Although the Icon view is clearly the most pleasing view to look at, it is one of the least useful in terms of the information you see.
Using the List View
The List view presents more information than does the Icon view (see Figure 3.5). To switch to the List view, click the List view button; select View, as List; or press Command-2.
Figure 3.5 List view—At the top of the window are the same controls that are visible in the Icon view. However, the lower part of the window contains more information than is available in the Icon view.
The information in the List view is organized into columns, with a header at the top of the column indicating the information in it. The information in the List view is always sorted—you can select the column that is used to sort the contents of the window. You can also determine the order in which the columns appear, change the width of columns, and expand or collapse the contents of folders. The information for each item you see in the default List view is the following:
- Name—This is the filename for files, the folder name for folders, the volume name for volumes, and so on.
- Date Modified—The most recent date and time on which the object was changed. If the date is recent, it's indicated by a relative term, such as "Yesterday."
- Size—The size of the item, in kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), or gigabytes (GB). By default, the size of folders is not calculated (you can set Mac OS X to calculate folder sizes if that information is important to you).
- Kind—The type of object it is, such as folder, document, application, volume, and so on.
→ You can customize the List view for a single window or for all windows. See "Customizing Finder Windows."
The column by which the window is sorted is highlighted with the highlight color (blue or graphite). To change the sort column, click the column heading of the column by which you want the list to be sorted. That heading is highlighted and the list is re-sorted by that criterion. At the right edge of the column heading for the column by which the window is sorted, you see the Sort order indicator. This shows you in which direction the list is sorted. For example, if the list is sorted by the Name column, an up arrow indicates that the list is sorted alphabetically and a down arrow indicates that the list is sorted in reverse alphabetical order. To change the direction of the sort, click the Column heading—the list is sorted in the opposite order (from ascending to descending or from descending to ascending).
You can resize a column by moving the pointer to the right edge of the column heading cell and clicking. When you do, the cursor changes from the pointer to a vertical line with outward-facing arrows on each side of it. When you see this cursor, drag the column border to resize the column.
You can change the order in which columns appear by dragging the column heading of the column you want to move and dropping it in the new location. The columns reshuffle and then appear in the order you have indicated.
One of the other benefits of the List view is that you can expand the contents of a folder so you can view them without having to open the folder's window first. To do this, click the right-facing expansion triangle next to the folder's name (see Figure 3.5). The folder expands, and its contents are listed in the window. Click the triangle again to collapse the folder down to its icon.
Using the Column View
You can use the Coloumn view to quickly see and navigate levels of the hierarchy (see Figure 3.6). To switch to the Column view, click the Column view button on the toolbar; select View, as Columns; or press Command-3.
As you might suspect, in the Column view, the window is organized into columns, with each column representing a level of the file organization hierarchy. The leftmost column shows the highest level you can see, each column to its right shows the next level down the structure, and the column on the far right shows the lowest level you can see. When you select a file, the rightmost column shows a preview of the selected file. The "path" at which you are looking is indicated by the highlighted items in each column.
Folder icons have a right-facing arrow at the right edge of the column in which they appear, to indicate that when you select them, their contents appear in the column to the immediate right.
Figure 3.6 The Column view is a great way to see the hierarchical organization of folders and files.
For example, put a Finder window in the Column view and click your Home folder on the Sidebar to see its contents. The Home folder's contents are shown in the first column in the window. If you click one of the folders in your Home folder, it becomes highlighted and its contents appear in one of the middle columns. As you select folders within folders, their contents appear in the column to their right. This continues all the way down into a folder until it contains no more folders.
You can move down into the hierarchy by clicking the item about which you want more detail. The column to the right of the item on which you click shows the contents of what you click. If you click something in the right column and the window is not large enough to display the contents of all the columns, the view shifts and the columns appear to move to the left. You can use this approach to quickly see the contents of any folder on your Mac, no matter how far down in the hierarchy it is stored.
When there are more columns than can be displayed in the window, you can use the horizontal scrollbars to view all the columns. Scrolling to the left moves up the hierarchy, whereas scrolling to the right moves down the hierarchy. You can also make the window larger to view more columns at the same time.
You can resize the width of the columns in a window by dragging the resize handle located in the lower-right corner of each column. Each column in a window can have a different width.
When you click a file to select it, the far-right column shows a large icon or a preview of the file and information about that file is displayed (refer to Figure 3.6).
If you click document files for which Mac OS X can create a preview, you see the preview in the column. If the file you select has dynamic content, you can play that content in the preview that you see in the Column view. For example, if you select a QuickTime movie, you can click the play or pause button that appears over the preview when you move your mouse above it to watch the movie without opening the file. Certain types of text files are also displayed so you can read them (arrows appear on the preview to enable you to read the entire document). You can also see large thumbnail views of graphics stored in certain formats. For those items that Mac OS X cannot create previews of (an application is one example), you see a large icon instead of a preview.
If you prefer not to see the preview, there are two ways to hide it. You can hide it in individual windows or you can hide it by using View Options.
To hide the preview in specific windows, click the Expansion triangle next to the word Preview that appears just above the preview of a selected file in the Preview pane. This hides all previews for the current window and shows detailed information about the item that is selected, along with the More info button (which opens the Info window that you will learn about later).
→ To learn about the Column view's View Options, see "Customizing the Column View."
Using the Cover Flow View
Cover Flow provides a very interactive way to view previews of the files in a folder (see Figure 3.7). The Cover Flow view is especially useful if you are navigating a folder of photos or videos.
With a Finder window set to the Cover Flow view, you will see two panes. On the top is the actual Cover Flow preview of the files in the folder. The bottom pane is a list view of that same folder. Note that with the lower pane in list view, you can use the same steps to change the view as you do in a regular list view Finder window. For instance, you can sort by a different column or change the sort order.
The most noticeable feature of the Cover Flow view is the ability to scroll through the items in the folder. If you have a folder of photos, this view allows you to see a preview of each photo to find the one you are looking for. Resize the Finder window so that the Cover Flow preview area is big enough to see the preview. As you drag the Cover Flow scroll bar, the previews of the items in the folder flow in the direction you are scrolling. When you stop scrolling, the item that is selected displays at a slightly larger size than the other previews and is centered in the top pane. The name of the file is are displayed under the preview.
Browsing a folder that has QuickTime movies provides a preview of the movie. When you select a QuickTime movie and move the mouse over the preview, a play button appears on the preview. When you click the play button the movie will start to play in the Cover Flow preview pane. Move your mouse over the preview again and a stop button appears. While a movie is playing, the other files no longer show previews of those documents; once you move the Cover Flow scroll bar the previews will appear again.
Figure 3.7 The Cover Flow view provides a very interactive way to preview photos and videos in a folder.


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How can I modify a position using the FxPro App?
You can modify the size or SL/TP of an open position, by selecting the 'More' button next to the trade you wish to modify from the 'trades' tab. You can then select "Modify Position" and make any necessary changes using the options provided on screen.
You will then select the 'Modify' button to confirm the change(s).

subset: commoncrawl


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I'll start with the passage on children being a blessing, Psalm 127:3.
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Children are indeed a blessing from God! This is not the real question, however. The question is, does the Bible teach that if we just let nature take its course, the amount of children we will have will be God's plan for us?
Look at the curse that comes upon Eve after the Fall, in Genesis 3:16: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. . ."
The King James Version here brings out very well what the original language actually said. A Hebrew interlinear, which gives a direct, word-for-word translation, reads this way: "I am increasing grief of you and pregnancy of you; in grief shall you give birth." (Emphasis added.) There are actually two different Hebrew words translated "grief" in this verse ("sorrow" in the King James). They are synonyms, both meaning "labor, hardship, painful toil." The first of these words is also used of Adam in Gen. 3:17-18, where God says to him, "in sorrow [painful toil] shalt thou eat of it [the ground] all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." God is telling the couple that the result of their sin is hardship, labor and toil.
The words to Eve in Gen 3:16 comprise a Hebrew poetic structure in which the whole of the phrase, "multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" refers to the whole process of childbearing, from conception to birth. It is not just talking about "pain in childbirth," as many other translations say. The hardship and painful toil includes the whole process. This would include everything that is difficult or goes wrong for women in pregnancy, from conception to childbirth. It would include pain in labor, certainly; but it also includes miscarriage, stillbirth, difficulty in conception, and even, naturally, the "multiplication" of conceptions themselves-- the ability of the woman's body to conceive more frequently than is safe or healthy for her, sometimes before she has even recovered from the last pregnancy.
The writers of the Old Testament recognized children as a blessing—but they also recognized all of the different hardships of childbearing (and of course, these are different for different women). "Multiply thy sorrows and thy conception" can mean pain and hardship in conception is increased, but it can also mean that conceptions themselves are increased. The fact that some women cannot conceive is part of the curse. But the fact that some women's bodies can conceive more often than they can bear in safety and health, is also shown in the Bible to be a result of the curse; it was not God's original plan.
But Christ came to bring justification to us from the sin that brought death and sorrow to humanity (Romans 5:12). And even before Christ came– through the ages, in fact– men have invented tools to help them deal with the toils and sorrows of tilling the ground. There is no passage in the Bible that says God, in His mercy, ever forbade men to use those tools. Neither does the Bible say God has forbidden women to decrease the toils and sorrows of their particular struggles with conception and childbirth. God does not forbid women to decrease their pain in childbirth through the tools of medication. Neither does God forbid women to decrease their conceptions through the tools of birth control.
Q: But there was no birth control in Bible times except for coitus interruptus, and in Genesis 38:9-10, God struck Onan dead for "spilling his seed on the ground." This must have been about Onan's crime of birth control ~ since the penalty for simply not giving your brother's widow a child was only public humiliation, according to Deuteronomy 25:7.
Actually, there were many other kinds of birth control used in Bible times. The Ebers Papyrus of Egypt, which dates from 1500 BC, lists a number of barrier methods. Here is a translation of one of them: "To make a woman not become pregnant for one year, two years or three years, acacia leaves are ground fine with honey, lint is moistened therewith and placed in her vulva." Eerdman's Handbook to the Bible places the Hebrews' time in Egypt (between Joseph and Moses) from 1700-1300 BC. It is impossible, given the Israelites' presence in Egypt during the same period that the Ebers Papyrus was written, that the Israelites could have been completely unfamiliar with the methods set forth in this papyrus. And yet the Bible says nothing whatsoever about any of these Egyptian remedies. The only time a method of birth control is mentioned is the story of Onan. I'd like to take closer look at that story.
And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the Lord, wherefore he slew him also. Genesis 38:8-10
The context of this passage is Onan's unwillingness to fulfill his duty in that culture to his brother's widow. Onan married his brother's widow and "went in unto" her as a husband to a wife– but then emitted on the ground, "lest that he should give seed to his brother. This is sometimes compared with Deuteronomy 25:7, where the consequences of refusing to take a brother's widow as wife are not death, but only public shame. But the situation in Deuteronomy 25 involves only refusing to marry the widow. What Onan did was much worse. He went ahead and married her, but then selfishly refused to raise a child that would be considered legally his brother's and not his own. It wasn't that he didn't want children; it's that he wanted children only for his own profit! But the woman could not marry anyone else. His act consigned her to childlessness whether she liked it or not. And it was a great deception for Onan to pretend to do his duty to his brother outwardly, but then to go back on it in the privacy of the home. It was not for simple birth control that Omar was judged by God. It was for fraud, greed, deception and covenant-breaking. The birth control was the means by which the crime was committed. The birth control itself was not the crime.
Since this is the only place in the Bible that a method of birth control is even mentioned, and since the Bible is silent about all other then-known methods of birth control– how can we say that the Bible, implicitly or expressly, forbids birth control? The vast majority of details about individual life and choices are neither commanded nor forbidden by the Bible. God permits people to decide where to live, what kind of houses to build, what to do for a living– there are no commands, explicit or implicit, forbidding these choices. Where the Bible makes no command regarding an issue of personal choice, then to take a certain position, insist it is God's will, and expect everyone else to follow, is unfairly adding to the Scriptures and curtailing others' freedom in Christ. (Romans 14:2-4, Galatians 5:1.)
Q: But Psalm 127:3 still says children are a blessing! Even if we don't have to have more than our bodies can safely bear, shouldn't we seek to bear as many as we safely can? Isn't the use of birth control for any other reason than the woman's health, willfully rejecting the blessing of God and therefore choosing instead the curse of barrenness?
If "A" is a blessing, it does not necessarily follow that "Not A" is not a blessing. The apostle Paul makes it clear that choosing not to marry or have children is a lifestyle blessed by God just as much as marriage is. "I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I." I Corinthians 7:7-8. Paul's use of the word "widows" here makes it clear that by "men" he means not just males, but both sexes. It is a gift of God for both men and women to remain unmarried and childless, as he was. This too is a blessing from God, for "the unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit." I Corinthians 7:34.
Also, if something is a blessing, it does not follow that an unlimited amount of that something is an unlimited blessing. The Bible says nothing like this– and it is contrary to plain logic. In Genesis 13:6, it tells of how Abraham and Lot were blessed of God with wealth, including sheep and cattle– but when "their substance was great" to the point where the land could not support all their flocks and herds, they were forced to separate from one another. Clearly the sheep and cattle were not an unlimited blessing, when they became too numerous for the land to support them.
We must also ask ourselves: are we being good stewards of the resources God has given us, when we have more children than we can financially support? Is it loving to the children we already have, to keep having more, beyond the point where we can give adequate attention to them all? Romans 8:14 says that those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God. Rather than laying down a law for ourselves about never preventing conception by any means, perhaps we should prayerfully seek to be led by the Spirit as to when we should conceive, and when we shouldn't. After all, Paul counseled in I Corinthians 7:26 that in times of distress, it is better not to make major changes in our lives. It is not always God's best to have more, and more, and more children.
Q: But doesn't Malachi 2:15 say that the primary purpose for which the Lord created the institution of marriage was to "seek a godly seed"?
Here's Malachi 2:15 in its immediate context.
Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. . . And this ye have done again, covering the altar of the Lord with weeping, and with crying out, inso much that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously; yet she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Malachi 2:11-15.
The context in Malachi 2:15 is about how the men of Judah, upon returning to the Promised Land following exile in Babylon, abandoned their wives in order to marry younger women from the peoples who lived in the Promised Land, who served idols. The passage makes two main points: 1) they were being treacherous to their wives: "She is thy companion and the wife of thy covenant," and 2) they were profaning the holiness of the Lord by marrying "the daughter of a strange god."
This passage is not about the primary purpose of marriage, but about the sins of covenant-breaking and idolatry. But if a "primary purpose" of marriage applies at all here, it is stated to be "companionship." The original wives of the men of Judah are spoken of as companions to their husbands– not as mothers of their children. The Lord views this covenant made with a woman, for companionship, to be just as holy and binding as any other covenant.
As for "a godly seed," the emphasis here is on "godly," not on "seed." God made men and women of Judah one in marriage so that their seed might be godly– as opposed to the seed that might come from marriage to a "daughter of a strange god," who might choose to serve the idols of their mother's people.
Q: But modern birth control methods are dangerous and can be abortifacient! And natural family planning isn't very effective. Besides, the Bible says it is God Who opens and closes the womb. Shouldn't we trust Him with our family planning and not take matters into our own hands?
Modern birth control methods are actually pretty safe when used with a doctor's advice. It is my understanding there is no actual medical support for the idea that hormonal birth control is abortifacient. But even if it were, there are non-hormonal methods that work very well instead. The diaphragm, for instance, is a barrier method that has been around for decades, is safe and effective when used carefully, and is completely non-hormonal. A woman's doctor can help her find the type of birth control that is safest for her and that she feels most comfortable with.
And as for God opening and closing the womb, there are only a few Bible texts that speak of this. Genesis 20:18 says that God "closed the wombs" of all the women in Abimilek's household because Abimilek had taken Abraham's wife Sarah (thinking she was his sister). Then in verse 20, Abraham prays to God, and God heals them so that they can conceive again. Genesis 29:31 and Genesis 30:22 refer to God opening the wombs of women who had previously been barren (Leah and Rachel). Afterwards they both had more than one child. The text does not say God had to reopen their wombs each time. Finally, 1 Sam 1:5-6 says that God had closed Hannah's womb, but when she prayed, God "remembered" her and she conceived (verse 19). Later the text says God "visited" Hannah so that she had three more sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:21).
Reading these texts together, they do not indicate at all that God opens every woman's womb each time she conceives, or that He closes every woman's womb every time she does not conceive. These texts are not about normal female fertility at all. Instead they speak specifically of barrenness and God's specific acts to cause or heal barrenness at certain times, in certain women, for reasons unique to each situation. The human writers of the Bible texts knew, as we know today, that conception occurs after sexual intercourse and is based on a woman's menstrual cycle. As with many other physical laws of our world, God set it up to work this way.
One other verse speaks of God giving conception to a woman: Ruth 4:13, in which God causes Ruth to conceive Obed, the source of David's line of kings. This verse is speaking about a specific birth to a specific woman for a specific purpose in God's plan. Again, Bible simply doesn't say that God directly acts to give conception to every woman who conceives, or directly acts to stop conception in every woman who does not conceive.
As I said, there are many things in our world that God designed to work on their own. In Matthew 4:6-7, when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, the devil suggested that Jesus cast Himself down from the top of the temple, trusting in God to send angels to bear Him up. Jesus answered, "It is written, thou shalt not tempt [test] the Lord thy God." Jesus knew that the Father had set up the world so that gravity would cause anyone who threw himself off the temple to die. It was set up that way, and it was going to work that way unless God directly stepped in. It was wrong, Jesus said, to force God to do a miracle.
In the same way God has set up normal female fertility so that a woman's ovaries will release an egg to be fertilized once a month. If a fertile woman has sexual intercourse with a fertile man during a period when an egg is in her fallopian tubes, she is going to conceive. It's not unlike the game of "Russian Roulette." In Russian Roulette, two people will put a bullet into one chamber of a six-shooter gun, and then take turns to point the gun at their own heads and pull the trigger. If the bullet is in the right chamber when the trigger is pulled, that gun is going to go off. If you play Russian Roulette and want to live, you are certainly "tempting God"!
Having sexual intercourse without birth control is not "trusting God." It's more like playing Russian Roulette. If the egg is in the right place at the right time, conception will occur. For it not to occur, God would have to do a miracle. Jesus said it's wrong to force God into doing a miracle. Tempting God is not trusting God. If you're in a position where a pregnancy would be a hardship and a sorrow (though this isn't to say you wouldn't welcome the child if it came!), you don't have to play Russian Roulette with your womb every month.
As I said before, trusting God actually means being led by the Spirit of God. Romans 8:14-16. God wants us to pray to Him for guidance on when it's a good time to have a child, and when it's not—just as we would with any other major decision in our lives.
So to people involved in Christian movements like Quiverfull, I would say this. Children were precious in the Old Covenant, but in the New Covenant, Christ shows them to be so much more than simply "arrows" for their fathers. In Matthew 19:14 He makes it plain that He loves and calls children to places in His kingdom as individuals in their own right. So if we already have children, few or many, God desires that we should care for them and love them with all our hearts (Matthew 18:1-6). But if we are feeling under pressure from other Christians to have even more– Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
Parenting is a high calling, but no one has the right to add to Scripture and claim there is only one way to serve God– not for men, and not for women either. It is being "a new creature" that matters, says Galatians 6:15, not how many– or even whether– you have children. Each Christian couple should be free in their own consciences to decide together when-- and whether-- to have children.
For more information see:
Eerdman's Handbook to the Bible, Lion Publishing.
For more information see:
Eerdman's Handbook to the Bible, Lion Publishing.
Ancient Inventions, Peter James and Nick Thorpe, Random House, 1994.
Household: Family and Household in Ancient Israel, by Michael Kruse: http://krusekronicle.typepad.com/kruse_kronicle/2007/06/household-famil.html
The Scripture-4-All Online Interlinear Hebrew Bible:http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/gen3.pdf
Household: Family and Household in Ancient Israel, by Michael Kruse: http://krusekronicle.typepad.com/kruse_kronicle/2007/06/household-famil.html
The Scripture-4-All Online Interlinear Hebrew Bible:http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/gen3.pdf


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"A spectre is haunting the world: 1914." So writes Harold James, a professor of history [who is] certainly right that newspapers and learned journals are currently full of articles comparing international politics today with the world of 1914.
— Gideon Rachman, "Does the 1914 Parallel Make Sense?" Financial Times blog
Today's China is no longer [what it was] 120 years ago.
— Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference December 31, 2013
You can learn a lot about how globalization has changed the world from thinking about how time was reckoned in different places a century or so ago, at the moments of the past flagged in these two quotes, and how it is marked now. For example, in 1900, as UCLA doctoral student Maura Dykstra and I note in a chapter we've just finished for a forthcoming world history volume on the Fin-de-Siècle, few Chinese thought of themselves as living on the cusp of two centuries. Neither the date "1900" nor the concept of a "century" meant much in a setting where years were still generally described in terms of the reigns of emperors and movement through 60-year cycles that involved combinations of the 12 signs of the zodiac and the five elements. Flash forward to the present, and in China, as in nearly all other places, people think of themselves as living in a year called "2014" that belongs to the second decade of the 21st century.
Holidays tell a similar story, in ways that are interesting to ponder this week, with the biggest American celebratory season just completed and the biggest Chinese one about to begin. Very few people in the China of 100 or 120 years ago thought of December 25 as a day of any special importance or associated January 1 with the start of the year. Now, however, while lunar New Year celebrations remain most important, images of Santa Claus proliferate in China's cities in late December, and Chinese friends who email me on January 1 are sure to wish me a Happy New Year. Things have reached the point where I'm sure it seemed thoroughly unremarkable when the spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry ended the December 31, 2013 press briefing quoted from above by wishing the journalists who had come a "Happy New Year" and telling them that, after a day off for the next day's holiday, the first 2014 session would be held on January 2.
All this would seem to fit in with a way of thinking about the cultural aspects of globalization that might be categorized in the Friedman Flattening variety. This approach, which I've named in honor of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and his most famous book, The World is Flat, assumes that the dominant trend has been the smoothing out of differences. One way to symbolize this is to invoke the interchangeability of the Big Macs served up wherever the Golden Arches soar, from Beirut to Boston and from Bristol to Bangalore.
In addition, while the flattening of the world is often seen as going along with Americanization, flows from East to West can also be worked into this Friedman Flattening vision. After all, circa 1900, very few Americans, except those of Chinese ancestry, paid attention to the lunar New Year or the zodiacal animals associated with it; whereas now many people across the U.S. are aware that the Year of the Horse is about to arrive. As the image above shows, the tie between the animal and the year is even recognized by the U.S. postal service.
There have always been alternative views of contemporary globalization, including one that, turning again to alliteration and the name of a famous author, might be called Pico Proliferation. This approach, named for Pico Iyer (someone I happen to know, so I don't think he'll mind the familiarity of playing off of his first rather than last name), emphasizes how highly differentiated experiences remain even as fads, fashions, films, and goods move ever more rapidly around the world. To go back to McDonald's, contra the Friedman Flattening view that a Big Mac is a Big Mac is a Big Mac, a Pico Proliferating one stresses that ordering and eating this burger can mean something totally different in Tokyo as opposed to Toledo, Managua as opposed to Munich.
Ever since reading Video Night in Kathmandu — And Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East, Iyer's seminal 1988 travelogue-cum-analysis of cultural flows in globalizing times, I've known that my allegiance in this debate is firmly with Team Pico. I've periodically found ways to illustrate this in my writings, such as a recent memoir-infused commentary on the strange life in global circulation of the song "Hotel California". This hit by The Eagles, as I note in my article for BOOM: A Journal of California, is popular in far-flung parts of the world but often understood in distinctive ways. In Asia, for example, it tends to be thought of as a celebratory rather than cynical take on my home state — in spite of lines likening those residing in the eponymous building to being "prisoners" (who can "check out any time" they like, but "can never leave") and a menacing reference to a "beast" being stabbed with knives.
Returning to time and holidays, I said above that the information I began with about China circa 1900 and today would seem to fit in with a Friedman Flattening vision, but on closer inspection there are Pico Proliferation dimensions aplenty. Take Santa Claus, for example: while he is now very well known in China, as journalist Max Fisher and others have noted, the jolly old elf is almost always portrayed there playing a saxophone, for unknown reasons.
There are also differences, as well as convergences, relating to chronology, since in China, while centuries are now noted and seen as significant markers, this has not replaced but rather been added to the idea that 60-year cycles are important. In 2011, the centenary of the 1911 Revolution was honored, but two years earlier, in 2009, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC was celebrated with the biggest National Day Parade to date. More recently still, last year saw events commemorating what would have been Xi Jinping's father's 100th birthday and also lavish marking of the passage of 120years (a rough equivalent to a bicentennial, as it meant the completion of two cycles) since Mao Zedong was born.
The continuing significance of 60-year cycles as well as centuries in Chinese timekeeping relates to how geopolitical tensions of the present moment are being put into long-term perspective. In the United States and Europe, as the first quote used to open this post notes, the final weeks of 2013 and opening weeks of 2014, have seen a rash of ruminations on whether we now stand at a juncture similar to that which sent us over the precipice into the horrors of World War I.
In China, though, as the second quote that begins this post indicates, which finds the government spokesperson stressing that her country is very different now than it was 120 years ago, just as there are two kinds of New Years marked, there are two kinds of then and now analogies in play. Some refer to how 1914 and 2014 parallels work or are foolish, while others see links and contrasts between 1894 and 2014 as more meaningful.
Just as 1914 is no ordinary year in Western memory, 1894 is no ordinary one in the annals of Chinese history, as a war that began then and ended in 1895 was the first in which Japan defeated China in a military conflict. The war in question is typically referred to in Chinese as the Jiawu War, in honor of it having taken place in a Jiawu year (the term for a Year of the Horse that matches up with the element of wood in the five elements scheme). When the official spokesperson made her comment about China now being different than it was 120 years ago, she did so in response to being asked to reflect on the meaning of tensions between China and Japan escalating just as an important anniversary of a major conflict between the two countries was set to arrive.
Two days later, a Beijing newspaper known for its nationalist views, The Global Times, elaborated on the significance of the anniversary and relevance and limits of then-and-now analogies. "Considering the current confrontation between both countries, Japan becomes the biggest challenge facing China. This anniversary [the 120th of the late 19th-century war] has already become a daunting memory in the minds of many Chinese people." It went on to stress, though, that while Japan bested China on the battlefield 120 years ago, 60 years after that saw a year when Chinese and American armies fought "to a standoff" in Korea, and the country has moved even further forward in the world since then. Other references to echoes and contrasts between the Wood Horse years of 1894 and 2014 have also been appearing on websites and in blog posts.
Harold James, I think, needs to modify his reference to historical specters. More than one relating to a famous war year is proving its power to haunt just now.


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Nicolas Cage made an appearance on Italian talk show "Che tempo che fa" and brought with him two clips from Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance. The first clip is an action one and can be viewed at the 8:20 minute mark, while the second one can be found at the 16:20 mark. The second one is unfortunately dubbed in Italian.
Opening in 3D and 2D theaters on February 17, the Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor action adventure co-stars Fergus Riordan, Ciaran Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba and Johnny Whitworth.


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EU completes preparations for possible "no-deal" scenario on 12 April
Brussels, 25 March 2019
As it is increasingly likely that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union without a deal on 12 April, the European Commission has today completed its "no-deal" preparations.
At the same time, it continues supporting administrations in their own preparations and urges all EU citizens and businesses to continue informing themselves about the consequences of a possible "no-deal" scenario and to complete their no-deal preparedness. This follows the European Council (Article 50) conclusions last week calling for work to be continued on preparedness and contingency. While a "no-deal" scenario is not desirable, the EU is prepared for it.
Following a request by Prime Minister Theresa May, the European Council (Article 50) agreed on Thursday 21 March to extend the UK's departure date to 22 May 2019, provided the Withdrawal Agreement is approved by the House of Commons by 29 March 2019 at the latest. If the Withdrawal Agreement is not approved by the House of Commons by then, the European Council has agreed to an extension until 12 April 2019. In that scenario, the United Kingdom would be expected to indicate a way forward before this date.
While the European Union continues to hope that it will not be the case, this means that if the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified by Friday 29 March, a "no-deal" scenario may occur on 12 April. The EU has prepared for this scenario and has remained united throughout its preparations. It is now important that everyone is ready for and aware of the practical consequences a "no-deal" scenario brings.
A "no-deal" scenario
In a "no-deal" scenario, the UK will become a third country without any transitionary arrangements. All EU primary and secondary law will cease to apply to the UK from that moment onwards. There will be no transition period, as provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. This will obviously cause significant disruption for citizens and businesses.
In such a scenario, the UK's relations with the EU would be governed by general international public law, including rules of the World Trade Organisation. The EU will be required to immediately apply its rules and tariffs at its borders with the UK. This includes checks and controls for customs, sanitary and phytosanitary standards and verification of compliance with EU norms. Despite the considerable preparations of the Member States' customs authorities, these controls could cause significant delays at the border. UK entities would also cease to be eligible to receive EU grants and to participate in EU procurement procedures under current terms.
Similarly, UK citizens will no longer be citizens of the European Union. They will be subject to additional checks when crossing borders into the European Union. Again, Member States have made considerable preparations at ports and airports to ensure that these checks are done as efficiently as possible, but they may nevertheless cause delays.
The EU's "no-deal" preparedness and contingency work
Since December 2017, the European Commission has been preparing for a "no-deal" scenario. It has published 90 preparedness notices, 3 Commission Communications, and has made 19 legislative proposals (see below).
The Commission has held extensive technical discussions with the EU27 Member States both on general issues of preparedness and contingency work and on specific sectorial, legal and administrative preparedness issues. The Commission has now also completed its tour of the capitals of the 27 EU Member States. The aim of these visits was to provide any necessary clarifications on the Commission's preparedness and contingency action and to discuss national preparations and contingency plans. The visits showed a high degree of preparation by Member States for all scenarios.
Member States have also been engaged in intensive national preparations. An overview of residency rights in the EU27 Member States is available here, as well as direct links to national preparedness websites.
Contingency and preparedness legislative measures
To date, the Commission has tabled 19 legislative proposals. 17 proposals have been adopted or agreed by the European Parliament and the Council. Formal adoption of all those files by the European Parliament and Council is currently taking place. Two proposals are to be finalised by the two co-legislators in due course.
As outlined in the Commission's Brexit Preparedness Communications, the EU's contingency measures will not – and cannot – mitigate the overall impact of a "no-deal" scenario, nor do they in any way compensate for the lack of preparedness or replicate the full benefits of EU membership or the favourable terms of any transition period, as provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. These proposals are temporary in nature, limited in scope and will be adopted unilaterally by the EU. They are not "mini-deals" and have not been negotiated with the UK.
The EU has maintained – and will continue to maintain – a fully united position throughout its preparations, and during any possible "no-deal" period.
The "no-deal" contingency measures include:
– PEACE programme: the continuation of the PEACE programme on the island of Ireland until the end of 2020. As for the period after 2020, the Commission has already proposed as part of its proposals for the next Multi-annual Financial Framework to continue and strengthen cross-border support for peace and reconciliation in the border counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
– The EU Budget (in the process of final adoption): in a "no-deal" scenario, the EU will be in a position to honour its commitments and to continue making payments in 2019 to UK beneficiaries for contracts signed and decisions made before 30 March 2019, on condition that the UK honours its obligations under the 2019 budget and that it accepts the necessary audit checks and controls.
– Fishing rights and compensation: these measures provide for compensation for fishermen and operators from EU Members States under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund for the temporary cessation of fishing activities. It also ensures that the EU is in a position to grant UK vessels access to EU waters until the end of 2019, on the condition that EU vessels are also granted reciprocal access to UK waters
– Financial services: temporary, limited measures to ensure that there is no immediate disruption in the central clearing of derivatives, central depositaries services for EU operators currently using UK operators, and for facilitating novation, for a fixed period of 12 months, of certain over-the-counter derivatives contracts, where a contract is transferred from a UK to an EU27 counterparty.
– Air connectivity and safety: these two measures will ensure basic air connectivity in order to avoid full interruption of air traffic between the EU and the UK in the event of a "no-deal" scenario.
– Road connectivity: allows for the continuation of safe basic road connectivity between the EU and the UK for a limited period of time, provided that the UK gives reciprocal treatment to EU companies and operators.
– Rail connectivity: ensures the validity of safety authorisations for certain parts of rail infrastructure for a strictly limited period of three months to allow long-term solutions in line with EU law to be put in place. This is, in particular, related to the Channel Tunnel and will be conditional on the United Kingdom maintaining safety standards identical to EU requirements.
– Ship inspections: this aims to ensure legal certainty and secure business continuity in shipping.
– Re-alignment of the North Sea – Mediterranean Core Network Corridor: This adds new maritime links between Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands to the core network, and introduces a new funding priority to the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF): adapting transport infrastructure for security and external border check purposes.
– Climate policy: this measure ensures that a "no-deal" scenario does not affect the smooth functioning and the environmental integrity of the Emissions Trading System.
– Erasmus + programme: students and trainees abroad participating in Erasmus+ at the time of the UK's withdrawal can complete their studies and continue to receive the relevant funding or grants.
– Social security entitlements: the entitlements (such as periods of insurance, (self) employment or residence in the United Kingdom before withdrawal) of those people who exercised their right to free movement before the UK's withdrawal are safeguarded.
– Visa reciprocity (in the process of final adoption): visa-free travel to the EU for UK nationals if the UK also grants reciprocal and non-discriminatory visa-free travel to all EU citizens.
State aid
As regards the need for financial resources and/or technical assistance, the EU's existing State aid rules make it possible to address problems encountered by businesses in the case of a "no-deal" Brexit. By way of example, State aid rules permit consultancy aid for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or training aid which could be used to assist with SMEs preparedness (including possible future custom formalities). The Rescue and Restructuring Guidelines contain provisions on temporary restructuring support schemes for SMEs, which could be useful to address their liquidity problems caused by Brexit. Access to finance is possible in various formats, e.g. through State-financed lending schemes respecting the reference rate or State guarantees under the guarantee notice (contact point available here).
Funding and support under the EU budget
Technical and financial assistance from the European Union can also be made available in certain areas, such as the training of customs officials under the Customs 2020 programme. Other programmes can help similar training projects in the area of sanitary and phytosanitary controls. For agriculture, EU law provides a variety of instruments to cope with the most immediate effects of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, in particular in a no-deal scenario.
Preparedness notices
The European Commission has published 90 sector-specific preparedness notices. They provide detailed guidance to the different sectors affected by Brexit. They are available online here.
For more information: what should I do in a "no-deal" scenario?
To know more about how to prepare for a "no-deal" scenario, EU citizens can contact Europe Direct for any questions. Call Freephone 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 from anywhere in the EU, in any official EU language. The Commission published today a series of reader-friendly factsheets in all EU languages.
See below for further useful links:
EU citizens
– European Commission preparedness website
– Overview of residence rights in each EU27 Member States
– Member States national "no-deal" websites
– Factsheets on travelling, citizens' rights, studying, and consumer rights


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Blizzard Buries Kansas Snowfall Record
The blizzard that pounded the southern Plains states yesterday (Feb. 25) added to the dumping the area received just days ago and has broken the all-time monthly snowfall record for Wichita, Kan.
Yesterday's storm dropped nearly 7 inches (17.8 centimeters) of snow on that city, bringing the monthly total to 21 inches (53 cm) — the most snow the city has seen in any month since records have been kept, according to the National Weather Service.
The snowfall also broke the city's record for February of 20.5 inches (52 cm), set in 1913.
Though the record is for the month, all the snow has actually fallen since Feb. 20, dropped by the two large storm systems that have hit the region in less than a week, the NWS reported.
The low-pressure system also dropped a record amount of snow in Texas, accumulating up to 17 inches (43 cm) in Amarillo. Yesterday morning, the Amarillo International Airport recorded a hurricane-force 75-mph (121 kph) gust of wind. In Oklahoma, a state of emergency was declared for 56 of 77 counties, according to Reuters. [Intense Texas Blizzard Caught in Videos]
And the snow hasn't completely stopped. Flurries are possible throughout the day today (Feb. 26), so that total snowfall in Wichita may climb further. The same system is expected to hit Chicago and Detroit by this evening, perhaps bringing as much as 6 inches (15 cm) of snow to those locales, just in time to snarl rush-hour traffic, according to the NWS.
At least three deaths have been blamed on the storm, which has created hazardous driving conditions, the Associated Press reported. Wind gusts of up to 30 mph (48 kph) have created drifts up to 2 feet (61 cm) high throughout the region, reducing the visibility to nearly zero in some areas, the AP said.
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Throughout the region, there were several reports of thundersnow.
Reach Douglas Main at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.


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by J J Cohen
So I've just discovered that a sports drink that comes in a rainbow of unnatural colors is citing Monty Python in its recent commercials. Even Les Hecklers have been redone. Just as two wrongs don't make a right, a parody of a parody remains a parody.
And makes me thirsty. I'm packing for my trip to NYC tomorrow, but first I've a hankering for some Gatorade brand energy drink "Fierce Berry" mixed with "Xtremo Mango" (only Gatorade brand energy drink can render fruit so ominous). I will be so energized I will be up all night. Plus my electrolytes will be back in balance.
Now I just need to find that Grail dish I had lying about in order to sip this most blessed of nectars...


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maple caramel hazelnut slice
- 1½ cups (135g) rolled oats
- 1½ cups (120g) desiccated coconut
- 1 cup (120g) almond meal (ground almonds)
- 15 fresh dates (225g), pitted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50g unsalted butter, chopped and melted
- 2 cups (280g) hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
maple caramel
- ½ cup (85g) rapadura sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup (250ml) maple syrup
- 50g butter, chopped
- Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Place the oats, coconut, almond meal, dates, vanilla and butter in a food processor and process for 3–4 minutes or until the mixture comes together.
- Press into a lightly greased 20cm x 30cm slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper, smoothing the top with a spoon. Cook for 25 minutes or until firm. Set aside to cool slightly.
- To make the maple caramel, place the sugar, vanilla and maple syrup in a medium saucepan over high heat. Cook for 8 minutes or until the temperature reaches 120°C (250°F) on a sugar thermometer. Add the butter and stir quickly to combine. Pour evenly over the base and top with the hazelnuts. Refrigerate for 1 hour to set. Slice and serve. Makes 20.
Note: You can refrigerate this slice in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
Made this slice for work colleagues and everyone raved about it; it was absolutely delicious. Will certainly be making this slice again, again and again.


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Research shows that optimistic people tend to be much more happy and successful in life than pessimists. Pessimism often leads to depression and missing out on the joy of life. So how can one be more optimistic and lead a happier, more successful life? Let's take a look!
Pessimists See Doubt vs. Possibility
Pessimists look at new opportunities and think to themselves, "Nah, it probably won't work for me," and they are usually right. Most things don't work the first time. So as a result, pessimists don't take enough chances to try for what they want. Optimism is a mindset that anyone can learn to get what they want in life. Optimism involves the willingness to take chances, fail and try again with a good attitude. Those who take chances, end up winning once in awhile and eventually get what they want.
Optimists Are More Successful at Work
A case study from MetLife shows that optimistic people are far more successful than pessimists. In fact, according to their research, people that ranked among the top 10% of most optimistic people sold 88% more new business than those who were rated as the most pessimistic. Optimism is infectious, so customers naturally want to do more business with optimists vs. pessimists. Put optimism to work at the office, and you are more likely to get that promotion over your gloomier pessimistic counterparts.
Pessimists are More Likely to Suffer from Depression
Pessimism, particularly extreme pessimism, is often actually a symptom of depression. It can work both ways — pessimistic thought patterns can lead a person to depression, or a person can become depressed and therefore become a pessimist. If you want to stave off depression, then one of the most important things you can do is to start living with a more positive, optimistic outlook.
As with everything, however, optimism should be in moderation. Research has also shown that while pessimists are more likely to become depressed, unrealistic optimists are even more likely than pessimists to become depressed. Unrealistic optimists tend to set themselves up for disappointment, whether that is through the pursuit of highly unlikely career paths or through other unrealistic and overly optimistic expectations.
Optimism has the power to save your life.
A realistic optimistic outlook will make you healthier, wealthier and happier. However, make sure that you don't overdo it. Temper your optimism with a little bit of realistic pessimism, and you'll be able to take advantage of opportunities as they come without setting yourself up for disappointment.


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Inferno: Canto XXIV The many people and the divers wounds These eyes of mine had so inebriated, That they were wishful to stand still and weep; But said Virgilius: "What dost thou still gaze at? Why is thy sight still riveted down there Among the mournful, mutilated shades? Thou hast not done so at the other Bolge; Consider, if to count them thou believest, That two-and-twenty miles the valley winds, And now the moon is underneath our feet; Henceforth the time allotted us is brief, And more is to be seen than what thou seest." "If thou hadst," I made answer thereupon, "Attended to the cause for which I looked, Perhaps a longer stay thou wouldst have pardoned." Meanwhile my Guide departed, and behind him I went, already making my reply, And superadding: "In that cavern where I held mine eyes with such attention fixed, I think a spirit of my blood laments The sin which down below there costs so much." Then said the Master: "Be no longer broken Thy thought from this time forward upon him; Attend elsewhere, and there let him remain; For him I saw below the little bridge, Pointing at thee, and threatening with his finger Fiercely, and heard him called Geri del Bello. So wholly at that time wast thou impeded By him who formerly held Altaforte, Thou didst not look that way; so he departed." "O my Conductor, his own violent death, Which is not yet avenged for him," I said, "By any who is sharer in the shame, Made him disdainful; whence he went away, As I imagine, without speaking to me, And thereby made me pity him the more." Thus did we speak as far as the first place Upon the crag, which the next valley shows Down to the bottom, if there were more light. When we were now right over the last cloister Of Malebolge, so that its lay-brothers Could manifest themselves unto our sight, Divers lamentings pierced me through and through, Which with compassion had their arrows barbed, Whereat mine ears I covered with my hands. What pain would be, if from the hospitals Of Valdichiana, 'twixt July and September, And of Maremma and Sardinia All the diseases in one moat were gathered, Such was it here, and such a stench came from it As from putrescent limbs is wont to issue. We had descended on the furthest bank From the long crag, upon the left hand still, And then more vivid was my power of sight Down tow'rds the bottom, where the ministress Of the high Lord, Justice infallible, Punishes forgers, which she here records. I do not think a sadder sight to see Was in Aegina the whole people sick, (When was the air so full of pestilence, The animals, down to the little worm, All fell, and afterwards the ancient people, According as the poets have affirmed, Were from the seed of ants restored again,) Than was it to behold through that dark valley The spirits languishing in divers heaps. This on the belly, that upon the back One of the other lay, and others crawling Shifted themselves along the dismal road. We step by step went onward without speech, Gazing upon and listening to the sick Who had not strength enough to lift their bodies. I saw two sitting leaned against each other, As leans in heating platter against platter, From head to foot bespotted o'er with scabs; And never saw I plied a currycomb By stable-boy for whom his master waits, Or him who keeps awake unwillingly, As every one was plying fast the bite Of nails upon himself, for the great rage Of itching which no other succour had. And the nails downward with them dragged the scab, In fashion as a knife the scales of bream, Or any other fish that has them largest. "O thou, that with thy fingers dost dismail thee," Began my Leader unto one of them, "And makest of them pincers now and then, Tell me if any Latian is with those Who are herein; so may thy nails suffice thee To all eternity unto this work." "Latians are we, whom thou so wasted seest, Both of us here," one weeping made reply; "But who art thou, that questionest about us?" And said the Guide: "One am I who descends Down with this living man from cliff to cliff, And I intend to show Hell unto him." Then broken was their mutual support, And trembling each one turned himself to me, With others who had heard him by rebound. Wholly to me did the good Master gather, Saying: "Say unto them whate'er thou wishest." And I began, since he would have it so: "So may your memory not steal away In the first world from out the minds of men, But so may it survive 'neath many suns, Say to me who ye are, and of what people; Let not your foul and loathsome punishment Make you afraid to show yourselves to me." "I of Arezzo was," one made reply, "And Albert of Siena had me burned; But what I died for does not bring me here. 'Tis true I said to him, speaking in jest, That I could rise by flight into the air, And he who had conceit, but little wit, Would have me show to him the art; and only Because no Daedalus I made him, made me Be burned by one who held him as his son. But unto the last Bolgia of the ten, For alchemy, which in the world I practised, Minos, who cannot err, has me condemned." And to the Poet said I: "Now was ever So vain a people as the Sienese? Not for a certainty the French by far." Whereat the other leper, who had heard me, Replied unto my speech: "Taking out Stricca, Who knew the art of moderate expenses, And Niccolo, who the luxurious use Of cloves discovered earliest of all Within that garden where such seed takes root; And taking out the band, among whom squandered Caccia d'Ascian his vineyards and vast woods, And where his wit the Abbagliato proffered! But, that thou know who thus doth second thee Against the Sienese, make sharp thine eye Tow'rds me, so that my face well answer thee, And thou shalt see I am Capocchio's shade, Who metals falsified by alchemy; Thou must remember, if I well descry thee, How I a skilful ape of nature was."
Browse the cantos of the Inferno:


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The time has come, Hells gates shall be thrown wide and the power of creation shall run rampant upon the earth.
In this, the first book of the "Saga of the New Gods," a group of young college students bring about Armageddon in the most literal sense of the word. With a simple wish upon a unique wedding band given to him by his love, Michelle, Adam unleashes a power that could – if left to reign unchecked – destroy the entire world…
The story begins with a couple of young women, Chelsea and Michelle, bearers of a tragic past, fighting to create a future for themselves. They travel to an old pawn shop in the town of Athens, Ohio, and purchase a ring for Michelle to give to her love, Adam, in the hopes of becoming his wife. A poorly timed wish after the gift of the ring has dire consequences however, as magic enters the world. All that they know, or have known, begins to come unraveled as first their comfortable existence in this bucolic town is ripped from them, then their future. They reach their moment of greatest despair as one of their number flees, another lays near death, and another sleeps in a state akin to a coma… In this moment of vulnerability a man arrives offering a glimmer of hope, Mathew Banks, a federal officer, arrives with the dawn to take them to a place of safety and security. But what is secure when the very laws that govern reality begin to unravel? What is safe when those who watch over you risk change from day to day, moment to moment, and even those who are your closest friends deceive you and risk more than your lives, but the very souls that make you who you are?
This first story tells the tale of the creation of this new world, as the series continues you will rise to the heights of this world and others, and to the very depths of hell.
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(soon available as an audio book)
Genre – Dark Fantasy
Rating – R
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