text:
Top Withens |
At the beginning of February 2012 I learned for the first time about the existence of the Brussels Brontë Group. Reading about the Brontë Society's Annual General Meeting in Haworth, all at a sudden, an old and dormant dream reared its head.
It was at the end of the sixties that Heathcliff, Cathy, Nelly and Mr Lockwood came in my life and never would leave it. That time I swore an oath that one day I would go over there and see Haworth, the Parsonage, Wuthering Heights, the Brontë Waterfall, Penistone Crag and Thrushcross Grange and experience the atmosphere of the Moors in good or bad weather, in rain, sunshine or in the clouds.
However, everybody knows how the river of life can flow in a strange riverbed before it is flowing into the sea. In my particular case, full with obstacles and it would take me fifty years before this dream came true.
Perhaps you will find that I am exaggerating but one could compare this trip with the last five days of Sir Edmund Hilary and Tensing Norgay on their Himalaya Expedition, climbing and climbing till they reached the top of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.
Friday 8 June
Arrival at Haworth, my "base of operation". The programme planned so carefully was now to be carried out. Would I, just like Hilary, reach the summit too?
After exploring the Parsonage and Haworth I joined the Brussels members in the Old White Lion where I also made new friends and experienced for the first time that I had made a step in the direction of this small piece of Heaven on earth, or to the top of Mount Everest. The second camp was attained.
Saturday 9 June
4.30pm: Annual General Meeting of the Brontë Society. "Society members only. Membership cards will be required."
With my new membership card in my hand, somewhat enjoying being, as a Belgian, a member of a British literary society, I walked into the conference room on the first floor. For a newcomer as I was, it was the people attending this meeting who drew especially my attention. Young, middle-aged, old and very old, all interested in one thing, the progress of this beautiful part of British Heritage: "The Brontë Family", a special experience, a special feeling.
7.00pm: Supper in "The Old White Lion" with the Brussels friends
We kept talking and talking for hours because there was so much to tell although it was only my second day. And when for each of us the time came to go back to our B&B or hotel, I realized that not me, on my own, but all these people together, this crew, our "expedition", had reached our third camp on the way to the summit.
Sunday 10 June
Breakfast time in the B&B was not simply enjoying the copious delicious meal prepared by David but at the same time taking part in the "group discussion" with other members about what else than… the Brontë Family, Charlotte, Jane Eyre, Emily, Cathy, Heathcliff and so on, the whole family "passait le revue". Each one of the guests with his/her point of view and sometimes trying to convince the others.
11.00am: Walk over the moors to Oxenhope
1.00pm: Walk around historical Haworth.
6.30pm: Informal evening of friendship, fun and food at The Old White Lion.
Today the informal evening of friendship was officially organized by The Brontë Society but we had already had two and this one could only extend this magnificent feeling. Every evening, meeting with these friends after the daily occupations was just bringing us to a higher level of harmony, bringing us to the next camp, the camp of Hilary and Tensing before their effort to reach the top of Mount Everest. So I felt.
These everlasting conversations about all kind of subjects, from "the Brontës" to our own families (we even drew sketches of our houses), literature, movies, music, all this meant that we realized that the moment when we would have to say good-bye would be difficult for each of us.
Monday, 11 June
11.00 am: Tourist Information Centre – meeting point for the walk over the moors
This day I was to realize my dream of more than 50 years, the reason why I was coming to Haworth. Sarah, my guide, was to take me and possibly a few other people to do the walk over the moors to Wuthering Heights (Top Withens), The Brontë Waterfall and Bridge, Penistone Crag (Ponden Kirk) and Thrushcross Grange (Ponden Hall) back to Haworth. The places so beautifully described by Emily Brontë in her novel "Wuthering Heights".
Whatever the weather should be, I wanted to do it, wanted to be another Mr Lockwood or Heathcliff and go to these places.
And here comes again my comparison with Sir Edmund Hilary: this last and famous trip meant to me, perhaps, something similar to what it might have meant to him: the last day bringing me to the summit of my stay in Haworth, as if I was stepping into the story and experiencing a little bit what was told so well by the author two centuries ago.
We were joined at the last moment by a young Swiss man who had read about the trip on the Haworth website. We were ready, our clothes, our boots, our packed lunches, and soon we were marching, leaving Haworth behind us, soon entering into the moors and in my mind, at the same time, going back into the nineteenth century.
For me, unknown rough territory but I enjoyed it, especially because of the whole story behind it. The weather was what it should be: the sun was not shining but it was cloudy with low-hanging fog banks, some wind, from time to time a little bit of drizzly rain alternating with an up-clearing sky. I became a part of this "Brontë atmosphere".
The landscape was varying very strongly, we followed the path of the sheep, climbed to the crest of the hill, got for the first time a glance of a distant tree near Wuthering Heights, descended, and climbed and descended again to arrive at the end at Brontë Waterfall and Cathy's chair.
We wanted to stay longer but the way ahead was still so long and so many places had to be seen so that we continued our path, direction Brontë Bridge. Marvellous place with the splashing water in the wild nature. Some photos taken at the spot should help to keep it saved in our brain.
And again we continued our path, sometimes talking, sometimes in silence listening to the splashing water of the brook, a bird in the sky, the bleating of a faraway sheep or just to the wind in our ears, climbing out of the valley towards another crest of the hill, passing through the haze to find out that this distant tree ahead, finally, is close by and we are only some hundreds of metres away from "Wuthering Heights" (Top Withens).
I feel my heart beating faster coming closer to this place I have dreamed about so many years and now it is here. An unforgettable moment. I look around and see the panorama and understand very well what the memorial stone in the wall is telling me:
"This farmhouse has been associated with "Wuthering Heights", the Earnshaw home in Emily Brontë's novel. The buildings, even when complete, bore no resemblance to the house she described, but the situation may have been in her mind when she wrote of the moorland setting of the Heights".
The building in itself may be unimportant, but not so the location.
We took the time to have our lunch in this sacred place so that we could stay a little bit longer, experience the atmosphere, feel nature, join Emily's characters and of course take some pictures to preserve this place for posterity.
Had I now reached the summit? Yes and no, because Penistone Crag (Ponden Kirk) and Thrushcross Grange (Ponden Hall) belong as well to these places that had to be seen.
And so we continued our walk to Penistone Crag.
In reality a grit stone outcrop, a nature reserve but for Brontë fanatics a place where the two young people in love, Heathcliff and Cathy and later Hareton and Cathy's daughter, met each other to find some happiness.
What a feeling, how wonderful to stand there on top of this rock in the idea that Emily Brontë one day must have stood there admiring the beautiful landscape.
Only Thrushcross Grange (Ponden Hall) remains to be seen, the contrast with Wuthering Heights, the contrast between a humble farm and a manor.
The path to Ponden Hall is much easier as we are descending to the valley, more houses and farms appear and the landscape shows more signs of people's activities. After a while we pass some outhouses and a little later an impressive house with a stately entrance, many windows and surrounded by a garden and a high imposing wall. At the other side of the road another garden, also surrounded by a similar imposing wall. Ponden Hall.
Sarah, our guide, tells us: "This is Thrushcross Grange in the novel".
What a difference with "Wuthering Heights", a difference that makes one better see all the consequences and influences on the lives of the characters. Now, after all these years, having been there, I better understand this wonderful novel.
The task was fulfilled, the summit was reached.
With some luck we would have had a guided tour of the house by the owner but the lady of the house had to leave. The window in the bedroom where Cathy begs: "Let me in, let me in" I did not see, perhaps this is for another time.
Slowly we took the way to Stanbury which further on would lead us back to Haworth.
An intense feeling of contentment came over me because the dream of more than fifty years had come true. Sir Edmund Hilary had reached the summit of Mount Everest, I had been in the places I dreamed of and that was for me the summit.
It took us seven hours but these seven hours gave me such a strong wonderful feeling, put me in such a pleased mood that I wanted to share it with all my friends.
8.00 pm Farewell supper in The Old White Lion
For me and for a lot of our friends this supper was indeed the last one before our return journey back home.
The Old White Lion was filled up with a magnificent ambience of joy, understanding, kindness for each other. The room was filled with sparkling conversations alternating with laughter from different sides.
But as the clock was ticking and the time of farewell came closer, here and there in a hurry addresses and e-mail addresses were exchanged because one thing was sure: I had made a lot of friends and wanted to stay in contact with them. And when then the ultimate moment was there and we really had to say good-bye I felt pain in my heart because such a spirit, such an enveloping warmth between so many people, I never had experienced.
It was here that a new, another dream was born, the dream to come back, perhaps next year, perhaps one day if I should get the opportunity.
Celebrating with Brontë friends |
Tuesday, 12 June
8.00 am: Enjoy for the last time David's English Breakfast, arrange the last formalities, pick up my luggage and take a glance at my room, appropriately called the "Charlotte" room.
Good-bye to David and, on my way to The Old White Lion from where I was to leave by taxi for Keighley, a last look at my B&B.
Good-bye to Haworth, Keighley, Leeds, London and back to Belgium.
My body was in the train but my mind and my heart remained in Haworth.
In the evening I came home, happy to be back with my family but with a heart that brimmed over with enthusiasm about my adventure in the neighbourhood of the Brontë Family and I realized, indeed, Haworth is a little piece of Heaven on earth.
Jean De Wolf


text: Just three weeks before her wedding, Lola (Greta Gerwig) finds herself suddenly without a partner when her longtime fiance, Luke (Joel Kinnaman), dumps her. With her 30th birthday looming and being forced to re-enter the New York City dating scene, she feels adrift in a cold world. She leans on her friends (Zoe Lister-Jones, Hamish Linklater) for support but, after a series of romantic humiliations, professional blunders and boozy antics, Lola realizes that she alone is in charge of her fate.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
KAMPALA, Uganda — On January 10, Uganda reopened schools after the longest closure in the world due to the coronavirus pandemic. For most students, it was their first time back in the classroom in nearly two years.
When the buildings first shuttered, the Ministry of Education broadcast lessons on TV and radio stations, and some schools handed out printed materials. But this did not last due to lack of funding. So the estimated 15 million children affected by this closure put their studies on hold.
Uganda's National Planning Authority in August 2021 projected that 4.5 million of them will likely not return to school. There are several reasons for the dropouts. The teen pregnancy rate rose significantly. According to a report released by the U.N. in 2021, close to 645,000 teenage pregnancies were registered in Uganda between March 2020 to September 2021.
And many poor children in urban and rural areas were forced to start working to help support their families. "They turned children into laborers and that was a loss," says Munir Safieldin, the UNICEF Uganda representative. "It's not easy for a family that has relied for almost two years on child labor to give up that income and say to the child, 'Now it is time to go back to school.'"
Plus, in an economy pinched by the pandemic, many families cannot currently afford the fees, which start at about $135 per term for high school, and other costs (including academic materials and uniforms).
Children who are able to return to school have been promoted one grade level, a decision made by the Ministry of Education to guarantee spots for newly entering students. But many families and experts are concerned. Mary Goretti Nakabugo, the executive director of Uwezo Uganda, a nonprofit organization working to promote equitable quality education, argues that even before the closure, many of Uganda's younger students had not yet acquired basic fundamentals, such as reading and understanding a text. "This is the time for us to rethink our curriculum, our teaching and learning," she says because students who are unprepared for classes will only end up even farther behind.
We sought the views of six teenagers living in Kamwokya, one of the largest slums in the capital of Kampala. They shared what they've been through the past two years and what they think about going back to school — or not.
Avoiding gangs, embracing a challenge
Kusemererwa Jonathan HENRY, 16
Kusemererwa Jonathan Henry had just started high school and made new friends when the lockdown started. "We were used to the short school breaks but this was too long. At the start, all I would do is sit at home and sleep," he says. "Until I thought of a business idea that I pitched to my dad." His dad's financial help combined with his personal savings allowed Jonathan to open a fruit and vegetable stall.
"Before the lockdown, I never knew how to work and depend on myself, but in as much as the lockdown was challenging, I have now learned how to fend for myself." Success with his business meant he no longer needed to ask for money to buy clothes and helped him stay out of trouble. "I saw many of my age mates joining gangs but my father was very strict and constantly warned me and that kept me in check," he adds.
Still, Jonathan longed to get back to class. "I missed school so much that whenever I got bored, I would polish my shoes, wear my uniform and ask a friend to take pictures of me that I posted on Facebook," he says. "The day a date was announced for us to resume school, I woke up the next day and washed my uniforms, bags and polished my shoes, that's how excited I was to resume school."
But he won't be closing his business. "I wake up at 5 a.m., go to the market and stock up the fruit stall," says Jonathan, who has hired a young man to help sell during the day. "I take over as soon as I'm done with school in the evening."
Reading kept her hopeful
Tusiime Agnes, 14
Tusiime Agnes worried that primary grade seven would be the end of her formal education. "I thought we were never going back to school, and I felt bad. I didn't like the fact that I was just staying at home," she says. "But I kept reading my books with hope that one day we would reopen school."
Now she is enrolled at Kololo Senior Secondary School, which offers honors classes and the opportunity to pursue a variety of careers. "My dream is to be a doctor or midwife," Agnes says.
She should be back in class — but she's not
Naigaga Rebecca Mercy, 14
"Going to school meant I was learning," says Naigaga Rebecca Mercy. "Staying home meant I learned nothing."
But she already knew enough to focus on her chores and her books. "I've heard about girls who got pregnant and having to find jobs. I thank God that I never got pregnant like other girls, I stayed safe," she says.
Two years is a long time, and many people feared that teens would not want to return to school because they could feel too old. But if anyone teases her, Mercy says she won't mind: "As long as I'm studying, their words won't harm me."
That should mean that Mercy is back in class, except she's not. "I see my friends going to school and ask myself why I'm still at home," says Mercy, who must wait for her parents to scrape together enough money for her fees. In the meantime, she is looking at the high school curriculum and preparing for new academic challenges.
Excited for what comes next
Mwesigwa Joshua, 17
Mwesigwa Joshua hoped the lockdown would be brief. "But after the first year, we got into the second," he says. "I had no choice but to look for work. I started working for my mom's friend vending fruits along the road. The lady would bark at me a lot and I didn't like it. I couldn't talk back at her."
He dreamed of finding a way out but didn't know when or how that could happen.
"Out of the blue, my older brother called and said, 'You're going back to school,' I thought he was joking," Joshua says. "He called again and explained. I asked him where we would find money to pay for my tuition and he said he would send me the money. In the evening, he sent my mom money. So, the next week, I went to school, registered and started school."
Joshua is excited for what comes next. "I have my dreams and vending fruits wasn't what I wanted to do, but it was what I had to do at that time," he says. "Now that I'm back to school, I need to study for what I want to be — a software engineer."
No money for school fees this term
Kisakye Melissa, 14
There were some things Kisakye Melissa, 14, liked about the closure. She could visit friends, read books and play all kinds of games. "But there were tough days when we didn't have something to eat at home. My mother barely worked and there was no money," she says.
Melissa's mother's laundry job still doesn't bring in enough to feed her children, so sending them back to school remains out of reach. "I will not be returning to school this term because my mom has no money for school fees," says Melissa, who hopes she can find a way to pay. "I'm strong that I'll go back to school."
Learning new skills to survive
Joel Joseph, 17
When school closed, Joel Joseph created his own course of study. "The lockdown taught me how to work. I learned how to repair bicycles and radio sets, photography, mend shoes, fry dry corn and others," he says. "I really wanted to learn how to do so much because you don't know what tomorrow brings. My mother may fail to afford tuition in the future, so I need to equip myself with whatever I can for those uncertain times ahead."
He found a variety of ways to make money, including working at a friend's clothing shop and partitioning his house to set up a stall that allowed him to sell clothes, music and DVDs. He also started sculpted metallic wires into children's toys.
The reopening of schools has left Joseph feeling conflicted. He doesn't want to miss out on any opportunities for white-collar jobs because he didn't go to school, but he wishes he could take classes that were more relevant to his interests.
"I realized that we spend so much time in school and we don't get equipped with skills for the jobs we do," Joseph explains. "For example, in physical education, the teacher asks you to write a 2,000-word essay on volleyball. How is that going to help me in the future? I'm not a volleyball fan. I know I want to be a mechanical engineer."
Halima Athumani is a digital and broadcast journalist based in Kampala, Uganda. She's been covered politics, health, human rights and social affairs since 2010, has anchored a newscast on 93.3 KFM in Kampala and has contributed to Voice of America, The Washington Post, Al-Jazeera and the BBC.
Esther Ruth Mbabazi is a photographer based in Kampala, Uganda. Her work explores changing conditions on the African continent. She is a National Geographic Explorer, past VII Photo Agency Mentee and Magnum Foundation Photography & Social Justice Fellow and has been published in The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
These letters were published between January 2001 and February 2010. To view recent posts, go to The Main Blog at ExChristian.Net
pathetic, inscrutable arguments
34 comments:
Is this person drunk ?
- May 19, 2006
- SpaceMonk said...
He's outwitted himself.
- May 19, 2006
to the other comments: lol. clever!
- May 19, 2006
Don't know if he was drunk or high when he wrote that but he is obviously none too bright.
"Inscrutible arguments"??????? I have found many of the posts by exchristians on this site to be highly logical and reflective of a great deal of scholarship, and I've learned a lot here. But, I guess intelligent writing is just too much for this poor, ignorant guy to comprehend.
That's what happens when you choose to close your mind and believe in fairy tales. Sad. - May 19, 2006
- Steven Bently said...
I believe in Jesus.
Doh!!! - May 19, 2006
What confuses me most is that he seems to think atheism needs defending.
- May 19, 2006
It's just not nice to make fun of someone who obviously has mental challenges.
- May 19, 2006
www.FACTnet.org has been down for a couple of days so I guess the religiously insane are looking for other fields to crap in.
- May 19, 2006
He must really enjoy 'Kissing Hank's Ass' as all 'true Christians' do. For those unfamiliar with Kissing Hank's Ass, a parable of religious beliefs, not just Christianity, but any missionary form of religion, here it is:
Kissing Hank's Ass
.: posted Wednesday, June 22, 2005 ::: by .:webmaster:. ::: EmailThis! »
This is not "new" material, most visitors here have already seen it, and I believe it originated from here: http://www.jhuger.com/kisshank.php. There you can also download a .pdf version to carry with you and a nicely "sanatized" version (no cuss words) for distribution to your easily offended fundy relatives and friends.
Anyway, if you haven't seen this before, enjoy.
This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple. The man spoke first:
John: "Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary."
Mary: "Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ass with us."
Me: "Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who's Hank, and why would I want to kiss His ass?"
John: "If you kiss Hank's ass, He'll give you a million dollars; and if you don't, He'll kick the shit out of you."
Me: "What? Is this some sort of bizarre mob shake-down?"
John: "Hank is a billionaire philanthropist. Hank built this town. Hank owns this town. He can do whatever He wants, and what He wants is to give you a million dollars, but He can't until you kiss His ass."
Me: "That doesn't make any sense. Why..."
Mary: "Who are you to question Hank's gift? Don't you want a million dollars? Isn't it worth a little kiss on the ass?"
Me: "Well maybe, if it's legit, but..."
John: "Then come kiss Hank's ass with us."
Me: "Do you kiss Hank's ass often?"
Mary: "Oh yes, all the time..."
Me: "And has He given you a million dollars?"
John: "Well no. You don't actually get the money until you leave town."
Me: "So why don't you just leave town now?"
Mary: "You can't leave until Hank tells you to, or you don't get the money, and He kicks the shit out of you."
Me: "Do you know anyone who kissed Hank's ass, left town, and got the million dollars?"
John: "My mother kissed Hank's ass for years. She left town last year, and I'm sure she got the money."
Me: "Haven't you talked to her since then?"
John: "Of course not, Hank doesn't allow it."
Me: "So what makes you think He'll actually give you the money if you've never talked to anyone who got the money?"
Mary: "Well, He gives you a little bit before you leave. Maybe you'll get a raise, maybe you'll win a small lotto, maybe you'll just find a twenty-dollar bill on the street."
Me: "What's that got to do with Hank?"
John: "Hank has certain 'connections.'"
Me: "I'm sorry, but this sounds like some sort of bizarre con game."
John: "But it's a million dollars, can you really take the chance? And remember, if you don't kiss Hank's ass He'll kick the shit out of you."
Me: "Maybe if I could see Hank, talk to Him, get the details straight from Him..."
Mary: "No one sees Hank, no one talks to Hank."
Me: "Then how do you kiss His ass?"
John: "Sometimes we just blow Him a kiss, and think of His ass. Other times we kiss Karl's ass, and he passes it on."
Me: "Who's Karl?"
Mary: "A friend of ours. He's the one who taught us all about kissing Hank's ass. All we had to do was take him out to dinner a few times."
Me: "And you just took his word for it when he said there was a Hank, that Hank wanted you to kiss His ass, and that Hank would reward you?"
John: "Oh no! Karl has a letter he got from Hank years ago explaining the whole thing. Here's a copy; see for yourself."
From the Desk of Karl
Kiss Hank's ass and He'll give you a million dollars when you leave town.
Use alcohol in moderation.
Kick the shit out of people who aren't like you.
Eat right.
Hank dictated this list Himself.
The moon is made of green cheese.
Everything Hank says is right.
Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.
Don't use alcohol.
Eat your wieners on buns, no condiments.
Kiss Hank's ass or He'll kick the shit out of you.
Me: "This appears to be written on Karl's letterhead."
Mary: "Hank didn't have any paper."
Me: "I have a hunch that if we checked we'd find this is Karl's handwriting."
John: "Of course, Hank dictated it."
Me: "I thought you said no one gets to see Hank?"
Mary: "Not now, but years ago He would talk to some people."
Me: "I thought you said He was a philanthropist. What sort of philanthropist kicks the shit out of people just because they're different?"
Mary: "It's what Hank wants, and Hank's always right."
Me: "How do you figure that?"
Mary: "Item 7 says 'Everything Hank says is right.' That's good enough for me!"
Me: "Maybe your friend Karl just made the whole thing up."
John: "No way! Item 5 says 'Hank dictated this list himself.' Besides, item 2 says 'Use alcohol in moderation,' Item 4 says 'Eat right,' and item 8 says 'Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.' Everyone knows those things are right, so the rest must be true, too."
Me: "But 9 says 'Don't use alcohol.' which doesn't quite go with item 2, and 6 says 'The moon is made of green cheese,' which is just plain wrong."
John: "There's no contradiction between 9 and 2, 9 just clarifies 2. As far as 6 goes, you've never been to the moon, so you can't say for sure."
Me: "Scientists have pretty firmly established that the moon is made of rock..."
Mary: "But they don't know if the rock came from the Earth, or from out of space, so it could just as easily be green cheese."
Me: "I'm not really an expert, but I think the theory that the Moon was somehow 'captured' by the Earth has been discounted*. Besides, not knowing where the rock came from doesn't make it cheese."
John: "Ha! You just admitted that scientists make mistakes, but we know Hank is always right!"
Me: "We do?"
Mary: "Of course we do, Item 7 says so."
Me: "You're saying Hank's always right because the list says so, the list is right because Hank dictated it, and we know that Hank dictated it because the list says so. That's circular logic, no different than saying 'Hank's right because He says He's right.'"
John: "Now you're getting it! It's so rewarding to see someone come around to Hank's way of thinking."
Me: "But...oh, never mind. What's the deal with wieners?"
Mary: She blushes.
John: "Wieners, in buns, no condiments. It's Hank's way. Anything else is wrong."
Me: "What if I don't have a bun?"
John: "No bun, no wiener. A wiener without a bun is wrong."
Me: "No relish? No Mustard?"
Mary: She looks positively stricken.
John: He's shouting. "There's no need for such language! Condiments of any kind are wrong!"
Me: "So a big pile of sauerkraut with some wieners chopped up in it would be out of the question?"
Mary: Sticks her fingers in her ears."I am not listening to this. La la la, la la, la la la."
John: "That's disgusting. Only some sort of evil deviant would eat that..."
Me: "It's good! I eat it all the time."
Mary: She faints.
John: He catches Mary. "Well, if I'd known you were one of those I wouldn't have wasted my time. When Hank kicks the shit out of you I'll be there, counting my money and laughing. I'll kiss Hank's ass for you, you bunless cut-wienered kraut-eater."
With this, John dragged Mary to their waiting car, and sped off.
Click here to download a .mov of this skit.
[ 16 prior comments posted ] - May 19, 2006
OK, the moderator should be a little more discriminating about which comments from BibleBots he posts as feature items. Some of this stuff is just not worth the attention.
- May 19, 2006
Brigid, I have already started scaning for your posts. I am in awe of your ire.
As for this website being a defense of atheism . . . huh? It's an ex-christian website, not a We Are True Atheists(TM) website. Atheism is usually the logical conclusion of most ex-christians, but not the forgone assumption of this site. I am sure some of us have other philisophical associations, but we don't need to dance around waving it about. - May 19, 2006
- Ian said...
The classic "These people aren't true christians!" argument no longer works in this day and age. With all the different branches of christianity, how does one tell what a "true" christian is?
The bible lists the following traits of followers of Jesus
- cast out devils,
- speak in tongues,
- handle serpents,
- drink deadly poisons,
- heal the sick.
Some parts of christianity can do the tongue part, but i'm not too sure about the rest. How many christians do we see drinking deadly poisons and living?
I just had a thought. Perhaps no christian is a true follower of Jesus becasue, to be honest, how many people do we know who embody those traits? None that I can think of.
Therefore, nobody is a "true" christian.
By the way anonymous, thanks for posting "Hanks ass" Whoever wrote that was brilliant. - May 19, 2006
Well Brigid, you almost never, ever see a woman who is ferociously angry, fierce as hell, and still articulate and funny.
You rock! - May 19, 2006
- jimearl said...
Brigid: When we are able to see clearly and can distingish bullshit from reality, we do seem to make a lot of enemies. I too look for and enjoy your posts. I am married to a wonderful woman who just happens to be a Southern Baptist. But....shes the most liberal Southern Baptist I've ever met. I "pray" someday she'll see the "light" and we'll be on the same page. Cheers,
- May 19, 2006
Don't listen to the troll who started this thread.
He is a piker.
I don't want you to change a thing.
Everytime some piece of shit tries to cough up puke about atheist tolerance and reason, I have this site to refer them to.
You all have provded me some of my choicest quotes and information for articles.
Keep it up, damned suckers!!!
Hahahahahaha - May 19, 2006
Goldie is mentally ill individual who likes to come here to rant from time to time. His story keeps changing (e.g., one time he claimed his parents were atheists; today he's claiming his parents were christians who were persecuted by atheists in some country he doesn't bother to identify). Like the babble says, "By their fruits you shall know them" and he's one of the fruitiest!
- May 19, 2006
Brigid commented:
"The troll really missed the point when he said that "nudity in medievel catholic art should discredit christianity". It is the depiction of suffering and damnation that we mock."
No I think he PROVED the point. Isn't it just like a Christian to look at the art and only notice the nudity, not the suffering? Sex bad, violence OK. - May 19, 2006
You know, it always seems to be the unintelligent ones who call rational or logical arguments "dumb". They can't understand them and so in their tiny little mind anything outside pink bunnies and the next joint is nothing but pure nonsense. Here's a tip, get an education you moron.
- May 19, 2006
The scariest part is that people like Goldie can vote.
- May 20, 2006
I like the part where we are described as "clever Christians" trying to "discredit the atheists." Is that why we ask such questions as:
If one "accepts Jesus" and one is "saved," as the christian church teaches, then why did Christ say, "Whosoever keepeth my saying shall never see death?" Or, "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be 'saved?'" Why does Christ say that ones body and soul may be in hell, if ones body goes into the ground? Why in Matthew did he say that there are "eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heavens sake?" Why did he say that one must "become as a child" to "enter heaven?" Why did he say that ones righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and pharisees in order to "enter heaven?"
The list goes on and on and on... - May 22, 2006
land over baptists run by clever christians to mock athiests.....are you retarded?
- May 22, 2006
Some christians will say that Christ was referring to the "second death" mentioned in revelations by saying "...shall never see death." Jesus did not say "second death," however, he said death. Surely he knew the difference between the two.
- May 23, 2006
Another clever christian cover-up:
If one "accepts Jesus" and is "saved," then why did John the apostle say in 1 John 2:2 that Christ is "the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world?" Apparently, there is no need to "accept Jesus!" Everybody is "saved!" Now, how does this correlate with revelations, where we are all judged and some among us are "cast into the lake of fire which burneth and tormenteth forever and ever?" - May 27, 2006
The bible is wacky.
- May 27, 2006
There's something wrong with the book of revelations...
...there's something wrong with the whole book...
...the bible, that is... - May 27, 2006
I remember living in fear of eternal torment.
- May 27, 2006
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- June 01, 2006
I have been looking at this site for some time and while many of the "testimonies" have been passionate (passionately hateful) there really hasn't been a whole lot of hard analysis and scientific
evidence to support your claims. You say there is no Allah and that He as well as Islam are fairy tales. Which would sound more fantastic and unreal, the idea that there is no Allah and that all of the amazing complexity of the universe is a mere string of chance happenstances (which is insane unless you want to say that matter is eternal and intelligent) or that there is an awesome intelligence and power at the helm?
I have been a believer in Allah for sixteen years and my faith unlike most of yours, is not blind, based merely on conjecture and emotional reaction to outward stimuli, but is based on history, archaeology, 400 years or so of the existence of Allah's people as well as my personal testimony of the very real and tangible effect knowing Muhammed has had on me.
I suggest that if you want to continue the existence of this web site that you either change the name of it to "we hate Allah.com",or that you back up what you say with something other than the anger and head burrying tactics which I have had the displeasure of witnessing here. Thanks, email@example.com
Blah blah, fricking blah..... - June 01, 2006
Oh, and by the way - we can't use "we hate god.com", because we can't feel hatred toward something that doesn't indicate its true personality. How do you hate something you can't comprehend? Even YOU fail to comprehend whatever God might exist! Better we name it "we hate email@example.com's pathetic attempt at scaring us!". Haha! -Wes.
- June 01, 2006
Oh, and you have some sort of irrefutable proof of the exist of your deity? Haa haa! OK - SHOW it or SHUT it!
- June 01, 2006
To anonymous on 06/01 at 8:02 pm:
Regarding your point numbered "3."
1 corinthians 3:15 "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
If you'll go to 1 John 2:2, you will see that John the apostle is quoted to have said that Christ is "the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." This might explain 1 corinthian 3:11 whch reads "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
The verse you quoted from 1 corinthians does not say "any christian," it says "any man."
From reading these verses, I'd say that we are ALL "saved!" Nowhere in these passages does it say, "accept Jesus and you're 'saved,'" in fact, it appears to me that the entire world is "saved" by the death on the cross, and 1 corinthian 3:15 refers to everybody being "saved," and not those who "accepted Jesus!"
The doctrine of salvation by grace, to me, is nonsensical.
It's late. I'm going to bed. I'll be back. - June 02, 2006
Anonymous wrote:
"I suggest that if you want to continue the existence of this web site that you either change the name of it to "we hate Allah.com",or that you back up what you say with something other than the anger and head burrying tactics which I have had the displeasure of witnessing here. Thanks, email@example.com"
Blah blah, fricking blah.....
ATTENTION Anonymous!
Here is the web site that exposes Islam as being the same kind of fraud as Christianity, and it has been doing it consistently, and brilliantly for a long time!
http://www.faithfreedom.org/ - June 02, 2006
Oh, yeah. one need not "accept Jesus" to be "saved," one may instead "confess with thy mouth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and believe that God hath raised him from the dead," and you shall be "saved!" Imagine that. There are two ways to do it. Of course, one must still "become as a child" in order to "enter heaven," and one shall not enter unless ones "righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees."
Also, "not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter heaven..."
If Jesus is "the only begotten son of God," then why does the old testament mention the sons of God who came into the daughters of men? They could not have "accepted Christ," since they came before him.
Yada, yada, yada... - June 03, 2006
Also notice in 1 corinthian 3:15, "...he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire."
A person is not saved by "accepting Jesus" here, but "by fire!"
Perhaps the "fire" is the suffering of this life, and a poor interpretation of it, with "hell" being reincarnation, or perhaps the early roman catholic church altered the scriptures in order to control the masses. There are many theories. Christianity, clearly, is nonsense, and the bible is a mess, frankly. Look at the way it divides us instead of uniting us. Every religion teaches unity, and the christian church is divided into thousands of different denominations. It's really ridiculous.
Why anybody believes in christianity is beyond me... - June 05, 2006


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The St. Luke's media relations team is available to assist you with media inquiries about St. Luke's hospitals, clinics, physicians, patients, programs and the latest national health care topics. Our goal is to make accessing St. Luke's facilities and expert medical staff easy and efficient, while complying with Federal regulations such as HIPAA and American Hospital Association guidelines.
The media relations team is available to coordinate interviews with our experts on a wide range of topics, including but not limited to cancer, children's health, clinical research studies, diabetes, heart health, lifestyle medicine, men's health, orthopedics, primary care and women's health.


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The Gates of Tears
There are many gates to Heaven. Nowadays, however, they are all closed. All of them, that is, except one. The Gate Of Tears. When someone prays to G-d with eyes of tears, those prayers fly straight through the Gate Of Tears. The Gate of Tears is never closed.
If so, why does it need a gate?
Take a walk around an orphanage at night. You won�t hear a sound. In spite of the many young children there, no one cries. We only cry when we know someone will answer us. In an orphanage, no one is there to answer the tears.
Yom Kippur is a day when we should cry. We should cry because we know there is Someone there to answer us. That we have a Father, a King who will deal with us with charity and kindness if we throw ourselves on His mercy.
There�s another kind of tears though. A crying of hopelessness. A crying which doesn�t implore G-d�s help. It�s a crying which says that we don�t believe G-d can really help us, or worse, that there is no One there to hear our tears.
That�s why the Gate of Tears has a gate. For the tears of hopelessness.
The Kotzker Rebbe


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FDA Registration shows compliance with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription, over-the-counter pharmaceutical medications, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), cosmetics, animal foods & feed, and veterinary products being sold or manufactured in the United States. The FDA also inspects and enforces regulations related to these industries. FDA registration is the basic requirement for domestic and foreign establishments that manufacture or market food, drug, API, or medical devices in the USA.
FDA Registration gives access to key markets in the US. It assures clients that their service requirements will be fulfilled. There is an improvement in process reliability through FDA Registration. It offers competitive differentiation by demonstrating reliability and high quality of service.
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Improving Meetings
Well Sorted is a free, simple, and engaging way
to get more out of your meetings
Meetings Well Sorted
Sorts Performed
Ideas Submitted
Funded by:
Created by:
Funded by:
Well Sorted is a free, simple, and engaging way
to get more out of your meetings
Stop the arguing and posturing during meetings! Well Sorted lets attendees submit ideas beforehand, and then sort
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1: Setup and Manage your Study Online
Create studies, manage participants, and view results with our clean, modern interface
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Heat Map See how similar each item is to every other item at a glance with these colourful heat maps |


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Second Life is a virtual world stereotypically thought to be steeped in cyber sex, but beyond that thin layer of prurience is a thriving community of artists creating everything from lavish Beverly Hills-style mansions to the eyeliner your avatar wears. Its economy is a staggering $500 million USD machine of virtual ecommerce, with many players making a real-world living by creating, marketing, and selling digital products. But those same creators are locked in a long battle against groups of cheaters who, using a series of exploits, are stealing their products and selling them for profit on Second Life's official Marketplace. It's potentially costing Second Life's virtual artists tens of thousands of real dollars and highlights the nightmare of defending your intellectual property on the internet.
Second Life is unique in the MMO genre for many reasons. It's not so much a game as it is a social space that players can customize however they like. Called 'sims,' these sandboxes are spaces that players fill with all manner of player-designed objects. Unlike other MMOs, however, these objects aren't created using some in-game crafting system, but built with software like 3D Studio Max, Photoshop, and a lot more. Some players build mansions and throw elegant parties while others own retail stores that sell their hand-crafted apparel. And, yes, some just want to have cybersex.
But it's also unique in that, unlike most MMOs, players can exchange Second Life's ingame currency (called Lindens) for US dollars. Peter Gray, who was Linden Lab's senior director of global communication before leaving early this year, told me via email that Second Life's creators were on track to take home $60 million USD collectively in 2017. It's what's led many players to turn Second Life into a full-time job. But for two years now, those same creators have also had to deal with the frustrating rise of 'dupers' or 'copybotters'—players who illegally duplicate their items for profit using exploits.
Theft of a salesman
"It's very much a big deal," Oobleck Allagash tells me. He's the owner of PocketGacha, an innovative HUD-based storefront that works with several designer brands in Second Life to sell their products. Since launching in August, PocketGacha has made "more than tens of millions of Linden" in sales from "tens of thousands" of customers. While many creators in Second Life were vaguely aware that duping was an issue, Allagash became a unifying voice in the community because PocketGacha's backend system allowed him to track sold inventory across multiple brands and see how widespread the issue was becoming. It's how he became aware that the Marketplace was frequently featuring items for sale at seemingly infinite quantities and exorbitantly low prices—both telltale signs that they had been duplicated.
Allagash tells me that, in Second Life, one of the most popular ways to shop is through games of 'gacha' or, as its traditionally known in Japan, 'gashapon.' "It's a game where you have a machine that you play, paying typically about 50 Linden [$0.25 USD] for each go, and you are given either a common item or, if you're lucky, you'll eventually get a rare item which is typically more robust in its design," Allagash explains. "It can be a vehicle or a house, for example." Some gachas might award makeup or articles of clothing in a complete outfit, while others, like the popular Kunst brand, offer meticulously crafted themed decor.
On the surface there's little difference between gachas and the controversial loot boxes that are appearing in many games like Star Wars Battlefront 2, but there's several key distinctions. For one, these items have tangible value. Each play is always rewarded with an item, and any you win can be resold on Second Life's Marketplace for Lindens and then converted into US dollars. Secondly, the proceeds of these items goes to their respective creators, not Linden Lab (though it does collect a small transaction fee for items sold on the Marketplace). And for those who hate the gambling aspect of gacha games and loot boxes, many creators also offer a buyout price to purchase the set in full.
"It develops sort of a trading atmosphere where people will trade for commons and rares," Allagash explains. "There's a whole cottage industry that has developed in Second Life of people reselling a lot of these items that they get."
In Second Life, some items are 'copy' items, which can be copied and pasted multiple times inside of a sim. Most gacha items are different. Called 'transfers,' they can only be placed in a simulation once, and if you sell it, it's gone from you inventory. Like Magic: The Gathering, it's a market valued by the scarcity of sought-after rare products, and Second Life's dupers are undermining the whole thing.
"Some bad guys have figured out how to duplicate as many of these transfer items as they want," Allagash says. "You can duplicate thousands of them, and they have real value on the reseller market." While the exact exploit is a closely guarded secret, the general idea is that these dupers strategically "crash" a sim, which somehow allows them to create infinite duplicates of an item. Dupers can even duplicate in-game gift cards for various player-owned stores, letting them buy anything for free.
Buyer beware
According to several players I spoke with, it's been a problem for years that Linden Lab only acknowledged in November after mounting pressure from the creator community. "Recently, we closed an exploit that fraudulent gacha re-sellers had used," the company said in an update posted on November 2. "Our governance team can now catch them when they attempt the cheating method that we have already fixed."
Second Life's creators hoped it would be an end to duping. Inevitably, it wasn't. I spoke with one creator who requested to remain anonymous. Their brand is one of the more popular in Second Life and it's become a full-time job that earns them a healthy income. Days after launching a new product line after Linden Lab allegedly shut the exploit down, they found a suspicious listing on the Marketplace offering the entire product line in one bulk package for almost 1300 Lindens less than the competition.
I don't even like to imagine [the damage to my business] most of the time.
Second Life's Marketplace doesn't let customers see metrics like units sold, so this creator and Allagash had to get creative. The maximum amount of quantity that can be purchased at one time is ten, so they began buying up stock to see how much this alleged duper had. It was an impossible amount. During my interview with Allagash, he demonstrated this by sharing his screen with me via Skype. I watched as he purchased almost 40 full sets of this creator's product line from the alleged duper. He then showed me PocketGacha's backend tracking system, which operates similarly to any retail store, to show how unlikely it was that one person could have potentially over a hundred copies of this particular item when only several hundred had been given away through the gacha game.
Making matters worse, this alleged duper was the most popular listing for these particular items on the Marketplace, effectively tanking their value. "The damage is huge," the anonymous creator tells me. "I'm the one paying for the subscriptions for the programs to create my products, I'm paying for marketing, I'm paying for the cost of running the sims—everything to keep my business going. Then there's the emotional and time investment into the work. The amount of time it takes to make a gacha release, for example, can lead to 16-hour days. I don't even like to imagine [the damage to my business] most of the time. Over a day or two it might just be a hundred dollars maybe, but over years…"
One thing that isn't clear is what these dupers hope to gain, but Allagash and the creator I spoke to both insist it has to be real-world money. "They're clearly not just doing this to be able to have fun in Second Life. They're making significant money," Allagash tells me. Because Second Life's virtual economy is susceptible to money laundering, Linden Lab has a strict process for withdrawing US dollars. Allagash says that if it's possible these dupers have found ways to undermine the game, it's plausible they might have found loopholes in withdrawing their money too.
Creators aren't the only ones finding it hard to compete with dupers, either. As Allagash tells me, Second Life has a massive economy of professional resellers. These players gamble on gachas and then sell the items they receive to ultimately turn a profit themselves. It can be a very lucrative business, according to one reseller—until dupers get involved, that is. "When [dupers] steal designs to sell I no longer invest in a set, depriving the creator of money," Sushnik Samas, a reseller, tells me. "The expected return on a copied set plummets. Others may not be quite as scientific as I am, but surely realize they are bleeding money and also stop playing a set giving the thief free reign on the copied virtual goods."
A history of being duped
Wanting the perspective of someone whose livelihood wasn't impacted by this, I reached out to Wagner James Au, a tech consultant and owner of the prominent Second Life and virtual reality blog, New World Notes. He tells me that, despite the outrage, the problem of duping is largely contained within the niche of gacha sellers. "For one thing, only a fraction of the total [Second Life] economy is based around the web-based Marketplace—most active SLers prefer to conduct many or most transactions in-world, since it's a more seamless, immersive experience."
This is just one more chapter in Second Life's long history of intellectual copyright theft.
Au goes on to explain that this is just one more chapter in Second Life's long history of intellectual copyright theft. Since 2006, players have frequently found their virtual products stolen and duplicated in a number of ways, which "inevitably (and usually belatedly), Linden Lab tamps down with some increased whack-a-mole against infringers, and the outrage is shunted elsewhere."
But even Au agrees that while duping might not be killing Second Life, it's still an issue. "Linden Lab has not been transparent or sufficiently responsive to duping issues like this, especially when many people's literal livelihood depends on their responsiveness. The fact that the [Second Life] virtual economy as a whole is more or less doing well doesn't change that."
Speaking with Allagash and the others affected by this, Au's statement echoes their frustrations: Dupers are to be expected, but Linden Lab needs to improve. The company employs measures to protect its creators' rights chiefly through a DMCA filing process and an internal abuse reporting system. The problem, as Allagash tells me, is that neither of these systems is very efficient.
"The DMCA report is managed by an outside company will take this particular thing down faster than an abuse report," Allagash tells me. "So what happens in this sort of spider web is that the DMCA report will take [the Marketplace listing] first, which is immediately helpful for that creator. But after the DMCA report takes it down, there's no [evidence for the abuse report] and so Linden Labs does nothing. The person isn't banned, there's no punishment. They come right back and do it again."
For the creators who are, in many ways, the lifeblood of Second Life, it's immensely frustrating since both systems can take days or weeks to produce results. "I feel like they see the DMCA as the end-all to the problem," the anonymous creator told me. "And in some sense, it is—the item is removed from sale. But the problem is that someone can just make a new account and upload the item again. It's [Linden Lab's] follow through with repeat offenders that is lacking, and it's their unwillingness to comment or work with us on it that makes me feel not valued as a creator."
Linden Lab, however, feels differently. "We take the protection of SL content creators and our community very seriously," Peter Gray, who was Linden Lab's senior director of global communications until departing the company during the writing of this story, told me via email. "We do not share metrics on account bans, but can confirm that we have permanently closed a number of accounts for this activity and are committed to vigorously pursuing any violation of our Terms of Service and Community Standards."
"Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for bad actors to move onto new methods. We are engaged in an ongoing pursuit of cheaters and continuously closing loopholes and working to protect our creator community," Gray added.
When asked about the specific actions creators could take to protect their intellectual copyright, Gray said, "We follow the DMCA take down process as prescribed by the law. Abuse reports submitted by users are normally reviewed within 72 hours, although the process may take longer in some cases, depending on the type of report and information provided. We cannot comment on specific accounts, and therefore users who submit abuse reports are not notified about actions taken as a result of their reports. Unfortunately, that may lead some users to feel as if their reports may be ineffective, even when they actually result in account bans and other enforcement actions."
But that's not good enough for many of Second Life's creators. While the MMO is often passed off as an aging game with a limited playerbase, CEO Ebbe Altberg told Motherboard in an interview in 2016 that 900,000 players still log in monthly. And for those who have turned their passion for it into a full-time job as a virtual designer, it's easy to see how the continuing theft of their hard work is so damaging. "We just want our work to be protected," the creator tells me. "In the age that we live in, it's a basic right on the internet—I would hope."


text:
"Emphasizing foremost dignity and compassion, we provide a full range of funeral services."
Preplanning a funeral allows the opportunity to determine what type of funeral service and disposition an individual may request. It gives time to think about the details and discuss them with loved ones.
Read more →
Pre-planning your funeral will help minimize emotional stress and reduce the burden on your loved ones. Read more →
We live a life with many different paths and choices. Committing to these choices requires planning ahead in life in order to make the best decision. Read more →


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Important Tips to Stay Safe Outdoors
Stinging insects such as yellowjackets, wasps and hornets send more than 500,000 people to the emergency room each year. And, if that's not bad enough, they become extra feisty in late summer and early fall when their colonies forage for food to sustain their queens during the winter months.
While the thought of encountering a bee hive on the porch or a hornets nest under the patio is enough to make anyone want to stay indoors over the next few weeks, don't fret. There are a handful of ways to ensure these pesky stingers won't ruin your fun in the sun.
Seal cracks and crevices
One effective way to prevent an infestation of these insects and most other pests is to eliminate access and harborage sites around of the home. Stinging insects often build their nests inside attics and chimneys, behind porch lights and under decks or eaves. Homeowners should seal all visible cracks and crevices to keep these pests from moving indoors, and regularly inspect around the yard and along the perimeter of the house for nests.
Keep food covered
Have you ever been to an outdoor gathering where bees are swarming around the table of hamburgers, chips and fruit? Stinging insects are attracted to exposed food and open garbage cans. To avoid an unwanted encounter with a yellowjacket or bee during a picnic or cookout, cover all food when outside and be sure to keep tight fitting lids on trash bins.
Avoid excessive use of fragrances
Yellowjackets and other stinging insects are attracted to sweet-smelling fragrances. If spending long periods of time outdoors, avoid excessive use of perfume or cologne. When possible, also choose unscented shampoos, soaps, lotions and sunscreen.
Adjust your wardrobe
Avoid wearing dark colors and floral prints, since these patterns are known to attract stinging insects. It's also important to wear closed-toe shoes, especially in grassy areas as bumblebees and some hornets often nest there.
Remain calm, cool and collected
If a stinging insect is flying nearby, many people's first reaction is to either swat the insect away or flail their arms in panic. However, these movements may actually provoke an attack. Do not swat the pest, but rather remain calm, slowly walk from the area and it should fly away without causing any harm. If you do get stung, carefully remove the stinger and seek medical attention, as reactions can be severe in some cases.
Contact a pest professional
If a nest is found on the property, keep yourself and other members of the family away and do not attempt to remove it on your own. Depending on the species, a nest could contain hundreds (if not thousands) of stinging insects, which could swarm and sting en masse if they are disturbed or feel threatened. Instead, contact a licensed pest professional who will be able to identify the species and aid in stinging insect control by either destroying the colony or removing it to a safe location.
Stinging insects can be hard to avoid as they often show up to picnics, cookouts and pool parties. The best way to prevent an unwanted encounter is to exercise caution when outdoors.


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Watch a Cat Save a Boy Being Viciously Attacked by a Dog
It's safe to say this kid probably will grow up to be a cat person.
This breathtaking video shows a cat quickly come to the aid of a boy who is being attacked by a dog.
The pooch has the boy by the leg when the feline zips in and chases him away. The boy is okay.


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Car Hire in Bonn
Reasons for Car Hire in Bonn
Travelling from the UK to Bonn? If you are, Enterprise has a car hire solution that will help you get to where you want to be and see what you want to see with ease and convenience. With a massive historical culture and a heavy business presence, there is a lot to see and do in Bonn. Enterprise car hire gives you cheap car hire to help you get around. Be sure to book online to make the biggest savings.
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Copper State Forge
BBQ Skewers (4 Pack) - Hand Forged
BBQ Skewers (4 Pack) - Hand Forged
These hand forged carbon steel flat skewers are as functional as they are beautiful. Easily add veggies or protein via the tapered end and conveniently flip using the circle loop when grilling. The flat shape prevents your food from rotating and allows for even cooking. Additionally, the forged loop can be used for hanging your skewers while not in use. Each skewer features our copper touchmark that matches all our forged grilling tools.
Care Information
Care Information
Lifetime Guarantee
Lifetime Guarantee
Your investment is guaranteed for life!
All Copper State Forge cookware is guaranteed for life. If you need a repair or guidance on any issue regarding your skillet or cookware please email us directly to discuss. This guarantee does not cover abuse, rust as a result of neglect, improper maintenance, or warping from use on incorrectly sized burners.
We have a 15-day return policy, which means you have 15 days after receiving your item to request a return.
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To start a return, please email us at email@example.com with "Return" as the subject of the email.
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We will notify you once we've received and inspected your return, and let you know if the refund was approved or not. If approved, you'll be automatically refunded on your original payment method within 10 business days. Please remember it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and post the refund too.
If more than 15 business days have passed since we've approved your return, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Common Questions
How do I start using my Copper State Forge skillet?
Your Copper State Forge skillet comes preseason and ready for cooking. Start with a simple hand-washing with hot water and a non-metallic scrubber. Use oil or fat when cooking in your new skillet to prevent sticking and continue the seasoning process.
How often do I have to re-season my skillet?
Re Seasoning is not something you have to do on any sort of regular basis. By simply cooking in the skillet and following the simple cleaning and maintenance steps, you are keeping the skillet seasoned and building up additional seasoning.
The color of my skillet has developed light and dark spots, does that mean it isn't non-stick?
Don't worry, your skillet is still non-stick, even as it goes through it's slow metamorphosis to that slick jet-black pinnacle of pandom that we are all striving for.
What if something sticks to my skillet? What is the best way to clean it off?
Even though carbon steel is the best all-natural non-stick alternative, we will be the first to acknowledge that occasionally stick happens. The main thing is to start light and only get as aggressive as necessary to get the sticky part off. A great place to start is by putting water in the bottom of your skillet, heat it up and gently scrape the stick with a wood or plastic spatula. We also find that the ScrubDaddy type scrubber sponges work well. If that doesn't get the job done you can try putting a little oil and kosher salt in the skillet to scrub the offending spot smooth. When you are finished removing the stuck-on food, don't forget to rinse out the skillet, warm it up to dry it and re-oil it.
How long will my skillet last?
Your skillet was designed and hand crafted to last more than a lifetime. Just follow our simple care instructions to enjoy decades of daily use.
What is the "seasoning" made of?
We use 100% grape seed oil to season our skillets and cookware. When heated above it's smoking point, the grape seed oil polymerizes into your skillet, making a non-toxic and natural cooking surface with non-stick capabilities.
Can I use my skillet for outdoor cooking?
Yes. Your skillet is designed to take the heat! Feel free to use your skillet on the grill, in the smoker, over open flame, or in the pizza oven.
Can I use my skillet on an electric glass stove top and/or induction?
Yes! You can use your skillet on electric, induction, or gas stove tops. When utilizing an electric or induction cook surface, we suggest you use a skillet that is sized appropriately to your burner to prevent warping.
Can my skillet go into the oven?
Yes. Your carbon steel skillet is designed to be used for baking, roasting, and taking the high heat of your kitchen oven or pizza oven.
What kind of oil should I use to season my skillet?
We use 100% grape seed oil to pre-season our skillets. Any vegetable oil with a high smoking point will work just fine (i.e., grape seed, avocado oil, flaxseed oil). While cooking you can use any type of oil, butter, or fat you desire.
Someone put my skillet in the dishwasher/ was left with water in it. Is it ruined?
No, it is not ruined. Your seasoning may be gone or damaged, but your skillet will recover. Wash it thoroughly with hot soapy water and follow our seasoning instructions to make your skillet non-stick again.
It looks like my new skillet arrived scratched or has small imperfections in it. What do I do?
Due to the nature of hand forging, your skillet may have scratches, small dimples and dents on the cooking surface and sides; we refer to these as birthmarks, and they are what makes your skillet one-of-a-kind. We perform a thorough quality inspection during the seasoning process and prior to shipping to make sure that your skillet does not have any blemishes that would affect the cooking performance of your skillet.
Can carbon steel warp?
Yes, it is possible. If you use an electric ceramic or electric induction stove top it is important to match the size of your skillet to your burner. If you superheat only a small portion of your skillet by using an undersized burner, it can warp. There are remedies if this happens to you.
Can I cook tomato sauce in my carbon steel skillet?
We advise against cooking tomato sauces and other acidic foods in your carbon steel skillet for prolonged periods. Although not harmful to you or your food, the acidity may remove the seasoning from your skillet, and it will need to be reasoned.
My skillet rocks a little, and when I add oil it goes to the edges, is this normal?
Yes. As your skillet heats the metal expands the most directly at the heat source. We anticipate this expansion by adding a slight convex to our skillets (slightly higher in the center). When cooking on low heat, this will cause oil to run to the edges, but when cooking on high heat the skillet will mostly flatten out and stay firmly in place. If there is no convex, your skillet will begin to form a bowl shape on bottom when heated, which can cause the skillet to easily spin on flat cooking surfaces. Some skillets have a more concentric convex (only in the center) and others, especially larger skillets, will sometimes also have a longitudinal convex (through the middle from one side to the other). In either case, some wobble may be present when used on a completely flat cooking surface, but will reduce as heat is added.
Beautifully hand built in Arizona to last a lifetime
All Copper State Forge skillets are handmade in our small workshop in Goodyear, Arizona.
We combine the forging techniques of 17th and 18th-century blacksmiths with the precision of CNC plasma cutting technology. Each part is cut out and hand-forged individually. Our use of premium cold-rolled 1018 carbon steel guarantees optimum performance.
These bumps and bruises add to the individual beauty of the cookware and do not affect use. All Copper State Forge products are natural, safe for your family, and a true joy to use daily in your kitchen.
Check out our YouTube for an in-depth look into our forging process.


text:
About Me
Members Online:
Padraic Colum's Biography
To Authors Index
Padraic Colum (
8 December 1881 - 11 January 1972
) was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore. He was one of the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival.
Colum was born Patrick Collumb in a County Longford workhouse, where his father worked. He was the first of eight children born to Patrick and Susan Collumb. When the father lost his job in 1889, he moved to the United States to participate in the Colorado gold rush. Padraic and his mother and siblings remained in Ireland. When the father returned in 1892, the family moved to Glasthule, near Dublin, where his father was employed as Assistant Manager at Sandycove and Glasthule railway station. His son attended the local national school.
When Susan Collumb died in 1897, the family was temporarily split up. Padraic (
as he would be known
) and one brother remained in Dublin, while their father and remaining children moved back to Longford. Colum finished school the following year and at the age of seventeen, he passed an exam for and was awarded a clerkship in the Irish Railway Clearing House. He stayed in this job until 1903.
During this period, Colum started to write and met a number of the leading Irish writers of the time, including W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and ?. He also joined the Gaelic League and was a member of the first board of the Abbey Theatre. He became a regular user of the National Library of Ireland, where he met James Joyce and the two became lifelong friends. During the riots caused by the Abbey Theatre's production of The Playboy of the Western World, Colum, with Arthur Griffith, was the leader of those inciting the protests, which, as he later remarked, cost him his friendship with Yeats.
He collected Irish folk songs, including the famous She Moved Through the Fair, for which Colum wrote most of the words, with the musicologist Herbert Hughes. He was awarded a five-year scholarship to University College Dublin by a wealthy American benefactor, Thomas Kelly.
Early poetry and plays
He was awarded a prize by Cumann na nGaedheal for his anti-enlistment play, The Saxon Shillin'. Through his plays he became involved with the National Theatre Society and became involved in the founding of the Abbey Theatre, writing several of its early productions. His first play, Broken Soil (
revised as The Fiddler's House
) (1903) was performed by W. G. Fay's Irish National Dramatic Company. The Land (
), was one of that theatre's first great public successes. He wrote another important play for the Abbey named Thomas Muskerry (
His earliest published poems appeared in The United Irishman, a paper edited by Arthur Griffith. His first book, Wild Earth (
) collected many of these poems and was dedicated to ?. He published several poems in Arthur Griffith's paper, The United Irishman this time, with The Poor Scholar bringing him to the attention of WB Yeats. He became a friend of Yeats and Lady Gregory. In 1908, he wrote an introduction to the Everyman's Library edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination.
In 1911, with Mary Gunning Maguire, a fellow student from UCD, and David Houston and Thomas MacDonagh, he founded the short-lived literary journal The Irish Review, which published work by Yeats, George Moore, Oliver St John Gogarty, and many other leading Revival figures.
In 1912 he married Maguire, who was working at Padraig Pearse's experimental school, Scoil Eanna in Rathfarnam, County Dublin. At first the couple lived in the Dublin suburb of Donnybrook, where they held a regular Tuesday literary salon. They then moved to Howth, a small fishing village just to the north of the capital. In 1914, they travelled to the US for what was intended to be a visit of a few months but lasted eight years.
Later life and work
In America, Colum took up children's writing and published a number of collections of stories for children, beginning with The King of Ireland's Son (
). This book came about when Colum started translating an Irish folk tale from Gaelic because he did not want to forget the language. After it was published in the New York Tribune, Hungarian Illustrator Willy Pogany suggested the possibility of a book collaboration, so Colum wove the folktale into a long, epic story. Three of his books for children were awarded retrospective citations for the Newbery Honor. A contract for children's literature with Macmillan Publishers made him financially secure for the rest of his life. Some other books he wrote are The Adventure of Odysseus (
) and The Children of Odin (
). These works are important for bringing classical literature to children.
In 1922 he was commissioned to write versions of Hawaiian folklore for young people. This resulted in the publication of three volumes of his versions of tales from the island. First editions of this work were presented to US president Barack Obama by Taoiseach Enda Kenny on the occasion of his visit to Dublin, Ireland on 23 May 2011. Colum also started writing novels. These include Castle Conquer (
) and The Flying Swans (
). The Colums spent the years from 1930 to 1933 living in Paris and Nice, where Padraic renewed his friendship with James Joyce and became involved in the transcription of Finnegans Wake.
After their time in France, the couple moved to New York City, where they did some teaching at Columbia University and CCNY. Colum was a prolific author and published a total of 61 books, not counting his plays. He adopted the form of Noh drama in his later plays.
Mary died in 1957 and Padraic finished Our Friend James Joyce, which they had worked on together. It was published in 1958. Colum divided his later years between the United States and Ireland. In 1961 the Catholic Library Association awarded him the Regina Medal. He died in Enfield, Connecticut, age 90, and was buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton.
Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest the last name was the same as the word column. "In my first name, the first a has the sound of au. The ordinary pronunciation in Irish is pau'drig."
Padraic Colum's Selected works:
- (
) The Saxon Shillin' (Play)
- (
) Broken Sail (Play)
- (
) The Land (Play)
- (
) Wild Earth (Book)
- (
) The Fiddlers' House (Play)
- (
) Thomas Muskerry (Play)
- (
) My Irish Year (Book)
- (
) The King of Ireland's Son (New Sample of old Irish Tales)
- (
) Mogu the Wanderer (Play)
- (
) 'The Children's Homer, (
) Collier Books, ISBN 978-0-02-042520-5
- (
) The Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter, (
) The Macmillan Company
- (
) Children of Odin: Nordic Gods and Heroes
- (
) The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles, (
), Ill. by Willy Pogany The Macmillan company
- (
) The Six Who Were Left in a Shoe (Children's Story)
- (
) Castle Conquer (Novel)
- (
) The Island of the Mighty: Being the Hero Stories of Celtic Britain Retold from the Mabinogion, Ill. by Wilfred Jones, The Macmillan Company
- (
) The Strindbergian Balloon (Play)
- (
) Poems (
) Macmillan & Co
- (
) The Big Tree of Bunlahy: Stories of My Own Countryside (
Children's stories
) Ill. by Jack Yeats
- (
) The Story of Lowry Maen (Epic Poem)
- (
) The Frenzied Prince (Compilation of Irish Tales)
- (
) The Flying Swans (Novel)
- (
) Our Friend James Joyce (
) (With Mary Colum)
- (
) Moytura: A Play for Dancers (Play)
- (
) Padraic Colum Reading His Irish Tales and Poems (Album, Folkways Records)
As editor:
- (
) Anthology of Irish Verse Liveright, 1948; Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4374-8759-6
- (
) The Arabian Nights: Tales of Wonder and Magnificence; The Macmillan Company
Source: wiki
To Authors Index


text:
BALUKHALI REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh (AP) — The faces of the men half-buried in the mass graves had been burned away by acid or blasted by bullets. Noor Kadir finally recognized his friends only by the colors of their shorts.
Kadir and 14 others, all Rohingya Muslims in the Myanmar village of Gu Dar Pyin, had been choosing players for the soccer-like game of chinlone when the gunfire began. They scattered from what sounded like hard rain on a tin roof. By the time the Myanmar military stopped shooting, only Kadir and two teammates were left alive.
Days later, Kadir found six of his friends among the bodies in two graves.
They are among at least five mass graves, all previously unreported, that have been confirmed by The Associated Press through multiple interviews with more than two dozen survivors in Bangladesh refugee camps and through time-stamped cellphone videos. The Myanmar government regularly claims such massacres of the Rohingya never happened, and has acknowledged only one mass grave containing 10 "terrorists" in the village of Inn Din. However, the AP's reporting shows a systematic slaughter of Rohingya Muslim civilians by the military, with help from Buddhist neighbors — and suggests many more graves hold many more people.
The Associated Press has confirmed at least five previously unreported mass graves and the details of a massacre in the village of Gu Dar Pyin, Myanmar, the latest atrocity to emerge in what some observers call a genocide. (Feb. 1)
"It was a mixed-up jumble of corpses piled on top of each other," said Kadir, a 24-year-old firewood collector. "I felt such sorrow for them."
The graves are the newest piece of evidence for what looks increasingly like a genocide in Myanmar's western Rakhine state against the Rohingya, a long-persecuted ethnic Muslim minority in the predominantly Buddhist country. Repeated calls to Myanmar's military communications office went unanswered Wednesday and Thursday. Htun Naing, a local security police officer in Buthidaung township, where the village is located, said he "hasn't heard of such mass graves."
Myanmar has cut off access to Gu Dar Pyin, so it's unclear just how many people died, but satellite images obtained by the AP from DigitalGlobe, along with video of homes reduced to ash, reveal a village that has been wiped out. Community leaders in the refugee camps have compiled a list of 75 dead so far, and villagers estimate the toll could be as high as 400, based on testimony from relatives and the bodies they've seen in the graves and strewn about the area. A large number of the survivors carry scars from bullet wounds, including a 3-year-old boy and his grandmother.
Almost every villager interviewed by the AP saw three large mass graves at Gu Dar Pyin's northern entrance, near the main road, where witnesses say soldiers herded and killed most of the Rohingya. A handful of witnesses confirmed two other big graves near a hillside cemetery, not too far away from a school where more than 100 soldiers were stationed after the massacre. Villagers also saw other, smaller graves scattered around the village.
In the videos of the graves obtained by the AP, dating to 13 days after the killing began, blue-green puddles of acid sludge surround corpses without heads and torsos that jut into the air. Skeletal hands seem to claw at the ground.
Survivors said that the soldiers carefully planned the Aug. 27 attack, and then deliberately tried to hide what they had done. They came to the slaughter armed not only with rifles, knives, rocket launchers and grenades, but also with shovels to dig pits and acid to burn away faces and hands so that the bodies could not be identified. Two days before the attack, villagers say, soldiers were seen buying 12 large containers of acid at a nearby village's market.
The killing began around noon, when more than 200 soldiers swept into Gu Dar Pyin from the direction of a Buddhist village to the south, firing their weapons. The Rohingya who could move fast enough ran toward the north or toward a river in the east, said Mohammad Sha, 37, a shop owner and farmer.
Sha hid in a grove of coconut trees near the river with more than 100 others and watched as the soldiers searched Muslim homes. Dozens of Buddhists from neighboring villages, their faces partly covered with scarves, loaded the possessions they found into about 10 pushcarts. Then the soldiers burned down the homes, shooting anyone who couldn't flee, Sha said.
At the same time, another group of soldiers closed in from the north, encircling Gu Dar Pyin and trapping villagers in a tightening noose.
When Mohammad Younus, 25, heard explosions from hand grenades and rocket launchers, he ran to the road. He was shot twice while trying to call his family. One of the bullets, still in his hip, can be seen when he pinches the skin.
His brother found him crawling on his hands and knees and carried him to some underbrush, where Younus lay for seven hours. At one point, he saw three trucks stop and begin loading dead bodies before heading off toward the cemetery.
Buddhist villagers then moved through Gu Dar Pyin in a sort of mopping-up operation, using knives to cut the throats of the injured, survivors said, and working with soldiers to throw small children and the elderly into the fires.
"People were screaming, crying, pleading for their lives, but the soldiers just shot continuously," said Mohammad Rayes, 23, a schoolteacher who climbed a tree and watched.
Kadir, the chinlone player, was shot twice in the foot but managed to drag himself under a bridge, where he removed one of the bullets himself. Then he watched, half-delirious, for 16 hours as soldiers, police and Buddhist neighbors killed unarmed Rohingya and burned the village.
"I couldn't move," he said. "I thought I was dead. I began to forget why I was there, to forget that all around me people were dying."
Near dawn, three boys creeping toward the bridge from another village to see what had happened heard Kadir's groans and brought him back with them.
For days, Rohingya from the area stole into Gu Dar Pyin and rescued people who'd been left for dead by the soldiers. Thousands of people from the area hid deep in the jungle, stranded without food except for the leaves and trees they tried to eat. More than 20 infants and toddlers died because of the lack of food and water, villagers said.
A day after the shooting began, another group of survivors watched from a distant mountain as Gu Dar Pyin burned, the flames and smoke snaking up into a darkening sky.
Six days after the massacre, Kadir risked his life to dodge the dozens of Myanmar soldiers occupying the local school so he could look for his four cousins. That's when he found his teammates half-buried in the mass graves. He also saw four plastic containers that turned out to contain acid.
In the next days and weeks, other villagers braved the soldiers to try to find whatever was left of their loved ones. Dozens of bodies littered the paths and compounds of the wrecked homes; they filled latrine pits. The survivors soon learned that taller, darker green patches of rice shoots in the paddies marked the spots where the dead had fallen.
As monsoon rains pounded the sometimes thin layer of dirt on the graves to mud, more bloated bodies began to rise to the surface.
"There were so many bodies in so many different places," said Mohammad Lalmia, 20, a farmer whose family owned a pond that became the largest of the mass graves. "They couldn't hide all the death."
Eleven days after the attack, Lalmia set out to see if the soldiers had destroyed the Quran in the village mosque. He walked quickly along the edge of the jungle to the mosque, where he found torn pages from the Muslim sacred book scattered about.
As he tried to clean up, someone shouted that the soldiers were coming. He fled through an open window, looking back over his shoulder at about 15 patrolling soldiers.
When he turned back to the path, he stopped abruptly: A human hand stuck out of a cleared patch of earth.
Lalmia counted about 10 bodies on the grave's surface. Although he was worried about the military finding him, he used a six-foot bamboo stick to check the pit's depth. The stick disappeared into the loose soil, which made him think that the grave was deep enough to hold at least another 10 bodies.
"I was shocked to be that near so many bodies I hadn't known about," Lalmia said. He and other villagers also saw another large grave in the area.
He estimates that soldiers dumped about 80 bodies into his family's pond and about 20 in each of the other four major graves. He said about 150 other bodies were left where they fell.
Three of the big graves were in the north of the village. Two of those pits were about 15 feet wide and 7.5 feet long, villagers said. The pond, which Lalmia had helped dig, measured about nine feet deep and 112 square feet.
Many other smaller graves with three, five, seven, 10 bodies in them were scattered across Gu Dar Pyin. During a short walk, Abdul Noor, an 85-year-old farmer, saw three dead bodies stuffed into what might have been a latrine hole and covered with soil. He saw another two near some banana plants, and three in the corner of a compound.
"I tried to see more, but the stench was overwhelming and the soldiers were still at the school," he said.
Two other men separately said they saw another latrine filled with bodies and covered with a thin layer of soil. They said it contained between five and 10 bodies on the top, and thought there were at least five more corpses below.
After 12 days, Younus went to try to find four family members who'd been killed. He saw people in the graves without hair or skin who he thought had been burned with acid, and dozens of decomposing bodies in the rice fields.
The next day, on Sept. 9, villager Mohammad Karim, 26, captured three videos of mass graves that were time-stamped between 10:12 a.m. and 10:14 a.m., when he said soldiers chased him away. When he fled to Bangladesh, Karim removed the memory card from his phone, wrapped it in plastic and tied it to his thigh to hide it from Myanmar police.
In the Bangladesh refugee camps, nearly two dozen other Rohingya from Gu Dar Pyin confirmed that the videos showed mass graves in the north of the village. They easily picked out details from a geography they knew intimately, such as the way certain banana plants were positioned near rice paddies.
The videos show what appear to be bones wrapped in rotting clothing in a soupy muck. In one, the hands of a headless corpse grasp at the earth; most of the skin seems melted away by acid that has stained the earth blue. Nearby are two bloated legs clad in shorts. A few paces away, the bones of a rib cage emerge from the dirt.
The AP saw several other videos that appeared to show graves in the village, but only Karim's contained the original time stamps. In some cases, villagers said Myanmar soldiers took their phones and memory cards, sometimes at knife and gun point, at the checkpoints they had to pass through on the way to Bangladesh.
Some survivors never found the bodies of their loved ones.
Rohima Khatu, 45, recounted her story as tears streamed down the face of her 9-year-old daughter, Hurjannat, who sat silently by her mother's side.
Khatu was determined to find her husband, even though women risked not only death but rape if they were caught by the soldiers. Villagers said her husband was shot after he stayed home to protect their 10 cows, five chickens and eight doves, along with their rice stockpiles.
So 15 days after the massacre, she searched for him in the graves at Gu Dar Pyin's northern entrance, trying to identify him by the green lungi and white button-down shirt he had been wearing. Only 10 minutes passed before someone shouted that about 20 soldiers were coming.
"There were dead bodies everywhere, bones and body parts, all decomposing, so I couldn't tell which one was my husband," Khatu said. "I was weeping while I was there. I was crying loudly, 'Where did you go? Where did you go?'"
"I have lost everything."


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