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Category Archives: Evangelicals
Is There A Way Forward for Christians Divided by Election 2016?
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2)
That's what the Apostle Paul wrote to a church riven with ethnic, cultural, economic, and, yes, political divisions. That's what it meant for a church to practice the truth that "there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (3:28).
The voting patterns of Christians in Tuesday's elections reveal that this practice did not guide Christian political engagement in 2016. The best predictor of how a Christian voted was not his or her theological beliefs or denominational membership. It was his or her ethnicity. Black and Latino Christians voted for Clinton by massive margins, though not as much as they did for Obama in 2008 and 2012. And white Christians voted for Trump in even stronger numbers than they did for McCain or Romney in years past.
But the biggest indictment of the state of the church following election 2016 is not that the church voted differently based on ethnicity. Indeed, if you are a black Christian who voted for Trump (and I know some who did), or if you are a white Christian who voted for Clinton (and I know some who did), you have no basis for pride, as if by going against your ethnic group you somehow fulfilled your responsibility of bearing your neighbor's burden.
No, the bigger indictment of the church is the way in which we have castigated and even demonized one another across the political aisle, the way in which we have turned away from one another in anger and in bitterness, the way in which we have refused to do the hard work of understanding one another's political concerns and so seeking to bear one another's burdens.
Are you an evangelical Republican who cannot fathom why African American and Latino Christians fear a Trump administration? Then you have a lot of work to do. Are you an evangelical Democrat who cannot understand why poor and middle class white voters feel alienated in twenty-first century America without attributing that alienation to racism or bigotry? Then you have a lot of work to do.
Let me put it this way. If you cannot understand why your fellow Christian voted for the opposite candidate, if you cannot sympathize with his or her vote – even if you strongly disagree with it – you have not loved him or her in the way that Christ has loved you. Jesus was able to pray from the cross for those who tortured and murdered him, "Father, forgive they, for they don't know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). There was sympathy in that statement. Jesus had the capacity to sympathize with his enemies, even in their demonic act of crucifying the Son of God, because he grasped that given what they knew and believed, they thought they were doing the right thing. And he loved them enough to forgive them for that, and even to take the burden of their sin on himself as he died for them on the cross.
Many Christians are feeling bitterness and anger today. Some are relieved that a person they saw as a grave evil and a threat to American democracy was not elected to the White House. They cannot fathom how so many of their brothers and sisters could have voted for someone who wants to expand abortion rights and fund abortion with federal taxpayer dollars. How can one claim to be a Christian and support such a woman?
Others are fearful that a person they view as a grave evil and a threat to American democracy was elected to the White House. They cannot fathom how so many of their brothers and sisters could have voted for someone who is explicitly racist and misogynist and seems manifestly unfit to govern. How can one claim to be a Christian and support such a man?
These divisions run deep. We cannot move on in the church as if none of this ever happened. Many Christians are wondering how they can remain united in love and Christian friendship with those whose political choices seem so patently offensive.
Let's be clear about one thing. Big issues were at stake in this election. The disagreements that divide Christians are serious. They are not trivialities that we can lightly set aside. We cannot simply dismiss political concerns as if they have nothing to do with the life of the church.
And yet, Christians who voted for Trump did not do so by and large because they are racists and misogynists. Likewise Christians who voted for Clinton did not do so by and large because they support abortion. Christians who voted either way did so because they felt that only that candidate understood their deepest fears and anxieties. They did so because they were fearful that the other candidate did not have their deepest concerns at heart. Most Christians voted the way they did because they trusted that one candidate had their backs and the other candidate didn't.
Few Christians took the time to understand how their own brothers and sisters could see things so differently. Few of us practiced the gospel sufficiently to take the time to listen and learn. Few of us were willing to set aside our own fears and anxieties so as to genuinely carry each other's burdens.
As Jon Foreman wrote in the Huffington Post before the election:
Fear gives birth to fear. Hatred gives birth to hatred. Violence gives birth to violence. "Love is the final fight." I sing these words every night. They were inspired by a hero of mine named Dr. John M Perkins, a man who refuses to respond to hatred with hatred. A man who understands that the fight for freedom is larger than just one story. It's a small, fearful mind that refuses to hear any narrative other than their own.
But love ends that cycle. Love chooses to allow someone else into your story. Love listens to a stranger's story, and allows that story to mix and dance with your own. Dr. Perkins chose to show love knowing he might receive nothing in return. It's a dangerous, costly response to hatred and violence. But love alone can end that cycle of hatred, violence, and retaliation. Our stories are different, you and I. And we will disagree. But love chooses to listen. Chooses to care. Chooses to acknowledge that your story has the same weight and value as my own.
Can we do this as Christians? We didn't do it leading into the election. Can we do it under the presidency of Donald Trump? Will Republican evangelicals who see their sisters and brothers – their political opponents – wounded and beaten on the other side of the road and cross over to take up their need as their own, in the spirit of the good Samaritan? Will they stand with them in solidarity, pleading their cause as if it were their own? Will Democratic evangelicals who feel beaten and betrayed accept such an effort at reconciliation and love in a spirit of gospel hope? Will they stand in solidarity with their evangelical opponents, pleading their cause as if it were their own? Do we have the humility to recognize that our own political judgments might not reflect the whole picture, that they might even be wrong?
Many see in times such as this only cause for discouragement and despair. Those whose hope is rooted in the gospel rather than in princes (Psalm 146) must instead see opportunity. Never has it been so clear how much we, as Christians – not to mention our neighbors – need the gospel. Never has it been so painfully evident how little we are practicing the gospel across ethnic, economic, and cultural boundaries.
But therein lies the opportunity. The opportunity to repent and recover the gospel with a degree of faithfulness and clarity we have not known up to this point. The opportunity to exemplify before a deeply divided country a determination not only to be reconciled in the gospel but to practice the gospel in our political engagement. The opportunity to demonstrate in our politics that we will only support policies that genuinely serve the needs and concerns of all of God's children, white or black, rich or poor, male or female, Democrat or Republican.
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).
Can Christian Political Engagement Be Christian in Election 2016?
Christians – like the rest of the country – are deeply divided heading into tomorrow's election. While African American and Latino Protestants feel an existential threat from Donald Trump and his supporters, many white evangelicals fear that if Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party win tomorrow the pro-life cause – not to mention the cause of religious liberty – will suffer irreparable damage. And of course, religious voters are motivated to vote for or against these candidates for many other reasons as well.
If Christians are so divided, is there any sense in which Christian political engagement can be Christian in Election 2016?
Last week I had the privilege of speaking on Christian political engagement in a multicultural context with Ekemeni Uwan at Calvin College. Ekemeni is a graduate of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia who speaks and writes regularly on matters ranging from racial injustice and police brutality to Christian cultural-political engagement.
Together we wrestled with the choices facing Christians in 2016. We focused particularly on why different Christians are approaching this election differently, and on how the political barriers that divide Christians might be overcome through the gospel.
You can listen to the audio here. Ekemeni speaks first. I begin at about the 21 minute mark. Q&A begins after that.
Evangelicals and Lust for Political Power – Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils
Needless to say, I have received many critical responses to my blog post of October 10, in which I warned that evangelicals should not publicly support Donald Trump due to his consistent track record of misogyny, racism, divisiveness, and demagoguery. Although I received much more support than criticism, I believe the critics deserve a response. Many of them are genuinely distressed. They are being bombarded with the argument – implicit or explicit, rational or emotionally manipulative – that as Christians they must vote for Trump.
To be sure, I was very careful not to say that a person should not vote for Trump, and most readers understood that. A vote for a presidential candidate is highly complex. There are so many issues at stake, so many factors that should inform a thoughtful Christian's decision, that we can be sure intelligent Christians will disagree here. Each will follow his or her own conscience. And we need to be careful not to judge one another. I have thoughtful Christian friends who are voting for Trump, others who are voting for Clinton, and others who will vote for someone else entirely.
At the same time, many of my critics seem to think that to criticize evangelicals for publicly supporting Donald Trump requires me to criticize Hillary Clinton too – as if the mark of a good moral theologian is to spread moral criticism in as balanced and politically fair a way as possible. Why do they assume this? Is it because they think evangelicals who don't support Trump must be enamored with Clinton and the Democratic party? I for myself, am well aware of the Democratic party's flaws and of the flaws of its nominee as well. Yet somehow I'm not worried that most evangelicals have too rosy a view of Clinton. I certainly don't think they need a warning from me on that count.
The real reason, I think, that many of these critics want to see me criticize Clinton at least as much as Trump is that they actually think there is only one faithful way a Christian can think about this election. There is one primary issue at stake – who will receive the power to make appointments to the Supreme Court, with their consequent significance for matters such as abortion and religious liberty. Beyond this simple calculation of power, in this view, every other issue pales in significance. Since only two candidates have a realistic chance at attaining power, then all votes for other candidates are wasted. We must choose between the lesser of two evils.
Note how much the power calculus drives Franklin Graham's Facebook argument in defense of Trump (Graham's post has received nearly 200,000 Facebook shares):
A lot of people are slamming evangelicals for supposedly giving Donald J. Trump a pass. That's simply not true. No one is giving him a pass. I'm certainly not, and I've not met an evangelical yet who condones his language or inexcusable behavior from over a decade ago. However, he has apologized to his wife, his family, and to the American people for this. He has taken full responsibility. This election isn't about Donald Trump's behavior from 11 years ago or Hillary Clinton's recent missing emails, lies, and false statements. This election is about the Supreme Court and the justices that the next president will nominate. Evangelicals are going to have to decide which candidate they trust to nominate men and women to the court who will defend the constitution and support religious freedoms. My prayer is that Christians will not be deceived by the liberal media about what is at stake for future generations.
Note how Graham's argument goes. First of all, he naively treats Trump's boasting about sexual assault as a merely moral problem, as if it did not reflect the character and track record he will take with him into the executive office (and as if it will not really affect women in this country). In Graham's view, Trump said bad things and Trump should apologize for the bad things he said. Once he has done that, we should all forgive and forget.
Second, to Graham neither Trump's behavior, nor, for that matter, Clinton's track record of behavior, are relevant issues in the current presidential election. This election is about one thing: power. What is at stake? Power. Who do we trust to use the presidential power to choose judges in a way that serves our objectives? Who do we trust will use power to preserve our religious liberty? To keep us safe so that we don't have to suffer? Nothing else matters.
Is this sentiment anything other than a lust for power? Is this Christian political engagement?
In fact, it's an astonishingly thin and naive argument coming from such a prominent evangelical leader. It reveals how little he has learned from his father Billy Graham, who was so manipulated and embarrassed by Richard Nixon. And it reveals just how enslaved many evangelicals remain to the ideology of the Religious Right.
According to Graham's logic, it does not matter how toxic and divisive is Trump's effect on America's political and moral culture. It does not matter that his demagoguery is wrecking the Republican party before our very eyes (because of Trump the Democrats may win both houses of Congress in addition to the White House). It does not matter that vocal support for Trump has so blackened the image of right-wing white evangelicalism that it has shattered its potential effectiveness for Christlike gospel witness. It does not matter that Trump's rhetoric is tearing the moral, social, and political fabric of our country to shreds. As deplorable as all of this is (and I take Graham and other evangelicals at their word that they think this is deplorable), when a simple calculation of power is at stake, we must make that grab for power. So the logic runs.
It is this sort of logic that requires people like me to warn evangelicals about Trump in a way that we don't have to warn them about Clinton. We are not in danger of exchanging our gospel witness for lust for power when it comes to Clinton. But we are in grave danger of doing just that when it comes to Trump. Christianity Today recently put it quite well:
[T]here is a point at which strategy becomes its own form of idolatry—an attempt to manipulate the levers of history in favor of the causes we support. Strategy becomes idolatry, for ancient Israel and for us today, when we make alliances with those who seem to offer strength—the chariots of Egypt, the vassal kings of Rome—at the expense of our dependence on God who judges all nations, and in defiance of God's manifest concern for the stranger, the widow, the orphan, and the oppressed. Strategy becomes idolatry when we betray our deepest values in pursuit of earthly influence. And because such strategy requires capitulating to idols and princes and denying the true God, it ultimately always fails.
Enthusiasm for a candidate like Trump gives our neighbors ample reason to doubt that we believe Jesus is Lord. They see that some of us are so self-interested, and so self-protective, that we will ally ourselves with someone who violates all that is sacred to us—in hope, almost certainly a vain hope given his mendacity and record of betrayal, that his rule will save us.
Again, the point here is not that you should not vote for Trump. I am not so much concerned with who Christians are voting for as I am with how they are arguing – and thinking – about this election.
As Christians we are called to witness to the lordship of Christ in everything that we do. And as Paul makes quite clear in Philippians 2, that does not mean seizing power and lording it over our neighbors, whatever the cost; it means humbling ourselves, taking up the form of a servant, and seeking justice and peace in accord with love. It doesn't mean doing whatever it takes politically to make sure that we won't suffer in the future. It means suffering at the hands of power as the very way in which Christ has called us to serve.
What does this mean in terms of voting? For one, it means that we need to be wary of all "lesser of two evils" calculation. The logic of the lesser of two evils argument assumes that power is our primary objective. Yet for Christians, faithful witness to Christ's lordship is the ultimate concern. Sometimes fidelity to Christ means that we choose the path of less power, the path of greater suffering, because that is the path that love for our neighbors demands, and because that is the path that Christ himself took. You can indeed vote in good conscience for a candidate who has no realistic chance of winning. Perhaps that precisely what Christlike citizenship demands.
Second, lets at least be honest with ourselves. If you vote for Trump you are voting for Trump. If you vote for Clinton you are voting for Clinton. You are supporting that candidate, with all that he or she stands for, in light of who that candidate's track record shows him or her to be, for the office of president. You may not personally like it, but that's what a vote means. That's how it is legally registered. Enough with all of the rationalization that says – I'm not voting for Clinton, I'm just voting against Trump, or vice versa. If you can't look your neighbor in the eye as a Christian and defend your positive vote as an act of love, then you probably can't defend your conscience before God either.
Finally, pace Graham (has he learned nothing from the last forty years?), political power is not the primary thing at stake for Christians in this election. At stake is the simple question of whether or not we will love and serve our neighbors faithfully, as befits those who claim to be followers of Christ.
But even so. Even if power was the primary concern, there are many thoughtful Christians – especially Latinos, African Americans, and women, but many white evangelical men like me too – who somehow doubt that identifying ourselves with Donald Trump and dogmatically, even stubbornly, supporting him for the highest office in the land (and the world) genuinely advances any of the causes we really care about (life, human dignity, the rule of law, prosperity, religious liberty), let alone the kingdom of God. And to paraphrase Paul, I think that we too have the Spirit of God.
Donald Trump and Sexual Assault: What Else Are Evangelical Voters Willing to Accept?
Last night's presidential debate opened with the Republican candidate for president apologizing for boasting about sexual assault, while in the same breath claiming that it was just words, mere "locker room talk." "I'm very embarrassed by it," he admitted, "but it's locker room talk."
That's all. Nothing to worry about. This is just how men talk when they are together having fun. People just say these things.
That's what Trump would have us believe.
I have heard much "locker room talk" over the years and I have never, ever, heard someone even come close to bragging about sexual assault without being called out on it by any man with any self-respect whatsoever.
I am well aware that many men say these sorts of things. Many men commit sexual assault too. Indeed, one out of every five women in America has been the victim of rape or attempted rape, and half – half – of women have experienced sexual assault.
And I wonder if you can find anyone who knows anything at all about Donald Trump who actually believes his claim that he has never sexually assaulted a woman. These are not random comments from a distant past.
Hillary Clinton put it quite well in last night's debate:
Donald Trump is different. I said starting back in June that he was not fit to be president and commander-in-chief. And many Republicans and independents have said the same thing. What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women, what he thinks about women, what he does to women. And he has said that the video doesn't represent who he is.
But I think it's clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is. Because we've seen this throughout the campaign. We have seen him insult women. We've seen him rate women on their appearance, ranking them from one to ten. We've seen him embarrass women on TV and on Twitter. We saw him after the first debate spend nearly a week denigrating a former Miss Universe in the harshest, most personal terms.
So, yes, this is who Donald Trump is. But it's not only women, and it's not only this video that raises questions about his fitness to be our president, because he has also targeted immigrants, African- Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, POWs, Muslims, and so many others.
So this is who Donald Trump is. And the question for us, the question our country must answer is that this is not who we are.
I get it. Politics is complicated. There are many people who loath just about everything about Donald Trump – who feel sick to their stomach by the sorts of things he has said and done – who will nevertheless vote for him because they fear Hillary Clinton even more. I suspect more Americans than not will hold their noses when they enter the voting booth this November. And many will vote for a third candidate, or not vote at all.
I am not a political scientist or a political activist. I am a moral theologian. And so I'm not going to tell anyone how to vote. But I will say this. Trump's record of speech and action with respect to women is no sideshow to who he really is and who he will really be as the president of the United States. His track record is one of consistent misogyny. Voting for Trump is supporting a man who has publicly objectified women while boasting that he has long been able to assault them sexually – forcing himself on them, groping their genitals, and manipulating them for sex – with impunity.
Where does women's dignity as human beings made in the image of God rank on your hierarchy of moral and political concerns? What about sexual assault?
Many of Donald Trump's supporters claim that Christians should support him in order to protect religious liberty. But it was Hillary Clinton who was defending religious liberty in last night's debate. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine how associating the cause of religious liberty with the darkness that is Donald Trump will do anything but damage the cause.
The same could be said for the pro-life movement. Perhaps Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said it best:
The life issue can not flourish in a culture of misogyny and sexual degradation. The life issue can not flourish when you have people calling for the torture and murder of innocent non-combatants. The life issue can not flourish when you have people who have given up on the idea that character matters. If you lose an election you can live to fight another day and move on, but if you lose an election while giving up your very soul then you have really lost it all, and so I think the stakes are really high.
And I think the issue, particularly, when you have people who have said, and we have said, and I have said for twenty years the life issue matters, and the life issue is important… When you have someone who is standing up race baiting, racist speech, using immigrants and others in our communities in the most horrific ways and we say 'that doesn't matter' and we are part of the global body of Christ simply for the sake of American politics, and we expect that we are going to be able to reach the nations for Christ? I don't think so, and so I think we need to let our yes be yes and our no be no and our never be never.
Abortion is a horrific, deeply rooted moral problem. Terrorism and violence seem to claim more lives every day. But every two minutes in this country another woman – or a child – is sexually assaulted. These are our wives. These are our children. These are our neighbors. What else do we have to say? Who else are we going to throw under the bus while claiming that all of this somehow helps us save the lives of the unborn? And can we really say with a straight face that hitching our wagon to Donald Trump is good for the cause and credibility of religious liberty?
Even aside from the principle of it, common sense itself dictates this conclusion: If evangelicals publicly support Donald Trump, the chief result will not be the advance of the sanctity of life or of religious liberty, let alone of family values. The result will be the collapse of any evangelical credibility on moral issues whatsoever.
Love Casts Out Fear: Christian Witness in an Anxious Age
America's version of Christendom has collapsed, and most evangelicals are still trying to figure out what this means for the nature of Christian witness. We are so used to being engaged socially and politically from a position of power and privilege that we do not even know where to begin now that it is so obvious we are a minority. Many are discouraged, afraid, and even bitter. While our African American brothers and sisters have long known what it meant to be an oppressed minority (and so are consequently less surprised by recent social and political developments and less likely to freak out over every new development that all is lost), for white evangelicals this is new.
Tim Keller and John Inazu have an excellent article at Christianity Today reflecting on the challenges of Christian witness in an increasingly pluralistic and anxious age.
Whatever one thinks of mainline Protestantism today, … it once provided the sociological and institutional framework that sustained the Protestant culture. That framework no longer exists. In its absence, the deep and accelerating cultural trends toward individualism and autonomy have continued to erode trust in social institutions—business, government, church, and even the family. And neither evangelicalism nor Roman Catholicism nor secularism has been able to fill the vacuum left by the shrinking of the Protestant mainline.
This new cultural reality raises some anxieties, but it also presents many of us with an opportunity to rediscover Christian witness in a world that we do not control. The dominant Protestant culture enabled some Christians in this country to forget, as the book of Hebrews proclaims, that here we have no abiding city. While we are called to love our neighbors and to maintain what James Davison Hunter has called "faithful presence," no human society can be identified with the kingdom of God. Christians profess that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), which means that we are never quite at home.
Although Keller and Inazu are careful not to say it explicitly, the widespread confusion and panic this is causing is reflected in evangelicals' willingness to support Donald Trump. Trump has no coherent policy framework to offer the country, but that's not what many evangelicals are looking for. They are looking for someone to "shake things up." They want someone who will stick it to the cultural and political elites. Upset over a revolution in sexuality and gender, they are willing to support a philanderer who has demonstrated little respect for women or for marriage in his life. Fearful about threats to religious liberty, they are willing to support a racist who has declared that practitioners of the world's second largest religion should be banned from entering the United States.
Keller and Inazu rightly call Christians not to give in to such fear-driven public engagement but to engage as a means of witnessing to Christ, who is, after all, continuing to reconcile all things to himself regardless of the state of American politics. After all, America is not the kingdom of God. We need to rediscover what it means to live as resident aliens.
To live as resident aliens entails a certain vulnerability, but it does not always mean persecution. Claims that American Christians today are facing persecution sound tone-deaf not only to secular progressives but also to many non-white religious believers who have long been actual minorities. That isn't to say that demographics aren't changing, or that Christians in the United States don't face legal abuses and miscarriages of justice. But it is a caution about the use of language and a posture of the heart.
One practical implication?
Christians might engage in the cause of religious liberty with more hope and less anxiety. Many Christians today feel increasing legal pressures on their institutions and the ways of life they are accustomed to. Some of these challenges are significant: campus ministries experience hurdles to campus access, Christian adoption and social service agencies confront regulations in tension with their missional convictions, and Christian educational institutions face threats to their accreditation and tax-exempt status. We should not be naïve to these challenges, and we should work diligently to find appropriate legal and policy responses. But we must make our case in publicly accessible terms that appeal to people of good will from a variety of religious traditions and those of no religious tradition. In doing so, we cannot ignore the importance of religious liberty for all. There is no principled legal or theological argument that looks only to the good of Christians over the interests of others.
Focusing on others means attending to the challenges and limits that they confront in the practice of their faith. Today's cultural climate makes it especially essential for Christians to defend the religious liberty of American Muslims.
You can read the rest of Keller and Inazu's excellent article here.
The Public Character of Conservative Evangelicalism
Republican Senator Ben Sasse is coming under increasing criticism for his ongoing, vocal opposition to Donald Trump. Some critics are suggesting that it's more about Sasse than it is about Trump. And more and more evangelicals and conservatives are jumping on the Trump bandwagon.
But Sasse, an elder in a Reformed church and former board member of Westminster Seminary California (who recently spoke at WSC's commencement), is no career politician and he's not in this for a power trip. Sasse is one of those few remaining high-profile Republicans who grasps that conservatives can do far more damage to their cause – and to their country – by attaching it to a horrible candidate than another Democratic president ever could.
The same must be said about evangelicals.
The primary problem with Trump is not that he's not conservative or that he's not evangelical. It's that he consistently demonstrates contempt for his fellow citizens and for the rule of law itself. He poses demagogically as a strong man, pandering to fear and fostering visions of greatness, while offering nothing in the way of serious political leadership. Conservatives like Sasse who refuse to tow the line on Trump are not doing so because they are purists who lack a healthy dose of pragmatism. On the contrary, they are attune to the lessons of history.
Michael Gerson eloquently captured what is at stake for evangelicals in particular:
Evangelical Christians are not merely choosing a certain political outcome. They are determining their public character — the way they are viewed by others and, ultimately, the way they view themselves. They are identifying with a man who has fed ethnic tension for political gain; who has proposed systemic religious discrimination; who has dramatically undermined the democratic values of civility and tolerance; who has advocated war crimes, including killing the families of terrorists; who holds a highly sexualized view of power as dominance, rather than seeing power as an instrument to advance moral ends.
In legitimizing the presumptive Republican nominee, evangelicals are not merely accepting who he is; they are changing who they are. Trumpism, at its root, involves contempt for, and fear of, outsiders — refugees, undesirable migrants, Muslims, etc. By associating with this movement, evangelicals will bear, if not the mark of Cain, at least the mark of Trump.
Gerson grasps the fact that evangelicals' witness to the gospel is ultimately inseparable from their public political witness. Their attempt to proclaim Christ in word and deed is contaminated by their willingness to support someone like Donald Trump, even if that support only stems from fear of Hillary Clinton. It takes an awful long time to live down the political causes you support and the political movements you publicly attach yourself – just think of the way in which the politicized legacy of the Christian Right continues to define the way in which most Americans think of evangelicalism.
Make no mistake. Evangelicals will regret supporting Donald Trump.
The Hypocrisy of the Christian Right
Never has the hypocrisy of the leaders of the Christian Right been on greater display. I think Pope Francis's comments implicitly questioning the faith of Donald Trump were impetuous and misguided (and I think they have been misrepresented by the media somewhat as well). The pope has no business making off-the-cuff judgments about the faith of particular American presidential candidates based on their policy proposals.
But the rush of evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell, Jr., and Franklin Graham to defend Trump's faith makes me want to gag. We can be sure they will regret it, far more than Jerry Falwell, Sr., regretted defending segregation, and far more than Billy Graham regretted his warm alliance with Richard Nixon.
Do not forget that Franklin Graham openly speculated that Barack Obama – who in my view has made a far more credible profession of faith than Donald Trump – is a Muslim. These are men who – like their fathers – have attached themselves at the hip to the Republican Party, dismissing various Democratic presidential candidates as godless liberals determined to wreck Christian America. And yet they are thoroughly enamored – Falwell is outright seduced – by a man far more likely to wreck this country than any Democratic candidate in recent years.
Let's be clear: Donald Trump is no conservative. And while he is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), he has openly bragged about his adulterous affairs, routinely slanders his opponents, and demagogically panders to the worst prejudices in an angry American public. Even more dangerous, he has routinely declared his intention to rule by executive order without regard to constitutional processes, as Senator Ben Sasse has vigorously pointed out. If you think President Obama's unilateralism has threatened the constitutional order, get ready for far worse with a Republican President Donald Trump.
The blindness of many among the Christian Right is on display as they rush toward Trump as their savior while failing to grasp that he poses a far greater danger to the United States than any candidate in the Democratic Party (just read this comment thread). I sincerely hope Republicans can rally around an alternative before it is too late.
Should Christians Respect the World?
One of the basic themes of Rosaria Butterfield's book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, is the importance of hospitality and friendship. It is no exaggeration to say that Butterfield was converted through friendship. She emphasizes the fact that the pastor who led her to Christ neither shared the gospel with her nor invited her to church during their first visit.
Midway through the book Butterfield describes her distress when moving into a red Republican county for the first time and seeing placards with Scripture verses everywhere. This disturbed her on at least two levels. First, as she puts it, "Political advocacy plastered next to Bible verses makes me anxious." No matter how much some conservative Christians might believe their faith requires them to vote Republican (or at least to vote against the Democrats), it is an abuse of the word to claim its authority for that conviction.
But the placards also disturbed Butterfield because they inevitably take Scripture out of context and separate it from any context of hospitality or friendship."Do these Bible verses that sit on placards take up the same cultural space as the rainbow flag that once resided on my flagpole? Are these 'Welcome' signs or signs that read 'Insiders Only'?"
She illustrates the point with respect to the oft-placarded verse, John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Why is this verse so often separated from the one that follows it?
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)
Butterfield observes,
This verse gives me greater clarity into how to read the one that comes before it. It tells me that if Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it, then neither should Christians… [T]he domain of Christian witness is not salvation (that is God's work) but service – selfless love and sacrifice.
The implication that she draws is that Christians are too quick to deliver a message without showing any concern for individual persons as unique persons. The point, of course, is not really primarily about placards.
Bible verses that front salvation over Christian service, instead of being important interfaces between Christian homes and the watching world, seemed like sneaky little raids, quick and insulated targets into culture, with no sense that a worldview of care lay behind them.
Christians may think in their heart of hearts that getting a point across, taking a stand, or quoting the Bible is the most loving thing they can possibly do. And such actions are often motivated by loving concern. But that is not how they are usually received. Why not? Because as delivered they remain abstract; they could be delivered in just the same way to any given number of people; they can even be communicated through Twitter. They reflect no particular love for this particular individual as a particular individual with all of her own cares and concerns. They suggest that we might be willing to have a relationship, but it will be on our terms and in our world.
Of course, Butterfield is not trying to take anything away from the importance of Scripture or of the preaching of the word. Anyone who has read her book knows that these channels of grace loom large for her, both in the way that they proclaim the "forgiveness of sins" and in the way they warn about the one who will "come to judge the living and the dead." But in a society that is not Christian, as much as so many Christians insist on assuming and acting as if it is, these messages must take place in contexts of service and friendship.
This is, after all, the model of the New Testament. The apostles, prophets, and pastors were called to proclaim the message of salvation, but most Christians were called to follow Christ in a manner attractive to the world by fulfilling their various vocations of service. The Apostle Peter exhorts Christians not to use their faith as an excuse to be disobedient, belligerent, or obnoxious, but to do good to others in a spirit of love and humility, always being prepared to suffer at the hands of the unjust.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:21)
This is the context for Peter's call to believers always to be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within them, yet to
do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:16)
What is the meaning of this word 'respect' that Peter uses? Perhaps that's what Christians often struggle to show to the world, and perhaps that is one of the dimensions of what Butterfield is calling us to think about. When we interact with nonbelievers, no matter what the controversy or circumstance, do we communicate respect?


text:
Job Description
Social Worker | Child Protection | Nottingham
We require an experienced Social Worker to work within a Child Protection team based within Nottingham. To be successful for this role, you are required to have a minimum of 2 years recent Social Work experience of working within a Child Protection team.
The successful Social Worker will have experience of:
- Managing a large caseload
- Conducting Section 47's
- Court Work
- Working in a fast paced environment
- Child Protection
- Looked After Children
To apply for this role you must have:
- A relevant Social Work qualification (BA/MA Social Work/DipSW or equivalent)
- Be HCPC Registered
- Be eligible to work within the UK
- Be a car driver
Salary is £28ph
4Social Work is a specialist recruitment agency for Qualified Social Workers and care professionals.
We offer:
- An excellent referral scheme of £250 for each successfully placed referral
- HCPC certified complimentary training
- 24 hour one on one specialist social work consultant based within your geographical area
- 4Social Work Employee Benefits Programme
- Our own dedicated payroll support ensuring you get the full benefits of your payment
Recruitment is done in line with safe recruitment practices. 4Social Work is an equal opportunities employer.
4Social Work Ltd ensures safe recruitment through the following processes:
- Providing the following safeguarding statement in recruitment adverts or application details -'recruitment is done in line with safe recruitment practices.'
- Job or role descriptions for all roles involving contact with children and / or vulnerable adults will contain reference to safeguarding responsibilities.
To discuss this vacancy or other Social Work vacancies in your area please contact Billy Fagg on 0808 178 4445 or email
Who Cares? We Do.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Starting September 22nd. Playstation Plus will be getting a price jump to match that of Xbox Live. The 1 year subscription will go from $49.99/year to $59.99/year. The 3 month plan will move to $25 and the 1 month plan will remain at $10. Sony states that the price jump is to keep in line with current market conditions, and to be able to continue offering exceptional value to the customers.


text:
The Glenbuchat Image Library
Ken Cruickshank Year: 190029 Beaters
Picture added on 18 December 2009 at 13:12
This picture is in the following groups
Is the man on the left not George Chree who appears in several other photos?
Added by Aileen Ross on 09 December 2015
The boy third from the right was said to be a young Sir John Forbes of Newe.
Anonymous comment added on 10 December 2015
Boy in the middle is probably my father Robert Garden Cameron of Sunnybrae Farm aged around 11 or 12.
Added by Alan Cameron (Son of Robert Garden Cameron) on 20 October 2017
My great grandmother was Annie Chree m William Hay. She came from Sunnybrae. She was the daughter of James Chree
Added by Aileen Ross (Tawse) on 23 October 2017


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- Home
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one tough dog bed
Free Shipping!
This item is not available for shipment outside the contiguous USA. It does not ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or international destinations. All items may not be immediately available. Please call or email if you wish to check availability.
If your dog chews through the Tuff Bed it is covered under the manufacturer's warranty. We will replace the Tuff Bed cover one time, free of charge. This warranty is good for up to 90 days from the day that your product is shipped.
The outer cover of this deluxe dog bed combines water-resistant 1680 denier ballistic cloth and smart design. Recognizing weak spots in a bed, we have removed the zipper and replaced it with an industrial strength Velcro closure that is completely hidden underneath the bed. We have also reinforced the corners from the inside with an extra piece of ballistic material. This extremely durable outer cover surrounds an inner cushion covered by a non-woven ticking material.
The inner cushion is filled with multiple layers of tufted, high-loft polyfill batting to create an incredibly comfortable, mattress-like bed. The outer cover is odor and water-resistant, but if necessary, the inner cushion can be removed and washed. These design features were implemented to help extend the life of our beds.
There is nothing out there that is truly "indestructible" when it comes to our canine friends, but these beds are definitely the most durable on the market.
While your dog is laying down, measure pet's body length from base
of the tail to the tip of the nose and add 10-21 inches.


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|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|"Alejandro Abdelnur (JIRA)" <j...@apache.org>
|[jira] [Commented] (YARN-469) Make scheduling mode in FS pluggable
|Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:09:19 GMT
[ https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/YARN-469?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=13605560#comment-13605560 ] Alejandro Abdelnur commented on YARN-469: ----------------------------------------- Looks good, some minor comments: * SchedulingMode#DEFAULT_MODE could just do a new instantiation, no need for ReflectionUtils. * SchedulingMode#parseSchedulingMode(Class...) method, return does not need '(SchedulingMode)' casting. * FSParentQueue#recomputeFairShares() I assume the use of hardcoded DEFAULT_MODE mode will change once we make the scheduling mode configurable, right? * SchedulingMode seem it should have to have a method that indicates if the mode can be used in a non leaf queue (ie, FIFO it cannot). > Make scheduling mode in FS pluggable > ------------------------------------ > > Key: YARN-469 > URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/YARN-469 > Project: Hadoop YARN > Issue Type: Sub-task > Components: scheduler > Affects Versions: 2.0.3-alpha > Reporter: Karthik Kambatla > Assignee: Karthik Kambatla > Labels: scheduler > Attachments: yarn-469.patch, yarn-469.patch > > > Currently, scheduling mode in FS is limited to Fair and FIFO. The code typically has an if condition at multiple places to determine the correct course of action. > Making the scheduling mode pluggable helps in simplifying this process, particularly as we add new modes (DRF in this case). -- This message is automatically generated by JIRA. If you think it was sent incorrectly, please contact your JIRA administrators For more information on JIRA, see: http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
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text:
Newport Avenue Optometry Hours are:
Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 6:00pm
Saturday 8:30 am to 2:00pm
Closed Sunday
To schedule an appointment, please call us at 619-222-0559.
Or, you may book your appointment online by clicking here.
Have a general question? Please use our contact form below and we'll contact you shortly.
(Please note this is not a secure form, so please do not send any sensitive data.)


text:
In keeping up with my crafty mojo and my scrappy TO DO list, this challenge comes from Scrap Our Stash-boy have I missed scrapping with them!
Their Challenge:
Create a layout inspired by this sketch AND add a stash item from your stash that starts with each letter of the word - GOALS.
The sketch by Rochelle:
and MY take, using the super cute CUTE GIRL collection from Crate Paper:
(G-Gold, O-Ombre paper by Heidi Swapp, A-Adorable puffy phrase, L-Love puffy title and S-stickers


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"Solitary calmness and lightness of spirit, with a focus on airiness in technique and modernity in fabrication" was the description given in the official run of show notes for the Claudia Li Spring 2016 runway show, and the concept was extremely well executed. The pieces were supremely delicate, with "an emphasis on craft" created via silken yarns and knit work details throughout the show. Also worth noting (and worth light-boxing the photos below to get a better look) were the Claudia Li footwear and to-die-for handbags that debuted during the show.
Click on any image below to launch light box mode for best viewing.
All images: Cynthia Anderson for Style Wylde


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Combat Mondays & the Inevitable "Wardrobe Block"
by Kéla Walker
It never fails… Monday AM always brings on a severe case of wardrobe block – standing in front of you closet blindly trying to figure out what to wear. I want jeans but know I better for a new work week. See how I fight a case of the Mondays and wardrobe block.
Like most people, I'm not a fan of Mondays- I'm tired from an overactive weekend and feel like I need an extra day to catch up & recuperate. The last thing I want to do is figure out what to wear to work. My disdain for Mondays aside, I know I can't step into the office looking like such. For me that means, no jeans or casual Friday attire to kick of the week -even though that's all I feel like reaching for. Instead I reach for quick and easy style pieces like this skirt. Pretty prints and kute skirts will never steer you wrong- or a shift dress for that matter. They are great for wardrobe block which I think all of us experience Monday AM. It's a no brainer and a stylish mood boosters. I've had this skirt for YEARS- before the whole full skirt trend kicked off. In fact my very first style post was done in this post. I don't have to do much when I wear it. I just pair it with a basic top,a statement necklace and voila, I've successfully defeated a case of the Monday or at least appear to look like it, anyway.
Never let'em see you sweat or appear defeated by wardrobe block. lol
Today's Kloset Pull
Top ~ Mom's Kloset | Skirt old ~Zara | Necklace & Shoes ~ Zara | Purse ~ Phillip Lim x Target
Get the Look in Your Kloset
How do you combat your Mondays and wardrobe block?


text:
While many are excited about Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, like iBeacons, very few understand what an iBeacon is and exactly how it works.
The graphic below explains both how they work and some business use cases.
If you have any questions about iBeacons, feel free to leave them in the comments or contact us.


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asics running
asics running
asics running
On the topic of the flipside, ones Brooks Adrenaline gets a firmer sensation cushion. Brooks uses an ingredient called Hydro-flow. Basically this can be a fluid summarized in a plastic pod. In a shoe with the a firmer cushion, the wearer grabs more of any bounce sensation. It takes a smaller amount energy to toe-off from a firmer shoe than a brand new softer shoe. These firmer variety of shoes generally tend to quite longer as sufficiently.
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Leave to a going for walks specialty store (recommended) and bring operating in a pair linked to your old running or walking runners. They will receive you stand without shoes walk up and as a result down an fence and will have a look at all of the wear of your primary old shoes. Voice you concerns, aches and cramping. Let them consider of any personal injury (past or present) or ongoing painful sensation during or after your run or perhaps a walk. A single good specialty retail store will be staffed with seasonal sportsmen who are instructed to know the whole about the style cycle. Most will have a real treadmill in specific store as okay and will receive you try to do with several pairs of shoes to take a look at on the running machine. My favorite in Colorado, The Boulder Running Company, much video tapes your foot strikes which can see and compete with what shoe has been best for our family.
Following a severe case this problem several years ago, I've been on the mission to look at the perfect walking jogging shoe. Often seen in runners, heel pain is one of the more common causes created by heel pain. Appropriate treatment for this foot ailment carries adequate rest of this foot, routine stretching/icing to address inflammation, taping and/or developer orthodics. Well-fitting shoes are additionally must for an individual suffering plantar fasciitis or other foot problems. Very little shoe will do, and many will have to accommodate custom orthodics.
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text:
Masitinib Shows Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Promise for Select Patients
Masitinib plus gemcitabine increases overall survival for two subgroups of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma compared with gemcitabine alone
- Date: 14 Apr 2015
- Author: Lynda Williams, Senior medwireNews Reporter
- Topic: Anticancer Agents / Pancreatic Cancer / Therapy / Biological Therapy
medwireNews: Combining the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) masitinib with gemcitabine may help some groups of patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), suggest phase III trial results published in the Annals of Oncology.
The median overall survival (OS) results for the 173 patients randomly assigned to receive gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 plus masitinib 9 mg/kg per day did not significantly differ from the 175 patients given gemcitabine plus placebo, at 7.7 and 7.0 months, respectively.
However, Gaël Deplanque, from Saint Joseph Hospital, Paris in France, and co-authors identified two patient subgroups that had "particularly poor survival" on gemcitabine plus placebo and showed these populations derived significant benefit from masitinib.
Of the 40 patients who had overexpression of acyl-CoA oxidase-1 (ACOX1) in their blood, median OS was 11.7 months with combined therapy versus 5.6 months for gemcitabine plus placebo, giving a significant hazard ratio of 0.23.
In addition, 137 patients had a baseline pain intensity threshold greater than 20 mm on a 100 mm visual analogue scale. Median OS was 8.0 months for the patients given masitinib plus gemcitabine versus 5.4 months for those given gemcitabine plus placebo, with a significant hazard ratio of 0.62.
"[I]t is thought that the presence of baseline pain… or an overexpression of ACOX1 effectively identifies those patients with a pro-tumoral T-helper cell type-2 immune response, a condition caused in part by increased mast cell activity in the tumor microenvironment or by transcriptional or physiological alterations favoring M2-polarization of tumor-associated macrophages", the authors explain.
They note that preclinical research also suggests that masitinib may be associated with a reduced mast cell count and reduced tumour vascularisation and innervation, as well as increased recruitment of anti-tumour macrophages.
Masitinib was associated with an increase in grade 3 and 4 adverse events and treatment interruption, reduction or discontinuation, with a significantly increased rate of severe haematological adverse events.
Nevertheless, the TKI did not significantly accelerate decline in patient quality of life compared with gemcitabine plus placebo, prompting the researchers to write that the survival gain when "coupled with manageable toxicity suggests a positive benefit–risk ratio."
Emphasising the need for further research, Gaël Deplanque and team conclude that a confirmatory study has been initiated to examine the use of masitinib plus gemcitabine in these two PDAC patient subgroups.
Deplanque G, Demarchi M, Hebbar M, et al. A randomized, placebo-controlled phase III trial of masitinib plus gemcitabine in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. Ann Oncol 2015; Advance online publication 9 April. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdv133
medwireNews (www.medwireNews.com ) is an independent clinical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2015


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The sultanate of Oman will create a rare slice of sporting history when it becomes the first country in the Middle East to host America's Cup racing by staging the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Oman in February 2016.
A point-scoring event for the opening stages of the 35th America's Cup in Bermuda, the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Oman will take place in Muscat on February 27 and 28 as the curtain-raiser to the 2016 season, which will be spread over six different venues around the world.
For many of the America's Cup sailors, including Sir Ben Ainslie, the skipper of Land Rover BAR, Dean Barker, of SoftBank Team Japan, and Franck Cammas, of Groupama Team France, the waters off Oman will be familiar territory, since Muscat has been hosting high-performance multihull racing every year since 2011.
Near-perfect sailing conditions that consistently deliver breezes of ten to 15 knots, combined with a sunny climate and warm waters, have made Oman a popular destination for many Olympic classes that have chosen to stage their world championships at a time of year when the weather in Europe and North America limits training opportunities.
The driving force behind the sultanate's sailing activity has been Oman Sail, which was established in 2008 to create a generation of sailors and raise the sultanate's profile as a high-end tourism destination using its centuries-old traditions with the sea as a platform to promote its sporting, cultural and economic potential.
From grassroots sailing, introducing many thousands of girls and boys to the sport through its sailing schools and community programmes, through to elite participation, setting world records on its flagship MOD70 and winning two Extreme Sailing Series championships, Oman Sail has repeatedly broken new ground in its programmes both on and off the water, culminating in this exciting new development at the highest level of the sport, the America's Cup.
"We are delighted to announce that we will be hosting the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Oman here in Muscat for the first time and we are very proud and excited to welcome the America's Cup community and its massive following to the Sultanate," said Salim Al Mamari, the director-general of tourism promotion for Oman's Ministry of Tourism.
The 2015 Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series events in Portsmouth, Gothenburg and Bermuda, attracted enormous crowds at the venues, with live action followed on television by tens of millions around the world.
David Graham, the chief executive officer of Oman Sail, believes that the wide reach of the America's Cup will create new opportunities for the sultanate and increase the country's exposure around the globe.
"The America's Cup is the pinnacle of sailboat racing with a long and interesting history and we are thrilled to be hosting the first Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series event in 2016 here in Oman," he said.
"Oman Sail has worked hard since 2008 to reconnect the people of Oman with their sailing roots and to create a generation of sailors. We have a very successful youth, women, national and international sailing programme and are actively generating socioeconomic benefits for the country and contributing to the development of the Omani people through sailing. Hosting a Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series event will provide huge inspiration to our sailors and take us closer to our aims.
"The America's Cup brand is incredibly powerful, so this will be a monumental opportunity for us to showcase the sultanate of Oman and to celebrate a landmark moment in the history of Oman Sail."
The America's Cup trophy took centre stage at the press event hosted by The Chedi, Muscat and attended by Graham, Al Mamari and Paul Gregorowitsch, the Oman Air chief executive officer.
Harvey Schiller, the commercial commissioner of the America's Cup Event Authority, said: "Oman is an ideal place for us to open the 2016 racing calendar. It's exciting to be bringing America's Cup racing to this part of the world for the first time. We all look forward to adding to the success of Oman Sail with this historic event."
In February, spectators in Muscat are in for a real treat as the foiling AC45 yachts, capable of breath taking speeds, fly across the water in front of the fans.
And with points counting towards the America's Cup Qualifiers in 2017, the Oman event will give fans their first opportunity of 2016 to see all the runners and riders seeking to gain an early advantage.
This story appeared in the Royal Gazette on December 6th, 2015.


text:
Latest News
- CNG SJG Gas Fueling Station located in Chesilhurst NJ currently in progress – finishing stages
- General Civil just awarded a U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Project (Cath Lab PH 2 VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA) to commence soon.
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text: While his anniversary year is over as of Feb. 12, 2010, Charles Darwin remains an intriguing figure, as evidenced by this imaginative tale told from his daughter's point of view. Hopkinson conjures a lovely summer day and a lively narrator in Henrietta, known as Etty. Stuck inside helping in the kitchen, Etty longs to be outdoors with her ever-inquisitive father. She labors dutifully but is thrilled to be summoned outside, where she joins her father and siblings as they observe the habits of the "humblebees" (aka bumblebees). Using a drift of flour to mark them, each child follows a bee from flower to flower to calculate how many visits it makes per minute. While the author's note acknowledges that her story is fiction, her scientific method is sound and the activity is clearly in keeping with Darwin's wide-ranging interests and methodical approach. Corace's lovely, stylized images feature thin, precise lines filled with browns, greens and ochres, effectively evoking a long-ago time. A charming introduction to a well-known figure and his large but less-familiar family. (Picture book. 4-8)


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Remember riding with your BFF when your favorite song comes on? The volume's suddenly pushed to ear-damaging. The pedal meets the floor. And your spirit soars far outside your body. Music takes away your sensibility, gives you a sense of power and removes doubt...even if only for a moment in time. Music has the power to change worlds. To change lives. That's the beauty of the Garage Party: Business is about changing lives so we get to meet new people who are doing the same thing as we are, the same thing as the music we all love. Want to share your business with 3000+ entrepreneurs, too? Email me why you're awesome (and trust me, you are!) with your favorite song and the link you want shared :) But first...see what these cats are up to!
This first dude? Is offering something you want, trust me. LOL
What if you could skip all the guesswork behind your biz? Omar Zenhom wants to make sure you do! Check out his FREE course and his DAILY 10 - minute free business lessons via his podcast and his song:
Please give him a listen and leave a rating and a review! (Pretty please ) He's delivering the goods just for you!
This next guy? Is doing it right. He will deliver you a customized meal plan and workout plan so you can keep your biz going without sweating the crapwork you know you have to do, but don't want to do. Your business needs you and for the cost of one of your sales each month, he'll help you make sure you have the tools to be at your best! Check out Adam and what he's working for you!
Andrew Wee?? He's got the deets on how to get what you really want. (YOU need him.) He's teaching the what's what on affiliate marketing, blogging, and social marketing. Check him out and his song! (And earn some extra moula!)
Nick Kizirnis has a new album out. And you know me, I loves some new tunes! His latest, Barrier Reef, covers everything from surf rock to full-on sci-fi themes. Check out what he's cranked out for you. It's great focus and getting things done!
Check out his song Wilco's "Via Chicago" and his album!
Corrine Marasco wants to take you from Ah-HA! to project delivery! And how many times you've gotten stuck and not known what to do? Corrine is going to get you unstuck. Check her out and start delivering!
We have more handcrafted beauties for those every day occasions! Dana Reed's creating gorgeous stuff in Vancouver. Check all the unique cuffs, earrings, and necklaces she's crafting for you! There are two collections: Japantown and Vancouver. So be sure to check out both :)
http://www.dansgarage.co/ (PS Check her site name: Dan's Garage, Fine Metal Workshop - LOOOOVE!)
This next dude? He's a troublemaker. He's helping worlds collide. He's helping the worlds that should be invade the worlds that are.
Get to know Andy White and put fuel on that fire that's burning inside you. Sign up for his weekly email that will keep you inspired and up-to-date on new courses and material you'll need to help you change your world.
And don't forget to plug into the Official Garage Party Spotify playlist when you need some inspiration. Follow the list to get updates on new tracks added every week!
That's it for this week! Share this post so your friends can meet all these cool entrepreneurs, too!


text:
PR Companies: Should I Outsource?
Many people believe that a company's reputation is its most valuable asset, and anything you can do to improve your company's standing in a competitive market is worth considering.
But in today's difficult financial circumstances, what is the most cost effective way to promote your brand and image? Marketing your business will be high on your agenda, but should you spend your money on engaging professional PR services, or is it better to do your own marketing?
It's worth remembering that the more successful your business, the higher your turnover and profits, so although hiring a professional to handle your PR involves an initial outlay, the return on your investment is likely to be good.
So what are the benefits of choosing to outsource your PR, and how can you go about getting the best value?
The Benefits of Hiring a PR Company
Conveying the best professional image is crucial to your success, so it makes sense to hire an expert to handle you PR, leaving you to concentrate on running your business.
A good PR company can give you an advantage over your rivals, by helping you to identify and remove obstacles to your success, searching out new markets, attracting skilled recruits and helping you to showcase your best achievements.
They can also give support in the event of a difficulty, helping you to manage any negative publicity.
PR companies understand how the market works, particularly if they are specialists in your field. But they also understand how the media operate, are likely to have many contacts, know how to handle journalists, and be aware of the pitfalls of dealing with the media.
Successful PR needs continuous sustained input, and you are less likely to have the skills or time to manage this effectively.
It may seem like you are paying money for something that you could do yourself, but your time is valuable and as an expert can do the job faster and more efficiently, this makes it a cost effective solution.
How to Choose a PR Company
Firstly, consider what you want to achieve through your PR, and what timescale you are working to. Is it about promoting your business generally, or are you considering a specific campaign such as a product launch?
How will you evaluate the success of your PR? You will need to communicate this clearly to any PR company you hire.
If you work in a specialist area, you may prefer a PR company that has expertise in this field. They will understand the conditions in which you are working and know your market well.
They are likely to have existing contacts, which they can utilise to your advantage, and they may also have undertaken similar jobs.
Consider the size of PR company you would like to work with. A large company is likely to be well established, and probably has a good track record of working with similar clients; looking at some reviews of their performance will help you to judge if they are worth hiring.
They will probably also have a large number of staff, which can lead to great team work and synergy, but they may charge higher fees, especially if they are well known.
Smaller companies can often give a more personal service, meaning you can build stronger working relationships together, and their costs may be lower, but they may have less experience at running PR campaigns.
Are the staff experienced and well qualified? You are likely to have more confidence in an established team, but don't discount the energy and new ideas that younger or less experienced staff can bring to the process.
In particular, check that they have experience of marketing through social media ? many observers believe that the future of PR and marketing lies in the savvy use of social media platforms.
Can the company demonstrate previous success? Can they show you some case studies of similar projects and can they provide references? Knowing that they have a proven track record will inspire your confidence further.
Do they belong to a professional body, such as the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)? Membership means they have signed up to a set of professional standards.
You may want to consider asking several firms to pitch for your custom in response to a given brief. At the very least, you should have an initial meeting to gauge how you feel, as gut instinct can sometimes prove valuable. You could also ask for a free trial (such as a small press release and follow up) to see how they perform.
Beware of getting tied into a long-term contract; it may be difficult to extract yourself if things go wrong, and a good quality service will keep your custom anyway. The CIPR provides a 'matchmaking' service for a fee, which will ensure you have backup in the event of a problem.
PR Company Prices & Rates
PR companies usually have a variety of pricing structures. Small projects and one-off services are normally charged by the hour, but a longer term initiative is likely to be charged at an overall rate, where individual services may be supplied more cheaply.
Prices Per Hour
The price charged per hour will depend on the level of experience of the staff involved, and of course, prices vary between agencies. As a rough guide, prices are likely to be:
- Account Executive (£80 – £100)
- Account Manager (£150 – £200)
- Account Director (£150 – £400)
- Director/Senior Consultant (£350+)
Prices Per Day
The average daily rate will probably range between £800 and £1,000.
Project Pricing
Naturally, the cost of an individual project will depend on a number of variables, and this is best discussed with the company involved. However, you should expect a detailed invoice with a breakdown of individual costs.
It is also important to check how charges are calculated. For example, does an hourly rate include time for travelling as well as fuel costs? This could be expensive if the company offices are a long way from your own.
PR Companies in the UK
There are many PR companies operating in the UK, so there will be no difficulty in finding one that meets your individual needs. For example:
The Brunswick Group
The Brunswick Group is the top performing PR company according to PR Week. Based in London, but with a presence in 20 other cities worldwide, the company operates as a private partnership. This enables them to draw on skills and expertise of their many staff across the whole group.
They employ a range of specialist staff, who can address the individual need of a company focusing on a number of variables. For example, they can choose staff with expertise in dealing with certain issues, working within a specific sector, or experience of marketing to a particular audience.
FTI Consulting
This global corporation is used to working in complex and challenging business environments. They employ leading experts in their field in over 80 areas, e.g. people who have formerly worked in banking, been chief executives, are Nobel Laureate economists, or are intellectual property specialists.
Red Door Communications
This PR company is run on a smaller scale, meaning that they have the advantage of senior staff having direct contact with clients.
They specialise on working within the health sector, and have won awards for their work.
For example, a campaign to raise awareness of a particular health condition, involving public events, media engagement and use of digital channels, resulted in over 6,000 people addressing this issue medically for first time.
Another small company, Buchanan work in the financial sector. They are well established, having been in business for over 25 years.
They have over 100 clients, most of whom have a presence on international stock exchanges, and can offer a variety of services including managing one-off projects or longer term business.
Crisis communications can also be provided, in which they help companies to put in place a contingency plan for crisis management and train company staff to handle hostility, which can help diffuse difficult situations with minimal damage to reputation.
We Are Social
This innovative company describe themselves as a 'global conversation agency'. They have a modern approach to PR, with a high focus on the use of social media marketing and communication. They are a relative newcomer, only established in 2008, but have won awards for previous campaigns.
They now have some well known clients on their books, including Heinz, Adidas, and eBay. The company is committed to supporting clients to develop their brand via social media.
Many customers now consider social media to be a much more reliable way to gauge the integrity of a company, and prefer to engage with businesses through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other platforms, rather than through corporate websites and more traditional marketing routes.
The ultimate success of your company could be heavily dependent on the way you promote yourself to your customers. Your focus is rightly on ensuring that your brand is the best it can possibly be, and you don't want the distraction of having to manage the tricky business of PR.


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Wedding Dress
Jewel Sleeveless A-Line Applique Wedding Dress With Black Overskirt
Regular Price: $1,000.00
Special Price $249.00
Latest collection with exclusive offers is in your hand. We brought the exciting collection of wedding dresses with all new patterns. Featured with white and ivory mostly and a few with distinct colors you have lot more to grab. The variations include laced veils, sequined and beautifully beaded on just off the shoulder, laced floral round on hands, pearl type embellishments, excited illusion back wedding gowns, a visibly different back tulle designs and lot more. All these pretty differences bring a totally new look to the attires. Grab yours at the earliest to avail limited offers.


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DIY Ornament Display
As a child my family had a wonderful tradition of exchanging handmade christmas ornaments between all of our cousins. I remember as a kid pouring over craft magazines trying to figure out the perfect ornament to make. With the addition of nine ornaments each year, I've accumulated quite a few lovely ornaments and since I got my own tree in high school, I've used these ornaments to decorate. Now that Steve and I are combining our christmas ornaments and decorations, there isn't room on the tree for all of them.
I didn't want to keep them all in storage so I have them on display in the craft room. On pinterest, I found this image which gave me the idea to have them on display:
originally from A Diamond in the Stuff
Some of the ornaments don't hang, so they're sitting out on the sideboard table in the craft room.
I used ribbon to create a place to hang them all on the wall.
This is a great way for me to display these, and after christmas is over I look forward to replacing them with photographs to hang from the ribbons as seen in the middle picture below:
from pinterest


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Ready! to Start a Business in Middlesex County
Middlesex County is a business-friendly community with simple processes for opening or operating a business. Whether large or small business, franchise or entrepreneur, companies located in Middlesex have access to knowledgeable County staff and a wide variety of helpful resources.
Depending upon the type of company you are planning to start, the registration and licensing requirements vary at the state and local levels. For this reason, the Economic Development Office highly recommends using the Virginia Business One Stop and/or the UMW Small Business Development Center for guidance throughout the initial registration process. They can also guide you through important components of establishing your business, including development of a business plan.
If you've already developed your business plan and are ready to establish a Middlesex location, the process is quite simple and involves just five steps:
Congratulations on becoming a business owner, and welcome to Middlesex County.
To make this application process a little easier for you, we have put together a packet of information and a list of things you will need to do before you can get you Business License. All of these things must be done or provided before your license will be issued by the County.
Step 1: You will need to check with the Zoning Department to be sure that a business is allowed at your selected location. The person you will need to speak with is Mr. David Kretz. The number to the Zoning office is (804) 758-3382.
Step 2: If your intent is to have an assumed or fictitious name for your business, you will need to file a Certificate of Assumed or Fictitious Name with the Clerk of the Court. This will prevent another business in the county from using the same business name. The number to the Clerks office is (804) 758-5317.
Step 3: The business license application will need to be filled out and returned to the Commissioner of the Revenues office with the applicable license fee. The number to the Commissioner of Revenue's Office is (804)758-5331.
Step 4: Contractors must file a Workmans Compensation Certification form.
Step 5: Contractors must also provide our office with a copy of their State Contractors License.
A copy of these steps can be viewed or saved here.
* All of the above departments are located at the Middlesex Woodward building at 877 General Puller Hwy, Saluda, VA. 23149.
Relocating a Business to Middlesex County
Companies considering relocation to Middlesex County are afforded the same attention and effort towards meeting your unique needs as part of the existing business community. Below you will find helpful links to descriptive community information and to a comprehensive database of available sites and buildings. Please contact the Middlesex Economic Development Office for more detailed information or for assistance in identifying properties suitable for your operations -- (804) 758-4330 / (804) 654 -1363.
Real Estate & Development Areas
Search for real estate in Middlesex County
Community Profiles
The Commonwealth of Virginia also offers information through two state agencies - the Virginia Employment Commission and Virginia Economic Development Partnership – that is updated on a regular basis. These profiles provide details ranging from the geographic layout of the County to recent employment trends.


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The Price He Paid
17 minutes ago
This is the current challenge over at KCUK – I've missed so many of them lately but this one is so 'up my street' I thought I'd have a go in between resorting my Craft Room – again!
I've missed a reverse masking challenge, too so I hope to be back with that one soon.
Thanks for looking.
Wow - I love colour schemes like this too. Monochrome with a splash of colour, especially red. And your beautiful card reminds me exactly why. Love it. Pxx
Simple but so effective, love it, x


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To receive Ilya's analysis directly via email, please SIGN UP HERE
Talking Points:
- USD/CHF Technical Strategy: Flat
- Support: 9022, 0.8983, 0.8934
- Resistance: 0.9061, 0.9110, 0.9189
The US Dollar continues to push higher against the Swiss Franc, with prices overcoming June's swing high to hit the highest level in close to six months. A daily close above resistance at 0.9061, the 61.8% Fibonacci expansion, exposes the 76.4% level at 0.9110. Alternatively, a turn below the 50% Fib at 0.9022 opens the door for a test of the 38.2% expansion at 0.8983.
Prices are too close to resistance to justify entering long from a risk/reward perspective. On the other hand, the absence of a defined bearish reversal signal argues against taking up the short side. We will remain flat for now.
Add these technical levels directly to your charts with our Support/Resistance Wizard app!
Daily Chart – Created Using FXCM Marketscope 2.0
— Written by Ilya Spivak, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com


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Trade Ed. Penguin Audio 2010
CD ISBN 9780142428184 $19.95 Three CDs
When Katrina Katrell's vivid imagination and keen intelligence become too much for her caretaker, she runs away to find a more exciting life. Meanwhile, mild-mannered Mortimer Yorgle wins the lottery and a chance to find some of his countrymen who have gone missing. After the pair meet by chance, they team up, combine their talents, and go on a wild adventure to find the missing Zorgles of Zorgamazoo. Alan Cumming has the difficult task of narrating this middle-grade novel written in rhymed couplets. Luckily, he finds a magical zone that mixes the right sense of drama and emotion with the perfect rhythm. This delightful reading will appeal to the whole family. C.B.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2011 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2010]
Trade Ed. Penguin Audio 2010
CD ISBN 9780142428184 $19.95 Three CDs
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About Housing
MDC manages a continuum of affordable rental units in Pierce County for qualified low-income residents. Options include single family homes, duplexes, shared housing, and multi-family. Please call for information and availability.
Contact Us
Phone: (253) 597-6728
Fax: (253) 592-4405
Monday through Thursday: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Closed Weekends and Holidays
721 Fawcett, Rm 204 Tacoma, WA 98402
Housing Models
Short-term Housing: Housing for homeless families with tailored case management services aimed at decreasing barriers to housing.
Permanent Supportive Housing: Housing for individuals who are chemically dependent or have mental or physical disabilities.
Housing First: Permanent Supportive Housing for individuals who are chronically homeless.
Affordable Housing: Affordable rental housing to those earning less than 60% of Area Median Income (AMI).


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OK, i know this is really off topic, but in watching some of the vintage TV shows I started wondering which show had the best original theme song? I came up with "the Munsters", and "I dream of Jeannie". Anybody care to offer up a song, or am i just being an annoying old guy?
Happy Holidays, H Body Al.


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|Sinamatella, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe:
|Today's Travel:
|Trip Stats to Date:
At the dam we saw a large crocodile out of the water and maybe a dozen hippos - all in the water and not at all active in the heat of the afternoon. Since we had an hour until the game walk we decided to take a slight detour to do the Dobashura Loop road. One of the disadvantage of being in the parks at this time of year - before the tourist season - is that most of the roads haven't been maintained in a while. After about thirty minutes the road vanished. We spent another thirty minutes trying to follow a stream bed, several game trails, and just overland before giving up and backtracking. By the time we got back to the cottage and changed clothes we were an hour late. Luckily the ranger still agreed to take us on a (slightly abbreviated) walk.
The walk wasn't to exciting. though it was nice to get out in the bush. It was a bit weird that the ranger carried and AK-47 machine gun, but I guess there is a reason. The most exciting thing we saw was a fresh pile of elephant dung that was being mined by dung Beatles. We also saw quite a few giraffes, including one that was pregnant. Other than that we saw some impala and a big (fat) warthog.
Stopped at the restaurant to pick up some ice and garlic, and ran into Keirin, Haley, Martha, and Rosie so we hung out on the terrace, had a beer, and watched the elephants down below. Back at the house we had our first meat-free diner in who knows how long and the others played Risk while I tried to start catching up on my journal - again.


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Yesterday my brother and his family came up to Iowa to visit us. His two little boys are a little younger than my son, and I am absolutely delighted when I get to see them. They wanted to see something cool in Iowa, so of course I took them to one of our favorite places, Reiman Gardens. The boys loved the butterflies especially...they got as close as possible to check out the wings.
Since they are all boys, they seem to get along well, and they have similar interests. I like this shot of them looking awed by the beauty of the butterflies.
We have had some almost record heat this week, and what is a hot day without....ICE CREAM.
Some of us wear it more than others...lol.
The boys got to work out some of their energy on the chimes...they all took a turn making some music.
We got to spend a whole day together, which only happens a few times a year. I really want my son to know his extended family and be close to them, so he has a support system as he grows up. On the other side, I want my nephews to know me as they grow up as well.
After we left the gardens, they came over to my house and I got to cook them dinner. We got to talk a long time, and then they headed home. It really was a wonderful day.


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Does it hurt to have a tooth pulled out?!
Question: Does it hurt to have a tooth pulled out?
No, pulling it doesn't hurt, but after the Novocaine wears off you realize someone just yanked out part of your face and that hurts like hell.
Things to do for fun while the novocaine is numbing your face. Try to spit, then wipe up the drool all the way down the front of your shirt. Since your shirt is now wet any ways, try to drink water out of a glass.
Try to recite poems or poetry when you can't say anything that requires your tongue to participate. You sound like you are from a foreign country just learning to speak english.
it kinda hurts if they rub on something that numbs your gum but you will still feel some pain, the best way is to get anesthetic injected in your gum although the needle might hurt it wont hurt as bad when you pull it out.
if it is like one of the front tooth it wont even hurt, but if it is one of the really far back ones then good luck because you might scream a little
Yes, it does.. a lot of people have been known to have died from the pain alone.
To MEGAN... the idiot below me is just telling you something to make you feel better, what are you going to be thinking when it hurt so bad and she lied to you. What I said may not make you happy, but it is honest and you will thank me later because you will know what to expect.
Well those two kiddos up there ^^ are dumb.
No, it does not hurt. They numb your gums and then pull it out, just like you did with all the rest of your teeth. (:
They say it hurts more than giving birth to a baby.
Well when I had my adult teeth pulled out for braces, it didn't hurt much.
The only scary part of it is the needle. They have to give you shots to numb your mouth so that it wouldn't hurt as much when you get your teeth pulled out. And don't worry, you'll only feel a slight pinch. But the numb shots they give you may not be enough so if you feel any pain during the process, you'll just have to ask them to give you more shots.
Once they give you the numb shots, you probably won't feel any pain.
Oh and if you happen to feel any pain at home after you get your teeth pulled out or during the morning when you just woke up, you can try to take some advil or tylenol.
For me, advil works the best even though it's only for headaches but tylenol works as well.
I hoped I helped. Good Luck! (=
my experience haha


text: This pairing sounds great on paper and nice in the headphones – which is a good thing, becasue "Just Don't"is rumored to be Raphael's next single from his recent soul album, Stone Rollin'. Yukimi's 'ghost whispers' drifts in at the halfway point of the song only proving what all of her fans have known from the jump: this girl is genre-less – she can sing beautifully over whatever is given to her. The two have already worked their magic together for Raphael's "Good Man" track and hopefully the collabo's won't stop here.


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Malika is a 115 lb, 25 year old beauty from Russia, Voronezh. She is 5'4 and her favorite position is any. See more of her in the members area of ATK Natural & Hairy. Be sure to take the tour for even more free pics of our beautiful, hairy girls! Thanks go to Roman K for the pics.
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