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The Grade II for fillies and mares was the closing day feature of the inaugural meet for the Oak Tree Racing Association at Hollywood Park.
Owned by David and Holly Wilson and trained by Vladimir Cerin, the 5-year-old daughter of Adcat and the Marlin mare Silk Briefcase won for the eighth time in 24 starts. With her first win in a graded event, Briecat increased her earnings to $467,805.
Over a firm turf course, the Florida bred covered the mile in 1:34.77. She returned $29, $10.60 and $5.60. Briecat was the longest priced winner of the Las Palmas since Onceinabluemamoon's 14-1 surprise in 1995 for owner Louie Rousell III and trainer Jack Van Berg.
Before Sunday, Briecat's last turf victory had come in the Chandler Stakes Nov. 15, 2008 at Turf Paradise.
"She's very, very tough on the lead,'' said Cerin. "The key with her is to open up when she turns for home and hope they can't get her. Today they couldn't.
"I still wasn't confident running her today. We have her nominated for a race in Louisiana ($125,000 Treasure Chest) on the night of the Delta Jackpot (Nov. 20 at Delta Downs). But I figured if we run her here, I won't have to train her hard.
"He (Valenzuela) is just unbelievable. I told him if he was in a bank, they'd arrest him for stealing.''
Looking for her third victory in five starts since joining the stable of Krisitn Mulhall earlier in the year, Westwood Pride paid $7.20 and $3.80 while beaten by a neck. Turning Top, the 5-2 second choice, returned $2.80 to show. She finished a head behind Westwood Pride.
Wynning Ride, Distinctive, Princess Taylor, Blue Maiden, the 13-10 favorite and Value Stream completed the order of finish.

subset: commoncrawl


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She has a teen protagonist who is a serious classical pianist. She needs some sort of injury or illness that would make it impossible for her to play. Melissa also has a few stipulations:
- If possible, she'd like it to be a strange and mysterious illness
- She can't physically lose her hand
- It has to be relatively sudden in nature
Okay, here we go with some possibilities. There are a lot of diseases that can cause hand or arm problems in teens, but many of them may not show up suddenly, so I tossed them.
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (Specifically, Systemic Onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, previously called Still's Disease, or if over age 16, Adult-onset Still's Disease)
- any joints can be affected, so the hands and wrists would work in this scenario
- a pink, spotty, flat rash also occurs often around the armpits and waist. It often accompanies...
- a high spiking fever that can occur for days on end and is not responsive to antibiotics
- less common in teens but certainly can occur
- symptoms for Melissa's character can include numbness, tingling, and weakness of her hands and arms. Other problems include unsteady gait, vision problems and weakness of other parts of the body.
- unlike adults, children and teens with MS can also have lethargy and seizures
- MS can be very mysterious for people who don't understand it. The cause is unknown and it's not contagious, but can be quite debilitating and wax and wane in severity
- Car accident. A hand can easily be traumatized in a car accident from rollovers, crush injuries, or contusions
- Ring injuries. Ever heard of the kid who climbed a fence, got their ring stuck, and fell? Sadly, it happens. Catching a ring can cause a "de-gloving" injury that is repairable but debilitating.
- A penetrating injury like a knife cut could injure a tendon. Though repairable, it could impact playing for quite a while.
- Sports injuries. Think broken fingers, blunt impact, stuff like that.
If you've got a fictional medical question, let me know! Post below or email me at
Now follow Medical Mondays on Twitter! #MedMonday


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By Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
Bob Lanier. Rudy Tomjanovich. Pete Maravich. Dave Cowens.
Those names now are part of NBA lore, the players revered for the brilliance of their skills and validated by championship rings, plaques in the Naismith Hall of Fame or both. That those men were stacked up at the top of the 1970 NBA Draft – Nos. 1 through 4, picked in rapid succession by the Pistons, the Rockets, the Hawks and the Celtics – only adds to their legend. So much skill, so many highlights, so much winning.
Well, the guy taken at No. 5 was no slouch either.
When the news of Sam Lacey's death broke Saturday, it hit hard for many who knew him or at least knew of his terrific basketball achievements. Here's how the Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News framed it in a late-night report:
LAS CRUCES – And, then the celebration just stopped.
Moments after New Mexico State's Aggies won the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament, with a 77-55 victory Saturday against the University of Idaho, word came that former Aggie great Sam Lacey died. Lacey, 65, apparently died of natural causes…
Lacey was a hero of NMSU basketball, a 6-foot-10 center who led the Aggies to a 74-14 record in his three varsity seasons and their only trip to the Final Four in 1970. Lacey was a little overshadowed that weekend by St. Bonaventure's Lanier, Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore and UCLA's Sidney Wicks, all future NBA stars. He was overshadowed two days later, going fifth in the Draft that also produced Calvin Murphy, Dan Issel, Randy Smith, Geoff Petrie, Gar Heard, John Johnson and the great Nate (Tiny) Archibald, who like Lacey was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals (who moved to Kansas City and became the Kings in 1972).
But Lacey more than held his own through a 13-season NBA career. In fact, no one from that 1970 Draft class played more games than he did (1,002). And of those four more-famous players taken in front of him – for all of Maravich's fancy passes, Lanier's skills or Cowens' unselfishness – none passed for more assists than Lacey (3,754).
The big man's prowess at finding and putting teammates in scoring position came up just two weeks ago in NBA circles, after Chicago's Joakim Noah posted a triple-double against New York, passing for 10 assists in the first half on his way to a career-high 14:
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that's the most assists by a center since Sam Lacey had 14 for the Kansas City Kings on December 6, 1978.
Lacey also had 14 assists for the Kings in a 1977 game, giving him two of the four games in the past 40 years in which a center had at least 14. The other two: Noah and Bill Walton in 1975 for Portland.
The native of Indianola, Miss., who would have turned 66 on March 28, was Archibald's center when the quick Kings' point guard led the NBA in scoring (34.0 ppg) and assists (11.4 apg) – and minutes (46.0 mpg), by the way – in 1972-73. That earned Archibald the first of six All-Star appearances in his Hall of Fame career; Lacey got there once, earning an All-Star spot in 1975.
Over his first six seasons, Lacey was a double-double machine, averaging 12.8 points and 12.5 rebounds. Here's the elite list of Lacey's opponents who managed to average 12 and 12 in those same six years (1971-1976): Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elvin Hayes, Spencer Haywood, Paul Silas, Nate Thurmond, Cowens and Lanier.
As a passer, Lacey grew more adept over time. After averaging just 2.0 assists through his first three seasons, the big man boosted that to 4.8 per game over his next eight. In his 1974-75 All-Star season, he averaged 5.3 assists. Lacey dished 5.2 assists in 1978-79, 5.7 the next year and 4.9 in 1980-81, the season in which he turned 32.
With vision and generosity like that, it's no wonder Lacey was popular with teammates, as noted in the Kansas City Star's story of his death:
"He was the heart and soul of the Kansas City Kings," said former teammate Scott Wedman.
Early in his career, he played with the likes of Nate "Tiny" Archibald, and later in his career teamed with Otis Birdsong, Wedman and Phil Ford.
"He was the team captain during our best run, so that says a lot about him as a leader and teammate," Wedman said. "He'd take the young guys like me and Phil Ford under his wing. He expected a lot out of you, and you didn't want to let him down.
"And he was all about winning. A great defensive center. He went up against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Lanier, Dave Cowens, Nate Thurmond and worked his tail off against those guys."
Lacey, who made his home back in Kansas City, finished his career with 54 games with New Jersey and 60 with Cleveland. He retired in 1983 with 9,687 rebounds, which ranks 42nd in combined NBA/ABA history. He blocked 1,160 shots, good for 58th on the all-time list. And had he managed just one more steal – officially he finished with 999, though the stat wasn't tracked in his first three seasons – Lacey would be on another short list: Only 22 players have managed 1,000 steals and 1,000 blocks.
Not bad for a guy who beat long odds, coming out of a small town in the Mississippi Delta to become an NBA All-Star, as he was quoted a few years ago:
"They say you have a better chance of getting hit by lightening than becoming a pro player," said Lacey.
After his playing days, Lacey did some radio and TV work and reportedly took an interest in efforts to bring another NBA franchise to Kansas City. His jersey number (44) hangs in the rafters of the Sacramento Kings, where the Cincinnati/Kansas City club moved in 1985. In 2008, Lacey was one of the first players enshrined in New Mexico State's Ring of Honor.


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This article was published as a guest post on paidContent.org.
Earlier this month, John Donahoe, CEO of eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) and its subsidiary Paypal, was interviewed at the D8 conference. It was a flashback to see him speak: I had worked under him 15 years ago when I was a freshly minted undergrad just hired into the San Francisco office he ran for Bain & Company. A strapping and charismatic up-and-comer, John was known for his bold visionary talks and his strident walk.
But at D8, I didn't see that confidence. He spoke of eBay's connections between buyers and sellers as though he hoped we'd believe it was a new trend; meanwhile far from his Santa Clara headquarters, Gilt Groupe and Groupon are reinventing e-commerce. On Paypal, he looked backwards to the innovation of getting financial services online, rather than forward to the app revolution. Overall he looked staid, the way eBay and Paypal now look to me – entangled by their legacy, unable to cut the cords to freely enjoy the new boom around them.
With that in mind, I'd like to offer Paypal the chance to get ahead in an area that still has room for wild success. Media desperately needs help to become financially viable – and consumers will need to foot part of the bill to make it so. It's clear that others see the opportunity here: Facebook surely wants to spread its Facebook Credits currency to take over the world the way 'Like' has; and now word comes that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is readying Newspass in its bid to capture consumer payments for media. But more than these other companies, Paypal, with its huge footprint of consumer accounts and years of web experience, is in the catbird seat to be media's savior.
I wrote recently that there is an easy formula for consumer spend on media:
Desire + Relationship + Ease = Spend
With ad revenues going less far to foot the bill for published content, making media profitable will increasingly mean turning to consumers to pay for content and experiences. And consumers open their wallets in proportion to how badly they want it (desire); how well they know the other parties (relationship); and how little work it takes (ease). This is why there is such a strong future in bite-size media consumption: for all the talk about paywalls and subscriptions, it is far easier to get payments of a buck or two. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) demonstrates the value of bite-size with hundreds of millions of dollars of revenues from apps alone, far exceeding any leading online publisher's subscription programs.
But while Apple is the king of creating platforms for desirable experience, its eminence is limited to its domain of devices, just as Facebook is confined to the social network. And publishers need to up the desire, relationship and ease for their whole online audience. Enter Paypal. Paypal works across the wide open web. With 219 million registered accounts and trust among users and merchants alike, Paypal has an outstanding position to work from. And so Paypal's great opportunity is to enable quick consumer payments for media with fast, easy, lightweight universal payments.
What Will It Take: The Impulse Click
Media doesn't rank highly in terms of the necessities on Mazlov's pyramid. And so the essence of consumer-paid media is impulse, and the critical enabler of paid digital media is the "impulse click." That click starts the brief moments/long window of consumer intent. For Paypal that means, it needs a button that completes the sale before the impulse fades – and needs to spread that button throughout media. If it delivers on that, Paypal can play as critical a role in the fast-growing digital media economy as it did in the person-to-person commerce revolution of Web 1.0.
To do so, it will take five key upgrades in ease and structure. Here's what they are:
1) Lighter authentication: For a $50 e-commerce transaction (from which the merchant earns just a few dollars of gross margin), a transfer to the Paypal website and fresh login and password entry may be called for, but that won't do for a $0.99 purchase of media bits, where the lack of ease would be a deal-killer. Recognize the user automatically for most bite-size purchases, as Facebook does for sites using its new open graph technologies. For a transaction of less than a buck, and considering Paypal's preeminent capability in fraud prevention, it should be able to manage risk to make this effective.
2) One-step confirmation: Apple has set the bar for how easy it is to transact: on my iPad, I tap the "buy" price and then supply my password. That's all that's needed or appropriate for this transaction. And no one has done this on the web at large. If Paypal does, it will lead the industry in ease – and help media publishers in the process. The current process usually requires three or more pages and requires not only login with password, but confirmation of accounts to fund the transaction with; backup funding options; and often classifying the transaction. The interface is slow and kludgy, vintage 1990s, while the web (and user's expectations) have had massive upgrades since then. It's time for an experience overhaul, Paypal!
3) Simple billing: Offer fewer options to make it simple. Instead of bank cards, credit cards and different guarantees, keep one default payment method on file and just bill to it without asking for anything less than $5. For impulse purchases, the consumer needs to complete the transaction before the impulse fades.
4) Use the phone: For universal payments and quick setup, bank and credit cards are too cumbersome. But consumers young and old with good credit and poor alike have one thing in common: mobile phones. Paypal should acquire Zong, which would contribute an instant way to bill cellphones with minimal hassle that smart sites like Facebook are already taking advantage of. With this simplified experience, Paypal then is ready to offer its payment system on every device possible. As consumers are increasingly consuming content from their mobile phones, Paypal needs to be where the consumer is – available to apps on every platform possible.
5) Offer attractive revenue share: Platforms like Apple's require that publishers give up 30% of revenues or more; Paypal's heritage in banking and payment processing comes at it from a much lower pricing level of 5% plus $0.05 per transaction. For its bite-size payment system, Paypal should get adoption from every major publisher by holding to this structure for its most profitable transactions, and taking no more than 15% of other transactions; while using its massive scale to negotiate fees with credit/debit and cellphone providers on the back end. By competing on price to win adoption by publishers, Paypal will be expand its footprint to get more cost leverage.
If Paypal does these five things, it can supply a payment system that is so good that it will enable digital-media companies to charge and collect frequently for premium experiences and content. For Paypal, this will enhance its offering and help it win a huge share of the emerging paid digital media category. But more importantly, this will hasten our progress toward a profitable future for the digital-media industry. And I think that sort of change-the-world accomplishment is exactly what is missing to get John Donahoe as charged up again as I remember him.


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Nail artist Simcha Whitehill, aka Miss Pop, shows you exactly how to recreate this vintage-looking floral mani with ease.
1. Prep. File your nails into the desired shape, push back your cuticles — DO NOT CUT THEM! — and then apply one layer of a base coat polish, followed by two coats of YSL Beige Gallery 39.
2. Create a flower. To do so, use a pink shade, like Deborah Lippmann's Shape of My Heart, get a bead of polish on the tip of the brush, and then spread out a few drops randomly on each nail.
MORE: Spring nail polish trends!
3. Add leaves. Using a small paint brush or striper brush, create a leaf shape by drawing a narrow pointed oval, and then filling in the open space with a deep green shade, like OPI Here Today…Aragon Tomorrow.
4. Outline the flower buds. Dip the same thin striper brush in Essie's Licorice, and then outline each bud with two black parenthesis. Then, inside each bud, create a "V" shape in two short strokes. "To get that sketch pad look, your lines should simply suggest the shape and not be perfectly drawn on," Whitehill says.
Finally, wait a few minutes for your artwork to set. Then seal your look with topcoat.
Voila! Chic, vintage-looking nails that people will pin the heck out of.
Thinking of trying this super adorable mani? A little prom-spiration for your nails, maybe? Sound off in the comments below!
Originally posted on: Cosmopolitan.com
From: Cosmopolitan US


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New Randy Rhoads Book To Hit Shelves
Though only on this planet a short time, the influence and legacy of Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads continue to grow. After much anticipation, a new biography about the guitar legend is set for release.
The book, written by Steven Rosen and Andrew Klein, published by Velocity Books and simply titled 'Randy Rhoads,' vividly documents Rhoads' life and career. Written in the form of an oral history, it documents Randy's remarkable life through those who knew him best, and is loaded with countless tales of the man, both emotional and poignant. It is also crammed full of hundreds of rare photographs and memorabilia. In other words, a veritable bonanza for Rhoads fans!
Before his tragic death at the age of 25, the man born Randall Williams Rhoads had already gained a loyal following and turned the heads of many a fellow guitarist during his time with Osbourne. His playing on songs like ' Crazy Train,' 'Mr. Crowley,' and 'Flying High Again,' should have been the first chapter in a long story but, unfortunately we know the story was cut short. Much has been documented about Ozzy, but in general, little has been told about the guitar virtuoso.
It's hard to believe it has been over thirty years since Randy was killed in a plane crash. Since that time, Marshall Amplifiers have created a custom amplifier that bears Randy's name and signature sound, while Jackson Guitars have sold millions of Randy Rhoads model guitars. A testament to his influence. Time has done nothing to diminish interest in the man and his playing, and this book is looking to provide deeper insight into Randy, the man, the myth, the legend.


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Good Process So Far
Fund: Hub Angels
Posted by First Timer on 2008-05-19
These guys seem to keep a pretty low profile: not soliciting plans online, etc. They reached out to us after a local event.
They have a standard form to fill out once they tap you -- not too much of an obstacle, and sensible format.
In the end, we went through a longish diligence phase and then they passed based on misgivings rather than the diligence.


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Ranch of Hope Counseling
We're here when you need us the most!
The Ranch of Hope Counseling offers Five-Day Intensive Christian Counseling for hurting and troubled Couples, Families, and Individuals.
Private, effective counseling in a relaxed, RETREAT STYLE Getaway setting, focused on your specific needs and concerns.
The Ranch of Hope Counseling Center is located in one of the most spectacular, relaxing mountain settings in the country. We include beautiful, private lodging for guests to make your whole experience seamless.
The Ranch of Hope wants to see your heart, your marriage, your family be all God planned it to be. Enjoy a healthier personal life. Build your marriage to last a lifetime. We're here when you need us the most! We can often serve you within a few weeks of your first call.
About Our Counselors
Each of the counselors at The Ranch of Hope Counseling believes that wounded hearts and lives can be healed by the power of Jesus Christ. As the wounds are identified, processed and healed the person can experience and perceive life in a healthy new way. Then strategies are established for the future that will lead to success in life and relationships. The person can then begin to experience the abundant life Christ intends for each of His followers. The counselors at The Ranch of Hope Counseling use many different methods to lead to healing but all are based on Biblical principles and use of the Word of God.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide individuals, marriages and families the counseling to heal their hearts; along with the skills and training necessary to lead peaceful, joyful lives. Utilizing proven faith-based principles and Christian values, the Ranch of Hope counsels, teaches and facilitates lasting emotional and spiritual health with our clients.
About Ranch of Hope
The Ranch of Hope has had the honor to serve a variety of people from different walks of life. At the Ranch of Hope Counseling our clientele varies from businesses men to missionaries, pastoral leadership to homemakers, military families and retired persons. Here are a few of the testimonies we have received.
"I was on the verge of shutting down; emotionally, spiritually, even physically. My stay at the Ranch was truly a divine appointment, for God met with me there and set me free."
—Ranch of Hope Client
"We have clarity in our lives we have never had. These gifts are life long, and for that I will be eternally grateful. I cannot think of a better investment in our marriage than the Ranch of Hope."
—Ranch of Hope Client
"After my heart attack, I though my life and marriage was over. A short stay at the Ranch of Hope and I had my heart turned back towards the Lord. They gave us back our hope. I am now back to work and having the time of my life."
—Ranch of Hope Client
"I chose to serve as Board member of the Ranch of Hope because they are Christ's love extended to hurting families and individuals."
—Dave Roever, Evangelist
Christian Counseling For Marriages, Families and Individuals in Climax CO
There are many marriage and family counseling centers in the United States for people to seek and receive help for the various issues that plague us in our 21st-century world. Many of these centers are secular in their approach, with little to no religious focus. So what does an individual do who is looking for help from those who practice the Christian faith? The Christian counselors at Ranch of Hope assist, and they do it with Christian values as the primary guide. The center has over 24 years of experience with hundreds of client testimonials of satisfactory experiences.
The center specializes in a 5-Day Christian Counseling program that's intensive, in a getaway setting that is not only private but also relaxed, for individuals as well as couples and families. A five-day program is one of the best ways to work through issues and heal. The time-frame allows you and your counselor to work through your problems in a setting that is not rushed, but that provides just enough time to receive guidance before returning to your regular life.
Biblical Based Therapy in Climax Colorado
The atmosphere is crucial for getaway counseling centers that are retreat style. A person could be placed in a room, inside a building, with just a few windows and bright fluorescent lighting. This kind of atmosphere can be cold and unwelcoming and is not always conducive to the type of therapy that benefits a person. Instead, a beautiful setting that offers spectacular views is therapeutic and doesn't add to whatever stress and heartache a person may be feeling upon arrival. Soothing images of nature help a person focus on healing and reaching positive conclusions. At Ranch of Hope, our therapists provide professional guidance in a center located in a beautiful mountain setting with private lodging for guests.
Many people who come to counseling retreat centers come from busy or hectic lives. Ranch of Hope is located beneath the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southern Colorado in the high mountain valley. The setting was designed to provide a getaway location away from the hustle and bustle of the city. However, it is just one and a half hours southwest of the Colorado Springs airport. So getting to and from the center is not difficult. The natural and beautiful environment allows a person to reflect and heal while listening to the Word of God.
The small and intimate village of Climax, Colorado gives a guest all that he or she needs. Included in the cost of your lodging is access to a lovely 1900 sq. ft. apartment on site. The apartment has a full kitchen, a large living room with a fireplace, free Wi-Fi and Direct TV, and two bedroom areas that have a king-sized master bedroom with a private bath and shower. When you're not inside the attractive apartment or meeting with your Christian counselor, you might be outside, taking in the views of the beautiful Sangre de Cristo Mountains, reflecting on what the Lord has always wanted for you and for your life. After all, coupled with the beautiful setting is a focus on the Lord. The goal of Ranch of Hope is to achieve all that God wants for yourself, your marriage or your family.
One of the benefits of the counseling center is that you can often receive help within just a few weeks from your first call. With this benefit, you're able to get the help you need as soon as possible.
No Christian counseling center would be valuable without counselors who are genuinely vested in the teachings of the Bible and the power of Jesus Christ. The counselors at Ranch of Hope help an individual, couple or family identify the issues, process them and healthily heal them through the eyes of the Lord through the principles of the Holy Bible and the Word of God. In this way, the abundant life Christ intends for all His people can be realized and appreciated.
In addition to an intense focus on the Lord, two nationally recognized, comprehensive Personal or Marital Assessments are utilized, along with an on-line Emotional Assessment. These assessments help you and your Counselor pinpoint your hurt and focus on healing. To truly assist you, the intricacies of your personality are examined to mend the pain and suffering that you're experiencing. They are unique at discovering walls or blocks that inhibit personal growth.
Christian marriage counseling and Christian family counseling is the focus at Ranch of Hope, and the center has been successful at it. Using a 1-10 scale, the center has achieved an 84 percent success rate. To explain further, before clients receive help, on average they report a life satisfaction score of three. However, immediately after receiving support from Ranch of Hope, their life satisfaction score rises to an average of seven. Then, a year after treatment, their average increases to a score of eight. Counseling from Ranch of Hope proofs to be beneficial both during sessions and after the sessions are complete.
Because Ranch of Hope is a not-for-profit 501 (c) 3 Charitable Organization with generous donations from Churches, the Board and Advisory, and former clients and friends, current and future clients can be served at substantially less cost than your standard counseling center.
Christian Marriage and Family Retreat in Climax Colorado
To get started is easy:
1. Call the center from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays (mountain time) or email the center using the Contact Page.
2. Fill out the Client Application. This allows the center to get to know you and your concerns.
3. When your deposit is received, your sessions and lodging are reserved.
4. You will receive all the information you need to know including directions, weather, lodging arrangements, etc.
However, it's important for potential clients to feel comfortable with Ranch of Hope before any sessions were to begin. To ensure that the Christian counseling is right for you, you're encouraged to interview the staff and speak directly with one of the professional counselors. If you would prefer, a pastor, counselor, family member, best friend or some other individual can call Ranch of Hope on your behalf. Come visit our retreat center in Climax Colorado.


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Organic Agriculture in Mountain Ecosystems
Taking action on Rio +20, the Government of Bhutan, Navdanya, the Millennium Institute, and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements co-organized The International Conference on Organic & Ecological Agriculture in Mountain Ecosystems, from 5-8 March 2014, in the Taj Tashi in Thimphu, Bhutan.
Rich in biodiversity and home to nutritious crops, mountain ecosystems are threatened by deforestation, soil degradation and erosion, as well as the melting and receding of glaciers. Medicinal plants and nutritious crops from mountain eco-systems are of benefit to humanity worldwide. The latest indication from the IPCC clearly point towards an even greater impact from climate change, while the demand for food from a growing and more demanding population worsens the sustainability problem even further. Therefore, action is needed on fronts where both mitigation and above all adaptation actions can be implemented immediately.
This conference drew attention to the special needs of mountain ecosystems and highlighted how going organic can help tackle pressing problems such as climate change, water exploitation, and the displacement of farmers.


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How does a bee gather and store honey? Where do bees come from? This book explores the lifecycle of bees from larvae to a full-grown bee. Describing this lifestyle provides readers with important vocabulary related to a bee's life.
Follow the lifecycle of a frog with descriptive pictures that follow a frog's life from egg, to tadpole, to a full-grown frog. This book is a fun way for readers to learn vocabulary relating to frogs and lifecycles.
Explore the lifecycle of a butterfly and learn about the transformation of caterpillars into beautiful butterflies. The connection to language arts is the rich vocabulary related to butterflies, caterpillars, and their transformations.
Learn about animals and their characteristics along with the differences between mammals, reptiles, and birds. Exciting pictures of animals will keep readers engaged while they are introduced to vocabulary related to animals.
Discover the many different and unique life forms living in the sea as you explore the tide pools and dark ocean bottom. The language arts connection is vocabulary related to sea life.
Large photos and playful text will have young tots howling, growling, and mooing right along with this board book.
Introduce action words and descriptive words about domestic and wild cats.


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Trustees / Directors of Girard College[Record group 168]
Agency Function
- This function was assumed by the Board of City Trusts.
- Agency History
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"to deny the fact that this was a time when Christianity not only suppressed all other religions, but philosophy itself, is to deny reality"
Really? So why Augustine have this to say on the use of "pagan" philosphy and science:
Just as the Egyptians had not only idols and grave burdens which the people of Israel detested and avoided, so also they had vases and ornaments of gold and silver and clothing which the Israelites took with them secretly when they fled, as if to put them to a better use. They did not do this on their own authority but at God's commandment, while the Egyptians unwittingly supplied them with things which they themselves did not use well. In the same way all the teachings of the pagans contain not only simulated and superstitious imaginings and grave burdens of unnecessary labor, which each one of us leaving the society of pagans under the leadership of Christ ought to abominate and avoid, but also liberal disciplines more suited to the uses of truth, and some most useful precepts concerning morals. Even some truths concerning the worship of one God are discovered among them. (De Doctrina Christiana, XL, 60)
This was called the "Gold of the Egyptians" argument and it was the basis for the preservation and use of "pagan" philosophy for centuries to come. Your claim that Christianity "suppressed philosophy" is complete garbage. On the contrary, working on the basis of what Augustine argues here and what others had argued long before him, they saw that philosophy as a gift from the Greeks to them that should be gratefully accepted. This is why if you have ever read any work by any Greek philosopher you have a Christian scribe to thank for the privilege.
I get the feeling that you and the author of the site you link to, both have this as an agenda, even while claiming at every opportunity to be atheists yourselves.
I don't "claim" to be an atheist - I am one. And have been one for over 27 years now. My only "agenda" is the objective study of history and that includes correcting errors by people whose grasp of the material is weak or, worse, skewed by ideological bias and emotion. That goes for those whose bias is driven by religious ideology and those whose bias is driven by antipathy for religion. Bias is bias and non-objective emotional skewing leads to junk analysis regardless of the ideology. I stick to rational and sober analysis of the evidence. That's how history is studied.
I read a couple of the reviews on the site you link to, and the author seems to have an open hostility to atheists, demeaning them at every opportunity
Complete garbage. I have open hostility to idiots, particularly the ones who are claiming to be analysing history while actually projecting emotional nonsense. Look at my review of Rodney Stark's God's Battalions and you'll see my "hostility" is even handed - biased Christian idiots get as much of it as biased atheist idiots. It's the biased idiots I have a problem with.
The most powerful institution in the land, and who controls the application of literacy, acknowledges as truth only those things which are to be found or interpreted from a single book
This is the kind of blunder that bias leads to. They did not say truth came only from one book. See Augustine's quote above. They said that all truth ultimately came from God and that the universe was the rational product of the mind of God. Therefore it could be apprehended by reason and believed that the pagan Greeks had been given a special gift by God for doing so. A gift that they felt they should take and use.
This is why they preserved Greek learning and valued it highly. Gerard of Cremona crossed half the known world on the merest rumour that he might find some lost works of Greek scholarship in Muslim Spain. He then devoted his life to translating the ones he found into Latin so he could bring these precious works back to the rest of Europe. How does that fit into your weird cartoon version of history?
You don't seem to have the faintest idea what you're talking about but seem very happy to rant nonetheless. Go and learn.
Wow. There's so much wrong with that hysterical screed above it's hard to know where to begin. In order ...
You give me one quote from Augustine to prove Christians did not suppress philosophy
Actually, I gave you a quote and then illustrated it with evidence that showed you your claim they "suppressed philosophy" is garbage. Again, if you have read a work by a Greek philosopher, you have a Christian scribe to thank. In fact, you have a long succession of them, working down the centuries. So if they were "suppressing" this philosophy why were they ... preserving it? That's a rather strange way of "suppressing" something, don't you think?
Since you seem ignorant of the history of western thought and want to convince yourself that Augustine's position on the benefit of Greek learning was not typical, here is Clement of Alexandria on the same theme:
We shall not err in alleging that all things necessary and profitable for life came to us from God, and that philosophy more especially was given to the Greeks, as a covenant peculiar to them -- being, as it is, a stepping-stone to the philosophy which is according to Christ (Stromata, VIII)
And we have John Damascene saying exactly the same thing:
I shall set forth the best contributions of the philosophers of the Greeks, because whatever there is of good has been given to men from above by God, since 'every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights' (Kephálaia philosophiká)
And we have similar statements by Origen, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil of Caesarea and Justin Martyr - all of them stating that true knowledge comes from God and so all wisdom should be embraced, even if it comes from "pagan" writer. As Clement argues above, it was believed that just as the Jews had been given a special gift for revelation, so the pagan Greeks had been given a special gift for reason. And they thought both should be embraced by Christians as gifts from God.
So the idea that they did not suppress philosophy but embraced it is not to "deny reality" at all. It is fact. This is why they preserved these philosophical works. This is why if you can read them today you have a long line of Christian scribes who believed in the arguments quoted above to thank for the privilege.
It helps to actually have a grasp of the relevant material and scholarship and work from there. Starting with your conclusions and then ranting doesn't work as well.
you don't even include the most interesting first part of the quote .... Yes of course, anything that fit the Christian view was fine, But of course what is at issue here are things that don't fit the Christian view.
Given that there wasn't much in the Greek philosophy that didn't fit the Christian view, this was not much of a problem. Contrary to your rather clumsy grasp of things, they did not believe that truth only came from the Bible. They did believe that all truth was ultimately compatible with the Bible but, because they weren't Biblical literalists, they were actually quite happy to adjust their interpretation of the Bible to ensure it didn't contradict the findings of science and reason. Here's Augustine again:
Often a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other parts of the world, about the motions and orbits of the stars and even their sizes and distances,... and this knowledge he holds with certainty from reason and experience. It is thus offensive and disgraceful for an unbeliever to hear a Christian talk nonsense about such things, claiming that what he is saying is based in Scripture. We should do all that we can to avoid such an embarrassing situation, lest the unbeliever see only ignorance in the Christian and laugh to scorn. (De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim)
So while a few less educated early Christians tried to argue the Bible said the earth was flat, this was scorned by more educated types who said those scriptural texts were figurative and that that rational analysis of the world shows that the earth is spherical.
Contrary to your attempt at a claim above, very little in Greek philosophy was contrary to Christian doctrine, because given that both the Bible and these Greek "authorities" were seen as conduits of God's truth, the general impulse was to reconcile and harmonise them, not to totally reject the philosophers. There was only a few points on which this was impossible - eg Aristotle's belief that the universe was eternal and had no beginning in time - and there they simply said "on this point the philosopher was in error".
And what is especially interesting is that you give a single incomplete quote as proof of their tolerance, while ignoring the actual events happening on the ground during and around the same time period, which were anything but.
None of those examples of their (to us) intolerance of other things is relevant here. They closed temples and banned the (already pretty much dying) public pagan cults? Sure. So? As I've detailed above and as every scholar and historian of the period knows, this does not mean they also suppressed pagan philosophy. I've explained how and why they preserved the thought of the philosophers who happened to be pagans while shutting down the last remnants of the religious superstitions that made up pagan religion. Pagan religion and pagan philosophy had very little to do with each other anyway - the philosophers were pretty scornful of painted priests shaking rattles and waving incense at idols and considered all that to be a bit of circus for the stupid and uneducated.
So really Tim, I just have to ask you. Are you joking?
Perhaps if you cracked open a book on the subject of the interplay between ancient pagan and early Christian thought and how philosophy was accommodated within Christianity in the period from the Second to the Sixth Century you would see that I'm not "joking", I'm simply telling you what happened. It seems you don't have any grasp of what scholars on the subject have to say. Or much interest, from the sounds of things. You seem to have made up your mind in much the way fundamentalists always do.
Yes, they valued Greek learning so highly that many Greek authors, like Aristotle, disappeared entirely in the west until recovered from Muslims during the Crusades.
Oh dear. There are so many errors of fact in that one sentence that it will take a bit of time to unpack them all. Aristotle's works disappeared entirely in the west? Ummm, no. The sharp decline of Greek literacy in the western half of the Roman Empire from the Third Century onwards meant that the number of copies of works like those of Aristotle sunk to a very low ebb from that point (there were never very many in the first place) which is why some of his work was lost in the west when the Roman Empire collapsed or in the chaos that followed. But your claim that his work "disappeared entirely" is another of your clumsy blunders.
Several key works of his were preserved, largely thanks to a deliberate campaign of translation into Latin by - you guessed it - a Christian scholar. Boethius set out to preserve as many works as he could, starting with the logical works of Aristotle and commentaries on them. So the Categories, On Interpretation, Sophistical Refutations, Prior Analytics and Topics - the key works on logic in the Greek philosophical canon - were all preserved and studied in the early Middle Ages while much else was lost. This was along with key logical commentaries such as that on Porphyry's Isagoge, on the Categories, on On Interpretation and on Cicero's Topics.
So your claim is wrong - not only did all of Aristotle not "disappear entirely" but the preservation of these key works enshrined Greek logic at the heart of the medieval educational curriculum - a student at any cathedral school or the schools that later developed into the first universities, studied the logica vetus embodied in these Aristotelian works first, before tackling any other subject. And the reason they sought out works of logic and other works by Aristotle when it became known they were preserved in Arabic was the fact they were revered and venerated as the ultimate in learning. So how does that fit with your weird little cartoon about them being "suppressed"?
And yes, these keen students of the surviving venerated works of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers did seek them out from Muslim scholars in Spain and Sicily (though not "during the Crusades" - this began before then and had zero to do with those campaigns). And where do you think the Muslims got these works that had been lost in the collapse of the Roman Empire in the west? Do you think they fell from the sky into Muslim scholars' laps?
They got them from - you guessed it - Christian scholars. The Arabic translations that the western Christians absorbed so eagerly in the Twelfth Century Renaissance had been made from Greek editions that the Arabs got from Byzantine scholars or from Syriac translations made by Nestorian Christian scholars in the great scriptoria of the monks of Nisibis (now in Turkey) and Jundishapur (now in Iran) - centres of scholarship and philosophy for hundreds of years. So how does all this fit in with your strange ideas about these Christians "suppressing" philosophy again?
Take off the blinders Tim
Oh, the irony. Someone here certainly needs to take the blinders off, but it ain't me. Try reading a book for a change. Preferably something by an actual professional scholar of these subjects. But it should be pretty clear to everyone by now who here is working from an objective analysis of the evidence and who is a ranting ideologue scrabbling around in some scraps and misconceptions. Go educate yourself, please. You might embarrass yourself a little less if you actually got a clue.
First of all I must notice again your complete lack of appreciation for any and all evidence of the intolerance of the early Christian Church.
Since I'm much more familiar with the period in question than you are, I'm very clear on their intolerance thanks. They did suppress the remnants of the state sponsored pagan cults. They also suppressed rival "heretical" sects within their own faith as well as competing doctrinal positions. Your confusion here is that this has zero relevance to what is under discussion. As I've already explained to you, suppressing the public practice of pagan cults has got nothing to do with their attitude to pre-Christian philosophy.
This is partly because many of those philosophers didn't have much time for mysticism and rituals either and partly because Christian thinkers valued the "truths' they felt these philosophers had discovered regardless of their pre-Christian origins. As my multiple references (all news to you apparently) have clearly demonstrated.
So I don't need you to tell me about Christian intolerance of rival faiths and sects, I know all about that. This actually undermines your crumbling position still further. Want to see what actual Christian repression of ideas looks like? Okay, go find a copy of an Ebionite text. No luck? Okay, how a copy of Arius' Thalia? Can't find one? How about any of the extensive works of Appollinaris the Younger? Can't find any of those?
Of course you can't. That's what it looks like when these intolerant early Christians actually suppressed something.
Some texts have come down to us ONLY through archaeological sites like the Villa of the Papyri.
Sites "like" the Villa at Herculaneum? You mean there are other such sites? Please tell us where these are, as there are thousands of papyrologists who will be amazed at your remarkable new discoveries. Or is this another example of your clumsy bungles? Yes, thought so. The Herculaneum papyri are the sole exception to the rule, so sorry but that one chance find doesn't invalidate my point.
The texts of Epicurus' "On Natrure" is just one example.
And pretty much the only one. If Christians wanted to suppress the ideas of Epicurus, however, they did a pretty bad job of it. The exposition of his philosophical position in the Epicurean poem De Rerum Natura by Lucretius is known to us thanks to a number of copies by medieval Christian scribes. Did they not get the memo regarding how they were meant to be suppressing Epicurean philosophy?
The second and more important problem is that you simply can't know what was discarded in the process. If I burned a mountain of books but kept a few that were not overtly hostile to my own view would you consider me the savior of literature?
So now is the time for you to do better than wave this crappy little "maybe" around and produce evidence that this is what happened. The masses of evidence that Christian scholars preserved vast amounts of Greek learning (ie the entire surviving corpus of it) and the repeated expressions by leading early Christian thinkers on why it should be preserved undermines your nonsense about how it was all suppressed. And the fact that works which were entirely contrary to Christian thought in fundamental ways, such as that overtly Epicurean poem by Lucretius I just mentioned, were also preserved by Christians undermines your nonsense about how they only preserved works they found agreeable. That is evidence that your fantasy about them destroying a "mountain" of lost works while preserving others (ie our entire corpus of Greek and Roman literature!) is more garbage from you.
The Romans were quite tolerant of other gods
Not that it's very relevant, but the Romans were tolerant of other gods so long as they conformed to the Romans' ideas of what religion should be like. They weren't tolerant of "new" religions - which they condemned as "superstitions". This was their main beef with Christianity. They were also not at all tolerant of other faiths that didn't fit their ideas of "proper" religion. Which is why they persecuted the Manichaeans and wiped out the Bacchanals and the druids.
I specifically used the term West in relation to the disappearance of Aristotle. Did you miss that?
And did you miss the part where I educated you about how Aristotle didn't "disappear" in the west and how those horrible Christians preserved what they could of his works, laying the foundations for the later revival via the Arabs? Are you even reading what I'm saying? You can't keep claiming things that I have already demonstrated are dead wrong.
In fact, you've been proven wrong at every turn. Largely because you don't have a sufficient knowledge of the material and are working from assumptions which are total garbage. You seem to be an example of the Dunning Kruger effect personified.
I was including religious philosophy, such as pagan cults and heretical sects, under the philosophical banner, while you were excluding them,
What bumble-footed muddling of irrelevant things you might have been doing is of little interest to me. The fact remains that they could be entirely intolerant of pagan religions and have no problem with using philosophy that was produced by non-Christians. And this is what happened.
1. Christianity is intolerant of views that contradict it's dogma, and will use it's power to suppress such views.
2. This world view is ultra conservative, and is hostile to free expression and learning, and is therefore detrimental to human progress.
If we can agree on those two statements, I think we can call it a day.
You're now trying to change the subject to find an excuse to wriggle away. Whether or not the Christians were tolerant of rival sects and faiths is not the issue and never has been. Whether they suppressed "philosophy itself" into the bargain is. Here's a reminder of your original nonsense:
"to deny the fact that this was a time when Christianity not only suppressed all other religions, but philosophy itself, is to deny reality"
And that is garbage. They didn't not suppress "philosophy itself" - they made use of it. They "carried off the gold of the Egyptians". They, "like David, took up the sword of Goliath". They had several metaphors for it because it was such a common idea - they used philosophy as a gift given by God.
Your "suppression" nonsense is a fantasy, which is why every single attempt at proving it has blown up in your face. You are simply WRONG. Get that through your skull and then we can "call it a day". Not before.
@ Mark Beronte
We could argue that point all day long, but the fact is you cannot prove it
Utter gibberish. Newflash - what I'm saying is not some little theory of mine that I have to "prove". It's standard, accepted historical fact. Read any academic history of ancient and medieval thought and you'll find them saying exactly what I'm saying.
Don't believe me? Okay, try this. As modern leading historians of science in this period go, they don't get much more eminent than David C. Lindberg. He is the Hilldale Professor Emeritus of History of Science and Past Director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His The Beginnings of Western Science, 600 B.C. to A.D. 1450 (1992) is the primary single volume monograph on ancient and medieval science. And if we see what he says on the subject, guess what we find?
[T]he logical tools developed within Greek philosophy proved indispensible. Furthermore, aspects of Platonic philosophy seemed to correlate nicely with, and therefore support Christian teaching. .... Thus in the second and third centuries we find a series of Christian apologists putting Greek philosophy, especially Platonism, to good use. (p. 150)
Lindberg goes on to note that some Christian writers, notably Tertullian, did not like this acceptance of and use of "pagan" philosophy by Christians, but he goes on:
[A] more typical attitude was that of Augustine ..., another north African, who accepted Greek philosophy as a useful, if not perfectly reliable, instrument. Philosophy, in Augustine's influential view, was to be the handmaiden of religion - not to be stamped out, but to be cultivated, disciplined, put to use. .... And in his own works, including his theological works, Augustine displayed a sophisticated knowledge of Greek natural philosophy. (pp 150-151)
Another leading scholar of ancient and medieval though is Edward Grant. Grant is Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Indiana University, Bloomington and the author of several key works of scholarship on the ancient philosophical foundations of medieval Christian thought as well as the roots of modern science in the ancient and medieval worlds. In God and Reason in the Middle Ages (2001), Grant details how early Christianity moved from its initial distrust of philosophy as "pagan" to accepting it as coming ultimately from God and so worthy of preservation and even reverence. He traces the "Gold of the Egyptians" argument from Clement of Alexandria through Origen, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil of Caesarea and Justin Martyr to the point where its championing by Augustine made it the accepted position (p. 32-37). In The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages (1996) he summarises this process again, concluding:
The handmaiden concept of Greek learning was widely adopted and became the standard Christian attitude toward secular learning. .... With the total triumph of Christianity at the end of the fourth century, the Church might have reacted against pagan learning in general, and Greek philosophy in particular, finding much in the latter that was unacceptable or perhaps even offensive. They might have launched a major effort to suppress pagan learning as a danger to the Church and its doctrines. But they did not. (p. 4)
Or we can turn to Michael Haren, lecturer in Medieval History at University College Dublin and author of Medieval Thought: The Western Intellectual Tradition from Antiquity to the Thirteenth Century (1993):
One of the great contributions of Saint Augustine to Latin Christianity was his justification of the role of secular learning for the theologian. His own world view, which he bequeathed to the early middle ages, as well as his spiritual progress toward Christian belief, were heavily indebted to ancient philosophy. (p. 37)
These guys are amongst THE leading scholars in this field. These books are the ones any student of ancient and medieval thought turn to when they research this subject. This position is standard, basic, accepted, uncontroversial and unquestioned.
And yet you say I can't "prove" it?! Do you have any idea how utterly ignorant that makes you sound? You don't have the faintest clue and your pathetic scratching around for anything at all to prop up your high school level cartoon version of history (eg that quote from McMullen, who fully accepts what I'm saying, if you'd bothered to read any of his stuff -since he isn't an idiot) shows that you have no idea exactly how out of your depth you are.
Again - Dunning Kruger Effect. Look it up.
We are not just talking about Plato here Tim, nor just Greek philosophers, We are talking about all Greek and Roman works
Yes, those works that you can read thanks to lots of Christian scribes preserving them. Please try to focus: initially Christians rejected Greek philosophy because it was "pagan", then they found neo-Platonism actually fitted their theology quite well and logic was useful, then they developed the "Gold of the Egyptians"/handmaiden argument saying philosophy should be preserved because it contained truths from God, then they happily preserved a whole swathe of philosophy and other works on this basis, including stuff that actually contradicted their religion. Have you got it now, because explaining this to you is getting a bit like trying to teach a pig to sing?
Therefore the philosophy of Pagans would naturally be viewed by many Christians as associated with their paganism, and therefore heretical.
Wrong. Just. wrong. Completely wrong. Again, you can read stuff like Lucretius' De Rerum Natura, despite it containing stuff that contradicted Christianity, because a long successio of Christian scribes considered it worth preserving regardless of it being "heretical". Because they valued the inherent worth of philosophy and felt it worthy of preserving. This is FACT and you trying to pretend something else happened and your whole fantasy about them suppressing these works and not preserving them is contradicted by this FACT. If that were true, you wouldn't be able to read that work or thousands like it. How long do I have to keep rubbing your stupid nose in this reality before you realise your fantasy is total bullshit? They didn't suppress this stuff. They preserved and used it. "Gold of the Egyptians". "David used Goliath's sword". Try to understand before we all die of old age, laughing at how dumb you are.
And we are not just talking of ancient Greek texts, we are talking of Roman literature all the way up to the fall of the west, much of it extremely hostile to Christianity blaming it for the decline of the empire, yet almost nothing from these writing survive today.
Yes, I was in a university library yesterday in the classics section. I was looking at shelves and shelves of that "almost nothing". If they were trying to suppress that Greek philosophy and its Roman successors they did a really bad job of it. They didn't preserve pagan works attacking them? Gosh, what a surprise. Does this mean they suppressed all "pagan" philosophy? No it doesn't, as those shelves and shelves of works preserved by Christian scribes because of that "Gold of the Egyptians" principle that I keep explaining to you shows. As David C. Lindberg also says. And as Edward Grant says. And as Michael Haren says. And as every single scholarly expert on ancient and medieval thought says. How long do I have to keep showing you that you're wrong before it finally sinks in? Exactly how dumb are you?
As Ramsay MacMullen writes in "Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries"
"Cicero was sponged out from the vellum to make room for the hundredth copy of
Augustine's meditation on the psalms."
Yes, this is why we have no works by Cicero. Oh wait, hang on ... we have over eighty of them. How can this be? Didn't the long succession of Christian scribes who are responsible for preserving those works get the memo about how they were meant to be "sponging out" Cicero to copy Augustine's meditations on the psalms? Could it be possible that you are indulging in moronic quote mining to prop up a totally erroneous position that is complete and utter bullshit?
Other examples are the Archimedes Palimpsest, which originally contained several works by Archimedes, including the only known copy of "The Method" , overwritten by religious text in 1229.
And, right on cue, we get the inevitable reference to the Archimedes palimpsest - something morons-without-a-clue all wheel out at around this point in their public humiliation. How does the fact that the text that was overwritten was one copied by a Christian scribe a couple of centuries earlier fit with your little fantasy? Was that scribe yet another one of the thousands that didn't get the memo about how he shouldn't be copying Archimedes but should actually have been sponging his work out? The other day I was looking at a facsimile of another palimpsest. This one was a Fourteenth Century alchemical text which had been written over a Twelfth Century prayer book. Does this mean (a) Christian scribes in the Fourteenth Century hated prayer books and suppressed prayer, preferring alchemy to all forms of religion or (b) old parchment got recycled because making new parchment was expensive and time consuming?
Try to use your brain.
is it your claim that libraries in ancient Rome were never burned by Christians?
We know various ancient libraries got burned before Christianity. Is it your claim that this is evidence pagans hated philosophy and wanted to suppress it?
is it your claim that new converts to Christianity were not encouraged to burn their pagan libraries? Is it your claim that the home of known pagans were not looted by Christians and their libraries burned?
Is it your claim that because some Christians at one point did these things, this shows that all Christians hated pagan learning and destroyed it all? If so, how do you explain those stacks of books of ancient literature and philosophy that I was walking through at the university of Sydney yesterday? Did copies of those works fall from heaven?
you are continuing to claim the Christians preserved all of it
Garbage. What I am trying to explain to you, in an effort that is increasingly similar to talking to a tree, is that they didn't suppress all of it. In fact, they didn't suppress it at all (though, as Grant notes, they could have). They preserved as much of it as they could. Some of it was still lost, but that's true of many ancient works, including many ancient Christian works. In the Ninth Century the Greek patriarch wrote his Bibliotheca - a collection of 279 reviews of books he had read. The majority of them were Christian works. And the majority of those are now lost. Does this mean the wicked Christians were suppressing their own books or does it mean something else?
Again, try to use your brain.
And you base your claims on a few selective quotes
Bullshit. They are not "selective quotes" they are key texts from the most influential thinkers of the time which shaped the attitudes of those who came after them. As evidenced by those stacks of ancient Greek and Roman works I was walking through yesterday. Or did the centuries worth of thousands upon thousands of Christian scribes who preserved those works also not get the memo that they were meant to be "sponging them out"? Did they only pay attention to my "selective quotes" as well? And have I used mind-control rays to warp the perspective of the leading scholars in the field who I quoted in my last post, making them agree with me? Should I go to every university on the planet where what I am saying is taught and tell them that they should stop because a random bigoted internet clown without a clue thinks they are all working from "selective quotes"?
You can't help being dumb Mark, but being obstinate in the face of clear evidence you are wrong is increasingly pathetic. Give up. You've lost.
And while I'm on the subject of your stupidity:
Also I now know what Christians mean when they talk of conversations with obnoxious, arrogant, asshole atheists who use insult as an argument.
Yes, because I only use insults and haven't used detailed reference to relevant source material, arguments based on 25+ years of academic study in this field and quotes and references to the leading experts in the world on this subject. Just insults. I find that clowns like you resort to this pathetic whine when are are pretty much whipped. Looks like we're there. Go away you pathetic irrational fundamentalist moron.
I had already invalidated your "point" with my single example
Oh please. We have parts of four books of Epicurus' On Nature from those papyri. We have literally hundreds of thousands of other works thanks to Christian scribes. You would have to be on some strong delusion-inducing drugs to somehow believe the former "invalidates" the fact of the latter. Are you actively trying to embarrass yourself?
have you never heard of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri Tim? It's essentially an Egyptian garbage dump in which thousands more classical Greek and Roman texts were found?
Yes Mark, I have. Tell me, how many works of philosophy that we don't have from other sources ie those silly old Christian scribes (you know, the stuff that is relevant here) were amongst them? What's that? None? Gosh.
Admittedly most are not strictly philosophical in nature, being mostly history, poetry, comedy and literary works, but some are
None of them are unknown to us from other copies - made by those silly Christian scribes. Try to concentrate because pointing out your drooling blunders is getting tedious.
and all of these types of works can have philosophical implications
God, that is just pathetic. You must realise how ridiculous this kind of desperate scrabbling for relevance looks. PS Some of the Oxyrhynchus are Christian texts we have no other sources for? What does that tell you?
I am interesting in talking about the mountain range of all texts that existed prior to Christianity, and how much was destroyed
Your whole fantasy is undermined by the fact that, as Grant says, they could have suppressed ALL pagan philosophy, but they didn't. For your claims to work we need to have NO pagan philosophy or just chance finds like the Herculanean material. The fact we have hundreds of thousands of works preserved by these scribes proves your claims to be babbling gibberish.
Give up. Seriously, you're just humiliating yourself.
The blundering hilarity continues ....
You truly have the defensive nature of someone that hasn't completed middle school, and I am growing a bit tired of it.
There is nothing "defensive" about it. And I make no apologies with treating an ignorant self-deluded bumbling idiot who is so deluded he's actually pompous into the bargain with total scorn and derision. So suck it up princess.
The second point is that knowing facts about history, and being able to process all those facts into reasonable assessments about what they say about the causes and repercussions of certain events are two completely different skill sets ... you seem completely unable to draw reasonable conclusions from those facts.
Is that so, you fatuous little wanker? And how about Professor David C. Lindberg? Is the Hilldale Professor Emeritus of History of Science and past Director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities also incapable of drawing reasonable conclusions from the facts? Because the conclusions he draws are the same as mine. How about Dr Michael Haren? Is the lecturer in Medieval History at University College Dublin and author of Medieval Thought: The Western Intellectual Tradition from Antiquity to the Thirteenth Century similarly unable to draw reasonable conclusions from the facts? Because the conclusions he draws are the same as mine. Or what about Professor Edward Grant? Is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, also unable to draw these reasonable conclusions? Because the conclusions he draws are the same as mine. Here's that quote from Grant again for you:
With the total triumph of Christianity at the end of the fourth century, the Church might have reacted against pagan learning in general, and Greek philosophy in particular, finding much in the latter that was unacceptable or perhaps even offensive. They might have launched a major effort to suppress pagan learning as a danger to the Church and its doctrines. But they did not.
They did NOT. Keep reading that sentence Mark. It's amazing how these leading scholars and every single professional scholar in the field are wrong (since I'm simply presenting you with the consensus of scholarship) but random internet boob, bumblin' Mark Beronte, is right. Someone notify the George Sarton Medal committee. Tell them we have a new winner.
No one is saying Christians were hostile to ALL pagan philosophy
Well, no-one except the clown who wrote this:
to deny the fact that this was a time when Christianity not only suppressed all other religions, BUT PHILOSOPHY ITSELF, is to deny reality
Recognise that quote Mark?
Of course, you've been forced to retreat from that stupid statement and now admit that Christians didn't suppress "philosophy itself" but actually preserved vast amounts of it. So now you've fallen back to a lesser claim that there was a supposed "mountain range" of other philosophy that they didn't preserve and actively destroyed.
This is what you need to prove. So far you've utterly failed to do so. Anyone with a clue will know why, but it's funny to watch you thrashing around trying to prove something that simply isn't true. Thus your bungled attempt at referring to the Archimedes palimpsest (Bzzzt! Wrong!) and the Oxyrhynchus Papyri (Bzzzt! Wrong again!)
The Dunning-Kruger is strong with this one. Keep thrashing around Mark - it's funny to watch an idiot who has no idea how wrong they are.
If I had meant ALL philosophy, I would have wrote ALL philosophy Tim.
So if you meant "SOME philosophy" why didn't you write "SOME philosophy Mark? You wrote "Christianity not only suppressed all other religions, BUT PHILOSOPHY ITSELF". I realise that the masses of evidence that I've presented has shown how ridiculous this statement is and that you're now deperately looking for a back-hatch to wriggle out of, but please don't pretend I or anyone here is so stupid that we can't see what you originally meant by "PHILOSOPHY ITSELF".
They did not suppress PHILOSOPHY ITSELF" it in any sense. They didn't even suppress "SOME philosophy". They didn't suppress philosophy at all.
This is why every time you've been challenged to produce any evidence they did, you've come up with nothing but bluster, spluttering and hand waving. You've produced nothing except irrelevant stuff about temples being closed and (public) pagan cults being banned. So why not anything about (some) philosophy being banned as well? It's not like Christian emperors, Church fathers or bishops were shy about passing laws to ban things or declaring stuff they didn't like to be anathema. So where are the bans on "(some) philosophy"?
You can't produce them because they don't exist. Because, as I've explained to you and as the quotes I've given from Lindberg, Grant and Haren have detailed, the guys who presented the "Gold of the Egyptians"/handmaiden idea won the day and philosophy was preserved to be used, not suppressed or destroyed.
Which is why your feeble admission that "certain works of ancient Greek philosophy survived the ages in Monasteries" is so monumentally pathetic. No Mark, virtually every single work of ancient Greek and Roman science and philosophy that we have, along with almost every poem, play, satire or letter we have from the ancient world - a vast corpus of hundreds of thousands of texts - survived in those monasteries. Downplaying that in a feeble attempt at salvaging something from the wreckage your arguments have been reduced to is simply sad.
As is your continued snivelling about what a big meanie I am for not being patient with a fatuous, obstinate idiot. And the final little bit of straw-manning where you burble some bullshit about how I'm on a "mission of convincing the world that Christianity is a tolerant and knowledge loving institution who all alone, saved the written works of a culture they despised". Twisted words aside, the historical facts are they did save the most significant written works of the ancient world. Your ludicrous little hissy fit at the end of your rant about how I'm going to usher in a theocracy by merely saying what every historian on the planet acknowledges shows how far off into la-la land you've danced.
But I will be saving this exchange as yet another exhibit in my growing collection of examples of how emotional clinging to pseudo historical myths and fables can make so-called "rationalists" into doctrinaire fanatical idiots that would put the stupidity of Creationists to shame.
Hey Mark,
Sorry, but to anyone who's been following the conversation (as I've been doing from the beginning) it's fairly obvious which of you two is way out of depth and has been forced to resort to some rather high-pitched whining about tone.
When the religious whine about the "tone" of the New Atheists, it already sounds pretty pathetic. To hear it from someone who purports to be rationalists, it's just sad.
So next time: don't make knee-jerk assertions without checking your facts. Good luck.
"And this is only going 3 posts back"
Before you get too worked up with your little lessons in politeness, Mark, how about you go all the way back to your first post. You know, the one where you smeared my simple presentation of the accepted scholarship on these matters as me peddling some kind of "agenda". And where you slandered me as having "an open hostility to atheists .... while at the same time claiming to be one". I was supposed to respond to this ridiculous slander with, what, joy and scrupulous politeness?
That was how you started things. Then as I demolished your silly caricature of history and exposed your lack of understanding of the period and relevant source material, all you could think of doing was responding with obstinate bluster and fatuous, blundering attempts at pretending you actually had a grasp of this subject. Not exactly something that endears people who are clearly out of their depth to those who actually know their stuff.
So spare me the weak little whimpering sermons, sunshine. I give back the level of respect that I get - you started off giving none and therefore you got none back. So don't whine to me if I gave you a lesson in real scholarship and didn't sprinkle you with flower petals and chocolates while I did so. You got what you deserved. Get a clue before trying to discuss history again.
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The winning ticket in Wednesday's $550 million Powerball drawing could be worth as much as $30 million less if it's purchased in New Jersey rather than Texas.
The winner of the Powerball lottery will receive a lump sum of $360 million before state and city taxes are deducted. Some states charge both residents and nonresident ticket-buyers state-level income tax on lottery winnings, while others don't. That could mean clearing as much as $270 million in some states or as little as $231 million in New Jersey or $238 in New York, according to USAMega.com, a national lottery resource. Of course, the final IRS bill could end up cutting that total down even further. The jackpot is worth the most in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Washington State, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and New Hampshire, the seven states that don't tax Powerball winnings.
Big spenders should also beware: States have wildly different rates of sales and property tax. Tennessee, for instance, has the highest combined state and local sales tax rate in the U.S., according to a recent report by the Tax Foundation, a research group. A 7% sales tax and an average 2.45% local sales tax brings the total to over 9%, the foundation says. "If you win the lottery and you decide to buy a lot of taxable products, you're going to pay more for them," says Gerald Prante, economics professor at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Va., and a former tax consultant. New York residents pay the most property tax — an amount that works out to about 12.8% of their income — while Alaskans pay 7% of their income, the Tax Foundation says. See How to Spend a $500 Million PowerballJackpot
New York is one of the worst states in the country to buy a winning lottery ticket in. A New Yorker or even a visitor to the Big Apple who purchases the winning ticket in Manhattan would still have to pay the 8.82% New York state tax and the 3.87% New York City tax, giving an immediate lump sum of $217 million, according to USAMega.com. "If you purchase your ticket in New York State, you pay those taxes even if you live out of state," says Carolyn Hapeman, a spokesperson for New York's State Lottery. That said, the final end-of-year tax bill will obviously depend on gifts and charitable donations made by the Powerball winner — and whether there are multiple winners sharing the jackpot. Currently, the 35% rate is for the top federal income tax bracket, says Jamie Yesnowitz, state and local tax principal at tax consulting firm Grant Thornton in Washington, D.C.
For those who fear letters requesting financial assistance from long-lost relatives, several states allow winners to remain anonymous. They are North Dakota, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware and Kansas. Other state lottery rules vary, and some may offer to assist a winner who wishes to remain anonymous. Experts say creating a trust for the winnings could be one way to stay anonymous.For those with two homes or ideas about moving before they make their claim, experts don't recommend trying to fool authorities into thinking you live in a state with no income tax. "Keep it clean, hire the right legal team and keep a low profile," says Susan Bradley, a certified financial planner and founder of the resource center Sudden Money Institute in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. "There is no sympathy for lottery winners."
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Mmmmmmmm, shiny things....if you look real close at the reflection on the undernose, you can make out a row of parked cars. I'm in that row. Selfie! This MD-80 is Ship 426 which corresponds with tail number N426AA, delivered in November 1986 to American.
Location: SH114/Freeport Parkway
Roll out. It's time to FLY.
Location: DFW Founders' Plaza
Here's another ex-TWA MD-80 still flying for American on short final for 17C. Delivered to TWA in September 1998, she still has her TeeDub tail number N9624T but as I've posted before, ex-TWA Mad Dogs at AA have alphanumeric fleet numbers- in this case, 4XK, as opposed to a numeric fleet number that corresponds with the tail number.
American actually has two MD-80s named "Flagship Tulsa"- this is the second one, N9627R called "Flagship Tulsa II". Both aircraft honor the employees of the Tulsa heavy maintenance base for their efforts in generating $500 million in value for the airline in 2006 after a two year effort.
Location: DFW Founders' Plaza
This particular MD-83 is unique in several ways. Tail number N9405T, she is one of a small handful of MD-80s that were built in China by SAIC (Shanghai Aircraft Industries Corporation) under license from McDonnell Douglas. Built in December 1992, she was to go to CAAC, the Chinese state airline, but was cancelled and instead went to TWA. She's one of a handful of ex-TWA MD-80s still flying for American and


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White Oak soccer player MaryKate Helms has shown to be both a contributing goalkeeper and a scoring threat during her sophomore season with the Vikings.
White Oak soccer player MaryKate Helms has shown to be both a contributing goalkeeper and a scoring threat during her sophomore season with the Vikings.
On Thursday night, she was the latter.
Helms scored the game-winning goal with 9:29 left to lift White Oak to a 3-2 win over Havelock in the second round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.
The defending state champion Vikings (17-4), the second seed from the Coastal Conference, will play the winner of Wilson-Hunt and C.B. Aycock next week in the third round.
Havelock, the fourth seed from the Coastal Conference, ended 14-8 after dropping a close game to White Oak for the third time this season.
�We just fight against adversity,� Helms said. �That�s what we�ve had to do all season. We are always fighting against adversity and we always come out on top. That�s our motto.�
With the game tied at 2-2, Helms ran up toward the ball and blasted a 30-yard shot that went through the net. The score was set up following a long kick from goalkeeper Alexis Jones that sailed into Havelock�s defensive third of the field.
White Oak�s Ericca Lenhardt then played the ball, drawing Havelock goalie Amanda Alexander away from the goal. Lenhardt, Alexander and a defender then collided with the ball squirting away, only for Helms to run up and take an open shot.
�It was off Alexis� punt and we know her punts are usually strong and �Ericca just made the run and the goalie came out and deflected it,� Helms said. �I was just there to put it in.�
Helms and Jones have taken turns playing in the goal this season. White Oak coach Buddy Carroll said his decision to go with one or the other depends on the opponent�s strengths and weaknesses.
It appeared as if Carroll made the right call to have Helms be an offensive player on this night.
�I am not at all surprised (that Helms scored a big goal),� Carroll said. �MaryKate is an athlete and she�s very hungry. She knows what it means to win and to be a winner. She just wants to do her part.�
And Helms did in what was a back-and-forth match that saw both teams play with a fast-pace tempo.
�It was good soccer. I don�t think you�re going to see a game this good in the championship game,� Havelock coach Jeffrey Harris said. �It seems like the only people who can take our conference out is our conference.
�Both sides played hard. It was just good, hard soccer.�
And the Vikings had enough down the stretch to take the lead and then hold the Rams back to emerge victorious. White Oak was never threatened against after Helms� deciding goal.
�We went a little bit more defensive just to make sure there were no lanes that were open,� Carroll said.
The Vikings also wanted to keep the ball away from Havelock in the waning minutes.
�Everybody just dropped and defended,� Helms said. �We just kept the ball in their half and tried to get the ball down to the corner and hold it.�
And then the final whistle came.
�This just tells us that we can fight through adversity,� said midfielder Mary Gorry, the Vikings� only senior. �It gives us hope that if we platy like this, we can keep going.�
Havelock certainly never stopped after falling behind 1-0 and 2-1 in the first half.
Natalie Johnson scored Havelock�s initial goal.
Down 2-1, the Rams� Erica Quinn tied the game with seven seconds left in the opening half after she played a loose ball and shot from 18 yards out.
�We felt like everything was going good,� Harris said.


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Report: Cavs, Wolves have 'handshake' agreement on Love deal' | Sarver feels Suns' offer to Bledsoe is fair | LeBron sheds carbs, pounds for next season? | Don't plan on a T-Mac comeback | Nets' Lopez 'fully cleared'
No. 1: Report: Cavs, Wolves have 'handshake agreement' on Love trade — Last we all heard on the Kevin Love/Minnesota Timberwolves/Cleveland Cavaliers trade saga was that team owner Glen Taylor said a trade of Love was likely to happen by the end of August. Today's update doesn't do anything to refute what Taylor said. ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst, in an interview with ESPN Radio 98.7 FM in New York, said that the Wolves and Cavs basically have a handshake agreement on a trade (fast-forward to the 9:39 mark to hear the details). Here's a transcript of what Windhorst said in the interview:
The deal is done but not done. The teams have agreed, but they can't say they have agreed and they can't agree, because we're in this weird moratorium period because you can't trade Andrew Wiggins until the 23rd of this month.
So, between now and then – which is, what, 19 days – could some of that happen? Could a team come in with a trade that maybe Minnesota doesn't see? Yes, it could happen. So therefore it is not done.
But essentially, before the papers have been signed, there is this handshake agreement that Kevin Love to the Cavs, Andrew Wiggins to the Timberwolves, and I believe Thaddeus Young will end up in Minnesota either as part of a separate deal or as part of a three-way deal. Possibly, Anthony Bennett, who's on the Cavs right now could get re-routed to Philadelphia in part of a deal for Thaddeus Young. There will be draft picks involved.
But essentially what you need to know if you're an NBA fan, Kevin Love is going to be on the Cavs barring anything unforeseen, and and Andrew Wiggins, No. 1 overall pick, is going to be on Minnesota.
No. 2: Sarver: Suns gave Bledsoe a 'fair offer' — Phoenix Suns young star guard Eric Bledsoe is one of the last big names left on the free-agent market and while he reportedly got an offer from his incumbent team to return, he hasn't done so yet. There's been talk of his relationship with the team nearing an 'irreparable' state and Bledsoe feeling that the team is using his restricted free-agent status against him in negotiations. Team owner Robert Sarver, in an interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 FM last Friday, said he and the team have given Bledsoe a fair offer thus far:
Phoenix reportedly offered the combo guard a four-year, $48 million deal in the middle of July, while the four-year pro apparently was looking for a maximum offer of five years and $80 million.
Sarver was asked Friday if he thought Phoenix's initial offer was fair.
"We think it's a fair offer. I think you could argue, you know, I mean some would say it's maybe a little high; some would say it's low," the owner said. "What's fair is important to us, and also important to him — him and his agent. It's not necessarily us to determine what he thinks is fair; it's him to determine that."
"We're a professional organization, and he's a professional player," he said. "And he's a high-character guy. And his agent (Rich Paul), whose main client LeBron (James), is the utmost competitor and professional.
"As an organization, we do our 100 percent best to get behind the player and support him as best as possible. And what professional players do, regardless of how their contract works out, when it's time to play, they play as hard as they can — for themselves, their teammates and for the organization. So what takes place before a contract is signed usually doesn't have a lot of bearing on what takes place after a contract is signed — when you have a high-character athlete and a high-quality organization."
Sarver also refused to agree with the notion that Bledsoe's agent is inexperienced and over his head.
In closing, the owner also tried to put the whole negotiations process into perspective.
"One thing fans have got to remember is: Players, their careers are very short," he said. "And at any given moment, they could be a lot shorter. You don't know. And so, they're trying to maximize what they can make. They're not like movie stars where they can go cut a box office hit when they're 45 or 55 years old like John (Gambadoro) is. They want to maximize what they can make. And that's OK."
No. 3: LeBron sheds carbs, extra pounds in prep for 2014-15? — The buzz last night in NBA circles of the Internet was the image of a much thinner looking LeBron James that surfaced on his Instagram.
Cliff Pinkard of The Plain Dealer chimes in on LeBron's new look, which may be attributed to him cutting out carbohydrates from his diet this offseason in an attempt to get ready for his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers:
James is listed at 6-8, 250 pounds on the Cavaliers' roster (although many believe he was closer to 265). Throughout his career he's been a mass of coiled steel, a unique physical specimen with unparalleled speed and agility.
But, as Sports Illustrated points out, he is getting older … he'll turn 30 in December. SI says there were some "whispers" last season on whether James had slowed a bit.
Perhaps James took that to heart. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com tweeted Monday that James has cut carbs from his diet and has dropped "significant" weight. In the photo he does appear much trimmer.
SI says stars such as Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Steve Nash also adjusted their diets in the past in order to prolong their careers.
That has to be the hope for James. Carrying fewer pounds could result in more speed and quickness and less stress on his knees. Some might wonder if it will result in the loss of some strength, however.
It appears Cavs fans shouldn't worry about James showing up to training camp out of shape.
No. 4: McGrady enjoying retirement life — Former All-Star Tracy McGrady hasn't logged a minute on an NBA court since getting some garbage time in Game 3 of the 2013 Finals as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. Since then, McGrady has retired from the NBA and, after a brief foray into the world of minor league baseball, is more or less done with pro sports of any kind. In a conversation with BasketballInsiders.com's Alex Kennedy, McGrady talks about being retired, his career and more:
While he says that he could still play in the NBA or an overseas league, and admits that he sometimes wants to get back on the court, he's no longer interested in putting in the necessary work to continue his career.
"I am [at peace with my decision to retire]," McGrady told Basketball Insiders. "I am. At times I get that itch, the urge to go back and play. I still can, I'm young enough to still play. My body feels good; I haven't played in a couple of years so my body feels great. It's just the mental part of [not] having that drive to get back in that type of shape and to put that type of time and focus into it."
He loves that he's able to spend more time with his family. McGrady says he completely understands why someone like Ray Allen is unsure about continuing his career, as the veteran sharpshooter weighs retirement to spend more time with his family versus playing the 2014-15 season with a contender.
"[Family] weighs a lot," McGrady said. "Your kids get older, they get involved in more activities, and you want to be there to see them, whether its sports or school activities. You want to be there for those moments. You don't want to miss out. You don't get those back. I understand [what Ray Allen is going through]. … My kids help me reflect back [on my career]. My boys like to watch old video tapes of me. I [reflect] all the time."
"Looking back on my career, to be one of the best players in the world, to lead the best players in the world in scoring two times out of the league, I worked extremely hard," McGrady said. "You don't get there just by having God given talent, you have to work your ass off. … It's cliché but you just put the time in and put the work in. Always believe in you; always believe in your self-confidence and what you can do. Do the necessary things, take care of your body, get a good trainer and whatever you put in your body, make sure it's good things. With that being said, just bust your ass on the basketball court and when you're not playing games, away from the game, put that extra work in and perfect your craft."
No. 5: Nets' Lopez cleared to play — Last season, the Nets got just 17 games out of All-Star center Brook Lopez before a season-ending foot injury sidelined him. As Brooklyn gets ready to gear up for training camp in a few months, they'll have some good news to look forward to. According to ESPNNewYork.com's Mike Mazzeo, Lopez is has been 'fully cleared' from his various foot injuries:
Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez, who has been rehabbing after undergoing foot and ankle surgery, told reporters in Russia that he has been "fully cleared for play."
"I was fully cleared for play and everything about a week and a half ago now," said Lopez, who is visiting the country with his twin brother, Portland Trail Blazers center Robin Lopez. "… Now it's time to get back in shape."
Lopez, 26, suffered a season-ending right foot injury on Dec. 20 in Philadelphia. He underwent surgery to repair the fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot on Jan. 4. He also underwent a second procedure, called a first metatarsal osteotomy, in which another bone was repositioned in his foot to unload and protect the injured area.
Then, on March 3, Lopez had surgery to repair a torn tendon and tighten lateral ligaments in his left ankle. He had been doing some shooting and workout drills prior to being fully cleared.
SOME RANDOM HEADLINES: Wizards star John Wall talks about his new line of shoes … The Hawks have reportedly hired Neven Spahija as their new assistant coach … Wolves big man Ronny Turiaf has spent his offseason doing an internship with an ad agency in Minneapolis … Kevin Durant could earn $30 million annually if he chooses to endorse Under Armour brand apparel next …


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Book are great and I don't mean to bash them here. However, I want to make the point that the newer generations aren't reading anymore – they are watching more….
This has a significant impact on how students will learn. EnglishCentral realizes that and our approach IS video. Think of it this way – each video on EnglishCentral IS a book. So move over Gutenberg, we don't need the printing press any more!
It was difficult at the beginning for the book (see the very funny video below) and so it is with video based learning. But it's coming on in leaps and bounds. Read this post on Extensive Watching which outlines how videos can indeed succeed as "books".
On EnglishCentral though, you can have the best of both worlds! We have lots of book as videos. Check them out through this topic. Many leveled readers for your enjoyment. But I'll say it again – move over Gutenberg!


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Farmers feed us—and we need more of them! We offer programs and field days for aspiring, new, and experienced farmers who grow good food for their communities.
Farmland is precious and timeless—the source of all sustenance. We work with farmland owners and with new farmers who want to steward farmland for the future
Food links us to the earth and to each other. Learn more about ways you can access delicious, healthy foods raised by farmers in your community.