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Smart Shopping: Holiday & Seasonal Items On Sale Now to Use Year Round
One of the best reasons to reserve some of your spending money until after the holidays is the sales. This is the time when retailers are discounting all of those seasonal and gift items that lined their shelves. While there are a lot of undeniably holiday themed items, some things can be incorporated into your home year round.
• Alphabet Gift Box from Not on the High Street — Perfect for gift giving all year round.
$4.33 $3.46
• Birch Gift Boxes from Crate & Barrel — Use them for gifts or to organize small things in your home.
$2.95 - $4.95 $1.48 - $2.48
• iPhone 4S Power Sleeve from Restoration Hardware — Slip this on your phone the next time your battery starts to drain.
$59.00 $29.49
• Tric LED Candle from CB2 — Who says faux candles are only for Christmas?
$12.95 $6.95
• Areaware Alarm Dock from Nordstrom — A perfect opportunity to snag one of these phone docks for a fraction of their usual price.
$40.00 $29.98
• Triangle Lattice Throw from West Elm — There are still a few more months of winter so this blanket will come in handy.
$89.00 $39.99
• Gold Lotus Ceramic Stool from World Market — Gold may associated with the holidays but it'll work in your home all year round, too.
$89.99 $49.99
• 7-Piece Red and White Fondue Set from Crate & Barrel — You can fondue any time of the year so this is a great chance to pick up a cheap little set for your next party.
$16.95 $9.95
• Holiday Silicone Starburst Spatula from Williams-Sonoma — One can never have too many spatulas in the kitchen.
$10.00 $4.99
• Gold Lacquered Tray from Pier 1 Imports — A shiny little tray for serving breakfast in bed or topping a glass table or ottoman.
12.00 $8.98
(Images: As credited above.)


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Gift ideas for kids of all ages
I am sure many of you are in the same boat as me. Over the course of the last few years, it appears all my friends are getting married and having kids. And now comes the fun part: every weekend having the days you used to spend drinking rosé in the sun at lunch with your girlfriends being replaced with baby showers, christenings and kids' birthday parties. Considering how many of these blessed events I seem to attend, one thing never seems to get any easier: what do I buy the little rug rat? Having very little in common with a 4-year-old boy and having been a 6-year-old girl nearly 100 years ago, it makes it extremely difficult to transport myself into that mindset to think what they might like to receive.
Can't relate? Try this. It's your child's 3rd birthday in a matter of days, you have a screaming baby in one arm while chasing your older "angel" down the street. It's been a good three days since running a brush through your hair due to pick-ups, drop-offs, late-night feeds and restarting the latest Peppa Pig DVD. On top of this, you are now expected to host a third birthday party for 20 of your family's closest friends. What are you going to buy your baby that will be well received and easy to wrap?
Whether it be a friend's child or your own, I have taken one for the team here in breaking down a range of age-appropriate gifts for children no matter the sex of the kid, their hobbies or your price range. You're welcome.
0-2 years
Pictured, left to right: Elephant soft toy from David Jones, Baby's record book by Amy Nebens and Claire Garland from Dymocks, Bubba Blue towel from David Jones, Kmart foam play mat, Bee Grab rattle from David Jones, Bubba Blue pillow from Myer, Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram from Dymocks, Kmart night light, Seed t-shirt, Bockers & Pony gift box from David Jones, Kmart truck toy, Little Linen comforter from Myer,
2-4 years
Pictured, left to right: Ralph Lauren jacket from David Jones, Bardot Junior t-shirt, Kmart rocket play set, swimming goggles from David Jones, Ralph Lauren trench from David Jones, Kmart rocking horse, Baby toy from David Jones, Ballet shoes from Myer, ABC by Alison Jay from David Jones, Unicorn paint box from Kmart, Bear Zoo backpack from David Jones, Ty toy from Kidstuff.
5-7 years
Pictured, left to right: Koalas Eat Gum Leaves by Laura Bunting from Dymocks, Bonds dress, Sweatshirt from David Jones, 8-ball from Kidstuff, Witchery boots, Crayola box from Big W, Trick sticks toy from Kmart, Razor scooter from Big W, Bonds shirt, Mojo t-shirt from David Jones, The Wiggles toy from Kidstuff.
8+ years
Pictured, left to right: H&M sweater, World globe from Kidstuff, Monopoly from Kmart, Prouds watches, Kmart backpack, Nintendo Switch from EB Games, Country Road dress, Westfield gift card, Kmart basketball hoop.

subset: commoncrawl


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What you missed while amassing your army of humanzees in anticipation of the Deadspin power vacuum...
- MLB: Indians beat Tigers for the 1,000th time, Paul Byrd gets 100th career win. The numbers! So round and approachable.
- NBA: Doug Collins will not revive the '80s after all. But I bought all these slap bracelets!
- Boxing: Floyd Mayweather Jr. retires... again! An illustrious career in pro wrestling awaits. Or maybe just boxing when he comes back in two months.


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Wabash Featured in November Issue of Details Magazineby Jim Amidon • October 17, 2005 Share:
Details magazine editor-at-large Jeff Gordinier had a wild idea last summer. He thought it would be a gas to spend a week at Wabash College and tell his readers, men ages 20 to 40, what it's like to attend a college for men.
His discoveries — and his story — are featured in a six-page spread in the November issue of Details, now on sale in bookstores and news stands across the country.
The piece, which begins on page 198 and appears in approximately 600,000 magazines, was developed by Gordinier after he visited campus September 16-21.
Editors of the New York-based magazine pitch the story with a bit of a sense of humor: "At one of America's last all-male colleges, taking out the female factor has preserved political incorrectness and turned linebackers into poetry buffs."
Gordinier's observations will be the stuff of much discussion on and off the Wabash campus for weeks to come:
"Do men learn, develop, and behave differently when they go to college in the company of only men? It's a touchy question, one that can rapidly suck your wading boots into the quicksand of gender-war dogma from both the left and the right, but Wabash College is one of the best places in America to explore it," he writes.
During his five-day stay, Gordiner attended a football game, fraternity party, and eight classes. He also interviewed students, alumni, faculty, and staff for the story. He continues: "Wabash College doesn't merely happen to be an all-male college; it's a place where nearly every encounter and activity turns into an opportunity for the contemplation of maleness."
Featured in the story are discussions Gordinier had with President Andy Ford, religion professor Stephen Webb, classics professor David Kubiak, English professor Joy Castro, admissions counselor Damon Howell, senior Russ Harbaugh, and junior Dunmomi Owolabi.
Gordinier found life at Wabash to be quite different from what he's read recently about college men: "The average American 21st-century Joe College, we are told in countless op-ed lamentations, is a spoiled, entitled, intellectually lazy, ego-stroked, MTV-distracted layabout who wants to file a lawsuit every time a professor is 'mean' to him. I did not meet that student at Wabash College. Wabash gentlemen seem not only to sustain direct criticism from their professors, but to welcome it."


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European Commission
Press release
Brussels, 7 May 2013
Somalia Conference: New EU support for governance, justice and police
Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, today announced that the European Union will further support the justice system and police force in Somalia with €44 million. The pledge was made during the Somalia conference in London, which aims to provide support for the Government of Somalia as they rebuild their country after two decades of conflict.
The EU has been a long-time partner to Somalia, with more than 1.2 billion euro provided since 2008 to support the Somali people basic needs and improve the security of the country.
Security goes hand in hand with justice and the rule of law. A credible justice system will be crucial to establishing a safer environment, rebuilding the trust of the people in the state and reconciling the nation. Equal and fair access to justice and an independent judiciary system are a pre-requisite for a viable state.
These €44 million will be used for the strengthening of governance, including the police and justice. Half of the amount will be for security sector reform, to train and equip police officers, judiciary and custodial corps, among others.
"In Somalia, like anywhere else, there can be no development without security. Over the last year, we have seen some encouraging advances. Larger territories are under the authority of the Federal Government, displaced people are able to go back home. Our new support demonstrates the EU's continues to be the first partner of Somalia's return to stability, security and prosperity", said Commissioner Piebalgs.
"We are granting this new assistance to show once again the EU's commitment to helping the Somali people to support good governance, security, justice and the police. While the situation in Somalia has improved considerably, great challenges remain. We will continue to work with the Somali Government on the reconstruction of the state, which must be a Somali-owned and Somali-led process", said High Representative Catherine Ashton.
Though security is vital, it is just part of the picture. The Somalia Conference will be one of a sequence of events in 2013 to strengthen stability and security in the country, including an EU-hosted conference in September on the New Deal for fragile states and Somalia's "Transition Compact" – i.e. the country's reconstruction plan.
Somalia has suffered two decades of conflict, worsening droughts and heavy flooding. The EU is working to prevent the impact of droughts, which are a recurrent phenomenon in the Horn of Africa and leave people vulnerable to food security. In addition, 50,000 households directly benefited from support to the rehabilitation of irrigation and flood control infrastructure in 2010.
The EU has been particularly active in supporting the AMISOM, an African Union-led mission, mandated by the UN Security Council. Its initial mandate includes the provision of support to dialogue and reconciliation in Somalia, the protection of key infrastructure (e.g. government buildings and Mogadishu International Airport) to enable the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) - whose mandate expired in August 2012 when the Federal Government of Somalia was established to carry out their functions. The mandate also includes support to the implementation of the National Security and Stabilisation plan, and to disarmament and stabilisation efforts, as well as the facilitation of humanitarian operations.
Overall EU contribution amounts to over €444 million since 2007. Since late 2011, substantial progress has been achieved, as AMISOM, the Somali National Security Forces and troops aligned to the Somali Government have regained control of most of the capital of Mogadishu and other parts of the country.
Since its beginning, the EU has been one of the main funders of the operation, both through the African Peace Facility (APF), which is the EU's main instrument to support Peace and Security in Africa, and through bilateral contributions of its Member States. The EU trains Somalia's national security forces through its Training Mission (EUTM Somalia) under its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Through this mission, the EU aims to help develop Somalia's security sector to ultimately hand over security responsibility to Somalis.
The mission is also contributing to the Africa-EU partnership on peace and security of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES). The strategy, adopted at the Lisbon Summit in December 2007, remains the overarching policy framework for EU-Africa relations. The JAES puts EU-Africa relations on a new footing, based on the pursuit of shared values and common interests. Both sides are determined to strengthen their cooperation as equal partners, based on this shared long-term vision for EU-Africa relations in a globalised world.
For more information
MEMO/13/407: EU development work in Somalia
Website of EuropeAid Development and Cooperation DG:
Website of the European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs:
Somalia London Conference:
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and Christopher Scott
LOWELL -- The Boston Marathon suspect who died in a gunfight early Friday morning is a Lowell Golden Gloves boxer who told The Sun in 2004 "I like the USA" after winning his first fight here.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was reportedly chased down by officials in a massive manhunt and killed. His brother, Dzhokhar, 19, is still on the run.
Tamerlan grew up in Grozny, Chechnya, the capital city of the Chechen Republic. Much of Grozny was destroyed during the Russia-Chechen conflict, and Tsarnaev and his family moved to the United States in 2003 in hopes of starting a new life, according to a Sun article from January 2004.
Tsarnaev fought in the Lowell Sun Charities Golden Gloves in the 178-pound novice class and won his fight.
"I wanted to fight in the Gloves to see how I would do," Tsarnaev told The Sun that night. "So far, so good."
He also said: "I like the USA ... America has a lot of jobs. That's something Russia doesn't have. You have a chance to make money here if you are willing to work."
Tsarnaev later represented Team New England in the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in 2009 and 2010.
John Curran, of Watertown, Tsarnaev's coach at the 2009 Nationals in Salt Lake City, recalled that Tsarnaev wasn't felling well one particular morning.
"So I went to his room and knocked on the door," Curran said.
But Curran, who knew Tsarnaev through the Somerville Boxing Club, would not connect what he saw that May day to this week's events.
"If you had asked me two days before this happened what kind of person he was, I would say terrific, talented, respectful" Curran told The Sun while under lockdown in Watertown.
Curran called Tsarnaev "a perfect physical specimen" who could walk "50 yards on his hands with boxing gloves on." Curran said he could do a full split, run real fast, do hundreds of push-ups.
"He was a European-style fighter," said Curran. "No bobbing and weaving, anything like that. He stood straight up and took the fight to the opponent.
"He also played the piano very well," said Curran. Tsarnaev also studied music at a school in Russia and played piano and violin.
Curran said boxing coaches like himself try to keep aspiring athletes off the streets, "out of drugs and alcohol.
"Just flabbergasted that this young man was having these kind of thoughts," Curran added. "He just got lost. Got lost somewhere."
Bob Russo, of Portland, Maine, is the executive director of the Lowell Sun Charities New England Golden Gloves Tournament. He told The Sun: "We're all in just a state of shock. What I remember about this young man was that he was an incredible athlete. Didn't talk a lot. Very respectful." Tommy Lee, president of the South Boston Boxing League, said Tsarnaev came to his gym in 2010 and 2011. He wasn't a daily boxer, but still a "phenomenal athlete," Lee said.
"He had great hand speed, great hand-eye coordination. Just everything you want in a boxer," Lee said. "He was very, very respectful, very courteous. He seemed like a very normal young man. There was no anger whatsoever.
"He was a bright young man and seemed to be raised right," he added. "His father was very accomplished, I was told."
Lee received a text Friday morning from one of the gym regulars, saying that Tsarnaev was the bomber and had died in a gunfight.
Lee responded with "haha."
"I thought he was joking. There was no way," Lee said. "Then I saw the most recent photograph, and my heart sunk."
Dr. Joseph Downes of Downes Chiropractic in Lowell, presented Tsarnaev with a trophy at the Lowell tournament in 2010.
"I only got to meet him minutes here and there, but I recall him listening to his coach in the corner and doing what most fighters do," Downes said. "He would listen to his coaches and try to make himself better and more effective.
"When I heard, it was shocking because Lowell boxing helps them along in life," he added. "Unfortunately, some kids get left of center and get themselves in problems."
Though Tsarnaev went to school here, the "pretty-good sized heavyweight" spoke broken English, Downes said.
"He spoke English, but not the way you and I would," he said. "He seemed to be a reasonable individual at that particular time, but something happened."
Peter Manfredo, a Rhode Island-based boxing trainer of 34 years, who traveled as a team coach with one of his own fighters and Curran and Tsarnaev on the 2009 Nationals trip to Salt Lake City. He recalled Tsarnaev as quiet and well-behaved.
"I remember (Tsarnaev) fought one time, kind of a close fight, but he lost and then he was just hanging around for the week with us after that," said Manfredo. "He seemed like a real nice kid, pretty quiet, normal. He didn't say anything like he hated America.
"But you never know what's going on in people's minds," added Manfredo. "I feel bad for those people in Boston. You just can't believe (the Tsarnaev brothers) would do something like what they did Monday. What would make them do that? I just can't understand it."
For more on this story, read Saturday's Sun or click on http://www.lowellsun.com


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Reluctant first-time cruiser Guy Wilkinson finds a lot to love on board the Sun Princess.
It's still early when a knock on my cabin door stirs me from my slumber. "Good morning, sir," says a waiter rolling past with a fully laden trolley.
Stumbling in the darkness, I watch bewildered as a decadent spread is laid out before me: Chilled champagne, smoked salmon with cream cheese, fruits and clotted cream, baked pastries and coffee. I'm confused. Hadn't I ordered breakfast for one? Has my cabin been mistaken for Keith Richards's?
Ripping open the curtains, I recoil as brilliant sunlight floods the cabin. Last night's torrential rain and raging seas have given way to still waters, blue skies and the majestic spectacle of New Zealand's Milford Sound fiords.
Wearing sunglasses and a fluffy white dressing gown, I saunter onto the balcony with a glass of chilled champagne. In the water below, a small pod of bottlenose dolphins races the ship. The air is crisp and silent. Waterfalls cascade from towering granite rock faces, their peaks dusted with snow. For a moment, all my rock star fantasies are fulfilled.
The initial torture is worth it - a dozen Hector's dolphins soon surround me.
Until now, I'd never set foot on a cruise ship. To be honest, it never appealed. But small moments like this are slowly chipping away at my resolve.
I'm a few days into a voyage around New Zealand's coast aboard the Sun Princess. At the time of its launch in 1995, it was the world's largest cruise ship. Weighing more than 77,000 tonnes, it's heavier than the QE2, equivalent to 137 fully laden Airbus A380 super-jumbos.
As you might expect of a ship of this magnitude, the facilities are astounding. It has four outdoor swimming pools, five whirlpool spas, eight restaurants, seven lounges and bars, a casino, a computerised golf centre, health spa, gym, theatre and much more.
Each day the vast program of on-board activities is listed in a newsletter known as the Princess Patter, posted to your cabin. There are movies, dance classes, fitness seminars, wine-tasting sessions, golf tournaments, art auctions, trivia and even ping-pong competitions. It's all designed to ensure boredom is virtually impossible, though looking around, it seems many are content with a novel and a good martini.
Though it's all very impressive, I had pretty much expected this from a modern cruise ship. What I hadn't anticipated is the sheer number of activities to choose from.
In the tiny town of Akaroa, about 75 kilometres from Christchurch, I opt to swim with dolphins.
Leading us offshore in a small motorboat, local guide Laura Hansen scans the waters with a pair of binoculars. It's freezing and the landscape is blanketed with fog.
Off the port side, Hansen spots movement. It's a pod of Hector's dolphins. When we pull up beside them, I'm reluctant to jump overboard; these are hardly the tropical waters of Maui. Even through my very thick wetsuit the sea is cold enough to prompt a visceral howl, but the initial torture is worth it - a dozen Hector's dolphins soon surround me. I spend almost half an hour splashing around surrounded by them, close enough to touch.
Recognised as the world's smallest dolphin species, these creatures are now on the same endangered list as the Bengal tiger and the giant panda and there are thought to be less than 7000 left in the wild. It's a privilege to have this experience and it's not one I would readily have associated with being on a cruise ship.
There are other noteworthy port excursions. In Dunedin, I ride the vintage Taieri Gorge Railway through gold rush country.
Rattling over towering viaducts, we navigate some seriously hairy terrain, the track frequently teetering on the edge of near-vertical cliff drops plunging hundreds of metres down into the mighty gorge.
With broom weed plastering the entire countryside an explosive yellow, it has to be one of the most scenic rail journeys in the country.
Back on board the ship, evening meals are an event. After a stiff Scotch or a cocktail at the Rendez-Vous bar, I head to the Regency Dining Room where the a la carte, three-course menu varies each night. Dishes range from grilled salmon or pork to vegetarian options such as spinach and ricotta ravioli or wild mushroom soup. Overall, the food is pretty good.
If you're looking to take the standard up a notch, though, you can head to the Steakhouse on the upper deck for a nominal surcharge.
Night-times are a mixed affair. In the Vista Lounge, there are musical comedy routines involving mime sketches, puppets and audience singalongs; it's not all to my taste but then it was never really aimed at a guy in his 30s prone to more raucous live musical offerings.
In the 550-seat theatre there are varietal shows including a '50s Grease-style production that warrants admiration if only for the performers managing to stay on their feet during rough swells.
My personal favourite is Movies under the Stars, where you can enjoy outdoor screenings on deck, staring up at the mammoth open-air cinema screen, beer in hand.
On my final night, I'm watching Daniel Craig in a cowboy hat shooting at aliens when my mind begins to wander.
It occurs to me I've enjoyed my week aboard the Sun Princess much more than expected.
While the financial value of mainstream cruise packages may always appeal to families and an older demographic, it's definitely a holiday you can tailor to suit your own personality. A cruise is exactly what you make of it.
Trip notes
Princess Cruises offers a range of 14-night round-trip cruises to New Zealand from Brisbane until March 2013, with fares from $1199 a person, twin share. Thirteen-night round-trip cruises to New Zealand from Sydney are priced from $1099 a person, twin share. 13 24 88, princess.com.


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Nas Featured In Kennedy Center Hip-Hop Festival In 2014
WASHINGTON — Hip-hop artists including rappers Nas and Somalia-born K'naan will take center stage in an unexpected place next year, highlighting their generation and art form alongside opera, ballet and theater at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The center, a memorial to President John F. Kennedy, announced Tuesday that its 2013-2014 season would include the weeklong festival "One Mic: Hip-Hop Culture Worldwide." It also plans to feature an international theater festival with works from at least 10 different nations and new American works commissioned in theater, opera and music.
The 2014 hip-hop festival will open with Nas rapping with musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra on music from his classic debut album "Illmatic." The festival will also feature Puerto Rican musicians Calle 13 and a graffiti exhibition.
The mix of rap, DJing and graffiti with more traditional arts at one of the nation's busiest performing arts centers will make the year unique, Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser said.
"Hip-hop is clearly something new and different for us," Kaiser said, noting the center had also created festivals around country music and gospel, which are also less familiar in its concert halls. "I think to do something very current is important. We're trying to speak to many different audiences."
The season will include more than 2,000 performances in a wide array of theater, music and dance. It includes the center's first international festival devoted to theater, featuring companies from Chile, China, Israel, Kuwait and the United Kingdom, among other places.
Separately, the Kennedy Center will host the Bolshoi ballet, which is especially notable because of recent scandal in the famed Russian dance company. In January, an assailant threw acid in the face of the company's artistic director, possibly in retaliation for his selection of certain dancers over others for coveted roles. Police in Moscow announced Tuesday that a suspect has been detained.
In musical theater, the Kennedy Center is developing a new production of Henry Krieger and Bill Russell's "Side Show," with La Jolla Playhouse – the first major revival since the musical's original 1997 run on Broadway. Oscar-winning director Bill Condon, who recently directed both parts of the "Twilight" series "Breaking Dawn" is directing the show.
Opera star Renee Fleming will lead a three-day festival of "American Voices," examining the different ways Americans sing, from country to jazz and gospel to pop.
The Washington National Opera's season at the Kennedy Center will underscore its vision to embrace American and nontraditional productions. It includes a new holiday opera for families entitled "The Lion, the Unicorn and Me," with a score by musical theater composer Jeanine Tesori. It will tell the Christmas story from the perspective of the donkey. The season also will include the East Coast premiere of "Moby-Dick," Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde," and new productions of Verdi's "The Force of Destiny" and "The Magic Flute."
Kaiser said the season endeavors to make opera "more accessible to some audiences and … more up-to-date for audiences – but also putting a focus and an emphasis on the American achievement in the opera field."
In the year ahead, the National Symphony Orchestra will host a two-week festival combining new musical works with newly commissioned choreography in "New Moves: Symphony + Dance." The orchestra also will offer an homage to George Washington in a new co-commission and a performance of "Der Rosenkavalier," featuring Renee Fleming as a tribute to Richard Strauss' 150th birthday.
This is the last full programming slate Kaiser will lead at the center before stepping down at the end of 2014.
"For me, it was a very personal season," Kaiser said, as he prepares to help hand off leadership to a new president. "Every decade or so, an institution like this needs a fresh artistic voice."


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Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of Just Wondering, Jesus and founder of the Church Wellness Project. His website is www.morningwalkmedia.com. Follow Tom on Twitter @tomehrich. Tom's posts appear via RNS.
Posts By This Author
What Might Tomorrow's Faith Community Look Like?
It would be God's incarnate presence in human life. Not the only presence, but one that many people could enter into. Not so much an institution with structures, rules, and layers of leadership, but rather a dynamic, ever-shifting community that gathered in various ways, ranging from small circles of friends to mass assemblies for special purposes.
It would look outward, unlike other human institutions that look inward. It would see people wanting to draw closer to God. It would see human needs such as grief and tragedy, hunger and hopelessness. It would see key moments in people's lives, such as partnering and parenting. It would see the ways people hurt each other and the tendency of injustice to become systemic.
5 Ways Churches Inflicted Pain on Themselves
Let's be clear: The much-heralded "decline of Christianity in America" isn't about God losing faith in humankind.
It isn't about losing our moral compass thanks to whatever you happen to loathe. It isn't about fickle millennials. It isn't about zigging trendy or zagging traditional.
In fact, I would argue that Christianity isn't in trouble at all. Churches are in trouble. Denominations are in trouble. Religious institutions like seminaries are in trouble. Professional church leaders are in trouble.
But churches can't hold God hostage.
How Ferguson and Now Baltimore Are Altering Our Perception of Law Enforcement
I enjoy cop shows on television.
My favorite is Blue Bloods, following the "Reagan" family from terrorist threats to homicides to domestic violence.
I can't imagine what it's like to be a cop. Perhaps routine marked by bursts of frenzy, some of it life-threatening. One's hometown seen through the lens of crime, tragedy, and evil. Low pay, high risk.
I like Blue Bloods because it shows upright law enforcement taking "Protect and Serve" seriously and making brave and ethical choices.
These shows are quite unrealistic, of course. Crime doesn't get solved that easily or snap decisions made that wisely.
I don't think, however, that I realized until recently how separated from reality those fictional accounts have been. As police shootings of unarmed citizens go viral, as minorities talk of long-standing police brutality, as we watch guards beating prisoners, and as federal law enforcement engages in creepy surveillance, internal corruption, and the arming of local police as military commandos, the veil is lifted.
Now we see in our own American law enforcement the same brutality and power-madness that have marked corrupt societies we supposedly surpassed, from the secret police in Eastern Europe to uniformed thugs in South America.
I find it confusing. Not the discovery that TV isn't real, but to see how low we have fallen. Has this brutality been the dark side of police work all along?
What Struggling Congregations Need to Renew Their Churches
I am in a lovely college town to help a congregation discern its path forward.
It faces challenges that many church leaders will recognize: leadership, finances, isolation from the surrounding community, not enough young and middle-age adults to carry the congregation forward.
It also has pluses. The members aren't deeply divided or mired in distrust and disdain. They aren't afraid of change. They don't bury the future in grand laments about a lost "golden age."
I think they have a good shot at turning a corner and building a healthy next phase. I hear reports from across the nation that things are improving for Christian congregations. A new generation of clergy is exploring new ideas. Fresh energy is emerging. Denial is losing its hold, as congregations whose average age is 60 to 65 realize they must change or die.
Denominations are slower to adapt, but they, too, are moving forward in practical ways such as training in leadership and stewardship, and flexible deployment of resources.
Yet for this fresh day to last, church leaders will need to embrace a truth that goes beyond organizational development and resolving present issues. It's a truth that many congregations simply cannot hear.
That truth is this: There is too much shallowness, not enough depth.
Over the years, in a process that isn't at all unusual, we have equated faith with attending Sunday worship, maybe pitching in on a committee, and forming friendships within the fellowship. People enjoy belonging to the congregation. They radiate a palpable joy in being together. They seem content.
5 Things to Watch as the 2016 Campaign Gets Underway
As presidential candidacies multiply and campaigning accelerates, we can expect much tawdriness to occur. These are difficult times in American democracy.
Money will pour into negative campaigning and ideological posturing. Lies will become the norm. Every word will evoke counterattack, and facts will lose their currency. Barbed sound bites will be mistaken for wisdom. Bullies claiming to be "Christian" will be among the loudest. On both sides.
What are people of faith to do?
We can assume, first of all, that truth-telling will be absent all around. We, then, need to be truth-seekers, reading beyond the sound bites and toxic jabs for actual insights into what candidates stand for and what is their character.
We can assume, second, that God's name will be taken in vain by everyone. Every candidate will tell stories of personal faith, maybe even dramatic conversion. They will quote Scripture and claim to be promoting God's work.
In fact, to judge by candidates' behavior, their words will be insincere and their faith a concoction meant to satisfy the sweet tooth of religious leaders. We, then, need to do our own work of discerning whether they have any functional familiarity with Scripture and any real concern for Christian ethics.
Our American Spring: Shining a Little Light on Discrimination
Little by little, the direct sun of spring is vanquishing the snow of this long winter, and new life is starting to emerge.
Something similar is happening in my home state of Indiana, where the darkness met behind closed doors to conspire against certain citizens in the name of religion.
For a time, hatred prevailed. But then a more-direct sun began to shine in the American heartland, and people took notice of what the Republican-controlled Legislature and cowardly governor had done.
The people spoke out. It started with leaders in the tech community (Salesforce, Apple, Angie's List) and, to my amazement, pillars of the sports establishment, such as the NCAA and NASCAR. Soon, citizens across Indiana and the nation condemned the state's so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act as little more than legalized discrimination.
Telling Old Stories, Again and Again
At a church workshop last week, I set aside my carefully planned teaching and just let people talk.
It became clear that everyone had an old story they needed to tell. Until it was heard, no one in the room could or would move on to thinking about the future. And even when it was heard, half of them would keep cycling back to the old story.
I sensed that, for some, the old story contained an identity, in the sense of "this story is who I am." I need to keep telling this story so that you know me. Until I am sure you've heard it, know me, and accept me, I can't stop.
For some, the old story was the burden on their back, the cloud over their heads. This story explains why I fall short, seem hesitant or even paralyzed. If you know my story, maybe you can accept me and forgive me.
For some, the old story was the safe place, the known that kept the scary unknown at bay. As long as I keep telling this story and presenting the me that existed yesterday, I don't have to contemplate the ways I am changing and the tomorrow that worries me.
It was like a case study in the long-ago classic, "I'm OK — You're OK." People wanted to know they were OK — acceptable and maybe someday even loved.
I think back to a recent lunch with the rector of the local Episcopal church, where I kept peeling the onion, telling her one thing about myself and then, if she accepted that, telling her something more. She was doing the same. If we know each other and still accept each other, then we can be in relationship.
Inward-Focused or Outward? Christian Congregations at a Crossroads
American Christianity is at a crossroads — again. It's the latest in a long string of crossroads.
In the run-up to revolution, American branches of European denominations — such as my Anglican ancestors — had to declare loyalty to the crown or to an emerging rebellion.
In the 1830s, congregations throughout the restless nation had to decide whether they served whites or all people, including Native Americans.
In the mid-19th century, denominations were forced to choose between continued slavery and a commitment to freedom.
On it went. During each era of change and expansion, Christian communities had to decide what they stood for and what the gospel meant to them. Would they serve immigrants who spoke a certain language or all people in the community, one class in the emerging industrial society or all people, enclaves of status and like-mindedness or whole communities?
Whatever choice was made, each congregation and denomination found a way to justify it. The choices themselves didn't flow from Scripture. Rather, in stepping up as theologians for slavery or abolition, for white rule or open access, for changes in women's place or perpetuation of patriarchy, preachers wore out their Bibles and seminary training looking for rationales to do what they wanted. They claimed absolute authority for what, by any reasonable standard, was simply their preferred way of doing things.
Now Christianity in America faces a similar crossroads that turns on the question: Do we serve only ourselves and people like us, or do we serve the larger community, especially its outcasts and vulnerable?
Up to now, the church has focused on who crossed the threshold into our pews and who had leadership roles within the fellowship. Now the challenge is to go out into the world, see what the needs are, and rethink how we do things in response to those needs.
The Siege Mentality of Christian Radio Stations
On my recent 4,100-mile pilgrimage across the U.S., I occasionally used my radio's "seek" function to find stations.
I often stopped on a "Christian radio" station, sometimes a national network such as American Family Radio, sometimes a local effort featuring preachers from area churches, always conservative.
I did so because I enjoy gospel music and I was curious what the radio preachers were saying.
They tended to be excellent speakers and well-prepared. But their message seemed frozen in time, as if nothing had changed in America since the 1950s except for the identities of enemies who are allegedly "attacking Christians," "attacking Christian values" and "attacking the American way of life."
This siege mentality seemed basic to every preacher I heard. I suppose it's one way to rally the troops. Get them fearful, angry, and suspicious.
If the U.S. Is a Christian Nation, Whose Christianity Do We Follow?
A recent survey found that 57 percent of Republicans agreed that Christianity should be established as the United States' national religion.
Not only would this violate the clear wording of the Constitution and the intention of the founders to keep religion and government separate, it also raises a difficult quandary.
Whose Christianity?
Of the estimated 1,500-plus Christian denominations in the U.S., which flavor of Christianity would emerge as the national standard?
Would it be conservative Christianity or liberal Christianity? Would it be Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, or nondenominational? Would it be church-centered Christianity or a more personal flavor, such as house communion? Would it be the 1950s-style neighborhood-church Christianity that many older churchgoers yearn for, or a contemporary megachurch?
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Welcome to the CRG Discussion Forum!Forum registration problems: Make sure you enter your email correctly and you check your spam box first. *Then* email KurtS2@gmail for help.Classified ads are not allowed on the forum.
First Question: I am replacing all the light bulbs in my 67 and noticed a clear version and an amber version for bulbs 1157 and 194 at Auto Zone and Pep Boys. Were all bulbs clear or were some amber?
2ndQuestion: I printed this list off a post on Camaros.net a while back. I found all the bulbs except the dome and console lamp bulbs #8646. Is this bulb no longer available or under a different number?


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Fossilized Stone Arrives at Rapid City Museum
RAPID CITY - A 3-ton slab of fossilized stone containing footprints of theropod dinosaurs has arrived in the lobby of The Journey Museum in Rapid City.
The Rapid City Journal reports that a large glass door had to be removed to get the 7-square-foot, 14-inch thick limestone slab into the lobby.
After leaving a ranch at the eastern edge of the Black Hills to move to Custer in the 1930s, the slab remained stationary for the next 60 years before moving to the Rapid City Regional Airport, then to a South Dakota School of Mines and Technology lab. It's on loan by the school's Museum of Geology.
The tracks made by the three-toed, carnivorous dinosaur date back to the Cretaceous period and may represent a shoreline of the Western Interior Seaway.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Outline of science fiction
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to science fiction:
Science fiction – a genre of fiction dealing with the impact of imagined innovations in science or technology, often in a futuristic setting.[1][2][3] Exploring the consequences of such innovations is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas".[4]
- 1 What is science fiction?
- 2 Genres of science fiction
- 3 Related genres
- 4 Science fiction by country
- 5 History of science fiction
- 6 Elements of science fiction
- 6.1 Character elements in science fiction
- 6.2 Plot elements in science fiction
- 6.3 Setting elements in science fiction
- 6.4 Themes in science fiction
- 6.5 Style elements in science fiction
- 7 Works of science fiction
- 7.1 Science fiction art
- 7.2 Science fiction games
- 7.3 Science fiction literature
- 7.4 Science fiction video
- 7.5 Science fiction radio
- 8 Information sources
- 9 Science fiction in academia
- 10 Science fiction subculture
- 11 Science fiction awards
- 12 Persons influential in science fiction
- 13 See also
- 14 References
- 15 External links
What is science fiction?
- Definitions of science fiction: Science fiction includes such a wide range of themes and subgenres that it is notoriously difficult to define.[5] Accordingly, there have been many definitions offered.
Science fiction is a type of:
- Fiction – form of narrative which deals, in part or in whole, with events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary and invented by its author(s). Although fiction often describes a major branch of literary work, it is also applied to theatrical, cinematic, and musical work.
- Genre fiction – fictional works (novels, short stories) written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. Also known as popular fiction.
- Speculative fiction
- Genre – science fiction is a genre of fiction.
Genres of science fiction
Science fiction genre – while science fiction is a genre of fiction, a science fiction genre is a subgenre within science fiction. Science fiction may be divided along any number of overlapping axes. Gary K. Wolfe's Critical Terms for Science Fiction and Fantasy identifies over 30 subdivisions of science fiction, not including science fantasy (which is a mixed genre).
Genres concerning the emphasis, accuracy, and type of science described include:
- Hard science fiction—a particular emphasis on scientific detail and/or accuracy
- Soft science fiction—focus on human characters and their relations and feelings, while de-emphasizing the details of technological hardware and physical laws
Themes related to science, technology, space and the future, as well as characteristic plots or settings include:
- Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction
- Biopunk — centered around genetic engineering and biotechnology, biopunk uses some both (post)cyberpunk elements and post-modernist prose to describe a typically dystopian world of biohackers, man-made viruses, mutations, designer babies, artificial life forms, bio-genetic engineered human-animal hybrids and bio-genetically manipulated humans.
- Cyberpunk — uses elements from the hard-boiled detective novel, film noir, Japanese anime, and post-modernist prose to describe the nihilistic, underground side of a cybernetic society
- Climate fiction — emphasizes effects of anthropogenic climate change and global warming at the end of the Holocene era
- Dying Earth science fiction
- Military science fiction
- Steampunk — denotes works set in (or strongly inspired by) an era when steam power was still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian England — though with otherwise high technology or other science fiction elements
- Time travel
- Space colonization
- Space opera — emphasizes romantic adventure, exotic settings, and larger-than-life characters
- Social science fiction — concerned less with technology and more with sociological speculation about human society
- Mundane science fiction
Genres concerning politics, philosophy, and identity movements include:
- Christian science fiction
- Feminist science fiction
- Gay/lesbian science fiction
- Libertarian science fiction
Genres concerning the historical era of creation and publication include:
- Scientific romance — an archaic name for what is now known as the science fiction genre, mostly associated with the early science fiction of the United Kingdom.
- Pulp science fiction
- Golden Age of Science Fiction — a period of the 1940s during which the science fiction genre gained wide public attention and many classic science fiction stories were published.
- New Wave science fiction — characterised by a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content.
- Cyberpunk — noted for its focus on "high tech, low life" and taking its name from the combination of cybernetics and punk.
Genres that combine two different fiction genres or use a different fiction genre's mood or style include:
- Alternate history science fiction—fiction set in a world in which history has diverged from history as it is generally known
- Comic science fiction
- Science fiction erotica
- Adventure science fiction—science fiction adventure is similar to many genres
- Gothic science fiction—a subgenre of science fiction that involves gothic conventions
- New Wave science fiction—characterized by a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content
- Science fantasy—a mixed genre of story which contains some science fiction and some fantasy elements
- Science fiction opera—a mixture of opera and science fiction involving empathic themes
- Science fiction romance—fiction which has elements of both the science fiction and romance genres
- Science fiction mystery—fiction which has elements of both the science fiction and mystery genres, encompassing Occult detective fiction and science fiction detectives
- Science fiction Western—fiction which has elements of both the science fiction and Western genres
- Space Western—a subgenre of science fiction that transposes themes of American Western books and film to a backdrop of futuristic space frontiers.
- Spy-fi a subgenre of spy fiction that includes some science fiction.
Related genres
- Fantasy
- Mystery fiction
- Horror fiction
- Slipstream fiction
- Speculative fiction
- Superhero fiction
Science fiction by country
- Australian
- Bengali
- Canadian
- Chilean
- Chinese
- Croatian
- Czech
- Estonian
- French
- Japanese
- Norwegian
- Poland
- Romanian
- Russian
- Serbian
- Spanish
History of science fiction
Elements of science fiction
Character elements in science fiction
Plot elements in science fiction
Plot devices in science fiction
Setting elements in science fiction
The setting is the environment in which the story takes place. Elements of setting may include culture (and its technologies), period (including the future), place (geography/astronomy), nature (physical laws, etc.), and hour. Setting elements characteristic of science fiction include:
Cultural setting elements
- Political ideas in science fiction
- Religious ideas in science fiction
- Religion in speculative fiction
- Xenology
Sex and gender in science fiction
- Gender in science fiction
- Sex in science fiction
Technology in science fiction
- Computer technology
- Transportation
- Weapons in science fiction
- Resizing
- Simulated reality in fiction
- Space warfare in fiction
Themes in science fiction
Style elements in science fiction
Works of science fiction
Science fiction art
Science fiction games
Science fiction computer games
Science fiction role-playing games
Science fiction literature
Science fiction novels
Science fiction short stories
Venues for science fiction short stories
Science fiction video
- Science fiction film
- Science fiction on television
Science fiction radio
Information sources
- Baen Free Library
- Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
- The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Science fiction in academia
- Science fiction studies
- Science fiction and fantasy journals
- Science fiction libraries and museums
Science fiction subculture
- Science fiction conventions
- Science fiction fandom
- Science fiction organizations
Science fiction awards
The science fiction genre has a number of recognition awards for authors, editors and illustrators.[6] Awards are usually granted annually.
International awards
- Hugo Award—since 1955—General Science Fiction
- Nebula Award—since 1965—General Science Fiction
- Edward E. Smith Memorial Award (the Skylark)—since 1966
- BSFA Award—since 1970—British Science Fiction
- Seiun Award—since 1970—Japanese Science Fiction
- Locus Award—since 1971—SciFi / Fantasy / New Authors (separate awards)
- Saturn Award—film and television SF—since 1972
- John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel—since 1973
- Rhysling Award—for best science fiction poetry, given by the Science Fiction Poetry Association—since 1978
- Parsec Award—since 2006
- Philip K. Dick Award—since 1982
- Arthur C. Clarke Award—since 1987
- Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for best short science fiction—since 1987
- Robert A. Heinlein Award—since 2003
Nationality-specific awards
- Aurealis Award—Australian
- Prix Aurora Awards—for Canadian science fiction
- Chandler Award—for contributions to Australian Science fiction
- The Constellation Awards—for the best SF/fantasy film or television works released in Canada
- Ditmar Award—for SF by Australians
- Endeavour Award—for SF by Pacific Northwest author(s)
- Janusz A. Zajdel Award—award of Polish fandom
- Kitschies—for speculative fiction novels published in the UK
- Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis—German SF award
- Nautilus Award—Polish award
- Paul Harland Prize—for Dutch SF
- Prix Jules-Verne—France 1927–1933 and 1958–1963
- Prix Tour-Apollo Award—France since 1972
- SFERA Award—given by SFera, a Croatian SF society
- Sir Julius Vogel Award—for SF by New Zealanders
- Stalker Award – for the best Estonian SF novel, given out on Estcon by Eesti Ulmeühing, the Estonian SF society.
- Tähtivaeltaja Award—for the best SF novel released in Finland
- TBD Science Fiction Story Award — Turkey
- Premio Urania—for Italian SF
- The Galaxy Awards (银河奖)—given by magazine Science Fiction World for Chinese SF&F
- SRSFF Award[7][8]—România
Themed awards
- Prometheus Award—best libertarian SF—since 1979
- Lambda Literary Award—since 1988
- Tiptree Award—since 1991
- Golden Duck Awards—best children's SF—since 1992
- Sidewise Award for Alternate History—since 1995
- Gaylactic Spectrum Awards—since 1999
- Geffen Award—Israeli award—since 1999
- Norton Award—San Francisco—since 2003[9]
- Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards—since 2009[10]
New artists / first works
- Writers of the Future—contest for new authors
- Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist
- John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
- Compton Crook Award For Best first Novel in the genre in a given year.
Career awards
- Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award—associated with the Nebula
Persons influential in science fiction
Creators of science fiction
Science fiction artists
Science fiction filmmakers
Creators of science fiction literature
Science fiction scholars
- Brian Aldiss
- Isaac Asimov—Asimov on Science Fiction
- Brian Attebery
- Everett F. Bleiler
- John W. Campbell
- John Clute—co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (with Peter Nicholls)
- Samuel R. Delany
- Hugo Gernsback—founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and the person who the Hugo Awards are named after.
- David Hartwell
- Larry McCaffery
- Judith Merril
- Sam Moskowitz
- Peter Nicholls—co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (with John Clute)
- Alexei Panshin
- David Pringle—editor of Foundation and Interzone; author of Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels
- Andrew Sawyer
- Dorothy Scarborough
- Brian Stableford
- Darko Suvin
- Gary K. Wolfe
See also
- ↑ "Science fiction - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 17 July 2010.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Definition of science fiction noun from Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 17 July 2010.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "science fiction definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta". encarta.msn.com. Retrieved 17 July 2010.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Marg Gilks, Paula Fleming, and Moira Allen (2003). "Science Fiction: The Literature of Ideas". WritingWorld.com. <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ For example, Patrick Parrinder comments that "[d]efinitions of science fiction are not so much a series of logical approximations to an elusive ideal, as a small, parasitic subgenre in themselves." Parrinder, Patrick (1980). Science Fiction: Its Criticism and Teaching. London: New Accents.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/index.html
- ↑ srsff.ro
- ↑ Silver, Steven H. (1 October 2003) "First Annual Norton Awards Presented" SF Site News, last accessed 20 October 2010
- ↑ Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards, official website
External links
Find more about
Science fiction
at Wikipedia's sister projects
|Definitions from Wiktionary
|Media from Commons
|News stories from Wikinews
|Quotations from Wikiquote
|Source texts from Wikisource
|Textbooks from Wikibooks
|Learning resources from Wikiversity
- Science Fiction (Bookshelf) at Project Gutenberg
- SF Hub—resources for science-fiction research, created by the University of Liverpool Library
- Science fiction fanzines (current and historical) online
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America—their "Suggested Reading" page
- Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame
- Science Fiction Research Association
- Science Fiction at the Internet Archive
- (Russian) Ковтун Е. Н. Художественный вымысел в литературе 20 века. — Высшая школа, 2008. — 1500 экз. — ISBN 978-5-06-005661-7.
- (Russian) Жанры — рубрика журнала «Мир фантастики»
- (Russian) Вячеслав Бабышев Внешние и внутренние жанры фантастики // Уральский следопыт. — 2014. — № 11 (689). — С. 81-84.
- (Russian) Жанры фантастики на Фантлабе.
- (Russian) Классификация фантастики на сайте «Фэнта Зиландия».