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"It is easy to love the people of Africa," Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said repeatedly. The faith and obedience of African Latter-day Saints, born of their love for the gospel, sets an example for all members of the Church, he said.
"The memory I always have is the spirituality of the people," Elder Holland said during an interview in Freetown, Sierra Leone. "That is a little hard to convey, unless you have been here, unless you have seen firsthand their goodness, their faith, and their spiritual gifts."
The Temple, a Crowning Image
With the exception of South Africa, the Church has been in Africa for only 30 to 40 years. Because of that, Elder Holland said, the Church here has been "born before your eyes, born in a day," and "Africa is one of those special places where you get to see the glory of the Lord, the wonder and the miracle of the Restoration, quite literally unfold before your eyes."
He said it is impressive "to see how much the gospel means to them, to see what they have done with it, how they cherish it, to see their faithfulness in tithing and in service, in going to the temple—I think of the temple as the crowning image—and then to see them raising their children in the Church and sending their sons and daughters on missions. It is wonderful evidence of their faithfulness."
He said he will always remember being in Accra, Ghana, with the 15th President of the Church, Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), when he announced that a temple would be built there. "[The people] stood and cheered, wept and danced, held each other, and cried. And in a way, that spirit still continues. That is my love for the Africans—it is their uncompromised joy in the gospel. Most have had so little in their lives of material goods, but when they got the gospel, they just embraced it hook, line, and sinker. And they still do. They are doing it to this day."
Even in Times of War
As an example, he said, "While there was a raging civil war in Cote d'Ivoire [Ivory Coast] the Latter-day Saints … just kept coming to the temple. It's a great tribute to them. I stand in awe."
Speaking of both Sierra Leone and Liberia, he said, "Because they've had such a bloody, war-torn, brutal recent past, that's one of the reasons the gospel is taking hold so dramatically. They've seen what life ought not to be, and now with the missionaries and the members testifying, they've seen what it can be. Heaven has been able to turn it into a blessing, and they're lifting themselves out of political disarray and civil strife."
He also pointed out the growth of the Church in another African country, Zimbabwe, which has also had a difficult time in recent years, "and yet in the middle of that, the Church has blossomed. We have growth, we have stakes, we have missions. That's what's happening all over Africa."
The Challenge of Growth
In some areas, Elder Holland said, the Church has been present much less than 30 years but is also growing rapidly.
"We certainly haven't been in Sierra Leone and Liberia very long, and yet we see that in 10 or 15 years things have started to come to this marvelous fruition—the numbers, the strength, the quality of these leaders—that's a pretty exciting thing when you think of some of the most remote places in the world. And yet the gospel is destined to go there, or is now going there, and there will be missionaries and missions, branches and districts, and then wards and stakes. And that is what we are seeing in this part of West Africa." In some areas, in fact, 200–300 people per month seek Church membership.
This means that rapid growth of the Church must be directed in wisdom and in order (see Mosiah 4:27).
"Our very biggest challenge," Elder Holland said, "will be to not let that get out of hand. If Church growth outstrips the ability to sustain itself, he said, the result is often lack of retention.
"We will still have to make sure new members are kept close to the Church," he said. "They need to have callings and to be integrated into the Church fully and thoroughly. But local leaders are doing that—and new members are going to the temple, they're serving, they're building these units. It is really quite amazing."
Overcoming Poverty
In an interview in Accra, Ghana, Elder Holland discussed the challenges the Church has faced in dealing with poverty in Africa.
"The Brethren knew, years ago, that we would be coming here, because the gospel is for all the world, and we knew that our African brothers and sisters were more than deserving. We also knew that [for the Church] Africa was this new, big frontier, and I think many were worried about the financial and welfare-related implications. How do you address such poverty? How do you address such third-world circumstances? It is still something we think about," he said.
"But with 30-plus years of experience, it is a thrilling testimony to the beauty of the African people that that hasn't been a big issue. We have a welfare program, like we have anywhere else in the world, but it does wonderfully well. Nobody is exploiting it; this isn't a whole continent that's looking for a handout. These are remarkable people, self-sufficient people, who live sweetly and often plainly, and they have been absolutely magnificent."
One of the continuing miracles of the gospel, Elder Holland said, is that often what we thought might be a problem isn't a problem. "There is no question that in so many countries, Africa is still a land of considerable poverty, some political turmoil—Africa has its share of despotic leaders—so there are economic, political, and social problems. But somehow the Church prospers in the middle of that."
He mentioned a principle often taught by the 13th President of the Church, Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994). "President Benson always said we don't so much take people out of poverty or take them out of difficult settings as much as we teach them the gospel and they lift their eyes and their vision and they make their own way out of poverty. That principle is true."
We Preach the Gospel
One key to the Church's success in Africa, Elder Holland said, is that "we don't get involved in conspicuous, socio-political issues. We preach the gospel. We are concerned about justice, and we are concerned about social opportunity and equity. But we think the answer to that is the gospel, so we just preach the gospel. And it has been true elsewhere and it is true in Africa, that people get that insight, blessing, and light in their lives, and suddenly things start to change and their lives are blessed."
Encouraging Education
Elder Holland said that some who join the Church in Africa have never thought about educating their children until they see the good example of other Latter-day Saints.
"They join the Church and see people who are getting educated, and often are already educated, and their lives seem to be better and their opportunities seem to be greater, and so Brother and Sister New Convert go home and say, 'I guess we'll try to educate our children.' It's wonderful. What the Church offers is not a big, orchestrated plan. We do have the Perpetual Education Fund around the world, and we've got seminary and institute, but mostly it's the light of the gospel that comes, and that begins to be the answer to challenges, far more than any institutional attack of the problem. It's the wonder of individual and personal conversion."
Spiritually Sensitive
Elder Holland said that because many Africans are spiritually in tune, they experience spiritual privileges "not always seen in this day and age elsewhere in the world." As an example, he mentioned a woman of another faith at a press conference in Sierra Leone who explained that she had seen his face in a dream. Having such an experience "isn't a common experience in my life," Elder Holland said, "but I think it's quite a common one in theirs." He said that people like her, guided by the Spirit, will identify and cling to the Church. "This is one way that God responds to their faith. It's intuitive; it is fundamental. I've said repeatedly that it seems to me what life hasn't been able to give them materially, heaven has more than made up for spiritually."
He continued, "Their purity is a powerful, central image in my heart. In the West we have always associated happiness with acquisition, but in Africa they've separated that in their minds and in their hearts. I think they would like to have enough to eat, clothing to wear, and education for their children. They'd like a higher standard of living, and the gospel will help bring that to many people. But they seem to be able to separate in their mind that 'things' don't have anything to do with being happy. Simplicity is an element of their pure faith that we would do well to copy, remember, and teach. In so many ways, they are not of this world, and it's a great compliment to them."
The Last Shall Be First
Elder Holland quoted the Savior, who said, "The last shall be first, and the first last" (Matthew 20:16).
"In some ways," he said, "the gospel is late in coming to Africa, at least as we could do it on the Lord's timetable—and it was the Lord's timetable, I'm quick to affirm. It is only comparatively recently that the Africans have begun to get missions and missionaries, the blessings of the priesthood, and so forth. It's a big continent, and we still have a long way to go. But I believe the growth we are now seeing in Africa is part of the fulfillment of the Lord's promise. African Latter-day Saints are emerging with faith. They are on the move. They are meeting the challenge of receiving the gospel and making it obvious in their lives."
Loved by the Lord
Once again, Elder Holland expressed his fondness for the people of the entire continent. "It is my nature to want to tell people that I love them and that the Lord loves them," he said. "I think that's really true, and it's true anywhere. But Heavenly Father's love for His children is conspicuous in Africa. They have the most gorgeous smiles, the happiest faces; their children have to be among the most beautiful children on the face of the earth. It is very, very easy to love them. It is something like meeting people you think you've known before. We've all had that kind of experience—a kindred relationship with somebody. That's how I feel with the African people. There is something special about what we feel when we come to this land, come to these nations, when we're on this continent. Something in them, and something in us, creates a camaraderie of the soul that is immediate and almost beyond words."


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A pair of security researchers have proposed an extension to the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol that would allow browsers to detect and block fraudulently-issued SSL certificates.
Called TACK, which is short for Trust Assertions for Certificate Keys, the extension was developed by security researchers Trevor Perrin and Moxie Marlinspike and was submitted for consideration to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the body in charge of TLS, on Wednesday.
TACK tries to resolve the trust-related problems with the public key infrastructure that were highlighted by last year's security breaches at certificate authorities (CAs) Comodo and Diginotar.
Both of those breaches resulted in SSL certificates for high profile domains like google.com, hotmail.com or mail.yahoo.com, being issued fraudulently. In Diginotar's case, the certificates were even employed in active attacks against Google users in Iran.
At the moment, Web browsers trust over 600 organizations from around the world to issue SSL certificates. These organizations are known as certificate authorities and every one of them can technically issue a valid certificate for any domain on the Internet.
Several proposals to improve the current CA-based system have been put forward by Internet and security experts in the past 12 months, but there's no consensus regarding which one offers the best solution.
In November 2011, security engineers from Google proposed an HTTP extension called "public key pinning" that would allow websites to effectively tell browsers via an HTTP header which certificate authorities should be trusted to issue SSL certificates for their domain names.
The browsers would then remember (pin) this information and refuse to establish the connection if they receive a certificate signed by a different CA in the future. A more static implementation of this system already exists in Google Chrome for particular domain names, including Google's.
TACK is based on the same public key pinning concept, but instead of pinning CA public keys to particular domain names, it pins public keys generated by the domain owners themselves.
With TACK, the domain owner can generate a pair of private and public keys called TACK keys. The private key is used to sign the server's TLS public key, which is currently used by browsers to validate SSL certificates. The TACK public key is then shared with connecting browsers and is used to validate the TACK-signed TLS public key.
The browsers can pin a TACK public key to a domain name if they receive it from the server on several separate occasions. If an attacker attempts to use a rogue SSL certificate to spoof a secure connection to a domain name that already has a TACK key pinned to it, the browser will not authorize it because the TACK validation will fail.
This creates a secondary protection layer, because in addition to a fraudulently-obtained, CA-signed, SSL certificate, an attacker would also need the domain owner's private TACK key in order to pull off a successful attack.
TACK is designed to be backward-compatible with both clients and servers that lack support for it. In such situations, the HTTPS connection gets negotiated according to the current CA-based validation system.
This aspect is particularly important given the slow adoption of new TLS versions by Web server owners. According to Trustworthy Internet Movement's SSL Pulse project, fewer than two percent of the Internet's top 200,000 HTTPS-enabled websites support TLS 1.1 or 1.2, the latest versions of the protocol.
The vast majority of websites still support SSL 3.0, the precursor of TLS, and TLS version 1.0, which was designed in 1999. Over 30 percent of them still support SSL 2.0, the first publicly available and most insecure version of the protocol.
Under these conditions, it's hard to imagine TACK becoming widely implemented anytime soon, even if the extension ends up receiving approval from the IETF.

subset: commoncrawl


text: It's painful to pay the local price of 15-30€ for a pump that is "very good, durable and small". To me, it is just consumable that I will use until it breaks, so I have no interest in investing too much in such a thing. How can I know what the pump is like? Are there some factors to look at to judge its quality?


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Download Update December 16 in ZIP format [48MB]
Click on the image below to view our digital client newsletter
Antoine Van Schooten was recently appointed CMO of Industry and Digitalisation for ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products. Read his opinion on what digitalisation means for ArcelorMittal as a supplier, and for our customers.
ArcelorMittal's range of press hardenable steels (PHS) already offer automotive designers a unique opportunity to create lighter and stronger solutions. But the introduction of two new products – Usibor® 2000 and Ductibor® 1000 – will allow OEMs even greater scope to lighten their vehicle fleet. And when combined into a single laser welded blank (LWB), they can even generate additional cost-effective and lightweight solutions.
Together with Chilean manufacturer Tecnovial, ArcelorMittal's Global R&D division has recently completed the development of a road safety barrier. The new barrier utilises high strength steel from ArcelorMittal and our unique Magnelis® coating to provide durable solutions for Chile's roads.
Discover QT-1400, a high strength coiled tube for oil and gas applications. It is the most advanced and strongest solution on the market today, brought to you by Quality Tubing and ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products.
Find out how the use of Indaten® weathering steel makes a significant contribution to the appearance of a multi-functional education complex in the north of France, called Pôle Molière.
ArcelorMittal presents the 0.18 mm Steel for Beverage Can and wins Bronze in The Canmaker's Award Sustainability Category. This new can enables canmakers to reduce the thickness of a beverage can without affecting mechanical performance.
Stay tuned for more news!Sign up to receive our news alerts via email
Any comments or suggestions for future editions?
Please contactVanessa Vanhalst


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Plastic Pellet 200 Series Classifiers
Witte plastic pellet classifiers separate "fines" and "overs" from on-spec plastic material with such precision that nearly 50% of the plastic resin in the United States is classified on Witte equipment. Resin manufacturers and compounders especially appreciate the designed-in ease of cleaning, negligible maintenance and quiet operation.
The pellets (or micropellets!) are passed from the dicer or cutter through an inlet cover and spreader onto a metal distribution deck, ensuring a single, thin, even layer. While the gentle, vibratory action moves the material downstream, oversize pellets are screened through a perforated deck. This CNC-machined, perforated deck operates in tandem with the ideal angle of vibration and actually keeps the pellets calm and quiet to prevent "short-longs" from standing on end. Double separator models also include a "fines" separation section.
The standard "fines" screen consists of a continuously welded, stainless steel tubular frame with wire mesh. Further, Witte still takes the time to pure tin solder the pre-tensioned cloth. Where blinding may be a problem, Witte can add "Bouncing Balls" under the wire mesh to prevent the blockages or the innovative, auto-tapper, which automatically clears pellet blockages.
For even easier cleaning, Witte now offers CNC-punched, perforated decks in place of the wire mesh.
Similarly, since the pellet separating decks are held firmly in place by the mounting Witte clamps, the entire plastic pellet classifier may be accessed and cleaned by one person in minutes. In fact, it can be completely disassembled by one person in less than five minutes!
Witte Advances:
- Screens removed and replaced quickly and easily
- Witte clamp permits instant interior access, easy cleaning
- Operators enjoy quiet, smooth, dependable operation
- Entire unit may be mounted on casters for portability
- Single and double separation models, custom designs available
Witte vibrating plastic pellet classifiers are guaranteed to work as specified.


text: McAfee has compiled the wisdom and insight of its security researchers and produced the 2011 Threat Predictions Report. The report contains a variety of forecasts, prophecies, and educated guesses on what to expect for computer and information security next year, but one of the most notable is that Apple has achieved some level of critical mass that makes it a prime target.Based on trends in 2010 -- both trends in what and how technology is used, as well as trends in attack techniques and attack volume -- McAfee surveyed the evolving threat landscape and made some projections for the coming year. Those predictions include a rise in attacks focused on social networking, exploiting geolocation check-in data, and targeting mobile platforms like smartphones and tablets.That brings us, more or less to Apple's newfound prominence as a malware target. Apple is a leader in both the smartphone and tablet markets, and its Mac OS X platform has been steadily expanding its footprint. Mac OS X has matured from a niche platform for hipsters with money to blow, to a mainstream OS that many businesses and consumers rely on.The common belief among Apple loyalists that Mac OS X is virtually impervious to attack is a significant part of what makes it so vulnerable. The Apple platform has never been as invulnerable as users believe--easily hacked and compromised by attacks at security conferences. Mac OS X has primarily benefited from being too small of a target to be worth investing the time and effort to exploit, but the rise of the platform, combined with the introduction of the app culture in the upcoming Mac OS X Lion, give attackers something to work with.The McAfee report explains, "McAfee Labs saw malware of increasing sophistication that targets Mac this year; we expect this trend to increase in 2011. The popularity of iPads and iPhones in business environments and the easy portability of malicious code between them could put many users and businesses at risk next year and beyond," adding "We anticipate threats of data and identity exposure will become more pronounced."Mac OS X still represents a mere fraction of the potential Windows-based victims out there, but the false sense of security and general lack of understanding of security threats actually make it an easier target. The rise of mobility -- and Apple's prominent role in smartphones and tablets -- also paint a bull's eye on Apple's back.If McAfee is right, 2011 could be a bittersweet year for Apple and Apple fans.


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Wednesday, May 25
Wednesday Dose of Cute: Next. . .
6 comments:
- DeltaJoy5/26/2011 7:01 AM
That rooster is gorgeous how about a portrait some day. As far as the comments, being behind is understandable no matter the reasons. I love my 'Daily Dose' and thanks for that.ReplyDelete
What a great picture!!ReplyDelete
Your blog is delightful. I love your rooster! I am an artist who paints farm animals. I am always on the lookout for inspirational photographs and wondered if you would be willing to share some of your images?ReplyDelete
Hi Norma,ReplyDelete
Thanks for your interest in my photos. I'd be happy to discuss things with you via e-mail. You can reach me at: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com
OMG - that is hysterical! I hope he put the seat down!ReplyDelete
- Kathy5/27/2011 7:31 AM
I enjoy your blog and your pictures!!! Keep me smiling!!ReplyDelete
December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.
Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love hearing about your experiences with my recipes. Comments on older posts are always welcome!
Please note that I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours appears.
I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.
I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your e-visits to our farm!


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10 Ways to Fail Your Way to Success
I hate failing. Failure feels like wasted life. Yes, I know I'm supposed to embrace failure and learn. But, given the choice, I'd succeed more!
I haven't failed for lack of good intentions. Frankly, I'm troubled that the path down is faster than the path up.
Fear of failure:
Afraid to fail is afraid to try; afraid to try guarantees failure.
The fear of failure prevents success.
Stunning success stands atop many stunning failures. Edison said, "I've failed my way to success."
10 Ways to Fail Well:
- Pursue next time more than last time.
- Reject finger pointing. Blame gets you off the hook but never produces success.
- Respond with optimism, not anger. Confidence answers anger; inadequacy fuels it.
- "Forgive and remember," Bob Sutton in, Good Boss Bad Boss.
- Share lessons learned from failure. Leadership's greatest influence occurs through failures. Frailty enhances your influence as long as it's not an excuse.
- Seek clarity. Resist urges to close your eyes. Open them instead.
- Call "failure meetings" and ask, "What isn't working?" Make talking about failure normal not taboo.
- Celebrate adaptation, if you can't celebrate failure directly. "We changed."
- Fail small in order to succeed large. Try, test, improve, and move forward. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
- Dig into ways that failure makes you better. "Failure changes for the better, success for the worse." Seneca
One cause:
Often I fail because I don't listen. I know too much. I've learned confidence becomes over-confidence when it closes my ears. True confidence listens.
What's at the root of many of your failures?
How can you or organizations fail well?


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Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The director's signature speedy, frenetic zooms punctuate a film that's smoothly paced and winkingly earnest. The characters perform impossible deeds in stylized slow motion so that we're too enamored of how cool it looks to care that it's impossible.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith
Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell, Marton Csokas
How long is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? 105 minutes.
What is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter rated? R for violence throughout and brief sexuality.
Completely silly, thoroughly entertaining revisionist history swept under the rug by Pixar's latest.
It's sweltering throughout the southern US right now, and in hot weather people flock to theaters – it's dark, cool, and often foolishly entertaining in there this time of year. On June 22nd, theaters around the country were packed with people anxiously awaiting Pixar's latest (and from all the preliminary reviews, greatest). So when I waltzed into the theater showing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, prepared to scout out seats for myself and a few friends, I was stunned to see the trailer for Django Unchained playing to five hundred empty seats.
The great thing about an empty theater is that you can act out your own (not as awesome) version of MST3K, project your aggression onto the characters onscreen, and generally act like a fool. In other words, it's the best environment in which to take in a movie like Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Fantastical revisionist histories are not a new thing (see: CSA: Confederate States of America, Red Dawn), but inserting supernatural beings into great literature (Pride & Prejudice & Zombies) and into the lives of America's most beloved presidents is a fairly recent trend. In Timur Bekmambetov's latest offering (penned by and based on the titular book by Seth Grahame-Smith), Honest Abe, that lanky gentleman with the top hat whose pleasant face graces our least valuable coin, is…well, what else? He's a vampire hunter. Grahame-Smith weaves Lincoln's passion for Abolition together with his other, secret obsession: ridding this great nation of vampires.
During the 16th President's childhood in Indiana, Grahame-Smith writes, Abe got on the wrong side of a slaveowner as boy-Abe struggled to protect his black best friend, Will Johnson. Jack Barts (Marton Csokas), wearing darkly tinted sunglasses and a perpetual sneer brimming with ragged yellow teeth, is not just a simple Southern man; he attacks Abe's mother in the dead of night, sucking the blood from her body as Abe watches.
Years later, a teenaged Abraham (Benjamin Walker, a perfect casting choice if ever there was one) seeks out Barts to wreak vengeance for his mother's murder. So begins our nation's forefather's journey into the depths of hell – and one of the most ridiculous movies I've seen in awhile. Every vampire hunter needs a mentor (Buffy Summers has Giles, Blade had Whistler), and in Abe's case the mysterious Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper) provides. Sturgess warns him, "No friends, no wife; you can have no one." Well, as we all know, that isn't how it worked out. Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who was at the time engaged to senator Stephen Douglas (Alan Tudyk), finds herself infatuated with Abe's passion and sense of adventure, and before long the two are married. (As a side note, using "Firefly"'s favorite pilot and Scott Pilgrim's favorite lady in one movie ups the nerd factor in a good way.) Lincoln's life progresses the way the history books tell it – he becomes a successful lawyer, attains the Presidency, and has a son with Mary, all while struggling to keep the nation safe from the undead.
These undead, led by Adam (perpetually spooky Rufus Sewell), saw slavery in the US for its lucrative properties…but also as an all-you-can-eat buffet. Seeing as how people were effectively chattel, they made very easy targets for the bloodsuckers. These undead led the Confederate Army into battle – and how could the Yankees fight the immortal?
But that would be revealing too much. What you need to know about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is this: you'll almost certainly enjoy yourself. You will laugh. The characters do unbelievable things with ordinary tools; they toss each other like rag dolls; they bounce back after mortal blows. You know that scene in every second action film where a hero and villain battle atop moving traffic, leaping improbable lengths while hurling objects at each other at the expense of public safety? Well, no one had mass-produced automobiles yet in the beginning of Abe Lincoln's life, so instead there are mustangs (it's brilliant). The final scene takes place atop a moving steam locomotive (Wanted's Bekmambetov enjoys trains).
I'm wary of 3D, as anyone who's read my writing before knows. I blame James Cameron for this blight on cinema. It's a scam. So few filmmakers know how to use it correctly, so few theaters truly understand how to accommodate the technology, that it often makes for a more frustrating moviegoing experience than plain old 2D.
That's not true of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. 3D is a perfect venue for a movie like this one. Bekmambetov's vampires have shimmering eyes whose effect is truly chilling with the extra "dimension;" their eyes glint like a cat's in the dark. The filmmakers' meticulous attention to detail graces the viewer with glowing cinders and floating dust motes that stir pleasantly to and fro in the depth of the frame. Further, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel evidently worked closely with visual effects crew to ensure that the movie is filmed brightly, starkly, so that the darkening effect of 3D glasses doesn't detract from what you see onscreen.
The writing, while snappy and catchy, is trite and worthy of good-natured mocking. "True power lies not in hatred, but in truth!" Sturgess screams to Abe, as the not-yet-Pres sends a whole tree flying with one blow of his axe. "Men have enslaved each other since they invented gods to forgive them for doing it," says Adam, threatening Abraham. As with Bekmambetov's other films, the emphasis here isn't on reality, but fantasy. The director's signature speedy, frenetic zooms punctuate a film that's smoothly paced and winkingly earnest. The characters perform impossible deeds in stylized slow motion so that we're too enamored of how cool it looks to care that it's impossible.
I won't go so far as to recommend intoxicants to go along with Abe Lincoln. However, I can suggest that it might be even more entertaining, if that's your thing. The empty theater on opening tells a tragic story of audience apathy, but you'll come away satisfied. It's not good; not by a long shot. I predict a small cult following, but only after the Brave hype dies down. Anyone who's enamored of Bekmambetov will enjoy herself, and anyone who takes pleasure in revisionist history will love the intertwining of reality and fantasy (or is it fantasy?). It's a fun movie for a hot summer evening – and after you've seen Brave (Because who are we kidding here? That's obviously your priority), you'd probably do well to check it out. Or, you know, you can wait until DVD.
Julia Rhodes graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Communication and Culture. She's always been passionate about movies and media, and is particularly fond of horror and feminist film theory, but has a soft spot for teen romances and black comedies. She also loves animals and vegetarian cooking; who says horror geeks aren't compassionate and gentle? Bank Routing Numbers


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Identifying your ubiquitous black suitcase on a baggage carousel can be challenging, it's true. But is it really challenging enough to warrant this violent suitcase sticker from thecheeky.com? We think not.
Canadian entrepreneur Colin Hart, who runs thecheeky.com, said the stickers are meant to personalize and spice up your travel bags. His collection of large stickers features old leather luggage torn open to reveal illicit contents. What's "inside" the bags? Stacks of cash, bags of cocaine, sex toys–and a bound-and-gagged flight attendant. Cheeky, right?
The Canadian government doesn't think so: the stickers will no longer be available to Canadian consumers. A spokesperson for the Transport Minister told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.:
Joking about potentially trafficking illegal substances, or worse, is not funny, and the government will use the full force of the law to ensure Canadians who travel by air are safe
Hart replied:
'The full force of the law' is too strong a statement to risk and we hope that at some point the Government will look around the world at some other reactions and re-consider their position.
Thanks to Feminist Law Professors for bringing this to our attention.


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MiningPool.at is located in the Europe and you can use it to mine ETH . It support the Prop payment type(s), and the average fee which is charge by this pool is very low, it is only 0% and the fee expanded is 0% . It provides the Vardiff,Stratum,Monitoring features. It does not support the merged mining and the transaction fee does not share with the miner. Mining pool minimum payout is 0.05 Ether. You can follow this pool on Twitter as well as you can explore the more details and setup guide from their website.
Supported Coins ETH
Pool Features Vardiff Stratum Monitoring
Server Locations Europe
Payments Types Prop
Mining pool minimum payout 0.05 Ether
Fee Expanded 0%
A list of related cryptocurrency mining pools to make it easy for you to see whether a pool is a good to deal or not. Is their services and a server offer best viable features to you or not, are the fee is too high, do you get the best deal you could by using a certain pool also, to know what are the best possible alternatives to start.


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We Are on the Lord's Errand
My beloved brothers and sisters, this has been a glorious conference. We are grateful to all who have taken part in any way. My heart has been touched, and I have rejoiced and been inspired as I listened to the beautiful music and the timely messages of the Brethren.
We are happy to welcome Elder Angel Abrea as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. For the present, he will return to Rosario, Argentina, to continue his present assignment as president of that mission. He will add great strength and depth to the leadership of the Church as our newest General Authority.
As Sister Kimball and I have traveled to many places of the world these past six months, I have been heartened and gratified with the vitality and growth of the Church and the devotion and unselfish service of the members in the stakes, wards, and missions.
In this conference we have been counseled to conserve our resources and ease the financial burdens on our people. Again we urge the planting of home gardens and the maintenance of a year's supply of food and clothing against a time of need.
We urge all Latter-day Saints to be good neighbors and to be good citizens, loyal to their flag and country. "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law." (A of F 1:12.) All Americans, and indeed people throughout the civilized world, were shocked and saddened last week when an attempt was made to assassinate the president of the United States, at which time he and three others near him were seriously wounded. I am confident all of you join with me in a fervent prayer that President Reagan and his associates will speedily return to full health and strength. We deplore such acts of violence wherever they may occur in the world.
During this conference we have focused on the basic mission of the Church. We have been counseled to manage the growth of the Church "in wisdom and order." (Mosiah 4:27.) We have been urged to qualify ourselves to receive all the ordinances and blessings of the gospel by keeping the commandments, doing our duty, and paying a true tithe and generous fast offerings.
As we have met in this historic Tabernacle and have contemplated things of eternity, it has seemed as though time has stood still even though outside world events are moving at a rapid pace.
I rejoice with you in the announcement of plans to build nine new temples in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. When these new temples are completed and dedicated in approximately two years, the total number of temples worldwide will increase to thirty-seven. We are pleased to be able to provide more convenient access to the temples for the Saints because many now have to travel long distances at great expense in time and money to get to the nearest temple.
But these temples are only the beginning. As the work progresses, there will be scores of temples throughout the world.
The other day, we were pleased to visit with a number of brethren attending conference from Korea. And as we met together, they told us of their great joy on hearing of our plans for a temple in Korea. They had previously presented to us Korean clan genealogies containing names of approximately fifteen million people.
We are all very much aware, my brothers and sisters, that the world is in turmoil. We are continually being tried and tested as individuals and as a church. There are more trials yet to come, but be not discouraged nor dismayed. Always remember that if this were not the Lord's work, the adversary would not pay any attention to us. If this Church were merely a church of men and women, teaching only the doctrines of men, we would encounter little or no criticism or resistance—but because this is the Church of Him whose name it bears, we must not be surprised when criticisms or difficulties arise. With faith and good works, the truth will prevail. This is His work. There is none other like it. Let us, therefore, press forward, lengthening our stride and rejoicing in our blessings and opportunities.
As we come to the close of this great conference, I wish to say to you, my brothers and sisters, that we love you with all our hearts. We appreciate all that you do, but of course, as always, there is even more to do. The field is white, all ready to harvest, but the time is so short and the laborers are so few as we seek to share the gospel with our Father's other children in all parts of the world.
We ask our Heavenly Father to give you power to extend your knowledge to the people in your neighborhood who need it and to take the gospel to areas in the world that need those great blessings now more than ever.
My brethren and sisters, I testify to you that this is the Lord's work and that it is true. We are on the Lord's errand. This is His church and He is its head and the chief cornerstone. God lives, and Jesus is the Christ. He is the Only Begotten Son, the Savior and Redeemer of this world. I leave you with this testimony and with my blessings and my love and affection, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


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Overview of Online Colleges in Oregon
Ten years ago, many of Oregon's top universities did not include distance learning as a delivery method for their degree programs. In recent years, many universities have created online learning options to accommodate the working adult. In 2013, 16 universities in Oregon offered distance learning courses, including the well-regarded Oregon State University. OSU's Ecampus provides both undergraduate and graduate programs in fields like Environmental Sciences, Sociology and Liberal Studies.
Tuition costs in Oregon State have remained competitive with the national average in recent years. Between 2004 and 2014, two-year public schools experienced a 26.5% increase in tuition, and four-year public schools had a 36% increase during the same time. Respectively, the national average for tuition costs between 2006 and 2011 for two-year public schools rose 30.8% and four-year public schools increased 42%.
Discover everything you need to know about online distance education opportunities in Oregon via our expansive database of top online programs, degrees and courses in the state. Also be sure to explore the State Facts tab, which, in great detail, compares the progress of online education in Oregon to the U.S. as a whole.


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If you're in the market to rent a public self storage facility then take a moment to check out our latest article all about storage and moving tips - check it out and let us know if any of our suggestions save you time or money!
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Bob Givens, veteran animator of Bugs Bunny, dead at 99
LOS ANGELES — The animator who helped design Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd has died. Bob Givens was 99 years old.
Daughter Mariana Givens says her father died Dec. 14 in Burbank, California from acute respiratory failure.
Bob Givens started working for Walt Disney Studios right out of high school and later joined what would become Warner Bros. His version of Bugs Bunny debuted in 1940. Other characters he illustrated over his six-decade career included Tom & Jerry, Daffy Duck, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Popeye.
Givens also brought his skills to TV advertising, animating cartoon insects for Raid bug-killer commercials.
Mariana Givens said Saturday that she always likened her father to Popeye when she was growing up. He was always energetic and resilient, and even smoked a pipe.


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A simply classic design. A single pearl sits below a single solitaire cut stone. Simple in its elegance and ideal for brides wanting classic and delicate jewellery featuring pearls. This is often a very popular style for bridesmaids.
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• Earrings 1 cm at the longest point
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Growing up, one of my favorite summer activities was finding some shade outside and spending the day with a good book or two. Somehow, somebody at the Arvada Center must have magically picked up on …
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Growing up, one of my favorite summer activities was finding some shade outside and spending the day with a good book or two.
Somehow, somebody at the Arvada Center must have magically picked up on the fact that it's still one of the best ways to spend a day and created an event for book lovers like myself.
The first annual Arvada Center Book Fest will be held at the center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 19.
"We wanted to highlight the fact that we have programming related to all the arts," said Leanne Cadman, the center's associate director of Corporate and Foundation Relations. "We wanted to offer more literary arts and humanities, and this kind of event is really exciting for us."
Designed as an event for all ages, Book Fest includes hands-on activities and storytime for kids, panel discussions and staged readings, an all-day exhibit hall, writing workshops, and New York Times best-selling author Laura Moriarty as the special keynote speaker.
General admission allows visitors entry to the all-day exhibit hall with publishers, authors, rare books, games and more. Award-winning authors and poets will read and sign their works. A pop-up bookstore operated by BookBar will feature books available for purchase, and Steuben's, Newk's Eatery, La Patisserie Francaise and Hunter Bay Coffee will host an onsite pop-up café and coffee shop. There will also be panel discussions and staged readings throughout the day, as well as a spelling bee, trivia and read-off contests for adults and kids.
For an additional purchase, attendees can enjoy brunch and conversation with local authors, participate in writing workshops and seminars and attend the keynote speech. There will be workshops geared for teens, kids and adults, from the aspiring writer to the seasoned author. Topics include bookmaking, the business of writing, zine-making (mini-pamphlets or -magazines), and sessions on writing poetry, young adult fiction, mystery novels and more.
"We hope to bring in a lot of people who have never visited us before," Cadman said. "Attendees will be able to meet authors they might not have read otherwise or find a new favorite book."
To purchase tickets and for additional details, go to www.arvadacenter.org/bookfest.
Clarke's Concert of the Week — The World Is A Beautiful Place at Larimer Lounge
The members of The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die have never been afraid of using their music to give a voice to the marginalized and misunderstood, and their take on alternative rock and emo is the perfect match for these fractious times we live in.
Outside of punk, rock hasn't really contributed much to the political activism scene in the first half of the decade. Not only does The World Is A Beautiful Place bring some much-needed righteous indignation to every performance, it also provide some catharsis to concert-goers.
Those looking for a great rock show won't want to miss The World Is A Beautiful Place playing with Pianos Become the Teeth at the Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St. in Denver. The show begins at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 12.
Be sure to show up early in time for Pianos Become the Teeth, who released one of the year's best rock albums in February.
For tickets, visit www.larimerlounge.com/event/1661342-world-is-beautiful-place-i-denver.
A train ride to Steampunk at the Station
The Colorado Railroad Museum takes visitors back to a time when the world was moved by engines pounding down iron rails.
Which makes it the perfect place to take sci-fi fans to the world of steampunk, a genre that blends futurist ideas with technology from the 19th century's Industrial Age. The genre has grown beyond literature to include music, clothing and art.
The Colorado Railroad Museum, 17155 W. 44th Ave. in Golden, is hosting the Steampunk at the Station event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 12.
Fans are encouraged to arrive in their steampunk attire and enjoy a range of events, including a rare "double-header" train pulled by two historic steam locomotives, Denver and Rio Grande, Nos. 346 and 491, buskers, entertainers, beers, food trucks and a lot more.
For more information, visit www.coloradorailroadmuseum.org/event/steampunk-at-the-station.
Kick off the Film on the Rocks season with Star Wars
Over the years, Red Rocks Amphitheater's Film on the Rocks season has become one of the definite highlights of the summer. It's tough to top some of the best movies in cinematic history on a massive screen, paired with live music or a comedian as an opening act, all for cheaper than most movie tickets.
Plus, you're at Red Rocks, and that's hard to beat.
This year's film season is kicking off with Denver native Rian Johnson's interstellar blockbuster, "The Last Jedi." The latest entry into the Star Wars franchise will be shown at Red Rocks, 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, in Morrison, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15.
For those who somehow missed the movie when it first came out around the holidays, "The Last Jedi" finds Rey working with Luke Skywalker to develop her Jedi skills, while the rest of the galaxy fights to stop the First Order.
For more information, visit www.denverfilm.org/film-on-the-rocks/.
Catch Cirque's complex Corteo in Broomfield
Somehow Cirque Du Soleil's performances always manage to be thrilling and eerily beautiful, and that's what its new show, Corteo, promises to audiences.
Corteo, which means "cortege" in Italian, is a joyous, festive parade imagined by a clown. The show blends together the passion of an actor and the grace of an acrobat, and takes audiences to a world of fun, comedy and exploration.
Corteo is coming to the 1st Bank Center, 11450 Broomfield Lane, Broomfield, from Thursday, May 24, through Sunday, May 27.
The show tells the story of the clown Mauro, who recently died, but whose spirit remains. Instead of mourning, the funeral cortege celebrates the here and hereafter with laughter and exuberance. The show will bring laughter to everyone, with tumblers and players performing.
For more information and tickets, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/corteo.
Clarke Reader's column on culture appears on a weekly basis. A community editor with Colorado Community Media, he can be reached email@example.com.
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Frank Ternier's shelving system 'Pyloon' assembles without tools nor screws. Panels are pushed horizontally over aluminium tubes and held on distance by vertical plates and pegs. Together they obtain optimal stability. The tubes are at the same time feet, hinge and handle. The Pyloon family is conceived and fabricated in Belgium. Commissioned by OS_Studio as part of the OS_Family of Objects Photography by Raw Color
Low Cabinet & Shelf as part of a system-in-system product family
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One of the most obvious facts about the universe is that the past is different from the future. We can remember yesterday, but not tomorrow; we can turn an egg into an omelet, but can't turn an omelet into an egg. That's the arrow of time, which is consistent throughout the observable universe. The arrow can be explained by assuming that the very early universe was extremely orderly, and disorder has been increasing ever since. But why did the universe start out so orderly? I will talk about the nature of time, the origin of entropy, and how what happened before the Big Bang may be responsible for the arrow of time we observe today.
Sean Carroll is a physicist at the California Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in 1993 from Harvard University. His research focuses on theoretical physics and cosmology, especially the origin and constituents of the universe. He has contributed to models of interactions between dark matter, dark energy, and ordinary matter; alternative theories of gravity; and violations of fundamental symmetries. Carroll is the author of From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time, Spacetime, as well as Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity, and The Particle at the End of the Universe. He has been awarded fellowships by the Sloan Foundation, Packard Foundation, and the American Physical Society, as well as the MIT Graduate Student Council Teaching Award and the Villanova University Arts and Sciences Alumni Medallion. Carroll is a contributor to the blog Cosmic Variance. He has appeared on TV shows such as The Colbert Report andThrough the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, and frequently serves as a science consultant for film and television. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, writer Jennifer Ouellette.
This lecture is sponsored by the High Energy Frontier Theory Initiative and the UC Davis Physics Deptartment.
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The lecture was held Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at the UC Davis Conference Center.
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Thousands Still Without Power As More Snow Due To Fall
A massive post-Christmas package of precipitation is headed up the East Coast today. The storm is predicted to dump snow and ice from Boston on up and promises to vex residents already a week without power since the last winter storm.
The storm is carrying drenching rain through the Carolinas, mid-Atlantic and southern New England during the day. The downpour will reduce visibility and make travel difficult, according to Accuweather.com.
The rain will run into cold air around New York about noon and turn to snow in Bangor, Maine, by mid-afternoon, traveling up into New Brunswick, Canada, dumping up to 12 inches of snow and threatening to bring down more trees and power lines.
About 21,371 were still without power from Michigan to Maine late Saturday, said NBCNews.com.
In northern Maine, about 5,000 who have already spent Christmas week without power could be in the dark well into the middle of next week, the
"Many of those will have to wait at least until Jan. 1. If the region gets hit with more snow and ice Sunday night, as feared, they could wait longer, a Bangor Hydro Electric Co. spokeswoman said."
"A lot of people are frustrated," said John R. Bannister, a selectman in Blue Hill, a coastal town where about 500 homes remained without electricity Friday. "There are some people that literally have had no power now for a week, since last Sunday, and they live in trailers and it's cold. And when the power comes back on, an awful lot of them are going to have frozen-solid pipes and then deal with the next mess."
Plenty of customers are angry at power companies, but many more gave thanks and restaurants offered free meals to hundreds of out-of-state crews who gave up their holidays, working 17-hour shifts to restore power, the Globe reports.
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