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The first time I ever heard of Lev Grossman's novel The Magicians was in a comment posted on Twitter. I follow a lot of avid (even rabid) readers, and one of them had, apparently, stepped out of their comfort zone to give this book a try. She had decided to follow the crowd and read this novel that was being called "Harry Potter for grown-ups." She was not a fan. She called it a rip-off and accused Grossman of stealing from her beloved J.K. Rowling. Her response was so strong, so passionate, that my curiosity was piqued.
I looked up Grossman to see what he had done before. It turns out that he knows something about good writing. Grossman is the lead book critic for Time and has made a career out of both praising the efforts of writers who take risks and calling out those who he felt were overrated. He knew that he was entering dangerous territory when he set about writing a book that bears even a passing resemblance to anything as recognizable as the Harry Potter franchise. It was a big risk to take, but it has paid off, as evidenced by the The Magicians' bestseller status.
The anticipation for his follow-up, The Magician King, has been building all summer, with some readers looking to it to fill the void left by the final Harry Potter film. It is well-suited to the task. Like The Magicians before it, the book is a collection of carefully chosen allusions to the books that have influenced Grossman as a writer. While these allusions were off-putting to some readers, they are a large part of the appeal for the readers who grew up reading the same books he did. I have to admit; each new reference that I stumbled across made me smile a little wider and drew me in a little further.
After seeing the wide-range of responses that the book has received, I found myself hoping that responses like the ones that first caught my attention were in the minority. Grossman has assured me they were.
The Millions: What sort of comments have you had regarding the many literary allusions that are found throughout The Magicians?
Lev Grossman: There have been fewer than you would think. There was a lot of focus on it before the book came out, which was worrying. Publishers Weekly dismissed the book as "derivative." Viking's own lawyers delayed the book's publication – they demanded rewrites to make clearer the differences between Fillory and Narnia. But following publication almost all the readers and critics I heard from have read the similarities correctly, as allusions rather than theft. People like them – they like the fact that they've read the same books I have. It's a way of recognizing our shared culture.
TM: Has anyone ever questioned you about similarities that they saw between what you wrote and another book? What did they point to, and how did you respond?
LG: I've seen it here and there, in blog comments and Amazon reviews – people harping on the Harry Potter allusions. But it's a very small minority. Early on I toured the Harry Potter conventions, talking about what I was doing and the spirit in which it was intended, to try to get the word out. I think that helped. But when people do think you've plagiarized from another writer, rather than alluded to them, the reaction is extreme. They get angry. It's a dangerous game; you have to get it right. Allusions can be very polarizing.
TM: As you wrote the novel, were you aware of your inspirations? How did you keep them from overtaking your story? How did you keep from crossing the line?
LG: I think I'm more aware of my influences than some writers – maybe it's my training as an academic, but I look for them: Rowling and Lewis, obviously, but also writers like Ursula Le Guin, Neal Stephenson, Waugh, Hemingway. In truth, it's difficult sometimes to know where the line is, to avoid getting overpowered by a strong influence. But it's also energizing. I think Harold Bloom was right in Anxiety of Influence: some writers need to feel like they've gone to war with their literary progenitors, then made their peace with them.
TM: One of the criticisms that I have seen regarding the allusions in the text is that so many of the references (Gulliver's Travels aside) are to relatively recent works. The expectation is to see mythology or Shakespeare or some other "classic." Are the modern references lost on readers? Does it make a difference?
LG: It's interesting, isn't it, how allusions to contemporary works have a different resonance than references to "classic" literature. They're certainly not lost on readers, but they can sound a bit cheap and hollow. It's a difficult line to walk – you want your characters to live in a realistic version of the contemporary cultural environment you see around you, but if you get too specific with your references, they can take on that gimmicky quality. And they date rapidly. I spent a lot of time and effort fine-tuning the allusions in The Magicians, to get the right balance.
TM: If you had to explain the difference between alluding to another work and copying that work to a classroom full of students, how would you go about it? What sort of examples would you use? Would you refer to your own writing?
LG: The key, to me, is making it clear to the reader that you're borrowing another writer's elements for a reason. You have to make sure they know not only what you're doing, but why you're doing it. It can be confusing for a writer. Initially when I would make allusions to C.S. Lewis, I would avoid overtly criticizing or satirizing Lewis's work, out of respect, and a worry that I would outrage Narnia fans. I quickly realized that the danger isn't going too far, it's not going far enough. If you're going to borrow from Lewis, you have to travesty him, openly poke fun at him, say something about him. Anything less and readers will see your allusions as merely plagiarism.
TM: What is your favorite literary reference in the novel? Do people pick up on it?
LG: The Magicians is a web of allusions – they're thicker than most people realize, and nobody gets them all (even me, probably). One of my favorite sequences in the book has Quentin and his friends turning into geese and flying south to Antarctica. This is an allusion to one of my favorite moments in one of my favorite novels, The Once and Future King, in which a young King Arthur is changed into a goose by Merlin as part of his education. I thought it stuck out by a mile when I wrote it, but surprisingly few people catch it.
TM: What references have others pointed out to you or asked about?
LG: People most often point out the more obscure references – it's a good feeling when you pick up on a reference to something that's really arcane, that you know hardly anybody else is going to spot. Cellists sometimes write to me about the Popper exercises that the characters at Brakebills have to do. They're a reference to a famous book of cello etudes that I tried, and failed, to master during my brief career as a cellist. It's something I put in there for myself, really, but when people spot it, it makes them happy.
TM: Were there any new influences that you were aware of as you wrote The Magician King? What should readers be watching for as they read?
LG: The Magician King's ancestry is a little different from that of The Magicians, so it draws from a somewhat – but not entirely – different palette of references. It's a book about journeys and quests, so there are allusions to T.H. White's and Malory's accounts of the Quest for the Holy Grail, and to The Odyssey and The Aeneid as well. It's also a little more of a mystery than The Magicians was, so there are nods – there's one in the first paragraph – to Raymond Chandler. But the most consistent presence is still C.S. Lewis, in particular Lewis's own take on the epic, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Grossman has put together A Brief Guide to the Hidden Allusions in The Magicians for Tor.com. It paints a pretty interesting picture of the world that Grossman lives in and the one he has created. The Magician King is full of the same pop-culture references and allusions to the works of Rowling, C.S. Lewis, and George R.R. Martin as The Magicians. Some are a bit more direct, such as Quentin referring to Janet as "Fillory Clinton." They are also more time sensitive.
What The Magician King has that was a bit lacking in the first is a rich undercurrent of mythology and folklore. When searching for the root of all magic, it only makes sense that they turn to the "old gods," an allusion to H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. They are the ones who harnessed the magic that gave rise to Fillory, and, it would seem, they are none too happy that it has fallen into mortal hands. Here are a few of the less modern references from Grossman's new book The Magician King:
p. 8: "Good luck," Julia said. "Dryads fight. Their skin is like wood. And they have staves."
"I've never seen a dryad fight," Quentin said.
"That is because nobody is stupid enough to fight one."
In Greek Mythology, the dryads are tree nymphs most closely associated with oak trees. They appear extensively throughout literature, typically as shy creatures who keep to themselves. It is C.S. Lewis who made them fighters, putting them alongside Aslan and the Pevensie children.
p. 22: "Et in Arcadia ego."
A Latin phrase, meaning "I too was there in Arcadia." It was meant as a memento mori, or a reminder of one's own mortality. Here, Quentin is remembering that Alice's death was not then end of the darkness that exists in Fillory.
p. 101: "They straggled to a stop in front of it, a brave company of knights assembled before the Chapel Perilous."
The Chapel Perilous first appears in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. It is where Sir Lancelot fends off the advances of the sorceress Hellawes. This is just one of many Arthurian references throughout the novel, though it is the least direct.
p. 182: "At the end of the poem, hadn't he run to the Goat (by which he meant the constellation Capricorn, a footnote gallantly informed her) to find New Love? Or was it lust?"
Julia is referring to John Donne and his poem "A Nocturnal Upon S. Lucies Day." By the end of the poem, Donne has decided to move on, just as Julia decides to leave magic behind for good.
p. 185: ViciousCirce and Asmodeus
The screen names of Julia and one of the other members of Free Traders Beowulf (a reference to the sci-fi role-playing game Traveller). ViciousCirce is a refrence to Circe, a minor goddess of magic in Greek mythology who plays an important role in The Odyssey. Asmodeus is the king of demons, mentioned in The Book of Tobit. Julia is very surprised to find the person behind the screen name is a 17 year old girl.
p. 321: Reynard the Fox
A European trickster figure from medieval times, Reynard is described by Grossman as "some kind of anti-gentry, anti-clerical hero of the peasantry." There are references to Reynard in both The Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
p. 338: "Benedict is in the underworld. He is not a ghost. He is a shade."
A shade, in various mythologies, refers to the spirit of someone that is residing in the Underworld. Quentin is sent to visit Benedict there, making a trip similar to the one Aeneas makes to visit his father in The Aeneid.
The Magicians is very much a product of the world that Grossman grew up in and the type of life he led. Geeks everywhere could find something to identify with in that book, be it Harry Potter or Advanced D&D. The Magician King appeals to a wider audience, bringing the old and the new together, and creating a whole new mythology.


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May 6, 2016 loomed large, the date on which Marvel and DC would pit their cinematic universes against each other in a billion-dollar death spiral, but in the end, there could be only one. As I predicted months ago, Warner Brothers/DC flinched and Superhero Face Punch has been pushed back to spring—to March 25, 2016 to be exact—taking it out of direct competition with Captain America 3. So much for going mano a mano; DC and Marvel won't even square off in the same fiscal quarter.
First and foremost, this is good business. Cannibalizing your audience just to piss in the other guy's Cornflakes is a dumbass thing to do. And on top of this move, Warner Brothers has announced a slate that runs through 2020, with two DC films a year, plus bonus "event films" in 2018 and 2020 (dare I hope, the new Harry Potter movies?).
They're blatantly copying Marvel's playbook, and they're doing it before they're even sure their superhero ecosystem can sustain it. Plans are nice, but ultimately you have to deliver (see also: the Spider-Man mess at Sony). And with 30 superhero movies through 2020, audience fatigue becomes a real threat. As long as the movies are good, people will watch them, but all it takes it one person sh*tting in the punchbowl to ruin it for everyone else.
More immediately, though, there's no escaping how this looks. They tucked tail and ran, and worse, they did it this week of all weeks, when Marvel is celebrating yet another box office bonanza. I expected WB to be the one to blink—they had more to lose—but I thought they'd do it quietly, at a time when it couldn't possibly be construed as reactionary. By doing it now, they're admitting they find Marvel as sh*tty scary as everyone else. Plus they cried uncle to CAPTAIN AMERICA. Not even Iron Man—Captain "Nobody's Favorite" America chased off comic books' Holy Trinity, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. This is as much a PR game as it is economic, and WB\DC didn't play this for maximum positive press.
And then there's the issue of March. March is a soft month for box office, when studios release titles that are better than being buried behind the January woodshed, but aren't strong enough to hack it in summer, either. Money can be made in March—The Hunger Games opened with $152 million in 2012 and Alice in Wonderland with $116 million in 2010—but those are the outliers. Typically March releases open in the $40-55 million range. March is when middling movies are made to look better by default, since there's so little competition (see also: Divergent).
There is no question that Batman v. Superman: Trial of the Century will make a LOT of money. They could move it anywhere on the calendar and it would make bank. But putting it in March looks like a tacit admission that they don't think it can stand up to the stiffer competition of summer. It's a smart move not to divide your own audience, but goddamn do they look like a bunch of assholes making it. They engaged in a pointless dick-waving contest with Marvel which they predictably lost, and now they're releasing their movie in March, the scheduling equivalent of bowling with bumpers. Superhero Face Punch is as close to a sure thing as movies get—why can't WB at least fake confidence in it?

subset: commoncrawl


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Hi, I am a complete beginner to java programming,(root planner) I am trying to write a program which request a time from the user then compares it with the data in the text file. text file contains the time scale for a bus root:
100 40
200 70
300 60
300 80
200 50
400 60
the program needs to read the text file after user time input in the following format:
<N> // N is the number of changes
<FB><DB> // for each leg B, FB is the distance and DB is the speed. Note B=(N+1).
and if the user time input matches the result in the text file after calculation store, program needs to store it in a separate text file.
I need some hints
any help and hint would be appreciated


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AURORA, Ill. (November 22, 2010) – With a new team and a clean bill of health, Davi Millsaps is ready to stage a run at the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, title. Millsaps will be racing under the direction of team manager Jeremy Albrecht and the Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX team. The 2011 season marks the fifth year Millsaps has been competing in the premier AMA Supercross class.
Earlier this summer during the fourth race of the 2010 AMA Motocross championships, Millsaps suffered a frightening crash which required an air medic response team to fly him to a local primary care facility. In the end, Millsaps suffered damage to his kidney, a broken thumb, several broken ribs, and a bruised lung. After a long recovery, he is fully rested and ready to be in contention for the 2011 AMA Supercross title.
"For the upcoming season I need to train hard and ride hard and see where it takes me," said Millsaps. "Hopefully I can put my head down and focus on what I need to do to be where I need to be."
Millsaps joins Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX following five years of seat time on a Factory Honda. Since joining the pro ranks in 2004, Millsaps has earned one Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites title along with 10 career wins and an additional 19 podium finishes over seven years. In 2010, Millsaps posted a career-best third overall in the premier AMA Supercross class, complimented by four podium finishes and one win.
"It's going to be really good, competitive racing this year," said Millsaps. "There are a lot solid riders coming up, so I'm looking forward to it because it really shows where you stand. It's going to be a good year especially with everybody coming back from injuries. I just need to make sure I buckle down and do my best."
The 2011 Monster Energy Supercross season kicks off January 8 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.
For more information on the Monster Energy® AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, please log on to www.SupercrossOnline.com.


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But first...
Jennifer Lopez has finally confirmed, after going back and forth and back and forth and cockteasing everyone for weeks because, whatever she is, she knows how to extend a headline, that she will not be returning as a judge to American Idol. JLo called Seacrest today to put an end to the speculation. "The Time Has Come." Like she's Muhammad Ali announcing his retirement or something. As IF.
She wanted too much money and they wouldn't pay her. Also, she apparently wants to go back to working on movies. According to a Deadline source:
"She wants to do movies. She's expecting her team to deliver."
Look, there's no question people want to see JLo on the tv on the tv show about the people who want to be the singers. Because they don't have to leave their house. But will they get off the couch for JLo at the cinema?
Her last two live action movies were The Back-up Plan and What To Expect When You're Expecting. I'm just saying Out Of Sight was a long time ago. And, really, as much as she wants it, Jennifer Lopez will not be playing Anastasia in the film adaptation of Fifty Shades Of Grey although that's probably exactly what she and Casper will do for the theme of her next music video because they really are that f-cking predictable.
Speaking of Casper...
He just posted this photo of them together on his Twitter with the caption:
"Me and the Bear wake-boarding in Long Beach... Got up her 1st try..."
She calls him Bear. He calls her Bear back.
Goddamn her slum loving will not stop being gross for me. Ever. Never.
(Also, I got up on my first try wake-boarding too. And I am extremely uncoordinated. So if I can do it... Wake-boarding isn't hard at all. Water-skiing is the one that's the challenge.)
JLo's birthday is happening next week. She is not scheduled to perform that day (July 24). Three nights before she's in New Jersey and the next night she's in Boston.
Please Bear, will you marry the Bear?


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Men in Black 3 dethroned Avengers this past weekend, hitting number one at the box office. But before we marvel at Will Smith's ticket selling power, let's take a minute to dissect some of the more spectacular VFX shots and alien beasties created to make the third Men In Black movie look so cool. First up, check out this how-to video that explains what sort of tricks the visual effects team had to devise to throw Big Willy off the Chrysler Building.
Plus, get an up-close look at the "weasel" alien that lived inside Boris the Animal's hand (which was originally dreamed up by creature effects mastermind Rick Baker.)


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⚠ Any included DLC or online access codes may no longer be available on used games.
✖ Not Compatible with Xbox One
✖ Not Compatible with Xbox Series X|S
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit launches you into a new open-world landscape behind the wheel of the world's fastest and most beautiful cars. From Criterion, the award-winning studio behind the Burnout series, Hot Pursuit will redefine racing games for a whole new generation.
You'll experience stunning speeds, takedowns, and getaways as you battle your friends in the most connected Need for Speed game ever. Through Need for Speed Autolog and its innovative approach to connected social competition, your Hot Pursuit experience will extend beyond the console onto the web, constantly moving your gameplay in new and unique directions.
Loaded with action, this game will challenge you to become Seacrest County's top cop or most wanted racer. For the first time ever in a Need for Speed game, you'll be able to play a full career on either side of the law. This fall, whether you're a lead-foot speeder or a cop with a mean streak, make sure your aviators are spotless and your driving record is anything but.
This product is included in the following collections:


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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
When Chancellor Gary Thibodeau introduced the distinguished alumnus for 1989, he remarked about the exceptional accomplishments of "truly exceptional people." Distinguished alumni have one feature in common, he said, though they have walked down different paths in their professional careers. That feature, Thibodeau said, is simply that, "they make a difference-a very positive difference-in the lives of people." Arnold Cordes has truly made a difference in the lives of thousands of young people in this state.
Cordes taught vocational agriculture at Luck for three years and at Eau Claire for more than 17 years. In addition, he served in the Army during World War II, became state supervisor of vocational agriculture programs for three years, and ended his professional career serving as state FFA executive secretary and member of the Department of Public Instruction for 16 years. When he had completed his work in these occupations, Cordes established the FFA Foundation for which he served as executive director until his retirement in 1992.
Cordes has received various awards for his contributions to the FFA organizations. They include the Governor's Special Award, the National FFA Award, the Farm Bureau Distinguished Service Award, and the Agriculture Teachers Outstanding Service Award. Cordes's contributions have had a positive impact on vocational education.


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Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Back in Schiphol. I see the US TSA security theatre has opened my bags. Never ever lock your suitcase when travelling to the States....if you are on a round the world (i.e. they see it as one way tickets) then you are guaranteed to get the full body search and detailed inspection. It means the dreaded "SSSS" on your boarding card. I am surprised that the Schiphol check-in staff don't warn you about not locking luggage....if the TSA can't open the suitcase they will break the lock.
Transmission Towers
I note that on the way to Newark, we pass several baseball stadiums (Yankees), but also a lot of AM radio stations. WINS must be out here somewhere. Close to New York, but flat and marshy...ideal for mediumwave radio.
Lou Josphs, based in Washington DC, used to help out with the Media Network show. If anyone understands transmitter sites, it is Lou. He writes "looks like 570 WMCA..now a Salem station carrying right-wing religious material. The other side of the road used to have the tx of 1130 kHz am but that was moved. Remember this whole wetlands area is built on a giant trash dump. The stadium in NJ that you passed is the Meadowlands, it's the US football Giants/Jets."
Time to head home....the suitcase is bursting with clothes. US is about half the price of the Netherlands for polo shirts, even with the Euro exchange rate not being so good as last year.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Waiting for the train to Penns Station at the Jamaica interchange. Jim Cutler, a great friend and leading voice over artist for many US radio and TV stations, shows me around the radio city. It's going to rain, but the stories are not doing to dampen the enthusiasm.
The waiting room at WINS....European radio station managers would be amazed at what they guys can build into such a small space.
In New York city today doing interviews, among them at one of the top all news stations in the US, WINS, on 1010 kHz AM
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
I am really enjoying Supernova 2005, a unique mix of futurists, realists and IT people. There is an information overload in the next few days, but one of the best places to interview people for a documentary series. A unique venture and still one of the best.
Just had a short but fascinating meeting with Joshua Fouts, who is the executive director of the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy. He's starting up some fascinating research on new ways in which the US can enter into dialogue with other cultures. It may be that games are more effective than traditional radio and TV programs. Check out the website at http://publicdiplomacy.usc.edu
Monday, June 20, 2005
Alcatraz was the only prison in the US to have hot showers in the 1950's...to prevent prisoners getting used to the cold water around the island. 55 degrees Farenheit.
Thanks to the date line you can leave Singapore Sunday morning and take a cruise around the Golden Gate bridge at 2.30 the same day. Good that I could get a bit of sleep on the plane. It was incredibly clear...
Madan Mohan Rao
Delighted to meet Madan Mohan Rao from Bangalore while in Singapore. He is an acomplished author on the way Asia is tackling the challenges of the new media. Had a great chat with him and hope to set up some projects together in the future. Check out...
"Visions" a paper for the ITU's World Summit on the Information Society
Book review: The Media and Elections (by Bernd-Peter Lange and David Ward)
ICTs in rural areas: Frameworks for electronic markets, local knowledge
Book review: Smart Mobs (by Howard Rheingold)
And on a more entertaining note: world music reviews in Rave magazine:
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Editor's Note: Leslye Orloff is a professor and director of the National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project at American University. She helped draft protections for immigrants in the Violence Against Women Act.
Story highlights
Leslye Orloff: GOP, Democrats have supported Violence Against Women Act since 1994
Orloff: House Republicans now want to block it, gut protections for immigrants
Victims can report abuse, rape and human trafficking without fear of deportation, she says
Orloff: Victims help police, prosecutors, but all this will be lost if House GOP plan prevails
The Violence Against Women Act has protected crime victims and helped police and prosecutors take violent criminals off our streets for nearly 20 years. After it became law in 1994, it was reauthorized, with robust support from both parties, in 2000 and 2005.
Republicans played a prominent role in crafting the act, and particularly its protections for undocumented crime victims. But this time around, House Republicans are blocking its reauthorization and proposing a dramatic and dangerous rollback in its protection for immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.
The House Reauthorization bill undermines two decades of relief for immigrant victims who suffer continuing abuse at the hands of U.S. citizens or permanent resident spouses or parents. The Violence Against Women Act has provided undocumented immigrant women and children, who might depend on their abusers for legal status or economic support, a special immigration remedy that helps victims become independent and stops their assailants from trying to keep them quiet with threats of deportation.
The House bill breaks with that history by weakening vital confidentiality provisions that protect immigrant spouse and child abuse victims from retaliation by keeping their abusers from interfering with the victims' immigration case.
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A U-visa, a feature of the act, gives a person who is undocumented and a victim of certain violent crimes protection from deportation with legal status and work authorization. It is not easy to get one. You must meet certain criteria and agree to assist and continue assisting in law enforcement investigations and prosecutions. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reported that the Department of Homeland Security has incorporated safeguards for adjudicating these cases and there is no evidence of fraud.
The House bill would put immigrant crime victims on a path "from report to deport" by making U-visas temporary and contingent on factors outside the victim's control, such as whether a rapist has been identified. It would also remove the possibility of lawful permanent resident status for those who, thanks to the U-visa, are able to summon the courage to report crimes and cooperate in criminal investigations and prosecutions.
The U-visa has been instrumental in solving and preventing crimes. In one dramatic case, a police officer who investigated gangs helped an immigrant victim of domestic violence and sexual assault obtain U-visa certification from his department. This action ended up saving his life.
The victim cooperated in the successful prosecution of her assailant. And she later warned the officer that her abuser's gang had put out a contract to kill him and his partner. The House bill's proposed changes would have ended in her deportation and, perhaps, those officers' deaths.
Members of Congress who once led efforts to offer immigration relief for crime victims included nearly equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. I had the privilege of assisting these bipartisan collaborations to create special immigration protections for victims of spousal, child and elder abuse, the U-visa for cooperating crime victims and the T-visa for human trafficking victims.
The crimes suffered by U-visa applicants and recipients are predominantly domestic violence, child and elder abuse, at 46%; rape, human trafficking and sexual assault, at 29%; felonious assault, murder and torture, at 11%; and kidnapping and false imprisonment, at 8%. These are serious crimes indeed, and it is imperative that congressional leaders summon the political will to reauthorize the act before the end of December 2012.
Each new incarnation of the act has improved protections. In contrast to the House bill, the Senate Reauthorization bill (S1925) continues the long bipartisan history of expanding the act to assure better protections for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors.
The Senate bill extends protection to members of the LGBT community and Native Americans; prevents children from being denied benefits because they have grown too old during the long application process; expands the pool of U-visas and adds stalking to the list of covered crimes. It also strengthens protections for foreign fiances and spouses of U.S. citizens through amendments to the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act.
The Senate bill addresses an annual shortfall by increasing the cap on U-visas from 10,000 to 15,000 for each of the next eight years. This is not a net gain in allotted U-visas, but is a recapture of about 34,000 of roughly 74,000 U-visas that were authorized by Congress but never used. From 2001 to 2007, thousands of applicants were granted interim relief, rather than the U-visas allotted for those years, while they waited for Department of Homeland Security to adjudicate their cases. The House bill keeps the cap at 10,000 and imposes restrictions that will make it impossible to investigate, solve and prosecute crimes when the victim is an immigrant.
Every U-visa represents a tip to law enforcement and a cooperating witness. In a survey of nearly 8,000 U-visa cases, 99.45% of U-visa applicants and U-visa holders either provided, or were willing to provide, critical information and ongoing cooperation with police and prosecutors.
Police departments are benefiting greatly from the value of the U-visa in building good relationships with immigrant communities. HR 4970 would end U-visa protections and thus discourage victims' cooperation with law enforcement, destabilizing the trust between police and immigrant communities the law has fostered for many years.
Immigrant crime victims who receive U-visas have a legal obligation to continue cooperating with law enforcement as a requirement to file for lawful permanent residency. This allows police to maintain important sources of information.
U.S. demographics are changing. Today 27% of the U.S. population is either immigrants or has one or more immigrant parent. Passing the Senate's proposals for the Violence Against Women Act will allow many victims of terrible crimes to come out of the shadows and find justice and safety.
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The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Leslye Orloff.


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This blogger hasn't seen it yet and is unlikely to see a review copy for a couple of weeks, so he thought he'd let everyone know that it was available. Justine and Chris have assembled an impressive array of contributors from the UK and beyond, so he'd expect it to be good. Since the new European patent package is still capable of being described as "work in progress", it's unsurprising that this volume is described as the "First Edition": clearly we can expect a sequel.
This is a work which will enjoy wide and enduring interest among academics, policy makers and decision makers/practitioners working in patent law, intellectual property law, legal harmonisation and EU law.
Further details are available from the publisher's web-page for it, here.


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The New England Patriots will have to play at least another week with standout tight end Aaron Hernandez.
Harrison: Week 11 predictions
Whole lotta intrigue in Week 11, including the latest installment of Ravens vs. Steelers. Elliot Harrison provides his picks. **More ...**
According to a source briefed on the situation, Hernandez will not play Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts because of a lingering ankle injury, reports NFL.com and NFL Network's Albert Breer.
Hernandez suffered a low ankle sprain in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals and was on the sideline until the Patriots' Week 6 game against the Seattle Seahawks. He played in two games, but did not travel to London to play against the St. Louis Rams. He has not played since the Patriots' victory over the New York Jets on Oct. 21.
Hernandez has missed five games over a six-week period. The ankle sprain was originally diagnosed as a four-to-six week injury. In four games this season, he has 17 receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots have won three straight and have been just fine without Hernandez. Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker have shined in his absence.


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A team of astrobiologists has redefined conventional notions of where life can exist within a solar system. They've suggested that life could exist inside planets with inhospitable surfaces. Dubbed "subsurface habitable zones," this new definition of habitable zones means that alien life may be far more prevalent than we ever imagined.
Typically, a solar system's habitable zone, or so-called "Goldilocks zone," is a fairly narrow band within which planets can foster liquid water at the surface and cling to a stable atmosphere. For our solar system, this life-imbuing region of space extends from Venus to Mars.
Scratching the Surface
But as a team of researchers from Aberdeen and St. Andrews universities are now arguing, this traditional definition fails to take into account life that can exist beneath a planet's surface. Indeed, as extremophiles on Earth have shown, life can be incredibly resilient. What's more, temperatures increase as depth increases; once temperatures can foster liquid water, it's conceivable that life can exist there, too.
To show that this is the case, the researchers used a computer model to approximate temperatures below the surfaces of planets by entering the distance to their respective stars while referencing it to the size of the planet. This allowed them to come up with a subsurface habitable zone (SSHZ) map.
Life In Other Planets
Results showed that the habitable radius around a star increases three-fold if life can exist 3.3 miles (5.3 km) below the surface (which is the case on Earth). If it can exist as far as 6 miles (10 km) down (not impossible), that would extend our solar system's SSHZ by a factor of 14. That's beyond Saturn — a range that would have to include moons like Europa and Ganymede, both of which are thought to host subsurface oceans.
This means that Venus could also be deemed potentially habitable despite its boiling hot surface.
Incredibly, lead researcher Sean McMahon says this opens up the possibility that even rogue planets adrift in interstellar space could even harbor life.
"Rocky planets a few times larger than the Earth could support liquid water at about 5 km below the surface even in interstellar space...even if they have no atmosphere because the larger the planet, the more heat they generate internally," he told IBT.
At the same time, the idea of SSHZs will dramatically increase the number of exoplanets and exomoons considered suitable for extraterrestrial life. In fact, more life may exist inside planets than on the surface; the Earth might actually be somewhat of an anomaly.
Of course, what we're talking about here is primarily microbial life (though probably not exclusively). What would be really fascinating to know is the habitable zone specific to radio-capable intelligent life (to borrow from Frank Drake). Call it the rcIHZ.
Read the entire study at Planetary and Space Science: "Circumstellar habitable zones for deep terrestrial biospheres."
Top image: NASA/JPL-Caltech; inset image via McMahon et al.


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Judges Exposition: Index |
Introduction to the book of Judges |
Judges 1 |
Judges 2
Judges 3
Judges 4
Judges 5
Judges 6
Judges 7
Judges 8
Judges 9
Judges 10
Judges 11
Judges 12
Judges 13
Judges 14
Judges 15
Judges 16
Judges 17
Judges 18
Judges 19
Judges 20
Judges 21
Judges full text: Judges 1 | Judges 2 | Judges 3 | Judges 4 | Judges 5 | Judges 6 | Judges 7 | Judges 8 | Judges 9 | Judges 10 | Judges 11 | Judges 12 | Judges 13 | Judges 14 | Judges 15 | Judges 16 | Judges 17 | Judges 18 | Judges 19 | Judges 20 | Judges 21
The three remaining chapters of this book contain a most tragical story of the wickedness of the men of Gibeah, patronised by the tribe of Benjamin, for which that tribe was severely chastised and almost entirely cut off by the rest of the tribes. This seems to have been done not long after the death of Joshua, for it was when there was no king, no judge, in Israel (ver. 1, and ch. xxi. 25), and Phinehas was then high priest, ch. xx. 28. These particular iniquities, the Danites' idolatry, and the Benjamites' immorality, let in that general apostasy, ch. iii. 7. The abuse of the Levite's concubine is here very particularly related. I. Her adulterous elopement from him, ver. 1, 2. II. His reconciliation to her, and the journey he took to fetch her home, ver. 3. III. Her father's kind entertainment of him, ver. 4-9. IV. The abuse he met with at Gibeah, where, being benighted, he was forced to stop. 1. He was neglected by the men of Gibeah (ver. 10-15) and entertained by an Ephraimite that sojourned among them, ver. 16-21. 2. They set upon him in his quarters, as the Sodomites did on Lot's quests, ver. 22-24. 3. They villainously forced his concubine to death, ver. 25-28. V. The course he took to send notice of this to all the tribes of Israel, ver. 29, 30.
1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there four whole months. 3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4 And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there. 5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. 6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry. 7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. 10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. 11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. 13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.
The domestic affairs of this Levite would not have been related thus largely but to make way for the following story of the injuries done him, in which the whole nation interested themselves. Bishop Hall's first remark upon this story is, That there is no complaint of a public ordered state but there is a Levite at one end of it, either as an agent or as a patient. In Micah's idolatry a Levite was active; in the wickedness of Gibeah a Levite was passive; no tribe shall sooner feel the want of government than that of Levi; and, in all the book of Judges, no mention is made of any of that tribe, but of these two. This Levite was of Mount Ephraim, v. 1. He married a wife of Bethlehem-Judah. She is called his concubine, because she was not endowed, for perhaps he had nothing to endow her with, being himself a sojourner and not settled; but it does not appear that he had any other wife, and the margin calls her a wife, a concubine, v. 1. She came from the same city that Micah's Levite came from, as if Bethlehem-Judah owed a double ill turn to Mount Ephraim, for she was as bad for a Levite's wife as the other for a Levite.
I. This Levite's concubine played the whore and eloped from her husband, v. 2. The Chaldee reads it only that she carried herself insolently to him, or despised him, and, he being displeased at it, she went away from him, and (which was not fair) was received and entertained at her father's house. Had her husband turned her out of doors unjustly, her father ought to have pitied her affliction; but, when she treacherously departed from her husband to embrace the bosom of a stranger, her father ought not to have countenanced her sin. Perhaps she would not have violated her duty to her husband if she had not known too well where she should be kindly received. Children's ruin is often owing very much to parents' indulgence.
II. The Levite went himself to court her return. It was a sign there was no king, no judge, in Israel, else she would have been prosecuted and put to death as an adulteress; but, instead of that, she is addressed in the kindest manner by her injured husband, who takes a long journey on purpose to beseech her to be reconciled, v. 3. If he had put her away, it would have been a crime in him to return to her again, Jer. iii. 1. But, she having gone away, it was a virtue in him to forgive the offence, and, though the party wronged, to make the first motion to her to be friends again. It is part of the character of the wisdom from above that it is gentle and easy to be entreated. He spoke friendly to her, or comfortably (for so the Hebrew phrase of speaking to the heart commonly signifies), which intimates that she was in sorrow, penitent for what she had done amiss, which probably he heard of when he came to fetch her back. Thus God promises concerning adulterous Israel (Hos. ii. 14), I will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her.
III. Her father made him very welcome, and, by his extraordinary kindness to him, endeavoured to atone for the countenance he had given his daughter in withdrawing from him, and to confirm him in his disposition to be reconciled to her. 1. He entertains him kindly, rejoices to see him (v. 3), treats him generously for three days, v. 4. And the Levite, to show that he was perfectly reconciled, accepted his kindness, and we do not find that he upbraided him or his daughter with what had been amiss, but was as easy and as pleasant as at his first wedding-feast. It becomes all, but especially Levites, to forgive as God does. Every thing among them gave a hopeful prospect of their living comfortably together for the future; but, could they have foreseen what befel them within one day or two, how would all their mirth have been embittered and turned into mourning! When the affairs of our families are in the best posture we ought to rejoice with trembling, because we know not what troubles one day may bring forth. We cannot foresee what evil is near us, but we ought to consider what may be, that we may not be secure, as if to-morrow must needs be as this day and much more abundant, Isa. lvi. 12. 2. He is very earnest for his stay, as a further demonstration of his hearty welcome. The affection he had for him, and the pleasure he took in his company, proceeded, (1.) From a civil regard to him as his son-in-law and an ingrafted branch of his own house. Note, Love and duty are due to those to whom we are related by marriage as well as to those who are bone of our bone: and those that show kindness as this Levite did may expect to receive kindness as he did. And, (2.) From a pious respect to him as a Levite, a servant of God's house; if he was such a Levite as he should be (and nothing appears to the contrary) he is to be commended for courting his stay, finding his conversation profitable, and having opportunity to learn from him the good knowledge of the Lord, hoping also that the Lord will do him good because he has a Levite to be his son-in-law, and will bless him for his sake. [1.] He forces him to stay the fourth day, and this was kind; not knowing when they might be together again, he engages him to stay as long as he possibly could. The Levite, though nobly treated, was very urgent to be gone. A good man's heart is where his business is; for as a bird that wanders from her nest so is the man that wanders from his place. It is a sign a man has either little to do at home, or little heart to do what he has to do, when he can take pleasure in being long abroad where he has nothing to do. It is especially good to see a Levite willing to go home to his few sheep in the wilderness. Yet this Levite was overcome by importunity and kind persuasion to stay longer than he intended, v. 5-7. We ought to avoid the extreme of an over-easy yielding, to the neglect of our duty on the one hand, and that of moroseness and wilfulness, to the neglect of our friends and their kindness on the other hand. Our Saviour, after his resurrection, was prevailed upon to stay with his friends longer than he at first intimated to be his purpose, Luke xxiv. 28, 29. [2.] He forces him to stay till the afternoon of the fifth day, and this, as it proved, was unkind, v. 8, 9. He would by no means let him go before dinner, promises him he shall have dinner early, designing thereby, as he had done the day before, to detain him another night; but the Levite was intent on the house of the Lord at Shiloh (v. 18), and, being impatient to get thither, would stay no longer. Had they set out early, they might have reached some better lodging-place than that which they were now constrained to take up with, nay, they might have got to Shiloh. Note, Our friends' designed kindnesses often prove, in the event, real injuries; what is meant for our welfare becomes a trap. Who knows what is good for a man in this life? The Levite was unwise in setting out so late; he might have got home better if he had staid a night longer and taken the day before him.
IV. In his return home he was forced to lodge at Gibeah, a city in the tribe of Benjamin, afterwards called Gibeah of Saul, which lay on his road towards Shiloh and Mount Ephraim. When it drew towards night, and the shadows of the evening were stretched out, they began to think (as it behoves us to do when we observe the day of our life hastening towards a period) where they must lodge. When night came they could not pursue their journey. He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goes. They could not but desire rest, for which the night was intended, as the day for labour. 1. The servant proposed that they should lodge in Jebus, afterwards Jerusalem, but as yet in the possession of Jebusites. "Come," said the servant, "let us lodge in this city of the Jebusites," v. 11. And, if they had done so, it is probable they would have had much better usage than they met with in Gibeah of Benjamin. Debauched and profligate Israelites are worse and much more dangerous than Canaanites themselves. But the master, as became one of God's tribe, would by no means quarter, no, not one night, in a city of strangers (v. 12), not because he questioned his safety among them, but he was not willing, if he could possibly avoid it, to have so much intimacy and familiarity with them as a night's lodging came to, nor to be so much beholden to them. By shunning this place he would witness against the wickedness of those that contracted friendship and familiarity with these devoted nations. Let Israelites, Levites especially, associate with Israelites, and not with the sons of the stranger. 2. Having passed by Jebus, which was about five or six miles from Bethlehem (the place whence they came), and not having daylight to bring them to Ramah, they stopped at Gibeah (v. 13-15); there they sat down in the street, nobody offering them a lodging. In these countries, at that time, there were no inns, or public-houses, in which, as with us, travellers might have entertainment for their money, but they carried entertainment along with them, as this Levite did (v. 19), and depended upon the courtesy and hospitality of the inhabitants for a lodging. Let us take occasion hence, when we are in journeys, to thank God for this, among other conveniences of travelling, that there are inns to entertain strangers, and in which they may be welcome and well accommodated for their money. Surely there is no country in the world wherein one may stay at home with more satisfaction, or go abroad with more comfort, than in our own nation. This traveller, though a Levite (and to those of that tribe God had particularly commanded his people to be kind upon all occasions), met with very cold entertainment at Gibeah: No man took them into his house. If they had any reason to think he was a Levite perhaps that made those ill-disposed people the more shy of him. There are those who will have this laid to their charge at the great day, I was a stranger and you took me not in.
16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? 18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Beth-lehem-judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Beth-lehem-judah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord; and there is no man that receiveth me to house. 19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. 20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. 21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
Though there as not one of Gibeah, yet it proved there was one in Gibeah, that showed some civility to this distressed Levite, who was glad that any one took notice of him. It was strange that some of those wicked people, who, when it was dark, designed so ill to him and his concubine, did not, under pretence of kindness, invite them in, that they might have a fairer opportunity of perpetrating their villany; but either they had not wit enough to be so designing, or not wickedness enough to be so deceiving. Or, perhaps, none of them separately thought of such a wickedness, till in the black and dark night they got together to contrive what mischief they should do. Bad people in confederacy make one another much worse than any of them would be by themselves. When the Levite, and his wife, and servant, were beginning to fear that they must lie in the street all night (and as good have laid in a den of lions) they were at length invited into a house, and we are here told,
I. Who that kind man was that invited them. 1. He was a man of Mount Ephraim, and only sojourned in Gibeah, v. 16. Of all the tribes of Israel, the Benjamites had most reason to be kind to poor travellers, for their ancestor, Benjamin, was born upon the road, his mother being then upon a journey, and very near to this place, Gen. xxxv. 16, 17. Yet they were hard-hearted to a traveller in distress, while an honest Ephraimite had compassion on him, and, no doubt, was the more kind to him, when, upon enquiry, he found that he was his countryman, of Mount Ephraim likewise. He that was himself but a sojourner in Gibeah was the more compassionate to a wayfaring man, for he knew the heart of a stranger, Exod. xxiii. 9; Deut. x. 19. Good people, that look upon themselves but as strangers and sojourners in this world, should for this reason be tender to one another, because they all belong to the same better country and are not at home here. 2. He was an old man, one that retained some of the expiring virtue of an Israelite. The rising generation was entirely corrupted; if there was any good remaining among them, it was only with those that were old and going off. 3. He was coming home from his work out of the field at eventide. The evening calls home labourers, Ps. civ. 23. But, it should seem, this was the only labourer that this evening brought home to Gibeah. The rest had given themselves up to sloth and luxury, and no marvel there was among them, as in Sodom, abundance of uncleanness, when there was among them, as in Sodom, abundance of idleness, Ezek. xvi. 49. But he that was honestly diligent in his business all day was disposed to be generously hospitable to these poor strangers at night. Let men labour, that they may have to give, Eph. iv. 28. It appears from v. 21 that he was a man of some substance, and yet had been himself at work in the field. No man's estate will privilege him in idleness.
II. How free and generous he was in his invitation. He did not stay till they applied to him to beg for a night's lodging; but when he saw them (v. 17) enquired into their circumstances, and anticipated them with his kindness. Thus our good God answers before we call. Note, A charitable disposition expects only opportunity, not importunity, to do good, and will succour upon sight, unsought unto. Hence we read of a bountiful eye, Prov. xxii. 9. If Gibeah was like Sodom, this old man was like Lot in Sodom, who sat in the gate to invite strangers, Gen. xix. 1. Thus Job opened his doors to the traveller, and would not suffer him to lodge in the street, Job xxxi. 32. Observe, 1. How ready he was to give credit to the Levite's account of himself when he saw no reason at all to question the truth of it, and you can find more about that here on st-takla.org on other commentaries and dictionary entries. Charity is not apt to distrust, but hopeth all things (1 Cor. xiii. 7) and will not make use of Nabal's excuse for his churlishness to David, Many servants now-a-days break away from their masters, 1 Sam. xxv. 10. The Levite, in his account of himself, professed that he was now going to the house of the Lord (v. 18), for there he designed to attend, either with a trespass-offering for the sins of his family, or with a peace-offering for the mercies of his family, or both, before he went to his own house. And, if the men of Gibeah had any intimation of his being bound that way, probably they would therefore be disinclined to entertain him. The Samaritans would not receive Christ because his face was towards Jerusalem, Luke ix. 53. But for this reason, because he was a Levite and was now going to the house of the Lord, this good old man was the more kind to him. Thus he received a disciple in the name of a disciple, a servant of God for his Master's sake. 2. How free he was to give him entertainment. The Levite was himself provided with all necessaries (v. 19), wanted nothing but a lodging, but his generous host would be himself at the charge of his entertainment (v. 20): Let all thy wants be upon me; so he brought him into his house, v. 21. Thus God will, some way or other, raise up friends for his people and ministers, even when they seem forlorn.
22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. 23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. 24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. 25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 26 Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. 27 And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. 28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. 30 And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.
Here is, I. The great wickedness of the men of Gibeah. One could not imagine that ever it should enter into the heart of men that had the use of human reason, of Israelites that had the benefit of divine revelation, to be so very wicked. "Lord, what is man!" said David, "what a mean creature is he!" "Lord, what is man," may we say upon the reading of this story, "what a vile creature is he, when he is given up to his own heart's lusts!" The sinners are here called sons of Belial, that is, ungovernable men, men that would endure no yoke, children of the devil (for he is Belial), resembling him, and joining with him in rebellion against God and his government. Sons of Benjamin, of whom Moses had said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him (Deut. xxxiii. 12), have become such sons of Belial that an honest man cannot lodge in safety among them. The sufferers were a Levite and his wife, and that kind man that gave them entertainment. We are strangers upon earth, and must expect strange usage. It is said they were making their hearts merry when this trouble came upon them, v. 22. If the mirth was innocent, it teaches us of what uncertain continuance all our creature comforts and enjoyments are; when we are ever so well pleased with our friends, we know not how near our enemies are; nor, if it be well with us this hour, can we be sure it will be so the next. If the mirth was sinful and excessive, let it be a warning to us to keep a strict guard upon ourselves, that we grow not intemperate in the use of lawful things, nor be transported into indecencies by our cheerfulness; for the end of that mirth is heaviness. God can soon change the note of those that are making their hearts merry, and turn their laughter into mourning and their joy into heaviness. Let us see what the wickedness of these Benjamites was.
1. They made a rude and insolent assault, in the night, upon the habitation of an honest man, that not only lived peaceably among them, but kept a good house and was a blessing and ornament to their city. They beset the house round, and, to the great terror of those within, beat as hard as they could at the door, v. 22. A man's house is his castle, in which he ought to be both safe and quiet, and, where there is law, it is taken under the special protection of it; but there was no king in Israel to keep the peace and secure honest men from the sons of violence.
2. They had a particular spite at the strangers that were within their gates, that only desired a night's lodging among them, contrary to the laws of hospitality, which all civilized nations have accounted sacred, and which the master of the house pleaded with them (v. 23): Seeing that this man has come into my house. Those are base and abject spirits indeed that will trample upon the helpless, and use a man the worse for his being a stranger, whom they know no ill of.
3. They designed in the most filthy and abominable manner (not to be thought of without horror and detestation) to abuse the Levite, whom perhaps they had observed to be young and comely: Bring him forth that we may know him. We should certainly have concluded they meant only to enquire whence he came, and to know his character, but that the good man of the house, who understood their meaning too well, by his answer lets us know that they designed the gratification of that most unnatural and worse than brutish lust which was expressly forbidden by the law of Moses, and called an abomination, Lev. xviii. 22. Those that are guilty of it are ranked in the New Testament among the worst and vilest of sinners (1 Tim. i. 10), and such as shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi. 9. Now, (1.) This was the sin of Sodom, and is thence called Sodomy. The Dead Sea, which was the standing monument of God's vengeance upon Sodom, for its filthiness, was one of the boundaries of Canaan, and lay not many miles off from Gibeah. We may suppose the men of Gibeah had seen it many a time, and yet would not take warning by it, but did worse than Sodom (Ezek. xvi. 48), and sinned just after the similitude of their transgression. Who would have expected (says bishop Hall) such extreme abomination to come out of the loins of Jacob? Even the worst pagans were saints to them. What did it avail them that they had the ark of God in Shiloh when they had Sodom in their streets—God's law in their fringes, but the devil in their hearts? Nothing but hell itself can yield a worse creature than a depraved Israelite. (2.) This was the punishment of their idolatry, that sin to which they were, above all others, most addicted. Because they liked not to retain God in their knowledge, therefore he gave them up to these vile affections, by which they dishonoured themselves as they had by their idolatry dishonoured him and turned his glory into shame, Rom. i. 24, 28. See and admire, in this instance, the patience of God. Why were not these sons of Belial struck blind, as the Sodomites were? Why were not fire and brimstone rained from heaven upon their city? It was because God would leave it to Israel to punish them by the sword, and would reserve his own punishment of them for the future state, in which those that go after strange flesh shall suffer the vengeance of eternal fire, Jude 7.
4. They were deaf to the reproofs and reasoning of the good man of the house, who, being well acquainted (we may suppose) with the story of Lot and the Sodomites, set himself to imitate Lot, v. 23, 24. Compare Gen. xix. 6-8. He went out to them as Lot did, spoke civilly to them, called them brethren, begged of them to desist, pleaded the protection of his house which his guests were under, and represented to them the great wickedness of their attempt: "Do not so wickedly, so very wickedly." He calls it folly and a vile thing. But in one thing he conformed too far to Lot's example (as we are apt in imitating good men to follow them even in their false steps), in offering them his daughter to do what they would with. He had not power thus to prostitute his daughter, nor ought he to have done this evil that good might come. But this wicked proposal of his may be in part excused from the great surprise and terror he was in, his concern for his guests, and his having too close a regard to what Lot did in the like case, especially not finding that the angels who were by reproved him for it. And perhaps he hoped that his mentioning this as a more natural gratification of their lust would have sent them back to their common harlots. But they would not hearken to him, v. 25. Headstrong lusts are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; they sear the conscience and make it insensible.
5. They got the Levite's wife among them, and abused her to death, v. 25. They slighted the old man's offer of his daughter to their lust, either because she was not handsome or because they knew her to be one of great gravity and modesty: but, when the Levite brought them his concubine, they took her with them by force to the place appointed for their filthiness. Josephus, in his narrative of this story, makes her to be the person they had a design upon when they beset the house, and says nothing of their villainous design upon the Levite himself. They saw her (he says) in the street, when they came into the town, and were smitten with her beauty; and perhaps, though she was reconciled to her husband, her looks did not bespeak her to be one of the most modest. Many bring mischief of this kind upon themselves by their loose carriage and behaviour; a little spark may kindle a great fire. One would think the Levite should have followed them, to see what became of his wife, but it is probable he durst not, lest they should do him a mischief. In the miserable end of this woman, we may see the righteous hand of God punishing her for her former uncleanness, when she played the whore against her husband, v. 2. Though her father had countenanced her, her husband had forgiven her, and the fault was forgotten now that the quarrel was made up, yet God remembered it against her when he suffered these wicked men thus wretchedly to abuse her; how unrighteous soever they were in their treatment of her, in permitting it the Lord was righteous. Her punishment answered her sin, Culpa libido fuit, poena libido fuit—Lust was her sin, and lust was her punishment. By the law of Moses she was to have been put to death for her adultery. She escaped that punishment from men, yet vengeance pursued her; for, if there was no king in Israel, yet there was a God in Israel, a God that judgeth in the earth. We must not think it enough to make our peace with men, whom by our sins we have wronged, but are concerned, by repentance and faith, to make our peace with God, who sees not as men see, nor makes so light of sin as men often do. The justice of God in this matter does not at all extenuate the horrid wickedness of these men of Gibeah, than which nothing could be more barbarous and inhuman.
II. The notice that was sent of this wickedness to all the tribes of Israel. The poor abused woman made towards her husband's lodgings as soon as ever the approach of the day-light obliged these sons of Belial to let her go (for these works of darkness hate and dread the light), v. 25. Down she fell at the door, with her hands on the threshold, begging pardon (as it were) for her former transgression, and in that posture of a penitent, with her mouth in the dust, she expired. There he found her (v. 26, 27), supposed her asleep, or overcome with shame and confusion for what had happened, but soon perceived she was dead (v. 28), took up her dead body, which, we may suppose, had all over it marks of the hands, the blows, and other abuses, she had received. On this sad occasion he waived his purpose of going to Shiloh, and went directly home. He that went out in hopes to return rejoicing came in again melancholy and disconsolate, sat down and considered, "Is this an injury fit to be passed by?" He cannot call for fire from heaven to consume the men of Gibeah, as those angels did who were, after the same manner, insulted by the Sodomites. There was no king in Israel, nor (for aught that appears) any sanhedrim, or great council, to appeal to, and demand justice from. Phinehas is high priest, but he attends closely to the business of the sanctuary, and will be no judge or divider. He has therefore no other way left him than to appeal to the people: let the community be judge. Though they had no general stated assembly of all the tribes, yet it is probable that each tribe had a meeting of their chiefs within itself. To each of the tribes, in their respective meetings, he sent by special messengers a remonstrance of the wrong that was done him, in all its aggravating circumstances, and with it a piece of his wife's dead body (v. 29), both to confirm the truth of the story and to affect them the more with it. He divided it into twelve pieces, according to the bones, so some read it, that is, by the joints, sending one to each tribe, even to Benjamin among the rest, with the hope that some among them would be moved to join in punishing so great a villany, and the more warmly because committed by some of their own tribe. It did indeed look very barbarous thus to mangle a dead body, which, having been so wretchedly dishonoured, ought to have been decently interred; but the Levite designed hereby, not only to represent their barbarous usage of his wife, whom they had better have cut in pieces thus than have used as they did, but also to express his own passionate concern and thereby to excite the like in them. And it had the desired effect. All that saw the pieces of the dead body, and were told how the matter was, expressed the same sentiments upon it. 1. That the men of Gibeah had been guilty of a very heinous piece of wickedness, the like to which had never been known before in Israel, v. 30. It was a complicated crime, loaded and blackened with all possible aggravations. They were not such fools as to make a mock at this sin, or turn the story off with a jest. 2. That a general assembly of all Israel should be called, to debate what was fit to be done for the punishment of this wickedness, that a stop might be put to this threatening inundation of debauchery, and the wrath of God might not be poured upon the whole nation for it. It is not a common case, and therefore they stir up one another to come together upon the occasion with this: Consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds. We have here the three great rules by which those that sit in council ought to go in every arduous affair. (1.) Let every man retire into himself, and weigh the matter impartially and fully in his own thoughts, and seriously and calmly consider it, without prejudice on either side, before he speaks upon it. (2.) Let them freely talk it over, and every man take advice of his friend, know his opinion and his reasons, and weigh them. (3.) Then let every man speak his mind, and give his vote according to his conscience. In the multitude of such counsellors there is safety.
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Wentworth Season 4
You're watching Wentworth Season 4 full movie online free at 4Khotvideo.Fans of the iconic Prisoner Cell Block H series, which pushed boundaries over three decades ago and still boasts a loyal following worldwide today, will remember Bea Smith as gutsy and fearless, ruling Wentworth Correctional Centre with an iron fist. But who was Bea Smith before prison? How did a wife and mother from the suburbs become a top dog without rival? Wentworth Prison is a dynamic, often confronting, drama series that begins with Bea's early days in prison. Set in the present day, it is a modern adaptation of Prisoner Cell Block H that contemporises legendary characters and their stories for today's audience. This series takes the viewer inside to an uncompromising environment that explores the politics of women in a world without men, and how such a threatening experience both challenges and often changes those confined and working behind the razor wire. The audience will be introduced to Bea all over again and meet her allies and enemies in the form of iconic inmates: Doreen Anderson, Liz Birdsworth and Franky Doyle, and there are new faces such as Jacs Holt, the ruthless matriarch of a crime family who now reigns over Wentworth. Favourite offices will also return. Meg Jackson carries a shameful secret; Vera Bennett, the well-meaning officer who discovers everyone has a price; Erica Davidson, the crusading Lawyer and Matthew Fletcher who believes in retribution rather than rehabilitation. And a new face, Meg's husband Will Jackson, whose past still haunts him. Each episode explores an individual character's back story, providing an insight to what makes them tick and the circumstances that led them to Wentworth. In doing so we discover that the difference between an inmate and an officer is sometimes simply geography, because they're all prisoners in surprisingly different ways. Like the original Prisoner Cell Block H, Wentworth Prison is, at its heart, a series about survival, a character drama featuring women living in a pressure cooker environment. Despite the rivalries and power struggles, this fam To watch Wentworth Season 4 free at 4Khotvideo just click WATCH NOW without signing up or any delay.
Role:Kate Atkinson, Robbie Magasiva, Katrina Milosevic


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Android is focused on helping users take advantage of the latest innovations while making their security and privacy top priorities.
Some of the best practices described on this page also appear in the cheat sheet.
Pay attention to permissions
Build trust with your users by being transparent and providing users control over how they experience your app.
Request the minimum permissions that your feature needs. Whenever you introduce major changes to your app, review the requested permissions to confirm that your app's features still need them.
- Keep in mind that newer versions of Android often introduce ways to access data in a privacy-conscious manner without requiring permissions. For more information, see Evaluate whether your app needs to declare permissions.
- If your app is distributed on Google Play, Android vitals tells you the percentage of users who deny permissions in your app. Use this data to reassess the design of features whose required permissions are most commonly denied.
Follow the recommended flow to explain why a feature in your app needs a permission. Request the permission when it's needed, rather than at app startup, so that the permission need is clear to users.
Keep in mind that users or the system can deny the permission multiple times. Android respects this user choice by ignoring permission requests from the same app.
Gracefully degrade when users deny or revoke a permission. For example, you can disable your app's voice input feature if the user doesn't grant the microphone permission.
When you update your app, remove your app's access to any runtime permissions that your app no longer needs.
If you are using an SDK or library that accesses data guarded by dangerous permissions, users generally attribute this to your app. Make sure you understand the permissions that your SDKs require and why.
- If you test your app on Android 11 (API level 30), use data access auditing to discover places in your code and in third-party library code where private data is being accessed.
Minimize your use of location
If your app can support its use cases without requiring any location data, don't request any location permissions. If your app requests permission to access location, help users make an informed decision.
- If your app needs to collect location information, explain to users how your app uses this information to deliver specific benefits to them.
- If your app needs to pair the user's device with a nearby device over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, use the companion device manager, which doesn't require location permissions.
- Review the level of location granularity that your app needs. Coarse location access is sufficient to fulfill most location-related use cases.
- Access location data while your app is visible to the user. That way, users can better understand why your app requests location information.
- If your app requires background location, such as when implementing geofencing, make sure that it's critical to the core functionality of the app and is done in a way that's obvious to users. Learn more about considerations for using background location.
- On Android 10 (API level 29) and higher, users can limit your app's location access to while the app is in use. Design your app so that it degrades gracefully when it doesn't have all-the-time access to location.
- If your app needs to retain location access for a user-initiated ongoing task
after the user navigates away from your app's UI, start a foreground
service before your app goes into the
background. You can do this in one of Android's lifecycle callbacks, such as
- Don't initiate foreground services from the background. Instead, consider launching your app from a notification and then executing the location code when your app's UI becomes visible.
Handle data safely
Note: You can read more about what's considered sensitive data in the User Data article page in the Google Play Developer Policy Center.
Be transparent and secure in how you handle sensitive data.
- Make users aware of when and why your app collects, uses, or shares sensitive data.
- Use the scoped storage model if possible. Learn how to migrate to scoped storage based on your app's use cases.
- Always use secure network connections. For your app's data at rest, use Android's built-in credential encryption. For data in transit, use TLS, the successor of SSL, for all data transmission regardless of sensitivity.
- Place files that contain sensitive data in your app-private directory within internal storage.
- On Android 10 (API level 29), store files only relevant to your app in the app-specific directory in external storage. Learn more about scoped storage.
- If you need to pass sensitive data to another app, use an explicit intent. Grant one-time data access to further restrict the other app's access.
- Even when your app is in the foreground, show a real-time indication that you are capturing from the microphone or camera. Note that Android 9 (API level 28) and higher don't allow for microphone or camera access when your app is in the background.
- Don't include sensitive data in logcat messages or your app's log files. Learn more about how to handle user data.
Jetpack offers several libraries to keep your app's data more secure. Learn more in the guides on using the Jetpack Security library and the Jetpack Preferences library.
Use resettable identifiers
Respect your users' privacy and use resettable identifiers. See Best practices for unique identifiers for more information.
- Don't access IMEI or the device serial number, as these identifiers are
persistent. If you try to access these identifiers in an app that targets
Android 10 (API level 29) or higher, a
- Only use an advertising ID for user profiling or ads use cases. For apps in Google Play, this is a requirement. Always respect user preferences on advertisement tracking for personalization.
- For the vast majority of non-ads use cases, use a privately stored globally-unique ID (GUID), which is app-scoped.
- Use the secure settings Android ID (SSAID) to share state between the apps that you own without requiring the user to sign in to an account. Learn more about how to track signed-out user preferences between apps.


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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
The first step in moving out will be to give your landlord notice. You will have to read the terms in your lease to find how many days in advance of vacating this must occur. If you have renewed a yearly lease or did a month-to-month renewal, refer to the most recent terms you've agreed upon with the landlord to find the required notice period. Leave the premises by the date you specify to avoid a dispute with the landlord. They can sue you for damages for staying beyond the termination date.
Notice must be given in written form, either formal or informal, with the termination date clearly specified. You can write the letter by hand and it will still be valid. The most important thing is that you receive proof that you have given notice within the allowed period. You may hand deliver it to your landlord. Bring two copies of the letter and have the landlord sign and date both. By each of you retaining a copy, the date notice was received remains clear. An inexpensive alternative is to send it using certified or registered mail. Mailing the notice in this manner provides you with proof of where and when you sent the notice and that it was received by the landlord. If no required notice period is given within your lease, you must give notice you are vacating 28 days in advance.


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World Cup hospitality executive arrested in ticket scalping investigation in Rio
A senior executive with the official World Cup corporate hospitality provider was arrested Monday in the plush beachside hotel where FIFA President Sepp Blatter is staying, as part of a Brazilian police investigation into illegal ticket sales.
Ray Whelan, a director of MATCH Services, was arrested at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro, the hotel used by senior FIFA officials during the World Cup.
Whelan was detained as part of a larger police investigation dubbed "Operation Jules Rimet." He was characterized by police investigator Fabio Barucke as being the "facilitator" who allowed a large ring of scalpers to have access to tickets.
In an emailed statement, police said Whelan was heard on wiretapped phone calls negotiating ticket prices with Algerian national Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, who they accuse of being the ringleader of the scalpers.
Whelan was arrested inside his luxury suite Monday afternoon, where police said they confiscated 82 tickets for upcoming matches, along with Whelan's computer, cellphone and other unspecified documents.
Under Brazilian law, the 64-year-old Whelan may only be charged by prosecutors after they receive the complete police investigation, which officers have 30 days to complete. Investigators said Whelan was still being questioned inside a precinct Monday evening — and that he would spend the night in jail.
A spokesman for MATCH Hospitality, the subsidiary in the MATCH group of companies implicated in the investigation, didn't immediately reply to requests for comment.
Re-selling World Cup tickets for profit is illegal in Brazil and against FIFA rules. Police arrested 11 people, including Fofana, and seized 131 game tickets last week — at least 70 of them for corporate hospitality.
Police said then that Fofana had connections to FIFA or MATCH, and the original source of the tickets to be sold at hugely inflated prices was "someone higher up." Police said they had information from 50,000 phone calls they tapped during their scalping investigation and Fofana had access to restricted areas at the Copacabana Palace.
MATCH Hospitality is the main provider of hospitality packages for the World Cup and paid $240 million for the exclusive rights to sell corporate hospitality at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Blatter's nephew, Philippe Blatter, is the president of a company which is a shareholder in MATCH Hospitality.
FIFA said earlier Monday that it had provided police with lists of telephone numbers for its staff and that of its service providers, which included MATCH, the group which runs ticketing, travel, accommodation and technology services at the World Cup. MATCH Hospitality had earlier distanced itself from the ticket scalping scandal in a statement.
"MATCH Hospitality will be fully assisting the police in investigating the matter," it said.
Of the more than 3 million purchasable tickets for the tournament, 445,500 were allocated to MATCH Hospitality, according to FIFA. Any unsold or unused corporate hospitality tickets should be returned to FIFA to be made available to the public.
Police estimated last week that the scalping ring was making 1 million Brazilian reals ($455,000) per game by re-selling tickets on the black market. They were hoping to get $16,000 per ticket for the July 13 World Cup final in Rio, they said.
Fofana runs a company that is one of MATCH Hospitality's customers. MATCH said Monday that Fofana's Atlanta Sportif Management and three other companies, two of them official MATCH Hospitality agents, had their remaining World Cup ticket allocations blocked or canceled after some of their tickets ended up in the hands of scalpers.


text: Find Your Niche Wondering where you fit in the insurance business? Not sure if underwriting, sales, technology or analysis is more your style? At AmTrust, you're in the driver's seat when it comes to your career path. Whether you're just starting out or have an impressive resume with years of experience under your belt, you can chart your future at AmTrust easily. Have a business background? You're likely prepared for a role in AmTrust's risk management or marketing departments. Have a computer science degree? You may be ready for success as a project manager or software engineer. We think outside of the box when it comes to identifying successful candidates, and you should, too. A college degree or proven work history in just about any field can open doors to an exciting new insurance career. If you've got drive, determination, and a can-do attitude, we want to talk to you about your future in the insurance business with AmTrust.


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Welcome to the Bellows-Brown Church of Christ website. We are thankful that you have found us and we want you to feel free to browse our materials. You are our honored guest and it is our hope that we may have the opportunity to meet in person one day. The goal of this website is to inform the world of Jesus Christ and to be an aid to those who are devoted to Him. We find it to be a bit backwards to talk about ourselves without first talking about the One who has brought us together, so we would like to share a bit about the all-knowing, all-powerful God who is the author and finisher of our salvation.
One of the very first things the Bible reveals about Jesus is that His life on Earth began by an actual miracle of God. Matthew 1:23 states; "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." Jesus the Christ was born of a virgin and had no physical father as His Father was the Great I AM. Matthew 1:18 - Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
One of the great mysteries of "God with us" is how an omniscient being could be raised as a human. What can be a bit hard to wrap our heads around is that Jesus existed before He was born and that He was the very one who made the entire world. John 1:1-14; In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
There is much, much more to know about our Lord. We can learn how much he loves us by reading of His miracles to how He treated those around Him while on Earth. The ultimate proof of His love is His self-sacrifice on the cross. The church of Christ was purchase with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28) and those who belong to Him ought to be eternally grateful, obedient and inspired. Our desire is for all to come to Jesus and follow His will for their lives. Our ultimate goal of Heaven is promised by Jesus to all who are faithful to Him till death (Revelation 2:10).
Please allow us to help you as we journey together toward unity with Christ.
Job 37:8 (ASV)
Then the beasts go into coverts, And remain in their dens.
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