text:
The Holy Spirit and Christian Living
'O Comforter, draw near...'
The Shack: good news or bad story?
Daniel Hames
- Daniel Hames trained for ordination at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He has degrees in Theology and Ecclesiastical History, and is a Theology Network Associate Staff Worker for UCCF. View all resources by Daniel Hames
William P. Youngs novel The Shack has enjoyed enormous success all over the world, has garnered both high praise and heavy criticism. A great deal has already been said and written about its assumptions, theology, and the possible agendas behind its authoring. For this reason, theres little point in rehearsing the premise, plot, and characters, and we can proceed simply to examine the contents of the book themselves.
Young is a seminary educated ex-minister of a Christian denomination in Canada, and the theology we find in The Shack is no accident: Young is clearly writing with an agenda. The Shack is plainly designed to teach spiritual lessons, and especially to challenge the assumptions of Christian readers. In nature, then, the book is comparable to Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code (2003), or Brian McLarens A New Kind of Christian (2001), which McLaren calls narrative theology: fiction with a didactic purpose. This means that in assessing The Shack we should not arbitrarily make a black and white distinction between a systematic theology and a novel. Of course we should read The Shack for what it is, but also be aware that it is doing far more than simply telling a moving story.
So The Shack is definitely a novel, but it is definitely designed to teach us spiritual lessons and challenge our theological understanding. It aims to do this in two main areas: the being of God (the doctrine of the Trinity), and the problem of suffering (notably the justice and goodness of God).
God the Trinity
Mack meets God in the shack, and it is interesting that he meets three physical, visible persons. For some readers, the idea of three distinct persons might be difficult to swallow but it has to be admitted that this is preferable to Mack meeting a bearded old man! Young vividly portrays the three as having deep relationships of love, and some passages depicting this are very welcome (his first meeting half-way through chapter 5, for example, is especially warm and creative). As the story progresses however, the problems that emerge around The Shacks doctrine of God are less tri-theistic, and tend more towards a kind of inferred pantheism (especially in sections about the Holy Spirit). With regard to the unity of the three persons, Young seems to fall into modalism. In the depictions of the three persons of the Trinity, there are a number of points worth exploring.
The Father
The most immediate detail which consistently causes some surprise is that the Father is portrayed as an African-American woman of generous proportions. This is not quite equal to the SCM poster, Does God exist? If so what is she like? (essentially a feminist polemic); though it is a deliberately shocking and subversive move. Papa appears to bear close relation of The Oracle in The Matrix. The appearance of a homely African-American woman in her kitchen to surprise Neo is mirrored almost exactly by Macks first meeting with Papa. Like The Oracle, Papas explanations of God, reality, and suffering appear to owe more to philosophical slights of hand and Eastern mysticism than the Biblical affirmations to which Christians normally turn.
Papa explains that neither maleness nor femaleness are essential to her being, and that her appearing as either is simply for the sake of Macks own understanding (p. 93), hence Papa later appears to Mack as a man for a time in which he needs a father (p. 218). This is quite problematic, since the assertion that the Father is genderless is really a philosophical one rather than a biblical one. As much as maleness may fashionably be seen as a creaturely thing, or a social construct, the fact is that the Father has revealed himself fundamentally as Father rather than as Mother or Ground of all Being. Young apparently anticipates the objection, and has Papa answering that objection thus,
there are many reasons for that [revealing myself as Father], and some of them go very deep. Let me say for now that we knew once the Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. (p. 94)
This is yet more disturbing, as it seems to suggest that the Father is only Father for us and since the Fall, rather than in any final sense. There is no hint throughout the book that Papa is in any way a Father to Jesus (nor even a Mother!). The fatherhood of Papa is purely functional, and it speaks nothing of the real person which lies underneath the shifting shape, nor of the Fathers eternal relation to the Son, which the Bible presents as the source of the Creation itself.
On the surface, The Shack seems keen to wrestle with the doctrine of the Trinity but is consistently both confused and confusing. While it is apparently keen to display the three in loving unity for which it is to be commended, it sadly falls into the most common philosophical traps of squashing the members of the Godhead into one. On p. 99, Papa is shown enjoying herself, all by herself and taking pleasure in Me being Me as if Papa in herself is the entirety of the Godhead, even though Jesus and Sarayu are not present. We would want to affirm that biblically the Fathers pleasure is in his Son rather than in himself (Isaiah 42:1-9, Mark 1:11), and while we may talk about God being happy in himself before the creation, this is a shorthand for speaking about the fellowship of the Trinity rather than an individual self-acceptance or self-absorption (John 17:24). Youngs contentment with a mathematical oneness is really a slip into modalism, despite the presence of three persons in the shack.
An historic form of modalism is expressed clearly when, on a number of occasions, there is the suggestion that the Father was Incarnate with the Son. The most significant of which is on p. 99, and actually includes an Incarnation of the Holy Spirit.
When we three spoke ourselves into human existence as the Son of God, we became fully human. We chose to embrace all the limitations this entailed. Even though we have always been present in this created universe, we now became flesh and blood. (cf. p. 165, 201)
This passage should cause us to cringe at the very least, as it is such a bizarre take on the nature of God and the Incarnation. The gospel itself is under threat if we maintain that the Son of God is not an eternally distinct person from the Father, in a relationship inherent in the Godhead; moreover to suggest that it was not only the Son, but also the Father (and Spirit) who were Incarnate is to inexplicably ignore the plain reading of scripture. This leads Young to tell us that Papa, the Father, was also crucified. Mack touches the scars on her wrists (p. 95), and Papa says on p. 96 of the cross, We were there together. (emphasis in the original).
Young appears to forward the notion of a Trinitarian crucifixion to counter Macks understanding of Christs cry of dereliction, which has haunted him presumably pained by the prospect of the Father abandoning Jesus. Papa tells Mack that no matter what he [Jesus] felt at that moment, I never left him. (emphasis in the original). As at many points throughout the book, Young gets us to deconstruct our understanding of scripture (in this case that the Son bore the Fathers wrath against sin on the cross), but fails to give us an alternative interpretation. What is really happening in Matthew 27:46 on Youngs account? We are left in the dark somewhat, and there is a sense that Young sees a secret meaning behind the obvious reading of the text. The Father is also spoken of as being on the cross, suffering with the Son on p. 103 and p. 164. Some readers might object, saying that this is surely a creative attempt to show that atonement was a Trinitarian work; yet the stress on Papas scars is too difficult to brush aside in this way. Young is telling us that Papa was nailed to the cross with Jesus.
The teaching that the Father was Incarnate and crucified was noted in the third century and called Patripassionism, based on a single-person God who was expressed in three different modes. We should be clear that simply by depicting Papa, Jesus and Sarayu conversing with Mack in the shack, he in no way vindicates himself from this charge. It is a cause for some considerable sadness that Young would incorporate this teaching into his book, whether through ignorance or on purpose, perhaps assuming the defence that a work of fiction need not be held to account theologically. There is a distinction to be made between the theological imagery of C. S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia and the straightforward account that Young offers here. There is a gulf between Lewis purpose in making Aslan a Christ figure and Youngs purpose in putting words into the mouths of the divine persons! While all illustrations and allegories will fail eventually (and at this point will depart from the theological reality), Youngs explicitly didactic purpose in The Shack calls for great theological rigor and responsibility. Indeed, to write the Father, Son and Holy Spirit into a novel is perhaps a questionable move at the outset. At the very least, if he had wanted to express the Trinitarian nature of the atonement creatively, surely there were ways open to do this that would avoid leading undiscerning readers to warm to historic heresies.
Finally on the presentation of the Father, there is another of Youngs deconstructions of doctrine surrounding sin and the wrath of God. On p. 119-120, Mack questions Papa about spilling out great bowls of wrath and throwing people into a burning lake of fire (in the Old Testament) and whether Papa enjoys this. Young has Papa answer rather alarmingly, I am not who you think I am, Mackenzie. I dont need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. Its not my purpose to punish it; its my joy to cure it. While Macks question reflects a common misunderstanding of the Bibles teaching about Gods judgement (something Young is right to question), again there is no different reading offered for those narrative passages which speak of Gods anger. Instead, the idea of sins offence to God and its resulting penalty is simply torn down. If Young is hoping to liberate his readers from counterfeit conceptions of a capricious and unreasonable judge, why does he feel the need to cut-out the clear witness of the Bible on the issue? The reason is that Young is not appealing to the Bible at all, because of his commitment to a universalism which teaches the final salvation of everybody through Christ, reflected in Papas comment to Mack on p. 127 that evil is not going to be justified but redeemed, and on p. 225 In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me, but only some choose relationship. As James B. De Young points out,
Mack acknowledges that he believes that God will condemn most to an eternity of torment, away from his presence and apart from his love. But the story proceeds to show that Mack is wrong in believing this!
While this might sound like good news, it is really no good news at all since The Shacks picture of God is of the one who has forgiven us, but done nothing to pursue us. It is our job to seek relationship with him. The biblical good news is that Jesus seeks out his lost sheep, puts it on his shoulders, and carries it home. In the gospel, the Lord comes looking for us, since in our sinfulness we would never go searching for him.
Youngs universalism underpins the book, expressing his view that nobody will be judged for sin on the last day, and that amongst Gods attributes love will always conquer justice. This means all discussions of sin, hell, and the cross are much skewed throughout the novel. I believe that promoting this position is one of Youngs primary goals in publishing The Shack.
Jesus Christ
The person of Jesus is imaginatively and attractively presented as a keen woodworker, a lover of nature, and the one with whom Mack feels the greatest affinity. There are some enjoyable passages as Jesus enjoys the creation, and shows delight in relating to Mack. Yet here too, there are some grounds for grave concern. These revolve mainly around the nature of Christ as both man and God. Papa explains in conversation with Mack
Jesus is fully human. Although he is also fully God, he has never drawn upon his nature as God to do anything. He has only lived out of his relationship with me, living in the very same manner that I desire to be in relationship with every human being. He is just the first to do it to the uttermostthe first to absolutely trust my life within him, the first to believe in my love and my goodness without regard for appearance or consequence. So, when he healed the blind?
'He did so as a dependent, limited human being trusting in my life and power to be at work within him and through him. Jesus, as a human being, had no power within himself to heal anyone. (p. 99-100)
Young might call on scriptures like John 5:19 to support his case (I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.) but this is to overlook the fact that John is describing Jesus eternal divine life, not explaining the mechanics of the Incarnation. What develops is picture of the Son being only human and never acting as God during the incarnation, but only relying on the Father for all he needs to do. The rest of John 5 clearly contradicts this: the Son receives life in himself from the Father (v. 26) to give to his people. Life really belongs to Jesus, and it is his to give, and because of his complete divinity it is through Jesus that we can truly know the Father (Matthew 11:27). Jesus of Nazareth is not merely a human vessel relying on the power of God, or else he can never be anything more than a revelation of a true human being. The Bible shows that he is the perfect revelation of God, and those who do not honour him as such fail to honour the Father (John 5:23). Cyril of Alexandrias famous phrase was that God walked the streets of Nazareth. This is conspicuously absent from The Shacks Christology.
Later, p. 145 exposes another unusual approach to Christ. Young has Jesus saying,
Have you noticed that even though you call me Lord and King, I have never really acted in that capacity with you? Ive never taken control of your choices or forced you to do anything
The obvious concern is that many people struggle with Christs Lordship and Kingship, and Young wants to rescue Jesus from being portrayed as a cruel master. But if we did call Jesus Lord and King does this necessarily mean he would be forcing the hands of his subjects? Again, Young seems to want to challenge orthodox biblical interpretation but is agonizingly vague about what he is really trying to prove. It is of course a straw man: Christ is Lord and King- and exalted to the highest place with the Name above every name!- but that is never biblically linked to tyranny or suppression for his people. If Young wants simply to encourage his readers to think carefully about how Christ exercises his Lordship, why does he leave open the possibility of scrapping the concept altogether? Later we will return to his obvious difficulty with authority.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is given the name Sarayu (wind) and depicted as a small Asian lady with a shimmering appearance that makes it easier to see her when you are not looking directly at her. This is an effective and creative way of expressing the Spirits self-effacing work of glorifying Christ (John 16:13-14). She is the most mysterious of the three in the shack and into her mouth is put some of Youngs most telling rhetoric. She is defined by Papa on p. 110 as follows, She is Creativity; she is Action; she is the Breathing of Life; she is much more. She is my Spirit. (emphasis in the original). This is an interesting on account of its lack of a solid personhood for the Spirit.
The identity of the Holy Spirit as a distinct person in the Godhead is an important thing to preserve. Jesus carries-out his ministry anointed by the Spirit (Isaiah 42:1, 48:16, 61:1; Psalm 2:2; Luke 3:22; Acts 10:38), the Holy Spirit refers to himself as I in Acts 13:2, Romans 8:16 tells us that the Spirit testifies with our spirits, Hebrews 9:14 calls Him the eternal Spirit. Significantly, Jesus tells the disciples to baptise in the Spirits name along with his own and His Fathers in Matthew 28. Defining the Spirit as an impersonal force flies in the face of scripture, and even though Sarayu is given a physical form, name, and personality, the problem stands.
This trend continues, and is expanded somewhat on p. 204 when Sarayu speaks about herself, Papa, and Jesus,
I am I am a verb. I am that I am. I will be who I will be. I am a verb! I am alive, dynamic, ever active, and moving. I am a being verb my very essence is a verb.
To say that God is a verb is not a new idea, and find its roots in Kabbalah and other mysticism. It is strange that Young wants to borrow from those who maintain that the divine is a force, or a presence in everything, yet he clearly steers toward this again on p. 198 when Sarayu tells Mack,
You might see me in a piece of art, or music, or silence, or through people, or in Creation, or in your joy and sorrow.
This is most clearly seen on p. 112 :
God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things- ultimately emerging as the read- and any appearances that mask that reality will fall away.
The speaker is Jesus, and he is talking about the Father (in this instance referred to as Elousia- a composite of the Hebrew El (God) and the Greek ousia (being)).
Youngs depiction of the Holy Spirit initially, and the whole of the Godhead subsequently, reveals that far from an imaginative fictional work on the personal triune God of the Bible, The Shack seems to meditate instead on a Unitarian/pantheistic deity which presents itself as Father, Son, and Spirit for the benefit of human beings understanding. While the Trinity is often regarded as a difficult doctrine to comprehend, the three persons of the Godhead are the centre of Christianitys good news as they act together for our salvation. It is reason for genuine grief that this doctrine is so distorted in a story that has proved so popular around the world.
It is fascinating that Mack meets a fourth person; one whom the other three are excited for him to meet. She is Sophia the embodied wisdom of God, and it is with her in the absolutely crucial chapter 11 that Macks most serious business is done. It is this chapter that deals with the issue of judgment (which I believe to be Youngs primary bone of contention in the book), and this chapter in which Mack makes the biggest leap in terms of his recovery by seeing Missy. This is bizarre, since it means that more power is given to Sophia to change Mack than the three members of the Trinity. In fact the three seem simply to facilitate his visit to Sophia by making him pancakes and coffee, walking him to her cave, and preparing him for his visit to her!
Sophias presence as a fourth person is both disturbing and perplexing, and is perhaps a further hint at the Unitarian conception of God that apparently characterises The Shack. That a fourth person, Wisdom, does the bulk of Gods work is perhaps a demonstration of a philosophical commitment to God being primarily a divine force of knowledge rather than a communion of three distinct persons. Surely no creative prerogative is licence enough to add persons to the Godhead!
Whats going on underneath?
The driving concerns behind Youngs underlying theology manifest themselves briefly at certain points. Sarayus discourse on paradigms, perceptions, and emotions on p. 197, Jesus reflections on power and sin on p. 147-8, and Sarayus denial of hierarchy within the Trinity on p. 122, exude the feel of having been lifted from Michel Foucault rather than the Bible. There is a constant suspicion of authority and power for this reason that underpins the book; especially a latent cynicism about Christianity as historically expressed. Among the objects of scarcely concealed scorn are, church,
Sunday hymns and prayers werent cutting it anymore, if they ever really had, (p. 66), theological education None of his old seminary training was helping in the least. (p. 91), doctrine, That came as a shock to Macks religious system (p. 100), and biblical interpretation Mackenzie, religion is about having all the right answers
there are a lot of smart people who are able to say a lot of smart things from their brain because they have been told what the right answers are, but they dont know me at all. So really, how can their answers be right even if they are right? (p. 198)
Youngs evident problem with authority is of course partly warranted. Fallen human beings make imperfect fathers and lords, we abuse our power and debase the duty we are given to mirror Gods authority over the universe. Yet The Shacks outright rejection of authority (whether biblical or ecclesial), especially that of Christ as Lord and King is too far. It is particularly disturbing since the gospel relies on the grace of God being bestowed by him as ruler of the universe, and on Christ being ascended to the Fathers right hand for the security of the believer. To deny the essentially supernal nature of the gospel is to rob it of all grace. The love of Jesus in The Shack is the love of a peer not of a King, and far from being unmerited; it is almost as if Macks pain has earned it.
One does not have to read for very long online about William P. Young to find that these issues are ones that he has struggled with personally, leaving the church in which he was a minister. So it is clear that The Shack is in some sense autobiographical, certainly reactionary, and to a degree polemical. It is important, then, that we do not see The Shack as a creative work in a vacuum. Instead, I think it is demonstrable that Youngs project is to deconstruct readers conceptions of God and salvation, leaving them to rebuild the picture however they like. There is a clear reliance on theology from experience rather than the revelation of an external Word, a clear example is on p. 126,
Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not know that I love you, you cannot trust me. (emphasis in the original).
Humanly speaking, trust may be generated by relationship- but we are to know God is trustworthy simply because he says he is (Romans 3:4). Our experience confirms this, but is not fundamental in us knowing it. In The Shack there is a clear preference for experience over revelation which is potentially perilous for Christian assurance. Our perception of suffering and pain in our lives will sometimes lead us to believe that God is untrustworthy: it can only be his external promise that will sustain our faith at these times.
Why portray the Father as a lady called Papa, or call the Spirit Sarayu? Why arouse doubt and dislike over parts of scripture without appropriate apologetic? The answer is simple: because external revelation is not the focus, internal experience is. Why ignore scriptures teaching about the fate of unbelievers and root for a universal salvation? It is because external revelation isnt the authority, but rather personal preference.
The problem of suffering
While the doctrines of God and salvation permeate the book and their expression has required a thorough critique, the book is really about the problem of suffering. It is a story of Mack coming to terms with childhood abuse from his father, his rash retaliation in poisoning him, his loss of Missy, and the misappropriated guilt of Kate. While The Shack name-checks forgiveness, the cross of Christ, and the plan of God, I feel that it is ultimately unconvincing in the answer it offers to suffering and evil. The fundamental reason for this is that The Shack is a statement of Youngs universalism. Throughout the book, love is seen as the attribute of Gods character that will consistently conquer the others, especially his justice- nobody it seems will finally face the justice and wrath of the Father. As we have seen, Young is certainly clear that Christ did not do so on the cross.
Missys abduction, rape, and murder are horrific, yet the book seems to give only very shallow attention and answers many readers have commented that its treatment of the loss of a child is in fact remarkably glib. While the idea of a universal reconciliation to God and loved ones is offered as hope for Mack and for readers, I cannot help but feel the book actually makes light of the suffering of Missy. It does the same for Macks abuse from his father, and their outlandish cosmic reunion in chapter 15 is dealt with in such a fleeting manner that I thought I had missed a few pages! There is little account given of the Fall as the root cause of murder and rape, and greater weight is placed on our free will as humans to choose what God would not. Young does not show God as the one who will one day deal with sin and evil, so much as the one who can weave it into a tapestry that will in the end be beautiful.
there are millions of reasons to allow pain and hurt and suffering rather than to eradicate them, but most of those reasons can only be understood within each persons story Your choices are also not stronger than my purposes, and I will use every choice you make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome. (p. 125)
I believe that such thin and cursory treatments of suffering, justice, and forgiveness are inevitable for a theology so broken and impoverished as Youngs universalism.
For orthodox Christianity, the cross is the key to understanding both the love and justice of God, since it is here that God shows most clearly his determination to punish and destroy sin, and simultaneously his love in providing reconciliation through faith in Christs sacrifice. Young, in contrast, portrays the cross as a demonstration of Gods love and sympathy as a co-sufferer. While it is true that Christs sufferings enabled him to be a faithful and merciful High Priest sympathising with our weaknesses (Hebrews 2), in The Shack the cross cannot be, and is not advanced as the final answer to suffering and injustice. Instead, we are met with swathes of pantheistic hand waving, which simply raise more questions, and obscure the reality of future judgment, the nature of sin and salvation, and the need for faith.
Despite my initial open-mindedness to The Shack, and my determination to read and review it charitably, I conclude my thinking over its contents feeling very disturbed. I began by thinking it may have been a good-hearted book which made some innocent (if serious) missteps, but having carefully considered it I have changed my mind. Sadly I can see only a partially-disguised tract for a Unitarian brand of universalism, decorated with some post-structural philosophy and nods to Eastern mysticism. In the end, The Shack is hardly a Christian book at all.
God the Trinity is squashed into a monolithic omnipresent verb, the nature of Christ is divided, and his cross is emptied of all meaning. Salvation, therefore, is nothing to do with personal trust in Jesus but is made automatic for all. The answer to the evil and pain in the world is not the kind justice of God demonstrated on the cross, but rather the hope that God may continually work our free choices into a better future.
The true good news that the Bible gives us for comfort in our suffering is more than the assurance that God is good, or that things will work out in the end. It is even more than the consolation that Jesus suffered with us. It is that Jesus suffered for us on the cross, bearing the sin of humanity and conquering the evil that has polluted us and the universe. It is the great promise of the gospel that those who trust that their sin has been paid for by Christ can be united to him, knowing the fellowship of the Trinity eternally in a renewed and cleansed cosmos. In this story, God truly does come to dwell with his people in his creation not to brew coffee, but to wipe away their tears, to banish death, and put an end to pain. The one who makes all things new is the very same Lamb who was slain for the sin of the world, and who is the beginning and end of all things, the one to whom the faithful are united forever (Revelation 21:1-8). It is a far better story, and far better news than the impotent god of The Shack.
Some Possible Questions
Surely youre not saying its all bad?
It is true to say that a number of the passages in the book are warm and attractive, expressing creatively at least some of the truth about Gods love for the world and the reality of following Christ. However, on balance, Id say that the book is extremely unhelpful and even dangerous. This is discerned not only in what it says, but what it misses out, and its general tone. I don't think I could in good conscience recommend it to somebody experiencing real suffering.
Calm down! Its only a novel!
One objection is that The Shack is first and foremost a novel and should be treated as such. On one level, this is true. The vast majority of the book is dialogue, and it does not set-out to define its terms carefully, walk through doctrine, and interpret scripture as a non-fiction book might, since that is not usually the shape of a conversation.
The Shack is consistently being read and marketed as one that changes readers perception of God, and the Christian life. William P. Youngs own website (www.windrumours.com) bears an advert for the book with the title, God as youve never seen him before which is clearly a supposed benefit of reading The Shack. Many readers have said that the book has reduced them to tears as theyve reached a new place in their relationship with God. One writes on Youngs website,
I couldnt put it down. My heart soared at every turn of the page. I wept with agreement, excitement, hope, joy, sorrow, and beauty in your description of Papa. I know Him as you described and I love him so. Your book is a [sic] overwhelming and very accurate (in my opinion and knowledge of what I know of our Daddy).
Not only are readers crediting The Shack with transforming their spiritual life, but it is fascinating to see that they are also using its language and names for God, and incorporating these into their own discipleship. Some readers even appear to confuse the story with reality,
Dear sir, I read your book, The Shack, and I absolutely LOVED it! It was increadible [sic]. It changed me. Thank you, thank you for allowing God to work through you and Mack to write this book. It touched me in a way I have never allowed anyone to touch me before. Tell Mack thank you for being willing to tell you his story, I appreciate it. And thank YOU for writing it. God bless you.
As much as this is determinedly a book of fiction, an overwhelming majority of readers and advertisers- are claiming that this book alters ones spiritual life upon reading.
An author cannot escape the requirements of biblical faithfulness and theological responsibility by pleading Its fiction! Just as a child who is told off for swearing at home will not get away with it by claiming they were quoting a film. Theres a naïveté about thinking in this way that elevates the purity of artistic expression to the level of speaking the truth, which is perhaps a sign of the relativism thats so much abroad in the late-modern West. The fact is that in our artistic and creative expressions of Christian devotion, we are not free to conceive of God and his truth in our own terms- least of all terms that contradict his own self-revelation- no matter what our personal experience may leads us to believe. The fact is that all things are to be judged by the scriptures, whether a chat in the pub, a painting, a sermon or a novel.
But I enjoyed it- it helped me, and I know others its helped
I think it would be important to think carefully about what you mean when you say the book has helped you. Has it shown you that God is three persons who relate to one another in love? If so, I wonder why this was new to you. There are many books about the Trinity that do a far better job than The Shack. Has it encouraged you that God loves you unconditionally and is with you in lifes troubles? If so, I wonder why you needed The Shack to point this out to you as again, there are plenty books that remain faithful to the Bible in teaching this.
Fundamentally, I think The Shack has a certain poignancy and punch that makes its readers feel emotionally affected; but its comforts are not real, its promises are vague, and it finally gives no satisfying answer to the problem of suffering. I would not recommend it to anybody to help them through difficult times.
Are there alternatives to The Shack?
Yes! Here are some recommendations.
The issue at the heart of the book is really suffering, and our assurance that God is with us and for us in it. Sadly, since Young's universalism means he has no theology of judgment, the cross has no real part to play in his answer to suffering and evil in the world. So a good place to start would be with an understanding of the cross. Try Mark Meynells Cross Examined, or this article from Theology Network: Theology of the Cross: Subversive Theology for a Postmodern World? by Graham Tomlin.
The sovereignty of God and his loving care over the creation is a central issue. Try this article from Theology Network: An Introduction to Sovereignty.
If youd like to think about the Trinity, try Tim Chesters Delighting in the Trinity, or listen to Mike Reeves' series of talks on Theology Network:.
If youre looking for a book of comfort, for a dose of warm and big-hearted gospel medicine: Richard Sibbes' The Bruised Reed is matchless. You may find reading aloud will help you with the language.
And as a good balance to The Shack, the book of Job deals with a man who like Mack suffers greatly, is faced with dead religion and pat answers, but encounters God and emerges healed and changed. Its answers are vastly different to Young's.


text:
Where There's a Will There's a Way
28 October 2008
As Published by Adesso Vela
Just two shots to get you immediately into the mood of this post.
The first test of the newest M20 in Europe it's on Adesso Vela: a brave and unusual choice from the Melges Europe people but significant enough to show the path to those who will faithfully follow! As a matter of fact the boat sticks so much out from all the others we have been used to see so far that it could have only been a question of braveness. And here we go exclusively on Adesso Vela with the report of a great-fun day and of a great passion of its task force ;-) Make us - and yourselves - a promise: read, look and listen to everything to the very end… you won't regret it! To make the story short now we start with Mr Melges Europe himself who is the first one to show up:
Malcesine october 22nd (we set the date because we want you to be able to check): no "peler" and no "ora" (the 2 typical wind of lake Garda) at sight. We eventually hit the water at 2pm with a max of 8-10 knots which made us sailing upwind as follows:
These conditions are sufficient to fly off on the spot: the M20 is extremely powerfull and the bow section is tight. As a tradition in the Melges family it has a tight and deep fin with a torpedo style end: this solution requires a certain speed to make the kell working and thus avoiding the lateral slip of the boat. The M20 must be driven fast and flat and even with little air Federico Michetti often suggested us to "download" the main in order to sail it at best. It's a boat to be handled, full stop. Anticipate the wind puffs with the nose into the wind and… off you fly! The helm is so neutral and light as you would never expect and it helps the friendly approach of the boat.
If you think you go fast upwind , before you bear off you must ask for permission to the control tower! The hoist is the same as for the Melges 24, the piece of news is that the bowsprit and the gennaker tack get out just with one control line. Yes yes yes - you got it right: you can stay behind the driver even with 8-10 knots. Skeptical? Then here we are:
You lean on the broader section of the stern with its angle typical of VOR 70 and off you go, planando searching for the best VMG. Essential are the angles during the gyibe in order to keep the "little one" alive, even if with its declared 500 kg it will surprise you at each re-starts. You will do a standing ovation to the spi which works on a new Harken system with pivoting block; no prolem with the angles of the sheet tacking as easy like a sunday morning, but perhaps only beacause we had a world champion of the Melges 24 onboard;-) To note also that both the blocks as well as the jib tracks and the gennaker are placed on the vertically on each side of the cockpit. This means that the crew can seat at the tiny lifeline freely and confortably while searching for the best balance upwind.
Had enough?
Hang in there because the best has yet to come: here the coolest details of the M20 which will make you fall in love from bow to stern:
Here the bow which looks even lightly negative in a static shot and then at full speed.
The completely built-in furler.
The gennaker bag mounted on a metallic cross-bar on the left side.
The sliding shroud anchorage, similar to that on the Star: thanks to its movements you can control the tension on the shrouds. Onboard no need for stanners to "torture" the turnbuckles ;-)
The diamond shroud system also called "M-rig" seen from the bottom. The driver should be thankful to it to be avoiding the backstay! The mast-shroud system is likely to be kept assembled also during transportation. The Melges workshops are currently studying a special cover- and protection system to enable what just said above. Were this the case, then the M20 may truly be considered as a "plug & play" boat ready to sail off after 40 minutes from the arrival at the Yacht club.
The anchorage of the GNAV, the reversed vang on the boom. Passing under the boom is extremely easy during taking and gybing.
The mini stantion on which are mounted the shrouds. The legs are inside and the big band is at kidney's hight. This is the end of the era "NO PAIN - NO GAIN". And during the upwind you can chat with the rest of the crew: they won't disappear while hiking.
The detail of the jib tracks and its cumcleat: they are mounted vertically on the side.
Storing of the outboard engine strictly according to the Melges "family feeling"
The end of the gennaker sheet circuit with a the block which is adjustable on its horizontal axle.
The gennaker system on the stern
The arch system of the main sheet extremely on the stern which allowed the elimination of the trailer.
The straight lines of the back side of the boat which are lately a "must" for every last generation
That's all folks! We would like to pass on to you also some of the splashes we got in the faces together with the all differents emotions of the "first time" (the first time on the M20 but also the very first test of our blog) but to this respect we still have to get organized. Let's part in this way... with heart and soul... here the last shots that came back home with us:

subset: commoncrawl


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You are a specialist assigned to seek and destroy alien parasites that embed themselves in the bodies of our galactic explorers. The nanobots are microscopic drones loaded onto chips and embedded in each crew member before departing on their missions. You operate these nanobots from a safe sterile station that protects you from the chance of infection. Precision, reaction time and intelligence are your greatest skill requirements in navigating the nanobots. Be aware that some of the alien parasites are faster, tougher and more intelligent. Good luck, the team is counting on you to save them.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
Some concept art of the critters in the game.


text:
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Definitions of tibia
n. - The inner, or preaxial, and usually the larger, of the two bones of the leg or hind limb below the knee. 2
n. - The fourth joint of the leg of an insect. See Illust. under Coleoptera, and under Hexapoda. 2
n. - A musical instrument of the flute kind, originally made of the leg bone of an animal. 2
The word "tibia" uses 5 letters: A B I I T.
No direct anagrams for tibia found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after tibia (in bold), or to abiit in any order:
e - tibiae l - tibial s - tibias
Shorter words found within tibia:
ab ai ait at ba bait bat bi bit it ta tab ti
List shorter words within tibia, sorted by length
Words formed from any letters in tibia, plus an optional blank or existing letter
List all words starting with tibia, words containing tibia or words ending with tibia
All words formed from tibia by changing one letter
Other words with the same letter pairs: ti ib bi ia
Browse words starting with tibia by next letter
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text:
Reel World
TromaDance 2009
Legendary B-movie director and president of Troma Films Lloyd Kaufman is returning to New Mexico this weekend (Nov. 20, 21 and 22) for the sixth annual TromaDance New Mexico Film Festival. Starting this Friday night, TromaDance will unhook the leash and let three days' worth of mind-bending, low-budget, high-trash cinema loose inside the Guild Cinema.
Film Review
An Education
Nostalgic memoir looks at love mid-century-style
If you're already addicted to the suave, mid-century setting of AMC's "Mad Men," you might want to give An Education a look-see. Think of it as an across-the-pond rumination on much the same temporal subject. Based on the memoir by British journalist Lynn Barber, the film relates Barber's mildly scandalous teenage affair with a much older man.
Film Review
Planet 51
Space-age toon covers familiar territory but still has fun
After having our eyes thoroughly scourged by the monstrous, 3-D "performance capture" technology of Disney's A Christmas Carol (Kill it! Kill it with fire!), the comparatively old-fashioned computer-animation of Planet 51 comes as something of a soothing balm. The film isn't anything special, but the high-concept setup, pleasing animation and intriguing art design make for a fun family romp.
Idiot Box
Strange Invaders
"V" on ABC
One of the bright spots on the fall 2009 schedule (at least for those of us who are '80s-obsessed) looked to be ABC's "reimagining" of the camp-classic 1983 sci-fi miniseries "V." But before it even aired, the Internet was atwitter with ugly rumors. First, ABC fired and hired a number of showrunners (a TV term for "a non-writing producer responsible for day-to-day operation of a series"). Then, ABC tried to screw the show's original creator, Kenneth Johnson, out of credit (and therefore royalties) by saying this new TV show called "V" (about lizard-like alien invaders plotting a wholesale looting of Earth's resources and fighting off a scrappy human resistance while pretending to be beneficent) had nothing in common with that old TV show called "V" (about ... yeah, pretty much the exact same thing). Not surprisingly, the network lost that battle. Finally, ABC came up with the ridiculous idea of running just four episodes of the show and then pulling it off the air until next spring.


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- Tell us your name. Anna Marie Davidson (Anna), aka Peanut
- What is your position here at Performance and can you briefly sum up your job? Director of Web Production. My job can be summed up best by the words "online execution" – sounds truly glamorous, no?
- How long have you been working here? Not quite one year.
- What (if any) other positions have you held here at Performance? I was formerly the Web Production Manager, which was even more glamorous.
- What bike(s) do you ride? A nearly vintage Specialized Mountain Bike and a newly purchased Scattante Carbon Racing Bike. But, I'm still in the "poser" stage with my road bike as I'm still learning the basics, like: Reflectors hold no street cred, clipping in applies to more than seat belts and padding is actually a desirable extra "asset" in certain situations.
- Where would you ride if you could ride anywhere? The beautiful North Carolina Mountains.
- What hobbies/interests do you enjoy other than cycling? Feeling my way through parenting, Running, Cooking, watching Inspector Gadget with my 5-year-old.
- What one question would you like me to ask the next person? Why aren't bike reflectors cool?
Question from Gaynor Collester: If a 1 year old is as smart as a Labrador Retriever, how smart is a 60 year old? It depends on the breed.


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The advent of the tablet presents a bright opportunity for traditional news outlets that stumbled at the onset of the digital era. But will they take advantage? Thurs., March 29, 2012.
By Caitlin Johnston Editorial assistant Caitlin Johnston (@cljohnst, email@example.com) is a graduate student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
It's hard to remember the days before the Internet. But it's been just shy of two decades since news organizations traded picas for pixels in their first forays into the land of the Web. And since they fell flat on their faces.
Internet gurus spun tales of new markets, audience growth and enhanced storytelling. And publishers did everything they could to screw it up. They fought it. Hard. And then they acquiesced meagerly. They refused to post content online before it came out in print. And when they did, they copied and pasted from the print document. And they did it for free.
Nearly 20 years later, publishers are learning. Many news sites are robust enterprises, with up-to-the-minute posts, interactive elements and payment models hinting at a sustainable future. But they're playing a desperate game of catch-up, struggling to persuade readers to pay for a product they've consumed for free since its advent.
While news sites fought for survival, somewhere in Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs did what he did best. He created something that changed the world: The iPad ushered in the era of tablets in April 2010. He made it powerful and pretty and told people they wanted it. And, after a period of skepticism, they said, "OK." Android competitors such as Samsung and Motorola jumped on board and rolled out their own versions.
Now media moguls are salivating. This is it. The golden ticket. A second chance.
Tablet ownership nearly doubled over the 2011 holiday boom, with 19 percent of U.S. adults owning a tablet in January 2012. Combine that with people who own an e-reader, and publishers are reaching nearly a third of the population.
But even though publishers are still cleaning up the mess they made in the Internet's early days, some news organizations are proving to have short memories.
"Newspapers did the same thing with tablets as they did with the Web and with mobile," says Alan Mutter, a media consultant and former editor known for his blog, Reflections of a Newsosaur. "They simply took the stuff they prepared to print in the newspaper and ported it over to this new platform."
Tablet applications are often PDF versions of that day's paper uploaded the night before. Others are RSS feeds taking the exact same content from the Web site and placing it on the tablet's smaller touch screen. The Internet grind of mindless reposting without repurposing for a new platform is seeping into the tablet realm.
Publishers list scores of reasons for not charging full speed ahead. They're watching the market. They lack the resources. Readers won't pay. Some of the reasons are legitimate. Smaller staffs and financial woes demand smart, thoughtful approaches. But these concerns won't stop new-media companies from taking the lead.
"The tablet versions of the newspaper look even more decrepit and out of touch than if they just left it in the box on the corner," Mutter says. "They've had two years to do something exciting and innovative on this incredibly interesting and fast-growing platform, and they haven't done it."
Some are doing more. The Daily, the first iPad-only news app, often gets nods for its ability to incorporate interactive elements and maximize the perks of the platform. Esquire Magazine is jazzing things up with celebrity video hits, such as George Clooney's appearance in the January 2012 edition. Some newspapers such as the Boston Globe are pushing the relatively unexplored HTML 5 boundary.
"In the end, you really want a different kind of storytelling process to occur on a tablet," says Larry Kramer, adjunct professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, former president of CBS Digital Media and founder of MarketWatch. "You want an easily integrated experience that involves video, audio, text and interactivity all in one place."
Advertising fears, flat presentations, lack of integration--all these problems are temporary, Kramer says. "The tablet is the best medium for the convergence of all forms of media," he says.
"Newspapers that are simply regurgitating their content from print for their app are missing the opportunity that the iPad provides," says tablet visionary Roger Fidler, director for digital publishing at the Reynolds Journalism Institute. "The iPad is not a supersized smartphone. It may be the future of newspapers in that it ultimately could become the dominant medium and generate the largest percentage of revenue."
Jobs' creation is a sexy consumption device. Pew Research Center data in October 2011 found tablet users were an exclusive bunch. About half are college educated. More than half make more than $75,000 a year. And best of all? Nearly half said they subscribed to print newspapers or magazines. Editors, welcome to the Promised Land.
Tablets are a product of the 24-hour news cycle. They're portable and wireless. They're light enough to stash in a purse or briefcase and fast enough to power up quickly on the subway. With the capacity to seamlessly integrate text, photos, video and any other media form coming our way, they're perfect for the increasingly fragmented attention spans of today.
"There will always be improvements in technology, but it's hard to beat a lightweight, portable and highly legible, multimedia-driven delivery vehicle," American Society of News Editors President Ken Paulson says. "It's a newspaper amplified."
Tablet users might not be representative of the population, but they're a sweet spot of well-educated and affluent readers. The jury is still out on whether they're willing to play ball when news organizations start charging for content on a new platform, but the industry remains hopeful.
"Consumers are more likely to embrace that because it feels like a new toy and not just paying for the same old thing," says Paulson, whose term as ASNE chief ends in early April. "This is a chance to market your existing content in a new way, and that doesn't come along very often."
It's also the chance to build a new audience. Yes, publishers drool at the potential for profits, but they must do much more, says Doug Bennett, president of the interactive division of Freedom Communications, which owns the Orange County Register. Editors should stop settling for audience migration (taking the same, aging newspaper audience and moving it to a tablet) and start focusing on audience acquisition (maintaining print readership while focusing the tablet on previously untapped markets).
Newspaper readers and their Web site visitors get one year older every year, and legacy outlets are failing to bring in new ones, Mutter says. Those who read newspapers online, from the demographic point of view, look exactly like, and often are, the people who buy the print paper. The tablet is an opportunity to engage readers who have shunned print products and their digital replicas.
Different platforms have different strengths. And different strengths draw in different audiences, says Regina McCombs, Poynter Institute faculty member in multimedia and mobile. A mobile user is looking for utility and speed. Smartphones are perfect for a quick search or Twitter update. The tablet is about the experience. Integration and multimedia capabilities provide the opportunity to delve deeper into the layers of a story. Feeds, PDFs and shared content ignore the concept that people go to different devices for different reasons.
The Orange County Register usually has about 155 stories in the newspaper, compared with 55 on the tablet app, Bennett says. About a quarter of the content on the app is tablet specific. The rest, which comes from print, is edited to make it more tablet friendly, thanks to photos, video and other graphics. Bennett says the goal is to have 40 percent original content aimed at the medium's primary audience of 35- to 45-year-olds, followed by the secondary readership, ages 25-35.
"The Peel is our attempt at saying, 'Look, let's stop the madness and focus the effort on audience acquisition,'" Bennett says. "Let's see if we as a brand can actually create content around this new audience or a demographic we haven't served well."
The Peel is run by a separate team of six members who come from TV and entertainment, not news, and have a mind for video and interactive, Bennett says. Since this is a separate group, the paper did not want team members ostracized as "those people." Instead, the team works in a pod of cubicles directly in the newsroom and joins in at morning budget meetings.
The idea is not to overhaul a brand, but instead to maximize its impact, Newsweek iPad Editor Melissa Lafsky says. Existing subscribers have their option of print, digital, mobile or tablet. But the potential of tablets comes from taking that existing brand, infusing it with tablet-specific qualities such as easy navigation and beautiful graphics, and aiming it at an audience previously outside of the subscription net.
The tablet is a gadget for news addicts, says Paulson, who is also president of the First Amendment Center in Nashville. Users have the up-to-the-second news content they crave in an engaging form replete with graphics and audio. The success of the tablet lies in its ability to connect. To interact. To bring images and words to life with a simple flick, swipe or prod. It radiates cool.
Tablets also push editors to break out of the standard storytelling mode and to try something new. For example, instead of reading a story or infographic on how a spark plug works, Popular Mechanics readers can play a game on the magazine's tablet app in which they control the spark plug in an attempt to keep an engine running. Sure, they're playing a game, but they're learning. And that's the point, says Deputy Editor Jerry Beilinson. The magazine's success has always come from its ability to mix the "how to" aspect with a "gee whiz!" factor, Beilinson says. The tablet experience elevates that to a whole new level.
The touch screen is a much more natural process for consuming information than a keyboard and mouse, Financial Times Online Managing Director Rob Grimshaw says. The way people learn about the world is through touching it and seeing what happens, Grimshaw says. It's why little kids poke and nudge so much. They want to see how things react. It's the same with a tablet.
"We're a generation used to working with keyboards and mice and saying it feels natural," Grimshaw says. "But the reality is that it's a strange way to interact with something, when you press a key here and it does something to a screen over there."
Tablets are intuitive. Even the best Web site requires some navigation and, occasionally, a search engine. But a good tablet app walks the reader through like a good newspaper does. And that's not something to take for granted, Paulson says.
"The typical Web site navigation of a bunch of menus that allow you to drill down into various kinds of vertical silos of content is not always the most rewarding experience," Grimshaw says. "On the tablet, you immediately move into this world where it becomes very straightforward. You just swipe and flip from one page to another. The whole experience of consuming the content is enormously pleasurable."
Evidence indicates tablet owners tend to migrate to their devices in the morning and evening, both on weekdays and on the weekend. Web sites see their heaviest traffic during the day, while people browse at work. Mobile is dominated by the need for quick information while on the go. But tablets elicit longer, more engaged sessions. Recent data from the Reynolds Journalism Institute's surveys show tablet owners are more likely to use their product at home in a relaxed setting, like an easy chair, Fidler says. A tablet's portability allows people to use them on a subway ride, but its charm lies in the ability to go deeper.
Moving away from feeds and into tablet-specific content creates possibilities for layers. If readers have two minutes, they can skim the front and get a quick update. But if they want to know more, the option needs to be there.
"It's going to need a variety of ways of presenting a story," Kramer says. "When a story breaks, I'd like to get as much as I can in the time I have. The platform needs to have the layered ability to consume a story and go as deep as you want to go."
That mixture is what makes the tablet so appealing, Lafsky says. The layout and magazine feel are preserved and amplified. And readers have shown that they're willing to read long-form journalism on tablets. Then throw in the interconnectivity of the Web. Links, video and multimedia make for a dynamic reading experience.
Tablets appear to present a perfect marriage for news outlets and readers: a new platform with potential for a sustainable payment model and the means to attract a new audience that's geared toward a user's urge to interact and explore.
But its success relies on publishers' ability to take advantage of the medium. It's all about doing justice to the channel, Poynter's McCombs says. PDFs, a stagnant snapshot of yesterday's news, do nothing to engage the vitality of the platform.
"As a first step, if that's all you're going to do, that's something," she says. "But a PDF essentially is not serving your audience very well."
As with most things, it comes down to resources. Newsrooms and content centers are smaller. Editors often don't have the staffs to put the necessary effort into original, platform-specific content. When 85 percent of revenue is still coming from print, it makes devoting time and resources to an emerging product a tough sell. But without new initiatives, readers and advertisers could see the brand as antiquated, Bennett says. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy if the focus stays on print, he says.
"The days of putting all your content in a database and just spitting it onto any platform and thinking that's going to get you a new audience, that's over," he says. "The reality is, too many times in traditional media, that's still the primary way they think of putting content out. Create once and distribute everywhere."
In the land between PDFs and original content are RSS feeds and content management systems. Many media outlets, including the New York Times, have taken this transitional approach as a way to heighten the interactivity of the platform while still not having to pour in the time and staff required to produce new material.
"We're still in the early stages," says Fiona Spruill, New York Times emerging platforms editor. "We don't have a ton of flexibility to say we're going to be able to blow this out on the iPad. To be honest, I'm not sure that's something I want or need right now."
It's a matter of priorities, Spruill says. Story-by-story decisions and original content will come. But first, the Times wants to work on improving the app and experimenting with the medium as a whole.
Feeds allow a live presentation of content, the Financial Times' Grimshaw says. The tablet is constantly up-to-date, an essential quality in a news environment becoming more and more burdened by timestamps and who tweeted what first. Efficiency reigns. Editors can scale up output without taking on large amounts of editorial input.
"However, we're starting to notice that people's reading patterns are very different on a tablet than on the desktop," Grimshaw says. "It raises the question of whether it's actually right to be publishing the same thing, the same way, the same time on a tablet as desktop. The answer is
probably no."
The Washington Post, like everyone else, started off reliant on feeds to power its original flagship app experience in 2010. But the Post realized pretty quickly that that wasn't good enough, says Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor for strategic projects. Instead, the company moved aggressively toward a curated experience for its new Post Politics app, just as it has for every other platform. The result is less reliance on automation. Instead of moving content from the Web site, the Politics app has its own designer and producer updating the content.
"Everything in tablets changes day to day," Garcia-Ruiz says. "We have to be ready to succeed with the technology we have today, but we also have to prepare for technology a year from now."
While many companies take an umbrella approach to mobile, lumping their smartphone and tablet production into one category run on similar standards, others cite the tablet's unique interactivity as a reason to branch out.
It took years for publishers to grasp that they shouldn't be making the same decisions on the Web as they were in print. But that sentiment seems to take as long to sink in when it comes to smartphones and tablets.
"If we make the same decisions on all four platforms, probably three of those are going to be wrong," McCombs says. "Just like you can't port the newspaper directly onto the Web, I don't think you can port the Web right into the tablet."
Now that news outlets have this new platform to play with, they're exploring which avenue is best for driving sales and gaining users. Initial tablet programs took the success of mobile apps and ran with it. Apps allow a news organization to reinforce the strength of its brand and package it with an easy purchasing system.
"Apps made it much easier to get what you want conveniently without having to search for it," Fidler says. "They reestablished the value of a package of information. Publishers can now begin to sell subscriptions to that package that has a branded identity."
But instead of the interconnectivity available in a browser setting, apps resemble the early days of the Internet and closed circuit Web sites. If a user wants her news from NPR, she has to go to the iTunes store, download the app and make a conscious decision to tap that icon every time. Whereas casual Web browsing on a desktop could land her at NPR's site in a seemingly endless variety of ways.
"If you read the magazine on the app, you're reading a specific piece of product," Newsweek's Lafsky says. "You're not reading a Web page that will send you to a totally different site. Sometimes it will take you to a link or a video clip, but then you're still right back there in the issue."
News editors hope to "trap" audiences in their app, instead of letting them wander in and out of a browser. And many have the brand power to do so--a critical advantage legacy media sites hold over emerging outlets, Mutter says.
But it's one that won't be around for long, especially as publishers like the Financial Times and the Boston Globe start to play with HTML 5. An updated version of the common coding structure for Web sites, HTML 5 allows news sites to build their tablet product in the open browser setting of the Web instead of a closed-off app.
"When you're publishing in a digital environment, whether within an app or the browser, the option for people to switch between different bits of content is always there," Grimshaw says. "It doesn't take more than five seconds to come out of one app and go to another. I don't see you putting handcuffs on people just because you've got them within your app."
Apps can fall prey to the dreaded "back screen" syndrome. If they don't make the cut for prime realty on the homepage of a smartphone or tablet, it's too easy for readers to forget the app is there.
Apps are likely a transitional model that will be around for a few years, McCombs says. In many ways, they are an interruption in the evolution of the Web and its flow from closed to open environments.
"We're all obsessed with apps at the moment," Grimshaw says. "I suspect there will be a growing realization that, actually, they have many drawbacks. We'd rather get back to the free and easy interconnected environment of the open Web."
HTML 5 sites maintain the look and feel of an app but don't have to be coded like an app, McCombs says. The Financial Times launched its HTML 5 Web browser in June 2010 in lieu of an app and continues to be hard-charging in its development. The FT has seen a sharp rise in mobile traffic since, with tablet users growing 71 percent, even though the FT app is no longer available to new subscribers in the Apple store.
"The world outside iTunes and the App Store isn't as cold and hostile as people think it is," he says.
Apple spun a powerful narrative around its products and retail system, creating a mythology that its way is the only way. Publishers do have practical reasons to consider, such as in-house technical expertise and the ability to do business directly with customers. Apple offered a gift-wrapped, straight out of the box transaction option, and building a custom transaction platform isn't easy, Grimshaw says. But news outlets should have confidence in their ability to operate independently if they can get all the necessary bits of technology in place.
"The publishers should be much more confident about their own capability and the power of their own brand," Grimshaw says. "The Financial Times is not lost in the wilderness because it's not in iTunes or another app store."
That's not to say that HTML 5 is the be-all, end-all solution. In fact, it's probably still a year or two out from a more robust form in which it can match what native apps do today, Fidler says. And, its browser-based experience currently prevents people from accessing material when they're not connected to the Internet, which means not being able to enjoy content when on a flight or away from a Wi-Fi hotspot.
"The thing about HTML 5 that disturbs me is the attitude that 'I want the magic wand that will take everything I put in print and automatically convert it for Web, smartphones, tablets without adding any additional staff, without having to do anything other than what I've done,' " Fidler says. "That's a big mistake, in my view."
While editors and consumers get giddy over the convenience, ease and enjoyment tablets provide, publishers and head honchos are crunching numbers trying to find their path to profits.
Reports from the Reynolds Journalism Institute and Pew suggest a majority of people aren't much interested in paying for content on tablets. About one in five people in a 2011 Pew poll said they're inclined to throw down $5 once on an app, but a $10 a month subscription is a whole other deal. And, if media outlets ever want to see numbers in the black, then the model has to be a regular subscription fee, Paulson says. Companies are testing a range of fees, such as $3.99 a week for the Wall Street Journal, $9.99 a month for the Daily Oklahoman and $59 a year for The New Yorker.
"I hope that publishers have learned that giving away their product for free isn't the wisest thing to do," Fidler says. "I'm surprised more publishers haven't implemented subscription-based apps on the iPad or tablets right from the beginning. The longer you make it available for free, the harder it's going to be to get people to pay."
Newspapers and magazines are experimenting with multiple permutations of that subscription model, whether linking it with digital and print subscriptions or letting it stand on its own. Regardless of whether they move through an app, subscriptions or something else, 85 percent of users have never paid for news on their tablets--an overwhelmingly dismal number--according to the same 2011 Pew study.
But before companies such as the New York Times can start fretting about subscriptions, they have to show they can generate money from advertisers. The Times waited almost a year after launching its iPad app to introduce subscriptions. This intermediary period allowed users to understand the value of the app before they were asked to pay in March 2011, says Alex Hardiman, director of mobile products.
Tablets bring advertisements to life in a way not previously possible in other media, Kramer says. While many publications are still playing around with banner ads and ads repurposed from the print product, others are pushing the medium in new ways. The Times essentially built an app within an app for its Ralph Lauren ad, which streamed a live fashion show. The Orange County Register had a swimsuit ad where users could spin the model 360 degrees and view the suit from every angle. The ability to manipulate and control ads like this is a major step forward from Web sites, Kramer says.
There's also a potential to complete transactions with the app--a benefit for both the news organization and the advertiser, Fidler says. If consumers 't have to leave the app, they're more likely to continue interacting even after they've purchased a product.
While these opportunities will bring advertisers on board, there's also a learning curve. Just as media companies are trying to figure out how to use the tablet and what content to push on it, so are advertisers.
"The traditional forms of media still are doing better as advertising vehicles because the advertisers know how to use them," Kramer says. "Advertisers are looking at the same question of how do I build a relationship with the same person on these multiple different platforms."
Like media companies, advertisers put a higher percentage of money on tried and true measures they know will work. Just like newsrooms, they've had to cut back on what they spend. So instead of experimenting with new platforms, they're sticking with traditional advertising. "They've been reluctant to bet the house on new technologies," Kramer says.
Although mobile traffic is growing, on average it accounted for only 0.9 percent of the digital revenue stream, according to Pew research released in March.
But publishers face a tough decision. Advertisers continue to view mobile as a digital channel. They would like to be able to do on smartphones and tablets what they do on desktops, combining sophisticated targeting and tracking with rich media and interactivity. The catch: on tablets you can have one or the other, but not both, Grimshaw says.
Advertisements require a live connection with the browser to deliver the copy, plus the tracking and targeting that go with it. Mobile platforms have either intermittent connection or sometimes no connection at all. Ad servers can't cope with that very well. Advertisers have to choose between
having a well-crafted, gorgeous ad that doesn't collect demographic information, or a very simple, static image with targeting included.
"Either way, you're only delivering half of the experience for the ad," Grimshaw says. "The result is that there's an increasing demand for mobile advertisers, but publishers as a whole aren't able to deliver what advertisers want on that device."
The Financial Times has gone the way of tracking and targeting, because, ultimately, that's what's of value to the advertisers. They want feedback on how many click-throughs they have and assurance that they've reached the right audience.
"Beautiful and glossy is fantastic," Grimshaw says, "but if you simply don't know how many people have seen it and whether or not they liked it, what's the point?"
The iPad has been on the market for only two years, and tablet developers are still pushing the boundaries of this new platform. This transition time is like cable in its first five years, Kramer says. The tablet is doing cool and exciting new things, but it hasn't quite found its niche, nor has it reached its full potential. This is just the beginning.
"When it's able to ingest user-generated contributions but produce all forms of content and put them together, those are the skill sets that will drive the best of tablet products. That's when it becomes a big-time deal. Right now, it's a convenience," Kramer says.
But it's a convenience with an audience. Tablets have already had a profound impact on the news industry, and they are only in the hands of less than a fifth of the population. By the end of the year, about 120 million iPads are expected to be at use in the marketplace, mostly in the U.S., Fidler says. After a couple of years, that number is likely to be 300 million to 400 million, he says.
"With those kind of numbers, even if the newspaper gets a small percentage of people who own these, their circulation on the iPad or tablets within the next five years could be greater than it is in print," Fidler says.
Says Lafsky, "It's no secret the consumption of media is moving further and further into the digital realm, so it's our job as media producers to deliver the highest quality product in the format in which consumers want to consume it. The people have spoken."
For now, legacy media outlets must decide whether to jump in full-force to the tablet world and wind up failing, and failing hard, early on, or whether they wait to see what works, but risk being left behind, banished to the last page of apps on a tablet, or left undownloaded in the Apple store.
"We're determined as an organization that we should not stand still, even as we keep hold of our cherished values and integrity and the independence of what we do," Grimshaw says. "We're also prepared to experiment, because if we don't, we'll be left for dead. We have to move with the audience. That's the priority."
Despite the pressure to go forward and do the next big thing before anyone else, Lafsky says it's not a grim "adapt or die" scenario. Instead, it's a chance to look at a new tool set and figure out how to take advantage of an opportunity.
Despite an initial lack of innovation and foresight, publishers haven't forfeited their chance with tablets just yet, Mutter says. But they should act quickly. He believes the next year will be a defining time for the platform and a chance for legacy outlets to seize this opportunity--along with the chance for profits and audience growth they can't afford to ignore.
Quality of information is still the key, Beilinson says. Tablets have the potential to make a difference because they are finding ways to deliver that information in an easily accessible, exciting way.
"We have these great opportunities and challenges, but the important thing is actually the storytelling, the journalism and the information we're bringing forward," Beilinson says. "That can take many forms."
The success of tablets affects not just the viability of media outlets, but the quality of life and democracy for America, ASNE President Paulson says. New media can roll out eye-popping apps with high entertainment value, but the duty of educating citizens and disseminating news still rests with news outlets. And that's a responsibility not to be taken lightly at a time when many newsgathering operations have shrunk.
"The watchdog role costs money, and we have to find a way to fund journalism of substance," Paulson says. "Tablets give me hope."


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7:30 pm
Keeping Up Appearances - The Memoirs of Hyacinth Bucket "A Riverside Picinic" Hyacinth dives into planning for a riverside picnic to equal her candlelight suppers.G
8:00 pm
The Thin Blue Line "Fly on the Wall" The Gasforth PD personnel are to be in a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Naturally, everyone wants to look good for the camera.G
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Outnumbered Karen is on a sleepover, and Ben is away at adventure camp. Mum and Dad are left with a labrador to look after and a glimpse of what life will be like once the children have left home.G
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My Family "Bully for Ben" Ben joins the young Harpers for a pub quiz and takes on an apparent cheater on another team - this leads to reliving his school years and how he was bullied - by a girl.G
9:30 pm
My Hero "Fear & Clothing" George becomes a nervous wreck around Friday 13th and Arnie worries that Thermoman's days may be numbered.G
9:59 pm
Are You Being Served? "Front Page Story" Old Mr. Grace decides the store should have an in-house magazine and appoints Mr. Humphries as editor.G
10:30 pm
As Time Goes By "The Affair" Jean's sister-in-law, Penny, convinced her husband is having an affair with his dental hygienist, moves in with Jean and Lionel.G
11:00 pm
Ladies of Letters Vera discovers her unmarried daughter Karen is pregnant. Karen spends a few days with her mum's pen pal and tells Irene all about her brother, Howard. Irene confuses Vera by acting on Karen's revelations.G
11:30 pm
The Red Green Show "The Bachelor Auction" The men decide to have a bachelor auction as a way to raise money and get dates. Red builds a dragster out of junk he finds in the shed. Dale comes to Possum Lake to pump gas for the summer.G


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GAO tells Navy to redo source selection for project worth billions
The Government Accountability Office wants the Navy to go back to the drawing board and revisit its award decision for a lucrative next generation jammer contract.
Raytheon won the initial $279 million contract for the development phase of the radar-jamming system in July, besting teams led by Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems.
But BAE filed a protest, which GAO has sustained on several counts. The watchdog agency found that the Navy failed to reasonably evaluate technical risk, failed to adequately document its evaluation and improperly credited Raytheon with outdated experience. There were other parts of BAE's protest that GAO denied, according to a GAO statement.
GAO is recommending that the Navy reevaluate proposals and properly document the evaluation record. After that evaluation, the Navy should make a new source selection decision and document its cost/technical tradeoff analysis with the rationale for the decision.
The win had put Raytheon in line for a $3.1 billion advanced development contract and a $4.3 billion production contract if it performed well on the initial development phase.
In addition to the BAE protest, there also were concerns raised on Capitol Hill that the program was too important to leave in the hands of a single contractor.
The jammer system will replace the current systems on the EA-18G Growler aircraft, which use technology dating back to the Vietnam War. The purpose of the jammers is to suppress the radar and communications systems used by adversaries.
The older technology is having trouble keeping up with new systems that can hop among radio frequencies and radar systems that are more agile. The older jammers don't have the power, precision and responsiveness to suppress all electronic threats, according to a Forbes article.
There is also some concern that if the United States doesn't move forward with the development of the next generation jammers, the country may face challenges as China is expected to use "anti-access/area denial" tactics to exclude U.S. forces from the region, according to Forbes contributor Loren Thompson.
GAO is not releasing its written decision at this time because of the large amounts of proprietary information it contains.
About the Author
Nick Wakeman is the editor-in-chief of Washington Technology. Follow him on Twitter: @nick_wakeman.
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Pets, Pets, Pets
When you tune in (or go to the Garden) on Feb. 10 and 11 to enjoy the 138th West- minste r Kennel Club (WKC) Dog Show, you will see three "new breeds" – the Chinook, the Portuguese Podengo Pequeno and the Rat Terrier. This means that in 2014 the total number of breeds and varieties eligible to compete is now 190. However, the three newbies are not really new. Let me explain:
Contrary to what many people think, WKC doesn't decide which breeds may enter their prestigious show in NYC or any other sanctioned American dog show. Instead, the American Kennel Club (AKC) is the governing body that makes these determinations. Most newly recognized breeds have been in existence for a long time, perhaps centuries, before receiving the official OK from the AKC to be included in conformation (breed judged) in dog shows in the United States. "New" breeds must first go through a sequence of steps so the recognition process can take years.
There are a number of factors the AKC considers in making the decision to recognize a "new" breed and, thus, register these dogs within the AKC pedigree system, including documentation that the breed in question has been breeding true for many generations, with accurate record keeping; evidence that there is sufficient interest in the breed throughout the United States and a national club in place that meets AKC requirements to act as the parent club for the breed. So here are the newest breeds to join Westminster, the celebrated canine competition:
RAT TERRIER (Terrier Group- 20 WKC entries) Beyond being a farm dog, Rat Terriers have proven themselves to be a versatile, multi-purpose breed with a playful, happy-go-lucky attitude. They are an all-in-one dog – able to do virtually anything they are trained to do – and they are easily trainable and exceptionally intelligent. They excel in conformation and many canine performance events like agility, obedience, rally, terrier racing, earthdog, barn hunt and lure coursing. They are capable of hunting rodents and vermin above and below ground; they make fine therapy and service dogs and they are loyal friends and companions – especially for families.
The Rat Terrier is an American breed that originated from crosses by early immigrants using Fox Terriers and other European Terriers common in the 19th century. During the 1910s and 1920s, the Rat Terrier was one of the most common farm dogs. Because Kansas Jack Rabbits were plaguing crops in the Midwest, to increase the speed, some farmers began breeding them to Whippets and Ital- Greyhounds. Others in the Central and Southern regions bred their Rat Terriers to Beagles to bring out a stronger prey and pack drive for hunting.
PORTUGUESE PODENGO PEQUENO (Hound Group- eight WKC entries) The smallest of the Podengo family, this active rabbit hunter dates back to antiquity. He is still used today by huntsmen in his native Portugal. To manage the terrain in different parts of Portugal, the Portuguese Podengo Pequeno come in two coat varieties, smooth and wire. The word "Pequeno" means miniature – the smallest of three sizes – Grand, Medio and Pequeno (almost like Starbucks). With proper socialization this intelligent breed is a delightful companion and willing participant in agility, obedience, hunting and lure coursing, as well as conformation.
CHINOOK (Working Group- four WKC entries) Chinooks are large, affectionate family dogs, dependent on their owner, with a special bond to children. They are intelligent and easy to train, with a gentle and affectionate disposition and a calm and willing work ethic. As a working breed, the Chinook thrives on regular exercise. Training and competing, along with activities such as backpacking, hiking, jogging, agility, and skijoring [sport where a person on skis is pulled by a dog] will keep a Chinook happy, fit and healthy. Chinooks are not a protection breed and do not make good guard dogs.
The Chinook was developed by polar explorer Arthur T. Walden at his New Hampshire farm in the 1920s after a breeding of a female supposed to be descended from Admiral Peary's lead dog to a St. Bernard/Mastiff. One puppy named "Chinook" stood out from the rest, and became the foundation of his namesake breed. In 1925, Arthur Walden's Chinook sled dog team was the first dog team to summit Mt. Washington and, in 1927, Walden, along with 16 of his male Chinooks, went with Admiral Richard Byrd's first expedition to Antarctica where the Chinook dogs were used to haul the freighting sleds.
During the Depression, Walden sold his Chinook kennels which in 1947 were again sold to Perry Greene who became the sole breeder of Chinooks until his death in 1963. Over the next decades the breed was saved from extinction, and in 2009 the Chinook was designated as the state dog of New Hampshire.
At Westminster's Jan. 15 press conference at MSG, Patti and Perry Richards of Vermont brought their Chinooks – Talis and Tagluk – to introduce this "new breed" to the media. Talis kissed every stranger she met as if she had known them for ages. Perry is the great-grandson of Perry Greene who worked so hard to preserve this incredible breed which, now numbering about 1,000, is still considered one of the rarest breeds in the world.
Talis and Tagluk are mother and son WKC entries. "Talis" is Inuit for "beloved" while "Tagluk" is Inuit for "snowshoes." When describing what she likes best about her breed, Patti Richards said, "They always want to be with you; no matter what you are doing they are right there with you. They will go out and hike, skijor, bikejor, sled and then come in and lay on the couch with you and watch the football game. They are never far away… Talis is a kissing fool. She will wash your face if you let her and she keeps all the other dogs clean by washing their teeth, eyes and ears. Tagluk on the other hand does not offer a lot of kisses, he gives nose bumps. He will come up behind you and bump you with his nose, or come up in front of you and bump you."


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Rubbermaid Trash Cans
From simple trash receptacles designed to blend into their surroundings to vibrant, colorful advertising displays, Rubbermaid offers a variety of refuse containers to help keep your facility looking neat and inviting. Whether you need indoor, decorative containers or rugged, outdoor receptacles, Rubbermaid certainly has a number of options to meet those needs. More


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Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
Vintage photos of:
Washington, D.C., circa 1924. "Cathedral Mansions drug store." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.
August 2, 1926. "Miss Marjorie Joesting." Marjorie, the future Mrs. Arthur Lange, was both Miss Washington, D.C., and a Miss America runner-up at Atlantic City in 1926. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
Washington circa 1924. Living room of a model apartment at Cathedral Mansions. Take that, Ikea! View full size. National Photo Company glass negative.
Washington circa 1924. "Cathedral Mansions Grocery." The market at Cathedral Mansions, a multistory apartment complex on Connecticut Avenue that also had its own bakery and drugstore. View full size. National Photo glass negative.
Circa 1924, "Metropolitan Methodist Church, C Street, Washington, D.C." And the Ford building next door. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. The church, at C Street NW and John Marshall Place, was abandoned and razed after the congregation moved to its Nebraska Avenue location in the 1930s. The 1905 Ford Motor Co. building on Pennsylvania Avenue was torn down in 1980.
Washington, January 1925. "Bureau of Identification, Justice Department." Files of the National Bureau of Criminal Identification, forerunner of today's FBI. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
"Post Office, Washington. Flag Day 1915." View full size. National Photo Co.
Washington, D.C., 1926. "Semmes Motor Company. Barber & Ross truck." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.


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Wire Home Décor is a family business started Fall of 2007. All of their products are handmade. They have two main types of products. First, they sell wire card holders that hang on the wall. My mother-in-law displays all of her cards on one of these each year.
These are perfect for displaying your holiday cards, but they also look great holding photos throughout the year. They have their basic wall card holder, a wreath (or circle shaped holder), and a heart. They have also done custom designs: a flower, star, butterfly, and turtle.
Wire Home Decor's second focus is on individual card holders.
They specialize in place card holders and table markers for dinner events and weddings. Many businesses and brides choose these products because they can also be used as favors at the end of the event. These card and photo holders also work great to display pictures or cards on a desk or shelf. Wire Home Decor has done a lot of custom work. Since all of their products are made by hand, they can make adjustments to create the perfect card holder.
DISCOUNT: Wire Home Décor is offering a 5% discount for Give Away Today readers. Use the coupon code "GiveAway5". Enter it at the checkout. The coupon will expire December 15th.
Wire Home Décor is giving away a Four Foot Wire Christmas Card Holder (value $39.99) plus free U.S. shipping or the winner can choose another item or items of equal value.
The giveaway is open to anyone, athough, shipping fees will apply to anyone outside the U.S. (Wire Home Decor will give $5.00 off towards the actual cost of the international shipping).
Each person can enter to win this giveaway up to THREE times.
For one entry, leave your first and last name in a comment.
Example: Jane Doe
For a second entry, please visit Wire Home Decor's website here and then return to Give Away Today and in a NEW comment tell us your first and last name and an item you would like from Wire home Decor.
Example: Jane Doe: I like the Desktop Photo Holder. And I like that it is only $19.99.
For a third entry, in a NEW comment tell us your first and last name and something that is on your mind today.
Example: Jane Doe: I need to go to bed earlier. It's just so hard. When the kiddies scamper to bed, the projects come out. Anyone else have a hard time winding down at night?
The winners of the giveaway from Wire Home Decor will be announced Monday, December 7th. Please visit us then to see if you are our winner and to discover our new giveaway. Thanks and have a great weekend!


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NWSB Insider and Huskies blogger Brandon Choate brings us a look back at the 2011-2012 Washington Huskies Mens Basketball team. With all the pressure on Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten, then team had it's moments – good and bad. Through the ups and the downs, the Huskies found a way to stay in it on their way to winning the Pac12 conference season title.
Washington Huskies Basketball – 2011/12 Pac 12 Season Review
April 8, 2012 By


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40 Oz Stainless Steel Water Bottle
Description: Your father will love this Rugged, reliable, virtually indestructible 40 ounce stainless steel water bottle. Each bottle comes with a removable strap, making it easier to carry and also comes with a stainless steel cap. The bottle is made from 304 food grade stainless steel so you can be assured you are using a seriously safe stainless drinking water bottle. For more information and to find a retail location to purchase call New Wave Enviro at 800-592-8381 or go to www.newwaveenviro.com.
Price: $26.99


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Home / Tools & Accessories / Gifts for Spinners / Kookaburra Delicate Wool Wash
Kookaburra Delicate Wool Wash
$2.79 - $11.99
Ideal for all woolens, silks, baby clothes and other colorfast delicates. This pure organic and biodegradable wool wash containing lavender and Australian Tea Tree oil is a great antibacterial wash and works well in washing away dust mites. Use for hand or machine washing.
- Video
Podcast episode 123 is all about blocking your knitted projects.


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You are here
How to Buy Surplus Property
The Georgia Department of Administrative Services is responsible for the state's surplus or excess property. State agencies purchase property, use it and then outgrow its usefulness. This is a natural life-cycle for office equipment, vehicles, etc. But instead of throwing these surplus items in the garbage heap, DOAS disposes of them. First they go to other state agencies, local governments or eligible non-profits. Then they sell them to the public – ensuring that taxpayers get the most out of their government's original purchase.
For the general public looking to buy surplus property from the state of Georgia, DOAS offers three primary avenues for online auctions:
All three channels provide a range of items and update their respective pages daily. Items include vehicles, office furniture, lab equipment, books and larger property such as forklifts or trailer homes. Because of the ease of access to these websites, you can browse available items and bid at your convenience.
Georgia State Surplus also uses Twitter to feature surplus property that is for sale to the public.
To date, DOAS and GovDeals.com have sold more than 7,400 surplus items, generating $9.4 million in revenue from 173,434 bids for the State of Georgia. While most of that surplus property was sold to bidders in Georgia, buyers from 37 other states purchased property.
Since 2004, GovDeals has successfully partnered with the State of Georgia, selling items as unique as a group of trees or a passenger ferry. The highest value retrieved from a single online auction was for scrap metal that sold for $227,010 to a buyer in Alabama.
About the Author
Fabian Mettler was a Communications Intern with the Georgia Department of Administrative services (DOAS). He is a student at Emory University.
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