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Last semester, the University of New Hampshire's chapter of the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) pressured the university administration to divest the university's endowment from fossil fuels — presenting petitions, holding a modest demonstration, and issuing opinion pieces. In their passion to see the environment protected, it seems they have overlooked a plethora of serious financial problems that the university is facing.
According to the Department of Education, UNH is the fourth most expensive public university in the United States. In fact, the average debt of a UNH graduate is $32,440. If not for the scholarships, which derive funding from the university's comparatively modest endowment of $125,000,000, the cost of tuition on this campus would be significantly higher — prohibitively high for some.
It would appear as though UNH students advocating for divestment from fossil fuels have not given adequate consideration to the financial repercussions of that action. The president of SEAC at UNH wrote in a student newspaper op-ed that, "two months ago, five UNH students met with some of the most senior-level administrators of our university to discuss the possibility of divesting the endowment from fossil fuel corporations, and reinvesting in socially and environmentally responsible companies." However, she never addresses which "socially and environmentally responsible companies" would bring our endowment similar returns on its investments. This omission in SEAC's proposal is hidden behind emotional appeals and ambiguity: "UNH cannot continue making all of its decisions only considering what is profitable instead of what is ethical." But how is it ethical to sacrifice the opportunities of some for the beliefs of others?
Investments are made with the sole purpose of gaining the greatest possible returns, and that is the guiding objective which UNH uses in managing its portfolio. As soon as we stray from that goal, we lose the only reasonable standard by which a small group of people can make decisions about finances affecting a large group of people. As UNH Economics Professor Neil Niman was quoted in The Portsmouth Herald: "Let's say the average UNH student leaves with $36,000 in debt,' he said. 'The university says, 'We can divest ourselves, but this is going to cost us X return on investment, so we can't give out as much financial aid.' So instead of $36,000 in debts, students are going to have, say, $40,000 in debts. I'm not sure most students will take that on in order to promote this value.' […] He likened the reliance on exchange traded funds by most endowment funds to shopping at Walmart. 'Well-intentioned people want to keep Walmart out, but the fact is, some people have to shop there because they need to save money,' he said. 'How can you say you're not going to allow certain people to do what they want to do in order to subsidize your values?"
Finally, SEAC's proposal overlooks the fact that, in a democratic society, others hold convictions that are just as deeply rooted as our own. For instance, what if a student organization morally opposed to contraception wished to divest the university endowment from businesses which provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraceptives? If the fossil fuel divestment is pursued, this new precedent would require that the university assess such a request based on its merits and the personal beliefs of a small group of people, rather than dismissing the claim on the basis that investments are made in order to maximize returns.
Late last semester, University President Mark Huddleston agreed to meet with SEAC leaders on January 29th to discuss the matter of divesting the university endowment from fossil fuels. Given President Huddleston's reputation for strong leadership, one hopes that he will use this meeting to explain why such a move would be inappropriate. Otherwise, it will be difficult to make the case that the University of New Hampshire uses its financial resources wisely when the administration inevitably asks the state legislature to restore university funding to $68 million this spring.
UNH just can't afford to play politics with its endowment.
Nick Mignanelli
Political Science Major
UNH, Durham


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San Diego In his youth, John Donne (1572-1631) was a hot Metaphysical poet who wrote salacious verses and thought Shakespeare, his elder by eight years, a doddering oaf. Donne yoked religious language and topical references to his love poetry. In Elegie 15 ("Going to Bed"), for example, the randy speaker calls his mistress "my America, my new-found-land/ My Kingdome, safeliest when with one man man'd."
Donne made a transformation as sweeping as Shakespeare's Prince Hal to King Henry V. In 1621, "Jack Donne," the witty rake (at least in his imagination), became "Dr. Donne," Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral. In Margaret Edson's Wit, Vivian Bearing, a Donne scholar, must make a metamorphosis almost as difficult.
During a severe illness in 1623, Donne wrote that "No man is an island, entire of itself." Vivian Bearing has lived as if surrounded by water. She assumed that if she became "a little world made cunningly," she could keep the slings and arrows of banal old reality at bay. (One of the first things her teacher-mentor, E.M. Ashford, told her: revise her essay on Donne later; "Go out. Enjoy yourself with your friends." But Vivian went back to the library.)
When Wit begins, Vivian is 50, barefoot, wearing doubled hospital gowns, and hooked to a portable IV pole. A red baseball cap covers most of her bald head. She has fourth-stage ovarian cancer. There's no fifth, she tells the audience, with whom she finds it hard to be informal. She knows the play's about her and doesn't want to give away the plot ("but I think I die at the end"). During the last third of the 90-minute piece, even the play escapes her control.
Always quick to display academic credentials, Vivian flashes back to her intellectual development. We watch her lecture. She even frets about a semicolon inaccurately substituted for a comma. She's an elitist snob, proud of her "uncompromising" nature. "I know all about life and death," she boasts. "I am, after all, a scholar of Donne's Holy Sonnets, which explore mortality in greater depth than any other body of work in the English language." But when mortality trumps elitism, "We are discussing my life and my death" -- and metaphysical wit be hanged.
The playwright plunks this rigid control freak into an environment where she loses her bearings. A doctor and clinicians -- who deem themselves as superior in their field as Vivian did in hers -- envision a radical experiment: eight cycles of superdrug-chemotherapy, full dose. Vivian, who dreads normalcy, accepts the challenge. In the eyes of some researchers, she's little more than a lab rat providing data "to quantify the complications of the puzzle." A morphine drip, though it will blank her mind, could keep her alive longer than a Patient-Controlled Analgesic. And why resuscitate her when her heart stops? More data.
The stark clashes and grave extremes in Wit -- life and death, humane and inhumane treatment of hospital patients, the ornate versus the simple, being "smart" versus being "kind" -- have the dazzle of Metaphysical poetry. But, and also like Donne, the playwright laces the text with wit (small w). Vivian's humor helps her find a kind of grace.
The night I caught the North Coast Rep's outstanding production, two people walked out about halfway through. This was a compliment. Wit should be uncompromising. Amid MDs with clipboards and scurrying nurses and aides, you watch a proud woman wither and die of cancer. NCRT and director David Hay put no smile on grim details.
What the exiting couple missed was Vivian's beaming into an 11th-hour wholeness -- and the completed arc of Rosina Reynolds's gritty, deeply human performance. As Vivian breaks down, Reynolds sheds protective layers and grows from an island to, as Donne wrote, "a piece of the continent...involved in mankind." We may see more acting of this high quality in 2007, though I doubt we'll see better.
Nanci Burrows and Dennis Henry head the supporting cast and function as good and evil angels. Burrows plays Susie Monahan, a nurse who may seem overly yummy to those who've never seen -- as I have with both my parents -- a selfless caregiver minister to the dying (anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer will watch two stories during Wit: Edson's and theirs, which may explain why the couple left).
Dennis Henry makes Jason Posner, the evil angel M.D., an unrepentant Vivian: left-brain dominant, bedside-manner-deficient. Henry's smart choices don't overemphasize these traits; they fall where they may (in one of the few places where the playwright spoonfeeds significance to the audience, Edson gives Jason an insight: John Donne, he says, suffered from "salvation anxiety"; Edson may be right, but it's hard to believe data-obsessed Jason'd see it).
Vivian's mentor frets about punctuation in Donne's Holy Sonnet #6 ("And death shall be no more, comma, Death thou shalt die"). A comma splice should separate the independent clauses, she contends, because "nothing but a breath -- a comma separates life from life everlasting."
The NCRT production offers visual evidence of this contention. Marty Burnett's scenic design has no "insuperable barriers"; no semicolons. The stage is bare, save for curtains, like those in a hospital, that open and close and change scenes in a single breath.
1.) The late Louis Martz, former Sterling Professor at Yale and author of The Poetry of Meditation, defined wit as "intellectual quickness, inventive and constructive ability, a talent for uttering brilliant things, the power of amusing surprise," and "a desire to startle readers."
2.) Doctor Samuel Johnson, who believed life itself was startling enough, argued that the Metaphysical poets, and Donne especially, yoked their spectacular images "by violence together."
3.) Michael Shurtleff, the famous casting director, bemoaned wit's absence in contemporary theater: "Wit is the taking pleasure in words, in the way things are phrased. Wit is a highly polished competitive game, but since it's intellectual (a dirty word, to be eschewed at any cost) and requires the use of the mind, it's in very short supply...No wonder actors don't know what it is, since they've been raised on television, where the lowest common denominator is what determines what's funny and where people don't laugh at laugh lines, machines do.
Wit, by Margaret Edson
North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach
Directed by David Hay; cast: Rosina Reynolds, Sandra Eagye, Dennis Henry, John Herzog, Michael Imdieke, Sunny Smith, Diana Sparta; scenic design, Marty Burnett; costumes, Jeanne Reith; lighting, Mia Bane Jacobs; sound, Matt Lescault-Wood
Playing through May 13; Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Matinee Sunday at 2:00 p.m. 858-481-1055.
More from SDReader
- More stories by Jeff Smith
- Deborah Gilmour Smyth blooms — Jan. 15, 2014
- Last call — Nov. 12, 2013
- Wit at Lamb's Players Theatre — Oct. 23, 2013
- Meet John Donne — Oct. 14, 2013
- Time and Space Manipulated — Oct. 18, 2007

subset: commoncrawl


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I haven't made a tutorial on a candle in a very long time and since candles are so fun to draw, I figured why not make a lesson on "how to draw a Halloween candle", step by step. The festive candle really gives a nice warmth because of the fall colors. The ambiance of the flame, along with the brown, yellow and red tones, makes this one fun drawing to create. I went with some fall leaves as the base for the candle, but you can choose to draw anything you wish as your Halloween candle base. You can even draw a pumpkin next to the candle to add a more Halloween type of feel. In any case have fun drawing a Halloween candle. I'm sure you'll find some use for the lesson. Peace out folks!
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Summary Meeting Notes: November 8, 2012 Residential Development PEG
Summary Meeting Notes
Residential Development and Compatibility Policy Expert Group
Date: November 8, 2012
Time: 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
PEG Attendees: Matt Davis, Tamara DeRidder, John Gibbon, Anyeley Hallova, Michael Hayes, Gabe Headrick, Gordon Jones, James McGrath, Rod Merrick, Stanley Penkin, Emily Sandy, Eli Spevak, Irma Valdez
Staff/Presenters: Barry Manning (BPS PEG lead), Dante James and Judith Mowry, Office of Equity and Human Rights
Other Attendees: Taylor Miron, Olivia Wickstrom, Alex Luciani, Jim Brown, David Sweet; BPS staff: Julia Gisler, Debbie Bischoff, Julia Gisler, Chris Scarzello, Deborah Stein, Lora Lillard, Desiree Williams-Rajee
Facilitator: Deb Meihoff, Communitas
View the original agenda, including materials, for this meeting.
Welcome, overview, introductions
Equity Fundamentals / RDC Issues Through an Equity Lens
Presenter: Dante James / Office of Equity and Human Rights
Summary: Dante James discussed why equity important in the planning process, why Portland is using a racial equity lens, and strategies for moving forward. The group participated in an exercise exploring issues that prevent Portlanders from talking about racial equity.
Facilitated Discussions - Equity Issues with Residential Development
Facilitators: Dante James and Judith Mowry / Office of Equity and Human Rights; Desiree Williams-Rajee / BPS
Summary: The PEG broke into two smaller groups to discuss the role of assumptions that are made when reviewing Residential Development and Compatibility policies and implementation strategies. The facilitated discussion centered on two questions: (1) When you think of 'single-family' residential, what does that mean and look like? (2) How might 'maintaining character' mean different things for different neighborhoods?
Key themes from the facilitated discussions:
- "Single family residential" term is generally perceived as an architectural / planning style, not a statement on the number or relationship of occupants within the structure. Portlanduses the term "single dwelling residential" in order to clarify that issue.
- Single dwelling neighborhoods mean different things to different people, often based on where and when one grew up (for instance, some from the east coast think of single dwelling neighborhoods as rowhouses, others conjure up an image from a time when it meant multiple children, no sidewalks and very large lots - that is different from the predominant view today).
- To some a house is a major financial investment, which would suggest a desire to conservatively secure the investment (sameness may be highly valued). Others see a house as a home, a place to live, which would likely stress a place for self-expression (not necessarily sameness). Still, others may view a house as both investment and place to live. These perceptions shape how residents perceive changes in their neighborhoods.
- Different neighborhoods are different - a diversity in building types, architectural styles, and evolution of our neighborhoods should be allowed, within the context. Sometimes 'eclectic' character defines a place - maintaining the eclectic nature of structures or allowing a place to evolve may be more important than remaining static.
- There is a constant tension in trying to 'maintain' character, as our neighborhoods are always changing. Paying attention to physical context (massing, setbacks, etc) is more important than maintaining a particular architectural style.
- Need to be aware and acknowledge the history of using government functions, such as zoning or deliberate disinvestment, to discriminate against citizens based on race.
Discussion Wrap-up
Summary: PEG members shared key themes from each of the discussion groups. Further, they raised the issue of where to go next with the question of equity. PEG members wish to have more discussion about equity as it relates to the draft policies they have been considering. They would also like to explore what policy tools are available to address the identified equity issues.
[There were no public comments]
PEG Process Updates and Feedback
- PEG members stressed the need for adequate time to review the entire draft policy document before discussing. They would also like a summary of the policies they worked on as a group - where they are in the document and the draft language being published.
- It was noted that at some point, BPS and/or others need to stand back and review the policy implications as a whole - determine appropriate implementation measures and make sure the policies are driving toward desired outcomes as well as avoiding unintended consequences.
Next Steps
Next Steps:
- Draft of policies is anticipated to be released for public review and comment in December, followed by public workshops and engagement events after the first of the year. In order to allow a complete review prior to discussion, the PEG will hold off discussing the draft together until the January meeting.
- December meeting will include the presentation on gentrification (postponed from October's meeting) and a presentation of growth scenarios in the city. PEG is invited to participate in the new online discussion board.
For more information, please contact either Barry Manning Bureau of Planning and Sustainability at 503-823-7965 or email@example.com or Deb Meihoff, facilitator at 503-358-3404 or email@example.com.


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Milton Hatoum
Born in Manaus in 1952, Milton Hatoum studied architecture. He taught Brazilian literature at the University of Amazonas and at the University of California, Berkeley, before publishing his first novel, Tale of a Certain Orient (1989); it was awarded the Jabuti Prize for the best novel of the year. The Brothers (2000) also won the Jabuti and has been translated into eight languages. With Ashes of the Amazon (2005), Hatoum again won the Jabuti, and the Bravo!, APCA and Portugal Telecom Prizes. In 2008, he published his first novella, Orphans of Eldorado. The Island City is his first collection of stories.


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Identifying and Maintaining a Reliable Supplier Network
Change is certainly a constant in business, which can make the process of managing a complex supply chain difficult for even the most successful companies. Identifying and managing suppliers that can ensure a superior level of quality, service and innovation is critical to gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage.
Along with the resurgence in North American manufacturing has come—in particular for many midsized manufacturers—an increased challenge in funneling increased volume through an existing supplier network. This is true whether you're dealing with new or established supplier relationships. Too many questions can be left to chance. For instance:
• Can the supplier meet the turnaround deadline?
• Does the supplier actually have the ability to meet current and future demand?
• Does the supplier use conflict materials?
• Can the supplier match our quality standards based on increased volume?
Can you really afford to have your production planner or procurement director spending time shopping for and vetting new suppliers when your organization attempts to capitalize on new demand? The answer is, of course not.
Into the Fryer
"As a midsized company, we knew we had limited resources and expertise to devote to managing and enhancing our supply chain," says Bill Collins, general manager of Ultrafryer Systems, San Antonio, TX, a manufacturer of commercial deep fryers for restaurant and commercial installations. "But, we also knew that doing so was critical to our future success."
Ultrafryer and other Prime Advantage members access the group's endorsed suppliers through multiple channels, including a private intranet, although the company's semiannual conference is the primary to reach out to multiple suppliers in a short period of time. These three-day conferences offer networking and strategic-sourcing opportunities for all participants. Collins and his Ultrafryer associates attend the conferences to hold one-on-one private meetings with potential suppliers, to discuss needs and strategies, as well as the suppliers' ability to fulfill those needs.
Save Time, Save Money
"We have found this opportunity to sit down with so many suppliers to be a rigorous process that we would not be able to accomplish for even our top 15 suppliers each year," says Bart Walker, general manager of Romac Industries, another Prime Advantage member company. Romac, Bellevue, WA, manufactures clamps, flanged couplings, sewer products and other products, and operates a custom fabricated steel-pipe division. "To accomplish this within a three-day period," Walker continues, "has made our supplier evaluation and selection process much more efficient, and has saved us a ton of money."
Meeting with this many suppliers, twice per year, enables members to enhance relationships with key suppliers at an executive level, as well as gain exposure to new supplier capabilities, new trends and even new supply-chain options.
Risk Analysis and Supplier Performance Analysis
Most global manufacturers have formalized supplier-evaluation systems in place that enable them to actively manage their supply networks. For example, when a supplier is continuously late with shipments, a spend management professional must identify the infraction, quantify it, communicate it to the supplier and implement corrective action. Corrective action can take the form of a three-strike policy, monetary compensation, a combination of both, as well as other steps.
Yet, few small- to midsized manufacturing companies have formal processes in place to track, evaluate and communicate supplier performance, let alone assess risk within their supply chain. These companies simply lack the resources to create and maintain a documented supplier-evaluation system. Without such a system, companies have a hard time defining if supplier performance is productive or if it should improve. And no company can afford to find out after the fact that a supplier is underperforming—not when businesses are in a growth cycle.
Suppliers that are true partners want to help customers succeed by improving their own performance. These suppliers value the consistent and measurable feedback that a formal evaluation system provides. The advantages to having a formal evaluation and audit process in place benefits your organization as well as your suppliers' organizations. Empirical evidence illustrates that firms with supplier-evaluation systems realize improvements such as higher rates of on-time deliveries, fewer defects and quicker response time.
That said, most small and midsized firms typically have only enough resources to manage the performance of their top few suppliers, at a basic level. The process requires support of multiple departments such as engineering and operations, as well as senior leadership. Each must work together to determine that all parts of a supplier relationship are being considered in the evaluation process.
Ultrafryer and Romac—and other Prime Advantage members—are able to use two systems in place at Prime Advantage to ensure they work with best-in-class supply partners. Suppliers must complete an audit process to enter the network and attain endorsed status. Then, members provide ongoing feedback through a formal evaluation process. The supplier evaluation process begins with many of the steps followed by the world's top manufacturers, in which subjective and objective aspects of a supplier relationship are analyzed and weighted. Factors include quality, delivery, total cost, supplier diversity, service, design control and R&D.
Additional Resources
Harry Marcionetti, senior vice president of operations for truck-body manufacturer Knapheide Mfg., Quincy, IL, also appreciates the added support Prime Advantage provides, via an account manager. This dedicated resource helps Knapheide (and other member companies) identify the best supplier options in the group based on needs and supplier capabilities."Our Prime Advantage account manager has helped us build a bench of quality suppliers across a number of specific material and service categories," says Marcionetti, "where we previously only had one supplier connection. They have effectively added arms and legs to our team without needing to hire new staff." MF
See also: Prime Advantage
Related Enterprise Zones: Other Processes
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Catholic Church
The Catholic Church also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity. The Catholic Church is among the oldest institutions in the world and has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilisation. It teaches that it is the one true church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles and that the Pope is the successor to Saint Peter. Catholic doctrine maintains that the Catholic Church is the original and true Church and is infallible when it dogmatically teaches a doctrine of faith or morals. Catholic worship is centred on the Eucharist, in which the Church teaches that the sacramental bread and wine are supernaturally transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ. The Church holds the Blessed Virgin Mary in special regard. Catholic beliefs concerning Mary include her Immaculate Conception and bodily Assumption at the end of her earthly life.
- The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine — but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight.
- Hilaire Belloc, remark to William Temple, quoted in Robert Speaight, The Life of Hilaire Belloc (1957). London: Hollis and Carter, p. 383
- Now to get back to our given Church: it lives almost entirely for modesty and moneyed piety. It zealously inveighs against the harm done to Joseph and the sheep, but it has made its arrangements with the upper classes and serves as their spiritual defender. It bristles at see-through blouses, but not at slums in which half-naked children starve, and not, above all, at the conditions that keep three quarters of mankind in misery. It condemns desperate girls who abort a foetus, but it consecrates war, which aborts millions. It has nationalized its God, nationalized him into ecclesiastic organization, and has inherited the Roman empire under the mask of the Crucified. It preserves misery and injustice, having first tolerated and then approved the class power that causes them; it prevents any seriousness about deliverance by postponing it to St. Never-Ever's Day or shifting it to the beyond.
- Ernst Bloch, Man on His Own: Essays in the Philosophy of Religion (1959/1970) p. 144
- Some persons think us too severe and censorious when we call the Roman pontiff Antichrist. But those who are of this opinion do not consider that they bring the same charge of presumption against Paul himself, after whom we speak and whose language we adopt... I shall briefly show that (Paul's words in II Thess. 2) are not capable of any other interpretation than that which applies them to the Papacy."
- We must know and be out of all doubt, that the Pope hath but a devilish Synagogue, and that all his Clergy is but filth & stench, all these varlets that have cast aside the Church of God, are but vermin. Although the Pope, who is Antichrist, be set in God's sanctuary, (as we have seen before [2 Thes. 2.4]) yet notwithstanding, he is not worthy to be taken and accounted for a minister of the Church, nor all his mates.
- John Calvin Sermon on 1 Timothy, ch. 3. The 22 Sermon upon the second Chapter Sermons on Timothy and Titus (16th-17th century facsimile editions), p. 265. pdf images And yet Calvin "draws a picture, not much more flattering of the state of morals to his branch of the glorious Reformation. He states that even the preachers of the new doctrines were notoriously immoral:"
"But the Church has another ulcer that is more to be deplored: the fact that pastors - yes, I say the very pastors who mount the pulpit, which is the sacred judgment seat of Christ, on the condition that they surpass all others in the purity of their lives - are sometimes the most disgraceful examples of wantonness or other evils. So it turns out that their discourses possess no more truth and seriousness than if a player were acting out a tale on the stage. And, of course, such men complain that they are objects of contempt among the common people, or even that fingers are pointed at them as laughing stocks.
But rather am I surprised at the patience of of the ordinary people, that women and children do not cover them with mud and filth ("luto et stercoribus")." Concerning Scandals [ De Scandalis ] (1978 - Orig. pub. 1550), John Calvin, John W. Fraser, tr., Eerdmans, ISBN 0802835112 ISBN 978-0802835116 Part II, The Second Class of Scandals: Troubles of Various Kinds, Pastors' Dissolute Lives, pp. 70-71. Older translation: A Little Booke of Iohn Caluines concernynge Offences, whereby at this daye diuers are feared, and many also quight withdrawen from the pure doctrine of the Gospell ... Translated out of Latine ... by Arthur Goldinge, pp.64f. [1] Also: University of Michigan [2] Latin: De scandalis, quibus hodie plerique absterrentur, in G. Baum, E. Cunitz, and E. Reuss (eds), Ioannis Calvini opera ..., vol. 8 = Corpus Reformatorum, vol. 36 (1870), col. 51. [3]
- John Calvin Sermon on 1 Timothy, ch. 3. The 22 Sermon upon the second Chapter Sermons on Timothy and Titus (16th-17th century facsimile editions), p. 265. pdf images And yet Calvin "draws a picture, not much more flattering of the state of morals to his branch of the glorious Reformation. He states that even the preachers of the new doctrines were notoriously immoral:"
- The Catholic Faith, which always preserves the unfashionable virtue, is at this moment alone sustaining the independent intellect of man.
- G. K. Chesterton, The Thing: Why I am a Catholic (1929)
- However, nobody can be surprised that the priests, the bishops, and the popes of Rome are sunk into such a bottomless abyss of infamy, when we remember that they are nothing else than the successors of the priests of Bacchus and Jupiter. For not only have they inherited their powers, but they have even kept their very robes and mantles on their shoulders, and their caps on their heads. Like the priests of Bacchus, the priests of the Pope are bound never to marry, by the impious and godless law of celibacy. For every one knows that the priests of Bacchus were, as the priests of Rome, celibates. But, like the priests of the Pope, the priests of Bacchus, to console themselves for the restraints of celibacy, had invented auricular confession. Through the secret confidences of the confessional, the priests of the old idols, as well as those of the newly-invented wafer gods, knew who were strong and weak among their penitents, and under the veil of the sacred mysteries, during the night celebration of their diabolical mysteries, they knew to whom they should address themselves, and make their vows of celibacy an easy yoke.
- There is more evil in one second of the history of the Roman Catholic Church than there is in the entire lifetime of Scientology
- Alexander Cockburn, "In Depth with Alexander Cockburn", C-SPAN, 1 April 2007.
- If the Catholic Church hadn't so consistently and virulently condemned the Jews for killing Jesus, there would have been no Holocaust. There would have been no reason for anyone to think about picking on Jews. And that means today there might be no Jewish state, and no Middle East conflict. That's quite a lot to have on your conscience, isn't it? How fortunate for the Catholic Church that it doesn't possess a conscience, but at least it gives ordinary Catholics an opportunity to feel guilty about something real for a change, if they feel so inclined, and to reflect on the reality that the Jews didn't kill Jesus at all. The Catholic Church killed Jesus, and has spent the last two thousand years dragging his entrails through the dirt. And if he came back tomorrow, he'd be the first to say so. You know it's true. We all do.
- Pat Condell, Is Satan a Catholic? (March 27, 2010; from YouTube).
- How could so many reputable and responsible churchmen have lent their support, even if only passively, to the perpetration of such crimes as genocide? What fever seized so many millions of German Christians, both Evangelical [Lutheran] and Catholic, in those few short years of Nazi tyranny?
- John S. Conway, in his book The Nazi Persecution of the Churches 1933-1945 (1968)
- For the majority of English people there are only two religions, Roman Catholic, which is wrong, and the rest, which don't matter.
- Duff Cooper, Old Men Forget (1953). London: Rupert Hart-Davis, p. 128
- After his victory at the Milvian Bridge, faithful to his promise, Constantine favors the church from which he has received support. Catholic Christianity becomes the state religion and an exchange takes place: the church is invested with political power, and it invests the emperor with religious power. We have here the same perversion, for how can Jesus manifest himself in the power of domination and constraint? We have to say here very forcefully that we see here the perversion of revelation by participation in politics, by the seeking of power. The church lets itself be seduced, invaded, dominated by the ease with which it can now spread the gospel by force (another force than that of God) and use its influence to make the state, too, Christian. It is great acquiescence to the temptation Jesus himself resisted, for when Satan offers to give him all the kingdoms of the earth, Jesus refuses, but the church accepts.
- Jacques Ellul, The Subversion of Christianity (1982), G. Bromiley, trans. (1986), p. 124
- I say that politics is the most important of the civil activities and has its own field of action, which is not that of religion. Political institutions are secular by definition and operate in independent spheres. All my predecessors have said the same thing, for many years at least, albeit with different accents. I believe that Catholics involved in politics carry the values of their religion within them, but have the mature awareness and expertise to implement them. The Church will never go beyond its task of expressing and disseminating its values, at least as long as I'm here.
- Pope Francis, interviewed in "How the Church will change" by Eugenio Scalfari in La Repubblica (1 October 2013), as translated from Italian to English by Kathryn Wallace
- If, for example, tomorrow an expedition of Martians came to us here and one said 'I want to be baptised!', what would happen? Martians, right? Green, with long noses and big ears, like in children's drawings? When the Lord shows us the way, who are we to say, 'No, Lord, it is not prudent! No, let's do it this way'. Who are we to close doors?"
- Pope Francis Pope Francis says he would baptize aliens, Adam Withnall, Independent, 13 May 2014
- I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being.
- Pope Francis, interviewed in "How the Church will change" by Eugenio Scalfari in La Repubblica (1 October 2013), as translated from Italian to English by Kathryn Wallace
- Just imagine in this square mile how many people were burned for reading the Bible in English. And one of the principle burners and torturers of those who tried to read the Bible in English, here in London, was Thomas More. Now, that's a long time ago, it's not relevant, except that it was only last century that Thomas More was made a saint, and it was only in the year 2000, that the last pope, the Pole, he made Thomas More the Patron Saint of Politicians. This is a man who put people on the wrack for daring to own a Bible in English: he tortured them for owning a Bible in their own language. The idea that the Catholic Church exists to disseminate the word of the Lord is nonsense.
- "Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus". Outside the church, there is no salvation. That is a dogma that has been used to excuse all the missionary zeal. All the rape and torture of the Aztecs and the Incas. All the horrors of South America and Africa and the Phillipines. And the rest of the world. To which other churches and other cultures have also their guilt to admit. It's not unique to the Catholic Church and I never said it was.
- The Pope could decide that all this power, all this wealth, this hierarchy of princes and bishops and archbishops and priests and monks and nuns could be sent out in the world with money and art treasures, to put them back in the countries that they once raped and violated, they could give that money away, and they could concentrate on the apparent essence of their belief, and then, I would stand here and say the Catholic Church may well be a force for good in the world, but until that day, it is not.
- Stephen Fry, "The Catholic church is a force for good in the world", Intelligence Squared Catholic Church Debate, (November 7th 2009).
- Sorcery was at the time extensively practised by some of the highest dignitaries of the church, and five or six popes in succession were notorious for these sacrilegious practices. About the same period the papal chair was at its lowest state of degradation; this dignity was repeatedly exposed for sale; and the reign of Gerbert, a man of consummate abilities and attainment, is almost the only redeeming feature in the century in which he lived. At length the tiara became the purchase of an ambitious family, which had already furnished two popes, in behalf of a boy of twelve years of age, who reigned by the name of Benedict the Ninth.
- William Godwin, Lives of the Necromancers (1835), p. 166.
- Gregory VII., whose original name was Hildebrand, is one of the great champions of the Romish church, and did more than any other man to establish the law of the celibacy of the clergy, and to take the patronage of ecclesiastical dignities out of the hands of the laity.
- Ibdb, p. 167.
- A vast number of Catholic clerics have been tried for sexual crimes ... It is not a matter of regrettable individual lapses, but of a general corruption of morals such as the history of civilization has scarcely ever known . . . No other class of society has ever come to shelter such depravity ... In our civilized world no other class of society has contrived to practice immorality and indulge in filth on a scale resembling than that achieved by the German clergy in all its ranks ... We cannot possibly impose sanctions on unnatural vice and yet at the same time allow thousands upon thousands of priests and brothers of religious Orders to escape scot-free ... A very large number of these priests and Religious work in the confessional ... There is no doubt that even the thousands of cases which have come to light represent but a small fraction of the total moral corruption.
- Speech by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels on all German wireless stations, May 28, 1937, accusing Catholic priests and monks of immorality and pedophilia on a grand scale. The speech was part of a larger "Nazi campaign in 1937 led by Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels to discredit the Catholic Church following Pope Pius XI's anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge." Persecution of the Catholic Church in the Third Reich, Facts and Documents (1940, 1941, 2003), "published with the approval of Pope Pius XII". The book's anonymous* author later identified as German Jesuit Walter Mariaux (1894-1963), Pelican Publishing, ISBN 1589801377 ISBN 9781589801370 p. 305. [4]
* "The man was in fact Dr. Walter Mariaux, a native of Ulzen, Hanover, who in 1935, at the age of 40, joined the Central Church Office for Students in Rome and about the same time became one of the German broadcasters on Vatican radio." Anonymous No Longer, The Wiener Library Bulletin (1963), Volumes 17-19, p. 17.
Sociologist Compares Today's Crisis to Nazi Smear Campaign, John L. Allen Jr., National Catholic Reporter, Apr. 17, 2010 [5]
- Speech by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels on all German wireless stations, May 28, 1937, accusing Catholic priests and monks of immorality and pedophilia on a grand scale. The speech was part of a larger "Nazi campaign in 1937 led by Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels to discredit the Catholic Church following Pope Pius XI's anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge." Persecution of the Catholic Church in the Third Reich, Facts and Documents (1940, 1941, 2003), "published with the approval of Pope Pius XII". The book's anonymous* author later identified as German Jesuit Walter Mariaux (1894-1963), Pelican Publishing, ISBN 1589801377 ISBN 9781589801370 p. 305. [4]
- Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels went through all the standard Nazi gestures. He pointed, shook his fist, stretched his thin lips in a grim grin. He hurled his fiery oratory against the Swastika-festooned walls of Berlin's Deutschland Hall, and 20,000 loyal Nazis egged him on. Through Goebbels, the Reich last week pointed, grinned, and shook its fist at the Roman Catholic Church. The little Minister of Propaganda had taken the job of replying to the latest Catholic attack on Hitlerism — by George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago (reported in News-Week, May 29). But Goebbels went beyond that issue to a defiant defense of the arrests of thousands of German priests and monks for so-called immorality and perversion. The Vatican received the most violent tongue-lashing ever uttered by a Nazi official:
"Mundelein ... in the course of a public speech in which he insulted the Fuehrer . . . and referred to me as the crooked German Minister of Propaganda, said that these trials were staged only to harm the persecuted Catholic Church ... I speak in the name of thousands of German parents who think with fear and disgust that their own innocent children might some time be morally and physically corrupted in this way by unscrupulous seducers . . . This sex plague must and will be ruthlessly extirpated."
- Well, in the jubilee millennium year of 2000 the Vatican spokesman Bishop Piero Marini said, explaining a whole sermon of apology given by His Holiness the Pope, given the number of sins we've committed in the course of twenty centuries, reference to them must necessarily be rather summary. Well I think Bishop Marini had that just about right, I'll have to be summary, too. His Holiness on that occasion—it was March the 12th, 2000, if you wish to look it up—begged forgiveness for, among some other things, the crusades, the Inquisition, the persecution of the Jewish people, injustice towards women, that's half the human race right there, and the forced conversion of indigenous peoples, especially in South America, the African slave trade, the admission that Galileo was right, and for silence during Hitler's Final Solution or Shoah. And it doesn't end there, there are smaller but significant—equally significant—avowals of a very bad conscience. These have included regret for the rape and torture of orphans and other children in church-run schools in almost every country on Earth, from Ireland to Australia. These are very serious matters, and they're not to be laughed off by the references to the occasional work of Catholic charities. But I draw you attention not just to the apologies, ladies and gentlemen, but to the evasive and euphemistic form that they take.
- Christopher Hitchens, "The Catholic church is a force for good in the world", Intelligence Squared Catholic Church Debate, (November 7th 2009).
- The same euphemism comes, in the term some Christians allow themselves to be deceived in this way and to act against the gospel, well, anti-Semitism was preached as an official doctrine of the Church until 1964. Do you think that might have something to do with public opinion in Austria, and Bavaria, and Poland, and Lithuania? There'll come a time, when the church will issue apologies, and explanations, and half-baked appeals for forgiveness for things it's still doing. I think that there will be an apology for what happened in Rwanda, the most Catholic country in Africa, where priests and nuns and bishops are on trial, for inciting from their pulpits and on the Church's radio stations and newspapers, the massacre of their brothers and sisters.
- Christopher Hitchens, "The Catholic church is a force for good in the world", Intelligence Squared Catholic Church Debate, (November 7th 2009).
- The most important thing about me is that I am a Catholic. It's a superstructure within which you can work, like a sonnet.
- When I went to Methodist youth fellowship, we were taught that the Catholics were all going to go to hell because they worship idols. So right there, I'm saying to myself, "Catholics are going to go to hell, but my aunt Molly married a Catholic and she converted and she's got 11 kids and they're all pretty nice and one of them's my good friend – they're all going to go to hell?" I'm thinking to myself, "This is bullshit." And if that's bullshit, how much of the rest of it is bullshit?
- Stephen King Stephen King: The Rolling Stone Interview, Andy Greene, October 31, 2014)
- That tyranny which the pope himself has for so many ages exercised over the church.
- The very antichrist, and son of perdition, of whom Paul speaks.
- John Knox The Zurich Letters, pg. 199
- If you cannot see that divinity includes male and female characteristics and at the same time transcends them, you have bad consequences. Rome and Cardinal O'Connor base the exclusion of women priests on the idea that God is the Father and Jesus is His Son, there were only male disciples, etc. They are defending a patriarchal Church with a patriarchal God. We must fight the patriarchal misunderstanding of God.
- Everyone agrees the celibacy rule is just a Church law dating from the 11th century, not a divine command.
- Hans Küng Newsweek interview, July 8, 1991
- The Pope would have an easier job than the President of the United States in adopting a change of course. He has no Congress alongside him as a legislative body nor a Supreme Court as a judiciary. He is absolute head of government, legislator and supreme judge in the church. If he wanted to, he could authorize contraception over night, permit the marriage of priests, make possible the ordination of women and allow eucharistic fellowship with this Protestant churches. What would a Pope do who acted in the spirit of Obama?
- Hans Küng "If Obama were Pope" , Progressive Involvement, (31 January 2009).
- We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist ... personally I declare that I owe the Pope no other obedience than that to Antichrist.
- Martin Luther (Aug. 18, 1520) The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 2., pg. 121 by Froom
- I despise and attack it, as impious, false... It is Christ Himself who is condemned therein... I rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes. Already I feel greater liberty in my heart; for at last I know that the pope is antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan himself.
- Martin Luther D'Aubigné, b.6, ch. 9.
- I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God's word becomes corrupt. Because of this we can see what kind of people they become in the universities and what they are like now. Nobody is to blame for this except the pope, the bishops, and the prelates, who are all charged with training young people. The universities only ought to turn out men who are experts in the Holy Scriptures, men who can become bishops and priests, and stand in the front line against heretics, the devil, and all the world. But where do you find that? I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to hell.
- Martin Luther To the Christian Nobility of the German States (1520), translated by Charles M. Jacobs, reported in rev. James Atkinson, The Christian in Society, I (Luther's Works, ed. James Atkinson, vol. 44), p. 207 (1966).
- Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.
- Martin Luther Statement in defense of his writings at the Diet of Worms (19 April 1521), quoted in Martin Luther by Martin Brecht
- I know that a Christian should be humble, but against the Pope I am going to be proud and say to him: "You, Pope, I will not have you for my boss, for I am sure that my doctrine is divine."
- Martin Luther Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535) Chapter 2, Verse 6
- I am entirely of the opinion that the papacy is the Antichrist. But if anyone wants to add the Turk, then the Pope is the spirit of the Antichrist, and the Turk is the flesh of the Antichrist. They help each other in their murderous work. The latter slaughters bodily and by the sword, the former spiritually and by doctrine.
- Martin Luther Table Talk (1569) 330.
- And I myself, in Rome, heard it said openly in the streets, "If there is a hell, then Rome is built on it." That is, "After the devil himself, there is no worse folk than the pope and his followers."
- Martin Luther Against the Roman Papacy, An Institution of the Devil ( Wider das Papstum zu Rom vom Teuffel Gestifft, A. D. 1545)[7] in Luther's Works, Church and Ministry III, American Ed., Helmut T. Lehman, Eric W. Gritsch, eds., Augsburg Fortress Press, 1966, Vol. 41:279. ISBN 0800603419 ISBN 9780800603410.
- I am disturbed about Roman Catholicism. This church stands before the world with its pomp and power, insisting that it possesses the only truth. It incorporates an arrogance that becomes a dangerous spiritual arrogance. It stands with its noble Pope who somehow rises to the miraculous heights of infallibility when he speaks ex cathedra. But I am disturbed about a person or an institution that claims infallibility in this world. I am disturbed about any church that refuses to cooperate with other churches under the pretense that it is the only true church. I must emphasize the fact that God is not a Roman Catholic, and that the boundless sweep of his revelation cannot be limited to the Vatican. Roman Catholicism must do a great deal to mend its ways.
- Martin Luther King Jr., "Paul's Letter to American Christians", Sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (4 November 1956)
- The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the Christian Church: and in the Pope of Rome, all the characteristics of that Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any who read the Scriptures do not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them.
- Cotton Mather The Fall of Babylon in The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers by Froom, Vol. 3, pg. 113
- People talk about how horrible it is to be brought up Catholic, and it's all true. The main thing was that there was no sense of proportion. I would chew a piece of gum at school, and the nun would say, 'Jesus is very angry with you about that,' and on the wall behind her would be a dying, bleeding guy on a cross. That's a horrifying image to throw at a little kid. You really could almost think that your talking in line, say, was on a par with killing Jesus.
- George Meyer David Owen (2000-03-13). "Taking Humour Seriously". The New Yorker.
- It is impossible to enumerate how thoroughly Catholicism today is saturated by middle-class reasonableness; one need only recall how even baptism—once the most powerful expression of the church's opposition to the state, a symbol of entry into a spiritual countercommunity, a mystical adoption, less the bearing of a name than being led by means of a name on the first steps of one's inner way—is today bound up with middle-class record-keeping: with the identity card, the need for an enduring characterization resting on the firm distinctions of compelling reason; which means that being a person is made impossible by the "individual," that incalculable spiritual and intellectual destiny that tears away the protective covering of the soul's anonymity and drives it to mindlessly repetitious, merely defensive expenditures of energy and renders inaccessible to it everything it might do if it did not always first have to look after a person.
- Robert Musil, "The Religious Spirit, Modernism, and Metaphysics" (1913), B. Pike and D. Luft, trans., Precision and Soul (1978), pp. 21-22.
- I would like to grow less afraid of dying. I am infinitely less afraid today than I was 15 or 25 years ago. I was most afraid of dying when I was 33, because I come from a Catholic family.
- Sidney Poitier "Oprah Talks to Sidney Poitier", O Magazine, October 2000.
- The Spaniards in Mexico and Peru used to baptize Indian infants and then immediately dash their brains out: by this means they secured these infants went to Heaven.
- Bertrand Russell Why I Am Not a Christian (6 March 1927).
- The church has ever opposed the progress of woman on the ground that her freedom would lead to immorality. We ask the church to have more confidence in women. We ask the opponents of this movement to reverse the methods of the church, which aims to keep women moral by keeping them in fear and in ignorance, and to inculcate into them a higher and truer morality based upon knowledge. And ours is the morality of knowledge. If we cannot trust woman with the knowledge of her own body, then I claim that two thousand years of Christian teaching has proved to be a failure.
- Margaret Sanger, [[8] "The Morality of Birth Control"], 18 November 1921, Park Theatre, NY
- It is evident that thought is also necessary for action. But the Church has for centuries ... focused on orthodoxy and left orthopraxis in the hands of nonmembers and nonbelievers.
- Edward Schillebeeckx "La teología" as cited in A Theology of Liberation (1973), p. 10
- In Roman Catholic devotional writing [as] the piety, is the religious sensibility or insights of an individual, usually a saint. By extension it can refer to the traditional ambience of a Roman Catholic Religious Order. This ambience shapes the order's communal life, and is also a guide for members of those orders who preach, write, and counsel individuals on the spiritual life of prayer and devotion.
- J.Z.Smith, et al, the HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion" quoted in Making Sadza With Deaf Zimbabwean Women: A Missiological Reorientation of ...
- It is almost a truism to say that only the Catholic really knows the case against Catholicism, but he is handicapped by also knowing the answer to it.
- Robert Speaight, Ronald Knox the Writer (1966). London: Sheed and Ward, p. 91
- Being a proper Catholic means being a repressed Catholic, so the kinds of images that Catholicism deals with and the kinds of native mythology create the most horrific monsters. You know when you're a kid and you're told of these stories of decapitation and mutilation and blood, but on top of this, all of these stories have a spiritual content, which is really weird, like spiritual mutilation.
- Guillermo del Toro "Guillermo Del Toro for "Blade II"" Paul Fischer, Dark Horizons, March 22nd 2002.
- His life as a pope was so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it.
- Pope Victor III on Pope Benedict IX Victor III, Pope (1934), Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libelli de lite p. 141
- He is in an emphatical sense, the Man of Sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled the Son of Perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers... He it is...that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped...claiming the highest power, and highest honour...claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone."
- John Wesley Antichrist and His Ten Kingdoms, pg. 110.
- But further, and especially important: it may be, as has been claimed, that the greater participation of Protestants in the positions of ownership and management in modern economic life may today be understood, in part at least, simply as a result of the greater material wealth they have inherited. But there are certain other phenomena which cannot be explained in the same way. Thus, to mention only a few facts: there is a great difference discoverable in Baden, in Bavaria, in Hungary, in the type of higher education which Catholic parents, as opposed to Protestant, give their children. That the percentage of Catholics among the students and graduates of higher educational institutions in general lags behind their proportion of the total population, may, to be sure, be largely explicable in terms of inherited differences of wealth. But among the Catholic graduates themselves the percentage of those graduating from the institutions preparing, in particular, for technical studies and industrial and commercial occupations, but in general from those preparing for middle-class business life, lags still farther behind the percentage of Protestants. On the other hand, Catholics prefer the sort of training which the humanistic Gymnasium affords. That is a circumstance to which the above explanation does not apply, but which, on the contrary, is one reason why so few Catholics are engaged in capitalistic enterprise.
The smaller participation of Catholics in the modern business life of Germany is all the more striking because it runs counter to a tendency which has been observed at all times including the present. National or religious minorities which are in a position of subordination to a group of rulers are likely, through their voluntary or involuntary exclusion from positions of political influence, to be driven with peculiar force into economic activity. Their ablest members seek to satisfy the desire for recognition of their abilities in this field, since there is no opportunity in the service of the State. This has undoubtedly been true of the Poles in Russia and Eastern Prussia, who have without question been undergoing a more rapid economic advance than in Galicia, where they have been in the ascendant. It has in earlier times been true of the Huguenots in France under Louis XIV, the Nonconformists and Quakers in England, and, last but not least, the Jew for two thousand years. But the Catholics in Germany have shown no striking evidence of such a result of their position. In the past they have, unlike the Protestants, undergone no particularly prominent economic development in the times when they were persecuted or only tolerated, either in Holland or in England. On the other hand, it is a fact that the Protestants (especially certain branches of the movement to be fully discussed later) both as ruling classes and as ruled, both as majority and as minority, have shown a special tendency to develop economic rationalism which cannot be observed to the same extent among Catholics either in the one situation or in the other. Thus the principal explanation of this difference must be sought in the permanent intrinsic character of their religious beliefs, and not only in their temporary external historico-political situations. It will be our task to investigate these religions with a view to finding out what peculiarities they have or have had which might have resulted in the behavior we have described. On superficial analysis, and on the basis of certain current impressions, one might be tempted to express the difference by saying that the greater other-worldliness of Catholicism, the ascetic character of its highest ideals, must have brought up its adherents to a greater indifference toward the good things of this world. Such an explanation fits the popular tendency in the judgment of both religions. On the Protestant side it is used as a basis of criticism of those (real or imagined) ascetic ideals of the Catholic way of life, while the Catholics answer with the accusation that materialism results from the secularization of all ideals through Protestantism. One recent writer has attempted to formulate the difference of their attitudes toward economic life in the following manner: "The Catholic is quieter, having less of the acquisitive impulse; he prefers a life of the greatest possible security, even with a smaller income, to a life of risk and excitement, even though it may bring the chance of gaining honor and riches. The proverb says jokingly, 'either eat well or sleep well'. In the present case the Protestant prefers to eat well, the Catholic to sleep undisturbed."
- Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Chapter I Religious Affiliation and Social Stratification.
- This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the development of "the man of sin" foretold in prophecy as opposing and exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a masterpiece of Satan's power--a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will.
- Ellen G. White, "The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan", p.50, (1858)
- How is one to explain that neither Hitler nor Himmler was ever excommunicated by the church? That Pius XII never thought it necessary, not to say indispensable, to condemn Auschwitz and Treblinka? That among the S.S. a large proportion were believers who remained faithful to their Christian ties to the end? That there were killers who went to confession between massacres? And that they all came from Christian families and had received a Christian education?
- Elie Wiesel, A Jew Today
- The pretended Vicar of Christ on earth, who sits as God over the Temple of God, exalting himself not only above all that is called God, but over the souls and consciences of all his vassals, yea over the Spirit of Christ, over the Holy Spirit, yea, and God himself...speaking against the God of heaven, thinking to change times and laws; but he is the son of perdition (II Thess. 2).
- Roger Williams (theologian) in The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers by Froom, Vol. 3, pg. 52.
The Dictionary of Legal Quotations (1904)Edit
- Quotes reported in James William Norton-Kyshe, The Dictionary of Legal Quotations (1904), p. 77-79.
- The discussion which was made by Luther, Melancthon, and the other persons who preceded the Reformation, opened the eyes or the public; and they got rid of the delusions which had been spread by the Pope of Rome, and emancipated mankind from the spiritual tyranny they were under, and brought about the establishment of that religion which we now enjoy in this country.
- Lord Kenyon, Reeves' Case (1796), 26 How. St. Tr. 591.
- The popish religion is now unknown to the law of this country.
- Lord Kenyon, Du Barre v. Livette (1791), Peake's N. P. Cases, 79.
- Rokeby, J.: I do not think but a Popish doctor may be a good doctor to a Protestant patient; but I do not think that a Popish governor can be a good governor for a Protestant subject.
Holt, C.J.: Aye, but a Popish censor is not so proper to supervise and inspect all the Protestant physicians.
- King against Dr. Burrel (1699), 5 Mod. 432.
- Englishmen have no greater enemies than the French and the Papists.
- Pollexfen, C.J., Case of Sir Richard Grahme and others (1691), 12 How. St. Tr. 741.


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The silicone is soft and flexible, which means it's easy to hold against the body and doing so does not cause any discomfort. The silicone is fairly thin, which is worth noting because silicone tends to conform to the temperature around it. In this case, it may warm up during use (not to any extreme temperature at all, but it's worth noting because it can be surprising!). I found it easy to refold into the plastic tube it came in, though really any sealable container will do. The plastic bag provided was a little lower quality than I expected, but no big deal. A spare doggie bag (you know, the little plastic poop bags) or old plastic shopping bag will keep it just as safe and contained after use until you have the opportunity to clean it with soap and water.
I do recommend using it in the shower first, or at the very least, in your own bathroom. Angles are different for everyone, and it's much easier to clean up in the comfort of your own space than when you're out on the go and unlikely to have enough cleaning supplies with you.
Final tip: keep the Go Girl held against your body for an extra few seconds after you finish. It truly is a funnel and may need a bit of extra time to empty out.
PS. This is *not* designed to be used as a packer. Packers that have openings to double as an STP do exist... this just isn't one. Make sure you're investing in the right product for your needs!
The GoGirl is awesome but practice at home before going out and using it in public! (I may or may not have tinkled into my undies one time). Make sure you cup it against your body really well and snip a bit of the silicone off the end to make the hole larger so the pee flows through quicker and won't back up if you've got a full bladder screaming at you. I couldn't get it to fit back in the tube it came with so I rolled mine up and stuck it in an empty pill bottle! I find that I still have to lower my pants quite a bit and really lean over the toilet because the spout is shorter than I'd like. If your lucky enough to visit one of their stores they also sell another STP called pStyle, which is awesome too.
Better for a woman then transman. Nothing I would use for gender expression, this is a simple stp device when you don't want to squat. I gave it 4 stars because it got the job done of standing to pee. Nothing you should wear all day only use when you need to urinate.
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It's not often that one of the world's richest companies doesn't get what it wants. But today in a Dutch court, Shell not only failed to win the sweeping injunction it applied for, but was told in quite forceful terms that it must accept the consequences of its reckless plans to drill for oil in the Arctic. Here's what the judge said:
"A company like Shell, that is taking actions... that are controversial in society and which many people will object to, can and should expect that actions will be taken to try to change its mind."
Two weeks ago, Shell took Greenpeace Netherlands and Greenpeace International to court, asking for an incredibly broad injunction against Greenpeace. What Shell initially asked for would have meant that any Greenpeace "action" - illegal or legal - within 500m of Shell property could have led to a million euro fine for the organization. Yep - a friendly activist handing out leaflets about Arctic drilling on a street corner could have broken the terms of the injunction.
The judge told them to change this request, and they came back with a new injunction that sought to block any kind of protest on Shell's actual property - even it was entirely legal.
Today, we received the court's ruling. The judge confirmed that direct actions were both proportionate and justified, given our earlier efforts to change Shell's mind in other ways. He also ruled that actions can continue in future, within certain limits. All that Shell got out of this is a narrow ruling, which left two offices – Greenpeace Netherlands and Greenpeace International – facing penalties if they interrupt the normal running of petrol stations, offices or other Shell properties in the Netherlands for longer than two hours.
Shell said that it doesn't appreciate the activists' methods, and regrets in particular that they don't use "legitimate" ways to protest Arctic drilling.
Think for a minute about what could be legitimate ways of protest – at least according to Shell. Maybe citizens around the world could get together and petition governments to protect the Arctic and develop alternative solutions to fossil fuels for our transportations systems? How many signatures would such a petition need to be good enough for Shell? Could 2 million do the trick? Well, we did that.
A legitimate way to protest could be to question the validity of the drilling permits. Or to look closer at their inadequate oil spill plans and to contest their approval in court. Surely, Shell would encourage such "legitimate" ways of disagreeing with them, right?
Actually, Shell is currently suing Greenpeace US and 12 other US environmental and Indigenous groups to preempt challenges to those spill plans. This means that they're asking for a court order in the US to prevent legal ways of contesting Arctic drilling.
Shell likes to play the victim, but the truth is, they are not willing to listen when Greenpeace, our supporters or a whole range of other environmental groups speak up about Arctic drilling. As you might have guessed, this narrow injunction will do nothing to prevent us from opposing Shell's reckless plans with creativity and passion.
Juliette is a Digital Mobilisation Specialist at Greenpeace International. She likes chocolate, narwhals, and is slightly obsessed with the Arctic.
(Unregistered) Jasmine B.
Thank you!
Using my right of freedom of speech, one of the human rights given to all of us:
I am one out o...
Thank you!
Using my right of freedom of speech, one of the human rights given to all of us:
I am one out of million legitimate human beings, who does not want Shell or anyone drilling in the arctic.
Jasmine B.
6 October, 2012 at 1:14
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(Unregistered) Tim
I will continue to boycott ALL Shell gas stations and products in light of their continued attacks against Greenpeace and against our environment!
6 October, 2012 at 8:20
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Lisa Vickers
Great news and a great blog post Juliette! Love your writing.
6 October, 2012 at 14:12
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Esteve Green
This great news, we can't allow these companies to do as they wish in the name of greed, well done greenpeace you have my backing 100%
7 October, 2012 at 20:31
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(Unregistered) Adam
Well done conservation movement.
It seems judges agree with us and not before time..THE ICE IS MELTING QUICKLY...BALANCES ARE CHANGING....DESTRU...
Well done conservation movement.
It seems judges agree with us and not before time..THE ICE IS MELTING QUICKLY...BALANCES ARE CHANGING....DESTRUCTIVE PRACTICES ARE PROVING A BIT COSTLY TO HUMANITY...TIME FOR CHANGE OF ATTITUDE......
SHELL could turn it"s attention to renewable energy,SOLAR,WIND,ELECTRIC CARS ETC there are many ways of generating power ....go Shell and create clean energy for the future
8 October, 2012 at 12:38
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(Unregistered) GREEN Savior
yes, Shell is sooooo bad (and I am on topic)
Sun Wu
you deleteted my comment...:@
yes, Shell is sooooo bad (and I am on topic)
Sun Wu
you deleteted my comment...:@
Quite a while ago you posted CVs of scientists...ooh, look what Type of important people are dealing with us Greenpeacers.
Sorry, but sometimes I much more wonder who is allowed to blog in the name of Greenpeace.
So please, could you tell us us all how someone becomes a DIGITAL MOBILISATION SPECIALIST?
I am sure you have an impressive CV aswell
And if you happen to meet Jan Haverkamp please remind him he was asking for a factual debatte. Unfortunately he disapeared when it became factual.
8 October, 2012 at 21:48
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(Unregistered) Laflorazul
Fight the Powers that be! Together, United in One Voice educate those around you about what the Shell company is doing. Boycott Shell and all its prod...
Fight the Powers that be! Together, United in One Voice educate those around you about what the Shell company is doing. Boycott Shell and all its products. Print your own flyers or news article and circulate them everywhere. Tell all your friends to do the same. Join Green Peace in this battle to save the earth from further destruction that awaits the planet and its inhabitants.
Do all you can to prevent this. Wake up and wake those up around you. This is our planet too. Not just the Rich Oil companies. The people are the motivating force in making the making of history. MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
10 October, 2012 at 8:46
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(Unregistered) Maya melissa
Shell is Hell. It's obvious....
16 October, 2012 at 1:17
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(Unregistered) CHAM
Good to hear you have won a battle, but the war wages on. Keep up this fight. I am supporting you 100%.
18 October, 2012 at 10:01
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So we FINALLY got in an opening weekend of fishing! Yes, I know, for many of you, the season never really ends and the only real change you do is buy a new fishing permit!
Well up here, we do shut down for the winter. Since the salmon only start arriving in the Ste-Marguerite River (Saguenay) in mid-June, we really only seriously start looking at the critters in the 3rd week of June. Job obligations and spring cleaning at the Cat House means we only got to schedule time off on the July long weekend!


text: Labor Day started in the late 19th century, as a celebration of the American laborer. It's still very much that, but it's also the unofficial end of summer, and one last chance for a warm-weather party. We took these things into consideration and fed the data into our very scientific […] Read More »


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Intel Corp is providing increased access to its manufacturing plants for other chipmakers, taking advantage of advanced production capabilities and seeking to boost its revenue sources as it faces greater competition.
Intel's move seems to have had a very minor impact on the leadership of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as the stock price of the world's top contract chipmaker edged lower by less than 1 percent.
TSMC shares slid 0.99 percent in Taipei trading to NT$100 yesterday.
Intel, the world's largest maker of semiconductors, which has mainly only made its own chips, is expanding its foundry business by manufacturing chips to order for other companies, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said on Thursday at an investor meeting in Santa Clara, California.
Intel, which said at the meeting that sales next year would be little changed from this year's levels, would focus more on providing what customers want rather than trying to push its own designs, said Krzanich, who became the company's sixth CEO in May when he succeeded Paul Otellini. Krzanich, 53, is a former factory manager who ran part of a network of plants that Intel says are the most advanced in the semiconductor industry.
"We had become insular," Krzanich said. "We had become focused on what was our best product, rather than where the market was moving."
Otellini had said Intel's plants were closed to competitors. Earlier this year, Krzanich said he would consider changing that stance and on Thursday he confirmed the company's willingness to make chips for companies that are beating Intel in mobile phones.
As more competitors enter the foundry business, TSMC said in June that the industry entered a new era of competition.
"Now, in this new era of competition, the competition is not foundry to foundry, it is not foundry to IDM [integrated device manufacturing], it is grand alliance to IDM," TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said.
By IDMs, Chang implied Intel and Samsung.
Grand alliance is a business model adopted by TSMC to counter its competitors, such as Samsung and Intel.
Grand alliance is an alliance with customers, with the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) companies, with the intellectual property providers, and of course, with the key vendors — the critical vendors, Chang said.
"We're needing some kind of signal or sign that mobile is happening and they're getting some kind of presence there," said Betsy van Hees, an analyst at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco.
"The mobile business is an ugly business. It's very tough," she said.
Intel said revenue would be approximately the same next year. Analysts were projecting average sales of US$53.7 billion next year, up from a forecast of US$52.6 billion this year, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Gross margin would be in the middle of its target range of between 55 percent and 65 percent, in line with analysts' estimates, Intel chief financial officer Stacy Smith said.
Intel predicts the PC market, measured by units, will be down by a "low single-digit" percentage, Smith said.
While spending on new plants and equipment next year will be little changed from this year at about US$11 billion, investments aimed at enabling customers to convert to Intel chips in tablets will hurt total profitability, he said.
Intel vice president Hermann Eul, who heads the company's mobile division, said the company would focus on developing parts for a smaller number of smartphone makers with large sales volumes.


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Christy M necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
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African wax material: All the rage, but where's the money going? (PERSPECTIVE)
By Melinda Ozongwu
*NOTE: Africa Fashion Week begins today and runs March 7-10, 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. You can find a schedule and watch a live stream of the shows, HERE.
The material that we call African print or wax is a multi-million dollar business. As African as these textiles are, the Dutch companies that produce and sell the majority of our fine wax and lace materials are benefiting off an African industry and potentially destroying its authenticity. And we, the African customer, are part of the problem.
I was once given six yards of beautiful Dutch wax material. It was a kaleidoscope of colour, rich with texture and print. It's amazing how a few yards of material can be so powerful. If you've ever stepped in a room filled with rolls of Dutch wax, Ankara, Hollandaise or African fabric you know what I'm talking about. Wearing this heavily patterned, bold, rich fabric is a transformative experience. Since then I have worn African wax not in traditional attire but in beautifully constructed, modern pieces that are very much in trend.
With celebrities like Beyoncé and Kelis wearing clothes by African designers like Lisa Folawiyo (Jewel by Lisa), as well as being introduced to our designers, a growing number of people are being exposed to the beauty and versatility of the African fabric.
American designer Maya Lakes' Boxing Kitten line is rich with African print and worn by celebrities like Erykah Badu, Rihanna and Solange Knowles. Her burlesque-inspired designs make good use of the vibrancy of the print and the structure of the material.
Arise magazine editor and author of New African Fashion, Helen Jennings points out that, "Having that calibre of celebrity wear designs by African designers, made from an African fabric, helps that fabric to be taken seriously alongside others such as silk, leather and satin."
So business ought to be booming for local manufacturers of African wax material, for local consumption and for the export market. But here's the thing, Africa is importing wax material and other "African" textiles made solely by non-African manufacturers.
The popular "African print" textile manufacturer Vlisco aren't hiding their origin. Their trademark is 'Veritable Wax Hollandais' meaning "Real Dutch Wax". They aren't lying about their brand; it isn't one of those "Made in America" but really Made in Mexico things. It's Dutch, and it's manufactured exclusively in Holland. The company's two other brands Woodin and Uniwax do produce in Africa as well as Holland, but they all fall under the same umbrella.
The Vlisco company's website has a meet-the-employees page with some very positive testimonials from staff, ranging from production managers to quality controllers. I'm no PR specialist but I know that a testimonial from an African would be good right about here. With over a dozen designers in the company not a single one is African. "We don't try to make our designs African," says Vlisco's creative director Henk Bremer, "but there seems to be a click with Dutch design. I think it is because West Africans like innovation and novelty."
I would contest that statement. The first country Vlisco exported to was the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), they imitated their traditional handmade batik designs and saturated the market with them. Were those also Dutch designs? I highly doubt that you could look at any Vlisco print and see Dutch design. Wax material is as African as a tulip is Dutch.
In 2006, 75% of the wax on the African market carried Vlisco designs (Source: Vlisco; click on 2006 in the timeline). The company disputed the figure, claiming they'd fallen victim to the copycats. (Counterfeiting is a real problem across Africa; copycats will duplicate any good product at half the price or even less.)
Forget the obvious Nike and Gucci imitations from India and China; we are seeing fake wood and metal plastic-coated beads that are made in China being used in locally made jewellery. And though certain African countries like Cameroon are enforcing their copyright laws, seized goods often reappear on the market making it an increasingly difficult problem to tackle.)
Vlisco's strategy in combating the copycats was to shorten turnaround times and rebrand. They also extended their product line to include accessories and shoes. Despite their efforts you can still buy replicas at a quarter of the price of the "original", the only difference being that these are Made in China. By making their brand more visible, showing at fashion shows, increasing their advertising, and opening flagship stores on the continent they continue to flourish and grow despite the copycats.
But while Vlisco enjoys a €100-million annual turnover, what becomes of authentic African prints and fabrics? What becomes of our local textile industry? Vlisco were pushed out of Indonesia by a government that understood the need to protect their local industry. They did so by levying high import duties on textiles. That was in the 1900s. This is standard practice by countries all over the world when one of their industries is developing. But in 2012, our local governments don't appear to be doing much to protect our textile industries. Since individual brands don't yet have the budgets to advertise like Vlisco, our governments shouldn't only be protecting the local industry they should be supporting it, not selling off all our raw materials and leaving us with a poor foundation on which to develop high quality goods.
Our countries are flooded with imports of second-hand clothing from all over the world, and our respective governments let this happen too. But the importation of second-hand clothes is even more detrimental to our textile industries than anything a company like Vlisco could do. Our manufacturers can never compete with a pair of second-hand jeans that sells for $1.
When design houses like Burberry and Michael Kors start showcasing African print motifs and African-inspired fabrics, these are stepping stones to the growth in mainstream popularity of our patterns and fabrics. But with things as they are right now, increased exposure to African fabrics equals increased sales only for non-African companies like Vlisco.
I am not a fan of supporting African products for no other reason than that they're African products. It has to make sense, the products have to be of good quality and the prices have to be within reason. We might not be there with products in certain industries, but we are with textiles; we have beautiful prints of good quality. There is no denying the fantastic job Vlisco is doing for itself. If we can't change much else, we should at least look at ourselves as consumers. We are paying premium prices for Dutch wax and missing something more authentic that's right under our noses. And in doing so we continue to discredit our product, dilute its history and wreck the potential future of our craft.
I think it's high time we took back our tulips.
-- Reproduced with permission from This is Africa. You can follow Melinda Ozongwu on Twitter @melindaembrace


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