text:
For your added packages, you can be able to setup the package pricing with corresponding tax setting. These settings can be modified and vary for each package. To start updating the price and tax settings, go to ISP Settings > Billing > Packages. Package Pricing
- Click on the package that you want to set up the package pricing and go to Pricing node.
- Enter the desired pricing for the package in different billing cycles: Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annual, and Annual.
- If you want to charge a setup fee when a package is added to your susbcriber, simply enter in the Setup Fee pricing field.
- Click Save button to successfully save the entered package pricing.
Package Tax
- Click on the package that you want to set up the package pricing and go to Tax node.
- You can choose either one of the following Package Tax settings:
- None
- Choosing this setting will not add any tax to the package.
- Use Subscriber Tax Settings
- Choosing this setting will apply the tax setting of the subscriber to the package.
- If subscriber has no tax setting upon adding of package to the subscriber, then package charges will not have the tax setting as well.
- Custom Package Settings
- Choosing this setting will allow you to set your personal preference on what tax amount will be charged to your subscriber.
- You have 2 additional options you can choose from: Percent of Total and Flat Rate.
- None
- You can also choose to set a tax on your Setup Fee by checking the Apply tax to setup fee checkbox.
- Click Save to successfully save the changes made.


text:
Talk:Main Page
Wiki news 30.Jan.2018
The year is 2019.--blastedryan (talk) 06:49, 31 January 2019 (MSK)
- Dont'cha know? We time-traveling 2-OP's now. (Fixed) -Inceptor57 (talk) 07:26, 31 January 2019 (MSK)
I have a question: Is there a set way/schedule that we are obtaining pictures for vehicles, is it actively being done? I have a bunch of the previous ones from the older version of the wiki, used them for myself. Being that Im a PS4 player, I would gladly do it if I had the resources (if I can get it working on my laptop.) Or should I disregard that and wait? --*JonCS29 (talk) 16:21, 20 February 2019 (UTC) Remove this when finished
- There is no schedule or active project at the moment regarding the pictures of vehicles. --Inceptor57 (talk) 16:25, 20 February 2019 (UTC)
I can´t buy GE with my Steam acc!
I tried today to buy some GE with my Steam acc but for some reason it didnt work.Can anyone help me?
- Hello, please consult this page to see if you are doing it correctly. If so and it is still not working, please contact Gaijin support. --Inceptor57 (talk) 06:51, 27 May 2019 (UTC)
I noticed in-game that the Specs-Card for the Sherman IC "Scorpion" now has the Polish flag rather than the British one. I would change it on here myself but I dont know how. Just giving you a heads up if someone could do it, or show me how (my main problem is trying to access the specs cards themselves)--*JonCS29 (talk) 05:21, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
- (oops, somehow this got deleted): I will try to bring this up and see if it is possible to adapt the spec-cards to the new flag images. --Inceptor57 (talk) 06:21, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
- I don't believe there is a way for you to change the data on the Specs-Card (to include which flag icon is displayed). The Specs-Card is a set of parsers and switches which all tie back to the vehicle code (uk_sherman_ic_firefly). All of the linked data exists on a database outside of the reach of us wiki editors/moderators. Sometimes data in-game changes and the wiki lags behind in updating some of those changes. That which we can change we do (thanks to you guys!), unfortunately, other data we have to wait for the Gaijin magic to make changes on the back end. - AN_TRN_26 (talk) 10:50, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
- It shouldn't be possible for the polish flag to show up. There has to be a picture on with wiki with the formate File:countryname_flag.png. The only flags available are these--blastedryan (talk) 14:15, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
- I believe there are separate teams working on the in-game stat cards and the wiki stat cards, things will get rolled out in-game before the in the wiki. Many things like the flag icons will be rolled out on the .ru wiki and then copied to ours. The .ru moderators will need to add the image and update the stat card template to reflect the option for the Polish flag on the .ru wiki and then it will be updated on ours soon after (hopefully soon after, depends on what fires they are having to put out). - AN_TRN_26 (talk) 14:37, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
- Oh wait I misread the question. I dunno why but I though he said the wiki card somehow had the polish flag not the ingame one.
- To answer the original question, the flags in Specs-Card is currently tied to the vehicle tree country. So all vehicles in a tech tree have the same flag. For example the entire Japanese tech tree has the postwar Japan flag. The Russian Wiki guys would need to add a new 'flag' parameter to the Specs database and adjust Specs-Card to use that parameter.--blastedryan (talk) 16:10, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
can we do something about the search function?
It's so bad that it's practically useless. I write panzer 2 in the search field, and the first result is the sd. Kfz. 234/2. No sign of the panzer 2 on the first page. It seems to take into account the CSS code of the page, which is.. perplexing to say the least.
Hello The search function is working, i have just tested it. Please clear your cookies and cache, If that still does not work for you. Please Click here Make a post, list your browser + version you are using, and explain the full process you do on how you perform the search. So we can further investigate this. Kindest Regards --patrioticalien (talk) 11:41, 5 September 2019 (UTC)
- The issue with your search is that it is searching for the most occurrences of "panzer" and "2". Most pages referring to the panzer 2 on the wiki refer to it by its shortened name Pz. so none of those pages will be found. Since we use "Pz." instead of "panzer", there are basically no pages with "panzer" so you are basically looking for the page with the most occurrences of "2". If you want to improve your search results you can either use "Pz." or search "panzer 2" in quotes. You can find more details on how searching on the wiki works here. --blastedryan (talk) 12:36, 5 September 2019 (UTC)
- The usage of roman numerals in the Panzer names (Pz. II, Pz. III, etc.) probably doesn't help at all with "Panzer 2" being able to find "Panzer II". However, as BlastedRyan said, you would have to use the shortened "Pz." in place of "Panzer" to find the desired tanks.--Inceptor57 (talk) 15:23, 5 September 2019 (UTC)
- Is it maybe worth creating a few redirect pages for the Panzer series?
- The usage of roman numerals in the Panzer names (Pz. II, Pz. III, etc.) probably doesn't help at all with "Panzer 2" being able to find "Panzer II". However, as BlastedRyan said, you would have to use the shortened "Pz." in place of "Panzer" to find the desired tanks.--Inceptor57 (talk) 15:23, 5 September 2019 (UTC)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It was harvest time at Rick Lowe's split-level home in rural Perry County, and the flypaper above his living room couch swung heavy with the dead.
Down some stairs, behind wooden doors, the pungent laboratory where Lowe practices his reverse alchemy was full of needles and a blowgun and glass jars brimming with things few folks would dare jar.
Bottles of amber liquid on the shelves looked like apple cider, but the nose doesn't lie.
It was urine, gallons and gallons of whitetail deer urine, waiting to be shipped out and spread across the wilds of America.
"My stuff is fresh," Lowe, 54, said in his Lowe's Whitetail lab last week. "I use about a gallon of it myself."
Deer urine has been used for decades by hunters in states where it's legal to mask human scent and draw large bucks with nice racks into range. They can sprinkle it on clothes, hang something akin to a urine-soaked air freshener from branches, or open a tin of crystallized urine beneath hunting stands. There's a handful of producers in Pennsylvania like Lowe, each a bit secretive with guarded recipes, farmers of sorts who've managed to turn waste into extra income or a full-time business.
"I owned 19 acres of all woods, so I couldn't get in any other industry, like beef and pork," said Paul Carson, owner of West Wind Whitetails & Scents in Erie County. "I fenced in a couple of acres and bought a couple of deer. That was in in 1985. I am one of the pioneers in Pennsylvania."
Collecting urine isn't as simple as dropping a bucket under a deer's rear end. They're skittish animals, even those bottle-fed as fawns. Bucks, particularly during the fall mating season, can be ornery.
"We cut their antlers off so they can't kill anyone," said Elam Lapp Jr., whose Nationwide Scents in Millersburg, Dauphin County is one of the nation's biggest producers of pee.
Lapp, 28, is Amish, and his family has been farming in Pennsylvania for generations. First, it was dairy cows. Eventually, the Lapps became deer farmers, raising trophy bucks for breeding stock and private hunting ranches, which also operate in the state, before settling on urine.
"Amish culture is farming," Lapp said last week. But "it's just not very viable in this day and age for a small mom-and-pop operation."
Lapp's operation doesn't feel mom-and-pop. Hundreds of deer live on more than 200 acres in two locations. They are moved indoors for collection for a few hours, into a 5,000-square-foot facility with raised stalls resembling giant rabbit hutches. They're given food and water; fans whirl loudly for ventilation.
"They'll pee six to eight ounces per sitting, about a half-gallon a day, all year," Lapp said.
The urine funnels down through filters and basic plumbing into the basement, where the sheer volume boggles the mind.
"They're 55-gallon drums," Lapp said, pointing to rows of white drums.
He sells most of his product to companies that relabel it as their own, but he has a special batch he freezes and ships direct to customers.
The majority of deer urine comes from does, the female deer, but there are variations. The most valuable is from does in estrus, because they produce more estrogen and draw in bucks ready to mate. Some urine farmers can bring their does into estrus artificially.
Buck urine could attract a male looking to fight.
"I start collecting in the summer and I sell a lot of regular doe pee," Carson said. "I can sell a gallon of doe in estrus for $105 to $110. Dominant buck pee can go for about $60."
Urine-industry statistics are murky because producers are lumped together under deer farming, which includes raising trophy deer and deer for venison. There are approximately 1,000 deer-farming families in Pennsylvania, according to the state's Deer Farmers Association — the second most after Texas. A small percentage deal in urine, and of those, Lapp's operation is the biggest in the country, the group said.
A recent New Yorker article said deer urine was a "hundred-million-dollar business." A CNN report from 2008 put it at $44 million. Overall, hunters nationwide spend tens of billions on gear each year.
One problem that has complicated the urine business is chronic wasting disease, a fatal, mad cow-like disease that affects the cervid family: deer, elk, and moose. It was first noticed in captive mule deer in Colorado in the 1960s and has spread eastward, including into parts of Pennsylvania. According to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance, cases of CWD have been found in Blair and Bedford Counties.
Because urine is one of the ways CWD can spread, some states, including Virginia and Vermont, have banned its use in hunting. Lapp was recently featured in a New Yorker article on the subject, as New York state is contemplating following suit.
Further bans could impact a way of life he's trying to hold on to, Lapp said on his farm last week.
"The science isn't there at this point. It's just not there."
Nicholas Haley, an assistant professor of microbiology at Midwestern University in Arizona, has studied CWD for a decade. Of all the liquids and body parts on a deer, Haley said urine has the lowest levels of "infectivity" and believes regulatory agencies have targeted it for the wrong reasons.
"Urine kind of represents this low-hanging fruit," he said. "It's easy to regulate, and it makes it look like you're doing something to prevent the spread of CWD."
In Pennsylvania, deer farming comes under the purview of the state Department of Agriculture, which requires farmers to take part in one of two CWD monitoring programs. The Pennsylvania Game Commission prohibits the use of deer urine in the state's two disease-management zones in south central and north central parts of the state. Elsewhere, it's legal to use for hunting.
Lowe has been in the deer-scent business for 25 years with his wife, Anita, and said he understands the concerns about CWD. That's why he has branched off into other areas, above and beyond mere urine, to attract deer and mask smelly humans.
Some of his cover scents smell like acorn or hardwoods; one called "Dirth" is a "dirt and earth combo." He is experimenting with synthetics, but he also learned to make deer "lures" from a legendary New York trapper named Johnny Thorpe.
There are glands in those glass jars, among other things.
"He taught me to take the testicles, then you cut them and tincture them," Lowe said. "Then you add some stuff, then you have to roll it, and then you add enhancer. It actually gets better with age."
Neither Carson, a retired boilermaker, nor Lowe, who works for SYGMA Foods in Harrisburg, are big enough to farm urine full-time.
The most difficult aspect, Carson said, is dispensing it into the four-ounce bottles. Urine is not plutonium, but still.
"I can't have a radio playing in the garage when I'm doing this," he said. "Nobody can talk to me."
Lowe said he'd like to branch out eventually or at least add a separate building for his urine and tincture lines so he doesn't have to mix it all in the house.
"I'm very secretive about my operation," he said. "It's taken me years. A lot of guys want to know how I make my stuff. I don't want to give enough information to be dangerous. I've had guys want to come out and take tours, and I just can't do it."


text:
How to Upload a Video Fast to Share It Onlineby Travis Larson
Uploading a video to the Internet is often the quickest and easiest way to share it with others. Various websites allow you to view videos online, while others require that you download videos to watch them. Knowing whom you want to view the video and how you want it viewed can help you determine the best place to upload your video.
Step 1
Uploading your video to Facebook is a quick way to share the video with friends and family. The video is uploaded to your personal profile page and is accessible to users who access the page. You can configure your settings to allow only Facebook friends to view the video, or you can allow anyone who visits your profile to view the video. Facebook allows videos up to 20 minutes in length.
Step 2
YouTube is a site that allows you to upload videos and view them online. Uploading a video to YouTube makes it accessible to millions of users around the world. You can send the link to people you know or hope that people stumble upon the video as they search YouTube. If you want to have your video seen by as many people as possible, uploading it to YouTube is a good start. YouTube allows videos up to 15 minutes in length.
MegaUpload is a website that lets you upload your video and distribute it to others. Unlike Facebook and YouTube, users cannot view the video from the MegaUpload website. The video is available as a download that users can save to their computers. If you want to distribute your video to others, you can send them the link and they can download it at their convenience.
- Digital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images


text:
Some posts contain compensated links. Please read this disclaimer for more info.
Croatian Cooking: How To Make Trogirski Rafioli
Once upon a time, in the famous Trogir tower, Kamerlengo, there was an imprisoned beautiful lady. Her last name was Rafioli. And while she waited patiently for her sweet liberty, she baked sweet cakes.
One of her favorite and most popular cookies were rafioli.
Then, one day, A nobleman of Trogir liberated the detained dame and took her to her own yard where she made rafioli for him for the rest of her life.
This is the short legend of the history of Trogirski rafioli.
As is usual in Croatia, there is a big number of different recipes of almost the same dish/dessert, and you will also find variations of rafioli from other regions across Croatia – "dalmatinski', "makarski", "imotski", "sinjski" and so on…
Another characteristic of this dessert is that it demonstrates the way of living in that time, whereby they created something so tasty with very few ingredients.
Trogirski Rafioli Recipe: Ingredients
- 500 g all purpose flour
- 6 egg yolks
- 50 g sugar
- 100 g pork fat
- 15g vanilla sugar (or two teaspoons of vanilla essence)
- 25 ml rum
- 50ml milk
- 50ml oil
- 100 ml water
- Pinch of salt
- 500 g almonds
- 6 egg whites
- 250 g sugar
- 100 g pork fat
- 15 g vanilla sugar (or two teaspoons of vanilla essence)
- 1 tsp rose extract
- 1 tsp maraschino
- grated lemon rind
- grated orange rind
- Juice from 1 orange or lemon
Trogirski Rafioli Recipe: How To Make The Rafioli
- Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large bowl, and mix until you have a nice, smooth, compact dough
- Let the dough mix rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator
- Roast in a pan half the amount of the almonds to highlight their nutty taste. Grind the almonds in an electric grinder or cut them with a knife in tiny pieces
- Put everything for the filling mixture, except the egg whites, in a bowl and combine together
- Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks
- Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the filling mixture – and set aside
- Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2 mm. Using a glass or a cookie cutter, cut out rounds from the dough Re-roll the excess dough and cut again. (I used a glass around 8cm wide).
- Preheat the oven at 160°C
- Put one teaspoon of the filling onto the center of the dough, fold it in half, and seal it by using a fork to seal together the edges of the dough
- Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown
- Cool on a wire rack, sprinkle them with water and cover them with some caster sugar
- Store them in an airtight container and will last you for almost one month (that is if you do not eat them all!)


text:
I've never been a fan of shopping as a travel activity. Generally, I'm quite allergic to shopping malls, department stores and the special hell that's called warehouse clubs. I don't experience any pleasure from wading through mounds of generic, mass produced merchandise and I despise it even more in another country. If it isn't distinctive and doesn't reflect the nuances of the culture, what's the point? You can probably buy it anywhere. Now an outdoor market, on the other hand, offers the sights and sounds of a particular country as well as the experience of bargaining and bartering. Once in the Dominican Republic, a vendor admired my husband's yellow polo shirt and he exchanged it for an ebony sculpture. Whenever I look at that sculpture, I remember the story of how we gained it.
In Bahia, the vibrant culture shines through everything, including the Mercado Modelo. From the capoeiristas chanting and kicking outside, to the smell of sea and moqueca wafting through the aisles, it was a totally Brazilian experience. The small paintings above reflect the orixas Xango and Oxum, deity of thunder and lightening and beauty and fresh water, respectively. I negotiated and haggled for 30 minutes to get them, they not only represent the importance of the candomble religion in Brazilian culture but also my perseverance!
I really like Oxum and her fly representation of femininity so when I saw this hand-painted shirt in an art gallery, I was thrilled. Then I discovered they didn't take credit cards and left disappointed, only to discover that Claudia, my candomble historian, surprised me with it at the end of my trip. I think of Bahia and Claudia whenever I wear it.
As you've probably noticed, candomble and its orixas play a significant role in Brazilian culture. References of this African based, syncretic religion pop up everywhere,from music to clothing. Brought from Africa over 350 years ago, forms of candomble have sprouted all over the African Diaspora. Ancient Yoruba deities were melded with catholic saints so that uprooted Africans could continue their spiritual practices in the face of persecution. The deities or orixas, all have corresponding saints, colors and days of the week. In candomble, Saint Joan of Arc becomes Oba, the fearless fighter, Saint Lazarus is Omulu, deity of healing and Saint Michael is Logun, deity of polarity.
Everywhere I went in Brazil, in restaurants, airports, shops and bookstores, I observed elements of candomble. T-shirts with images of all the orixas sell in boutiques and corner stores. Restaurants, key chains and bronze statues of Imenja, the mermaid deity of the ocean, appear wherever there is a body of water. Even the all-important soccer teams have their own orixas. Despite candomble being outlawed for much of the 20th century, the religion remains a visible part of Brazilian culture. I bought this t-shirt showcasing the 12 main orixas for my husband and I think of how entrenched they are in Brazilian culture every time he wears it.
These doll magnets represent Iansa, deity of the wind in pink and Nana, deity of swamps and unfathomable wisdom in purple. I snapped them up at Mercado Modelo where these cute magnets and key chains were piled into every stall. They both overlook my kitchen, peering out from my refrigerator, overshadowing all the other magnets.
I collect crystals and stones and I was immediately drawn to the vivid rose hue of this pink quartz. Brazil boasts lots of mines so precious and semi-precious stones sparkle everywhere. I bargained for this quartz at the mercado and now it sits on my desk, reminding me of Brazil's natural beauty. How do you feel about shopping while traveling and what kinds of souvenirs do you look for?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Bahia Bounty
Posted by Fly Girl at 3:35 PM
Labels: Bahia, Bahia culture, Brazil Travel, Candomble, tourist activities
16 comments:
- Amanda said...
These days, I love shopping for anything outside of Switzerland because (other than cheese and bread) it's usually less expensive as well as more stylish.
In general though, I don't really like trinkets but housewares, handmade jewelry, and textiles that are unique to a region or hail from a particular locale. Sometimes they are things I can get at home, but sometimes not.
Florence: leather and stationary. Lago di Garda region: linen tablecloths and ceramics. People still complement these things and are always disappointed that they can't get their hands on them when I say, I got them in Italy.
- November 24, 2009 at 11:10 PM
- Rachel Cotterill said...
I'm not really a 'souveniers' person, but I buy clothes or jewellery if I find something that suits me. But in China we got a couple of table runners, a chopstick set, and two paintings!
- November 24, 2009 at 11:58 PM
- A Cuban In London said...
Loved, loved, adored this post. First of all, it was about Bahia, the first place I would like to visit in Brazil if I ever go there, also Minas, don't ask me why. I am not attracted to Brasilia, or Sao Paulo or Rio. I could do those later. But Bahia calls to a part of me that I did not know it existed until I took up Afro-Cuban dance almost more than fifteen years ago.
That's the second reason why I liked your post. Oxum (Oshun or Ochun for us in Cuba) and Xango (Shango or Chango) are two of my favourite orishas. I love teaching their dances and performing Shango.
And the third reason? Your opening paragraph. You spoke my mind but much more eloquently than I could have put it. Like you, I CANNOT bear malls, or shopping centres. Give me an outdoor market, give me some authentic fair and you have a happy Cuban.
Beautiful and witty post. I can't wait for more updates of your Brazilian travels.
Greetings from London.
- November 25, 2009 at 1:19 AM
- Fly Girl said...
Amanda, I like to look for jewelry as well. My prized Swiss souvenir is a watch with cows around the face and edelweiss on the strap. Textiles are also a great cultural representation.
Rachel, What kind of painting did you get ? I find Chinese art fascinating and have a few pieces.
Cubano, I knew that Shango was your favorite. He is one of Brazil's most popular male orixas and appears everywhere. Candomble is different from Santeria and Ifa so I was confused by a lot but I did witness some ritual dances. You would love Bahia, I imagine that it is very similar to Cuba with a corresponding history and culture. Cuban rhythms are very popular there as everywhere else and you have music and dancing everywhere.
- November 25, 2009 at 7:58 AM
- Jean-Luc Picard said...
It seems so hard to find souveniers of a country I have visited that could be deemed as tourist-type souveniers. I have a Russian hand made box, for example, though.
- November 25, 2009 at 12:10 PM
- Mary and Sean said...
I don't like shopping in the states much, but in another country, it's fun and seems more meaningful. Like you, I enjoy having a story to go along with the item. Isn't it great how you can do trades in other countries for merchandise? I traded a bra once for a wooden sculpture! funny memory
- November 25, 2009 at 2:14 PM
- Fly Girl said...
Jean-Luc, A handmade RUssian box sounds wonderful.
Mary, Now that's a story I want to hear!
- November 25, 2009 at 2:27 PM
- Catherine said...
Well thank you so much for posting those Bahia pictures for me and loved the rest of the post. I am a sucker for markets overseas as well - probably from all the countries I have visited I usually bring back a pair of earrings and a piece of original artwork - usually a painting plus textiles. I am also not a verse to picking up quite a lot of pottery, baskets and boxes!! With my Mexican folk art collection growing by the minute I will need another house when I eventually return to London!!
- November 25, 2009 at 5:19 PM
- Wendy said...
I really want to travel to Brazil. I'm with you on shopping malls etc. My head starts to spin. Love the treasures you brought back.
- November 25, 2009 at 7:27 PM
- Ekua said...
I'm trying to get Christmas presents and I wish I had a cool market rather than all of the generic stores here! Now when I travel, I try to find gifts for birthdays and holidays, even if they're months away. BTW, you are making me very anxious to go to Bahia again!
- November 26, 2009 at 12:51 AM
- Fly Girl said...
Catherine, I think you should keep a house in Mexixo and in London. That way you'd always have a gallery for your collection!
Wendy, thanks I'm sure you'll make it to Brazil sooner than you think. There's the Olympic photo ops you know!
Ekua, never want to make you anxious but no one can ever get enough of Bahia!
- November 26, 2009 at 8:20 PM
- Beauty Is Diverse said...
Cute stuff, I like the items in the first picture.
- November 28, 2009 at 9:38 AM
- Fly Girl said...
Tiffany, I think the paintings are my favorite as well, especially since I had to negotiate so hard for them.
- November 28, 2009 at 1:59 PM
- shantiwallah said...
I just love your angle on this blog! Whether it's shopping, eating or going out, I just feel amazed at the beautiful things that go on in this world. It's like you're over there getting into all the cool stuff in your corner of the globe that I know little about, and I'm over here in Australasia doing something similar, and there are others yet, who are blogging away about somewhere else. It's just fascinating. We should have some kind of around the world in bartering, eating, and playing blog ring. And by the way, the "deity of swamps and unfathomable wisdom" has just about got to be the coolest woman I'd ever hope to meet!
- November 30, 2009 at 8:30 PM
- Fly Girl said...
Shanti, thanks so much! That blog ring actually sounds like a great idea!
- November 30, 2009 at 8:49 PM
- Lara Dunston said...
I found I came away from Bahia with lots of beautiful things too when I went years ago.
If I'm writing a book or story, obviously I have to shop for research, but I'm like you... I'm not necessarily a shopping (although I do do it well!), but if I'm drawn to a destination's shopping, I can go crazy!
- December 10, 2009 at 7:00 PM


text:
£500 First Deposit Bonus + 50 Spins on Starburst at Cloud Casino
Join Cloud Casino today and you'll get the most out of everything.
Make a first deposit of at least £10 through Boku and you'll receive £500 and extra 50 Spins to test your skill level on Starburst. The bonus amount will have to be wagered 30 times prior to being able to withdraw your winnings.
This is the perfect opportunity to play as much as you want and get rewarded.
Good luck!
New customers only, Wagering 30X B , 18+ T&C's Apply
Latest Cloud Casino bonuses
Bonus Filters
Bonus Types
Payment methods
Provider Bonuses
No deposit
Game types
Casino Bonuses
Never miss a bonus code from the casinos you love the most!
By signing up you agree to receive daily casino promotions. See full T&C.
Please Note:


text:
Stereotyping Christians
It was once explained to me in a discrimination course in college, that stereotyping is a natural human thing to do. That stereotypes in themselves aren't inherintely bad or immoral, but rather your actions in regards to them. It is not wrong that when you think of cheerleader, a bubbly airheaded blonde who bounces around a lot and shouts is what comes to mind. What would be wrong is if you treated the next cheerleader you met like she was a dumb airhead because you have this image in your head of what a cheerleader should look like. It would also be wrong if you didn't allow your positive interactions with cheerleaders to change your views and stereotypes, or nullify the stereotype altogether.
Having grown up in the church and having mostly Christian friends for the first twenty-five years of my life, I would say that I have some very well-informed views of what a Christian looks like. Except I don't. I only have a small sample size, made up of Evangelical Charismatic Pentecostals. Although this certainly gives me a very clear picture of what that particular sub-set of Christianity looks like, it is still only a piece of a whole and there are those within this sub-set that aren't as cut and dry as the stereotype I have in my head. What is that stereotype? Homophobic, Islamaphobic, self-righteous, religious zealots with a heart to save all of mankind from hell and the vitrol to make sure people know about hell.
But within even that sub-set of Christians, I know that there is a slew of psychology and history that can change even the most devout believer. For example; One of my brother-in-laws is clearly homophobic. The shit that this an spews forth is appalling in its vitrol. Yet, this man has also been through the foster care system, has experienced serious neglect and abuse, and believes that every child deserves a family. Even if that family is gay. Yes, this highly homophobic man is firmly in support of gay people adopting because his life experiences tell him that in this area, it doesn't matter. Having a family is more important than ideology or religion. Another example: My mother was very obsessed with being the perfect Christian for a long time. For a few years she didn't cut her hair and only wore hideous long dressed that she made herself. It was a sad period in her fashion life. This was in an effort to be modest. After watching me struggle with body image issues and an eating disorder brought on by the church's obsession with policing my body and sexuality, my mother is now extremely body positive. She wears tight shirts and even shows cleavage sometimes. She speaks out against the purity culture and body shaming that the church does. This change came because of some life experiences that taught her that the things she believed weren't quite right.
I do have a stereotype of Christians in my head. I am also very happy when Christians don't match it. And I am very very aware that circumstances can change even the people who do fall into those stereotypes. I am proof. I was once the very stereotype of Christians that now grate on me. There were people who did act in a prejudicial way towards me because they acted upon their stereotypes in a negative way. Those people never got through to me. I saw them as angry atheists who just hated on people who believed in a god. I didn't see understand that what they hated were the things I stood for and believed, things that made me unwittingly a hateful unloving person. I understand that anger and frustration from the other side, but want to remind my fellow agnostics and atheists that treating these people like shit or assuming you know what they believe will do you no good.
Of course, we must also discuss the issue of not-all-Christians. Because not all Christians are homophobic. Not all Christians believe in the rapture. Not all Christians have a persecution complex. And we must be very very careful not to assume anyone's beliefs even though we may understand what their holy book tells them to believe. I personally think the Bible is rather clear about homosexuality and it is obvious that the God of the Bible was not a fan. Those who are Christians and think being gay is okay have done some serious mental gymnastics to make it okay. But I would rather deal with those people who try to twist the Bible to be a less judgmental and kind book than those who use it as an executioner's ax.
Not Unitarian
It's been a few weeks since we started going to the local Unitarian Universalist church and I HATE it. Seriously, I've never been to something that felt like such an asinine waste of time. The only thing that was getting me through was knowing that I wasn't doing this for me, I was doing this for our kid. What's an hour and a half once a week if it means our kid is connecting with people his own age. Except he isn't connecting. Basically our son has made up his own religion that loosely uses the Bible as a jumping off point and then adds a bit of mythology, a dash of urban legend, and a lot of horror movies. So he walks around talking about demons and ghosts as if they are fact, but all he knows about them is based purely off fantasy horror films. When I informed him that the Bible mentions ghosts once and in the context that bringing someone back from the afterlife was an evil sinful thing to do, he just couldn't process that information. Since most of the kids in his youth group are, at best, agnostic, it has made him the outcast. Again.
Husband on the other hand feels like what the UU church is doing, spirituality without god worship, is almost sacrilegious. He feels like he is betraying his Christian faith by attending this farce of a religion, because it IS a religion in his mind. Sure they don't worship a particular god, but they most definitely have a belief system.
Lucky for us, the kid seems okay with us dropping him off now. So we usually do grocery shopping or hang out the comic shop for a bit while the kid attends youth group and then we go pick him up. It's a nice break although does make Sunday mornings a bit rushed. I've heard that not all UU churches are like this one...sadly, this is the only one in our city so oh well. It's not like our horror movie religion kid will fit in anywhere else, especially in the Bible belt.
Speaking in Tongues: How I Fooled Myself Into Believing I Was Speaking a Real Language
I can speak in tongues. I use the present tense because even now, as an agnostic atheist, I can still make all the utterances and sounds I did when I was a Christian, with no discernible difference. The churches I grew up in would call this blasphemy, stating that I once felt (or am now ) denying the power of the Holy Spirit. This denial means that I am blaspheming the Holy Ghost, which is the only unforgiveable sin. Of course, there's some debate about what blaspheming the Holy Ghost means, but that's what I was taught it was. Having known and felt the power of the Holy Spirit and then denying that power exists or happened.
Let me tell you about the day I received this "gift". I went to an Evangelical charismatic Pentecostal church. Everyone I knew spoke in tongues. Every service was full of people shouting, raising hands, falling over, praying in tongues, interpreting what other people were shouting, along with waving banners and stomping on the floor with sticks. Sometimes this would be the entire service for hours on end. No sermon. The Holy Spirit was moving. It was chaos on a good day. I was ten, laying in a pew bored out of my gourd. Making fun of the going ons at church was a big no-no and we weren't allowed things like toys or coloring books, so I spent a lot of my time in my own head. Then there were all these adults surrounding me. I had no idea what was going on. They seemed excited and agitated. At one point I ended up with my head in my mother's lap and her repeating over and over, "Let it out honey. Just let the Holy Spirit move. Let it out. Shabbaba sickanda baba nukabba." I knew what was expected of me then. I was expected to talk like them. To make sounds that were supposed to be a secret holy language from my god. After about ten minutes I began to baby babble. The adults wept with joy. I cried too because I have always been a reactionary crier. And that was it.
When I read the Bible, it made it very clear that the gift of tongues was people speaking actual foreign languages so that other people could understand them. If you didn't think there was anyone to "interpret" the language for you at the time, you were supposed to speak quietly only to yourself. Of course, there were people who believed that they knew how to interpret this mess of syllables. What that looked like was one person would stand up and loudly say something in their tongues language. Then there would be this loooonnnnggg silence, before some random other person would stand up and say something along the lines of, "Thus sayeth the Lord. My people..." It always sounded like God was speaking in KJV, which was weird but whatever. What I thought about my prayer language was that I must be speaking a language from a country I didn't know about. I used to write down some of the words in my journal, trying to make sense of the babble that I was uttering. Surely "Sickadi" meant something, right? Maybe it meant, thank you or hallelujah or I love you. In other words, I was trying to analyze this stuff coming out of my mouth with the assumption that it was a real language. I used to also scour the internet looking for languages that sounded similar to the one I was speaking. Of course, when I did this, I also ran across scientific articles that talked about how the tongues spoken in each country mirror the language structure of the language that person already speaks. I started to speak less in tongues after that. If me praying in English wasn't good enough, then we had a problem.
I stopped altogether after going to a more liberal liturgical church for a few years. There, the speaking of tongues was seen as a rarity (a miracle in fact) that only happened when there was no one there the interpret a language for a missionary. It was not necessary for a daily prayer life as God cares little about languages. They also thought it was super strange that people did it and more than a few were completely freaked out about it. To them, it was the equivalent as Mormons wearing holy underwear and Catholics selling indulgences. Ridiculous. I remember being at small group once and trying to explain it to the people there and thinking, "This IS ridiculous. It's not because they don't get it, it's because this concept is utterly stupid." I realized that I could use my prayer language even when I wasn't feeling the holy spirit. And I also realized that I was making up these sounds. That I had never felt anything different while praying like this. I had NEVER prayed out loud with the hope that there would be an interpretation because I knew there wouldn't be one. I knew someone would make up some bullshit, but I was pretty sure that if I was saying anything it was just, "Thank you God. You are awesome. Hallelujah." And I could never figure out how these other people knew.
But I get it now. They are making it up too. Their "interpretations" came out of their own noggins. The ones who are bold enough to speak out or offer interpretations are just the more zealous people who believe every thought that pops into their head must be from a god. My only hope is that this belief system eventually falls to the wayside like so many other religious beliefs that have disappeared over the years. Maybe in 200 years people will look back and say remember when Catholics sold indulgences? Oh yeah, and Evangelicals spoke in tongues? This would actually be in keeping with their own Bible that says in 1 Corinthians 13:13 that when tongues cease, only hope, love, and faith will remain. I'm okay with that.
All is Forgiven
It's a tale as old as the church. A pastor, almost always a man, is caught doing something that God & the church would deem to be sinful. Homosexuality, infidelity, molestation, embezzlement. Sometimes the "sin" is less insidious like when a pastor begins firing anyone under him who questions his authority or when a pastor is caught with pornography the week after he ranted and raved against it. These indiscretions sometimes catch up with them, although I suspect many take it with them to their graves.
Those in the church often appear to be devastated as many pastors earn an almost cult following in their churches. For those of us outside the church, who have watched quite a few of these grenades blow up, we aren't so surprised. Wait...you were surprised that Marc Driscoll turned out to be a megalomaniac who bought his way onto the NYT best-seller list and encouraged the practice of shunning those who left his church or were fired? Did you read the man's books or listen to his sermons? Of course, that's the person he was. He wasn't even hiding it very well. Or Ted Haggard who ranted and raved against homosexuality while being diddled by male prostitutes on his down time. At this point, I suspect anyone who is that homophobic is probably struggling with feeling of same sex attraction. We know all about the various Catholic priests who sexually abused the children under their care. Even Martin Luther King Jr., this supposed paragon of virtue, was an adulterer, the truth of which only came out after he died although all accounts seem to point to that situation reaching a tipping point anyway.
Perhaps the strangest after-effect of these serious missteps is that within the Christian religion is a mechanism called forgiveness. Now, unlike the coloquial understanding of this word, this isn't about forgiving a person for a misdeed so that you can move on. This is about redemption and afterlife. This is the kind of forgiveness where you could commit a murder and if you just say the sinner's prayer and ask for forgiveness, the religion not only teaches that you will get into heaven, but here on Earth you are seen as a success story. I grew up hearing about these stories. The redeeming power of the blood of Jesus.
A guy once came to a youth convention and talk to hundreds and thousands of teenagers about how he used to be a gang banger and killed people and his mom was a witch, and then one day he met a pastor who never gave up on winning him to Christ, and eventually he saw the light. Of course, these stories were littered with things that were suspect. That gang banger admits to killing people. He knows the names of the people he killed. But he never went to jail for any of his crimes. But it's okay because he became a Christian and Jesus changed him and he would never do any of that now. Him being in jail for murder would be a waste because his testimony has more of an effect outside of prison. Of course, there are plenty of other people who did go to prison and are serving out sentences for gang related murders, but they deserve to be in prison. Unlike this guy who the Christian community has forgiven. And this guy, this avowed murderer is hanging out with kids. He admits that he still has extreme anger issues and at one point had to separate from his wife because of his issues, but get this, he chalked it up to demons and once they had a good old-fashioned exorcism, he's all better now. And people believe this shit! They gobble it up.
You had an affair with a teenager and sexually groomed her for two years? No problem, as long as you asked for forgiveness in front of the church, all is forgiven. Your old church may kick you out, but nothing is stopping you from starting a new one and several people who feel like you were done a disservice will follow you. Dude feels up a teen and shows her his dick, but it's alright and even deserving of a standing ovation as long as he said he is sorry and looks repentant.
Don't get me wrong. I am all about redemption. I absolutely believe people can modify past behaviors to the point that they are safe to be around, BUT I would be very very careful about what that looks like. If you are caught sexually grooming a teenager, then you should never again be in charge of teens in any way shape or form. You may never do it again. Perhaps you learned your lesson. But you should also not be put in a position where you could do it again. If charges can be brought against you, they should. The Catholic church swept their improprieties under the rug, shuffling known child molesters off to other churches where they would absolutely have to opportunity to commit their crimes again. They hid the crimes from the authorities and all of this was done under the authority of a god and pope. Forgiveness should never mean that a person is allowed to continue to work or function in the same position they did before, with the opportunity to commit the same indiscretions again. That's the appropriate response from people who care. If you care about teenagers or children being abused, you should not allow opportunities for it to continue.
This is a personal, but secret, blog archiving my deconversion from a Christian to a non-believer.
October 2018