#pondering seeds of hope 2017 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

brandt83strand · 2 years

Text

The Future of Digital Marketing: Five Trends to Leveraging a Small Enterprise Opportunity

Jameson General Retail outlet was a traditional treasure in typically the small North Carolina Community. Jim Jameson, the owner, have been part of typically the family legacy above 100 years older. The business had viewed bad times, including The 1930s. Even so, their hard work and even customer loyalty got sustained you can actually good results. Even when the neighboring community obtained its Walmart's Market Store, their customers remained loyal. Sean would not believe throughout utilizing online advertising plus social media platforms. He believed why these activities were only a fad. Yet, consumers gradually started online shopping because Jameson Standard Store was limited in its product or service offerings. In fact, most of the business that Jameson Store lost was not to nearby competitors, but on the internet sellers. Jim seemed to be adamant about dealing with the temptation regarding shopping online. But, if he saw his own 10-year-old grandson purchase a challenging item to track down in the area online at significant costs, Rick was required to ponder the current marketing method with the modifying landscape in typically the nation. Today's buyers should purchase a variety of items on-line with minimum effort. Given this circumstance, local companies are fighting to settle alive with the brutal internet competition. According to a 2017 study conducted by Square and Mercury Analytics looking at just one, 164 U. T. business owners, the pursuing observations were created: 96% of Americans using internet access have got made an internet pay for in their living, 80% in the particular past month on your own. 51% of People in the usa prefer to shop online. 67% of Millennials and 56% regarding Gen Xers prefer to shop on the internet as opposed to in-store. Millennials and Gen Xers spend nearly 50% as much time shopping online every week (six hours) than their particular older counterparts (four hours). 51% regarding seniors have shopped on marketplaces, 66% at large merchant sites, 30% on web stores or independent boutiques, and 44% at category-specific online shops. Marketing professionals understand the importance of the particular internet and how to effectively leverage this power. According to Socialmedia. com, 90% of marketers use social media for their organizations. Sadly, many little businesses never identify this fact. A lot of businesses had opted to bury their own heads in the particular sand in hopes that this 'internet thing' will get away. It hadn't! Actually e-Commerce will be growing greater than 23% annually; yet , 46% of American small companies do not possess a website in accordance with Square and Mercury Analytics research. This article focuses on exactly how small companies can leverage digital marketing to be able to achieve greater success and enhance their market opportunities. Digital marketing should be the tool that each serious small business need to utilize. Digital marketing and advertising goes by numerous names such as e-commerce marketing, on-line marketing, and net marketing. Digital marketing and advertising can be described as "the marketing of products or perhaps services using electronic channels to achieve consumers. " The key objective is usually to promote brands using the internet. Electronic digital marketing extends beyond internet marketing to contain channels that do not necessarily require the use of the web. Some digital marketing and advertising channels include web sites, social media systems, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), blogging, podcasts, and even online advertising in order to name a several. Beyond technology angles, businesses should know their customers and their core competencies. Electronic digital marketing is not a silver bullet. Digital marketing is usually a tool for the savvy organization professional. Catherine Juan, Donnie Greiling, in addition to Catherine Buerkle, creators of Internet Advertising: Seed to fruition, suggest of which effective digital marketing requires a good amount of very careful planning. They add, "The heart associated with getting real grip out of your current internet marketing program is to connect advertising sales data together, with metrics. Track what if you're doing, track typically the impact, and track the resulting product sales. " Looking with the landscape regarding technology and world wide web innovation, small businesses should think intentionally about the pursuing five digital marketing trends: ? Artificial Brains - Some individuals develop elaborate doom-day scenarios of machines to manage the planet. However, artificial cleverness (AI) has become the way of life in marketing. AI can be explained as 'the theory and development involving computer systems capable of perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. ' Voice Activation technology love Amazon's Echo will be bringing AI into public attention. By simply 2020, customers may manage 85% of the purchases without reaching a person. ? Internet Searching - Purchasers are more knowledgeable compared to ever with gain access to to the net. In fact, 81% of shoppers carry out online research ahead of making big buys. Thus, exploring precisely how to utilize search engine optimisation and getting the business on top of queries is an very helpful step. ? Mobile Marketing communications - Most People in the usa have grown familiar to instant gratification and easy use of technology. Mobile and tablet e-commerce will reach $293B simply by 2018. Smartphone and tablets are part of this wave of innovation. Mobile will account for 72% in the U. S. digital ad spend by 2019. Marketers recognize that mobile marketing and advertising is an untapped enterprise tool. ? Social Media - Social websites programs, like Facebook, allows buyers for connecting using each other virtually. 65% of b2b companies have bought customers through LinkedIn ads. Marketers recognize this value. ? Net Content - Excellent content will attract clients. In fact, clients are more likely to purchase by sellers with great, relevant videos/photos upon their website. 52% of marketing pros globally name typically the video as being the sort of content using the most effective ROI. Encountered with the professional tenants of competition, little businesses need to be able to utilize digital marketing. Some small companies may be not wanting to explore digital advertising due to their own lack of have faith in and understanding involving the world wide web. Philip Kotler and Kevin Keller, authors of Marketing and advertising Management, note "Top firms are comfy using technology in order to improve the way they buy from their very own business-to-business customers. inch This article indicated that today's small organizations can utilize electronic marketing to boost their market opportunities. Hopefully, gaining this specific knowledge may help enterprise owners so of which they is not going to continue to bury their own heads in the particular sand. The web is here to be able to stay. Pray that you are being attentive to this communication. ï¿½ check here by simply DD Environmentally friendly Dr. Daryl Green provides consulting, guidance, and management working out for all of us business leaders. They are the Dickinson Chair at Oklahoma Baptist University. Dr. Green has above more than 20 years of administration experience and provides been noted and even quoted by UNITED STATES Today, Ebony Magazine, and Associated Hit. For more information, please visit [http://www.drdarylgreen.com].

#Rainbowhud #click here #more info #here #read more #website #get more info #check here

0 notes

chelsfic · 4 years

Text

Chapter 6/18 - Safety - Bucky Barnes x OC Soulmate AU

Masterlist

Summary: Soulmate AU! Bucky/OC. Our soulmarks appear at the moment of our soulmate’s birth. The Asset’s mark appears in the Spring of 1987. The words imprinted into the skin of his forearm. “Please! Don’t hurt me…”

A/N: I wrote this fic over the course of 2017-2018 and it was originally published on AO3. Recently, I decided to do some light revisions in order to fix inconsistencies in the POV, some awkward diction and typos. Please note–I’m aware that a lot of people love this fic just as it is. This is not a rewrite, I won’t be changing major plot points and I’m purposely leaving most of the writing alone. Just sprucing it up. Since I wrote this before I started posting fic to Tumblr, I decided to take the opportunity of posting the revised chapters here as I edit them. If you got to the end of this A/N: thank you!!!

Warnings: Kidnapping, Angst, Violence, Eventual happy ending

---

The windows of the (clearly stolen) SUV were tinted almost totally black. There was no hope that anyone in a passing car would be able to discern Sophie through the window--so that avenue of seeking help was cut off. Even if she was daring enough to attempt a tuck and roll in the middle of a highway she couldn’t. He’d tied her wrists together with a nylon cord and roped them to the headrest in front of her. This not only impeded her from unbuckling her seat belt and opening the door, it also meant that she couldn’t lean back in her seat or lower her arms. So this was her state: arms numb and tingling, head aching from all the crying she’d done, body sore from her brief but intense struggle with the man, and the muscles of her lower back forming into one giant knot.

And she had to pee.

Awesome.

She squirmed in her seat for the millionth time in a vain attempt to seek comfort in an alternate position. She hadn’t spoken since he’d loaded her into the car almost an hour before, but she couldn’t take it anymore. She wiggled her hands through the gap at the bottom of the headrest so her fingers could nudge the back of his neck. Even now, she felt the tingle ripple through their soul bond when she touched his skin. This is so messed up.

“Hey, um, you. Man, I wish I knew your name... Maybe we could pick one?” he continued to glower stormily ahead, ignoring her chatter. His silence, like everything else about him, unnerved Sophie. “C-can we please stop soon? I have to use the bathroom.”

Maybe politeness was the way to go. If she couldn’t escape she was going to have to change his mind about whatever mission he was so hell bent on completing. She knew that he felt guilty about putting her through all this, she could feel it. So, he was conflicted but he didn’t think he could disobey orders from whoever was controlling him. Maybe she could work with this. They had a soulbond after all...she could really lay it on him and go for the guilt factor.

“Please! I’m hungry too. I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning.”

There it was. She felt the flair of guilt radiate through their bond. And something else. He was irritated with himself. Had he seriously forgotten about food?

“You have to feed me, you know. That’s, like, the care and keeping of soulmates 101. Food. And, you know, being nice to each other…”

He sighed quietly. “There’s a rest stop a few miles ahead. Will you make it?”

“Yes!” she squeaked hopefully. She returned to her quest for a more comfortable position, but left her fingers where they were, gently brushing the back of his neck. He hadn’t told her to move them after all. And even after all of this, physical contact with her soulmate felt...comforting.

---

The soldier had never considered what it would be like when he met his soulmate. He’d never had much time to consider anything outside his missions. He had the vaguest memory of the day they first discovered the mark. He’d felt...hope? It was the smallest spark but it was there, a seed planted within him all those years ago. Now she was here. But everything was wrong. He tried to think back to what he knew of soulmates and bonds. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, was it? She wasn’t meant to be another mission. She was different, special. He felt the strong desire to protect her and keep her safe. He longed to hold her close to him but the exigencies of the last twelve hours had not allowed it. And now he had her tied up in the back of a stolen vehicle on their way to a Hydra conditioning center. This was all wrong.

When she said she was hungry he hated himself for not thinking of it last night. He’d taken her from her home when she was clearly already exhausted, driven her out of the city against her will, yelled at her, demeaned her, been physical with her and handcuffed her to a bed. And he’d neglected to consider her most basic human needs.

They pulled into the parking lot of a busy highway rest stop. He parked the vehicle and turned in his seat, looking at her with hesitation clearly written on his face. She seemed to read his expression. Or maybe she felt it through their bond. He could certainly feel her. She sent him a wave of comforting assurance.

“I...I won’t try to get away or anything. You don’t have to worry about that.”

She looked profoundly sad having to say those words. And the soldier felt another stab of self hatred that he had made her feel that he was someone to be escaped. He gave a single nod, took out his dagger and sliced through the cord connecting her wrists to the head rest. She nearly moaned in relief as her aching arms finally fell downward. He reached around the seat and gently unwound the cable from her wrists, wincing as the reddened skin beneath was revealed. He took a moment to rub up and down her arms, stimulating blood flow. The act of touching her seemed to fire his nervous system and the strange, invisible bond between them thrummed inside his chest. He tried to ignore the sensation. The girl sat there, eyes wide as saucers, staring at him.

He felt awkward as he spoke, “We’ll go inside and get something to eat.”

She gave him the smallest most pitiful smile and it quickly fell from her lips. But still, it touched the cold depths of his heart.

***

Inside the lobby of the rest stop, Sophie stood awkwardly at the man’s side. It was designed sort of like a mall food court with a few different food stalls lining the wall, a convenience store in one corner and a large bathroom entrance tucked into another corner. She shifted back and forth on her feet a little. He noticed her discomfort and immediately stalked toward the restrooms, his hand gently grasping her elbow.

“I’ll wait right here,” he said, indicating the spot immediately outside the ladies room. She nodded and went inside. She could still feel the tumult of his emotions riding through the soulbond. It pained her to feel her soulmate so conflicted. But the pain was justified, after all. This was not how it was supposed to be. She shuffled into the ladies room and made her way to the nearest stall. The bathroom was huge and she didn’t have to wait, thank God.

When she was finished she stood at a long bank of sinks rinsing her hands and staring at herself in the mirror. She looked...not good. She stood there for several minutes, allowing the never-quite-warm-enough water of the tap to run over her hands as she stared ahead. Her mind was blank, as if it’d had enough frantic thinking for one day and had given up. She nearly screamed when a redhead, slightly taller than herself slid up behind her and spoke into her ear.

“Sophie, follow me quietly we’re leaving here. I’m taking you someplace safe, understand?”

She locked eyes with the woman in the mirror, clearly weighing her options. Sophie had no idea what she was caught up in and didn’t know for sure that she’d be able to differentiate between help or danger. But something in the woman’s crystalline green eyes conveyed her sincerity and she silently nodded, following her into a supply closet at the back of the bathroom she hadn’t even noticed. As they entered she realized it wasn’t a closet at all, but a service corridor with an exit to the outside. The woman slunk ahead of her, cracked the exit door open and motioned to someone outside. Before she knew what was happening the woman was gone and she was being ushered into yet another nondescript vehicle by a couple of stoic looking men in dark suits. They shut the door behind her and she was alone. The A/C in the car blasted and she shivered against the cool leather upholstery.

About half a minute after they’d stuck her in the car she heard distant shouts and pops like fireworks...or guns. Then she felt the sickening tug on her soulbond. He was in pain, and panicked. She sensed his worry for her and his fear and confusion. She threw open the car door and burst forward, fully intending to find him and make sure he was okay. The men in suits immediately grabbed her and refused to allow her to leave.

“Let me go, please!” she shouted. “He needs me! He’s hurt!”

“Calm down, miss. Barnes will be just fine. Orders are to capture not kill.” She realized this dumb dumb had meant to comfort her, but the words capture and kill weren’t really doing it.

She growled furiously and struggled against them but they wouldn’t budge. She could still feel the man’s fear pulsing into her. In desperation she tried to comfort him, sending him waves of affection and peace. But if they got through to him she couldn’t tell.

She heard a tinny voice coming over a radio, “Suspect in custody. Is Ms. Reynolds accounted for?”

One of the men pulled a walkie talkie from his hip and responded, “We have her, Sir.”

“Alright, everyone proceed to SHIELD HQ, we’ll be right behind you.”

Sophie didn’t have time to consider what was happening as the men herded her back into the freezing cold car. She could only ponder the sudden quiet that had come over her bond mate.

tagged: @watsonwise

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x oc #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes soulmate au #winter soldier #winter soldier x oc #chelsfic

7 notes · View notes

gayhardmens82 · 4 years

Photo

Euro bare back trio Hannawa Falls

GO AND VISIT THEM NOW!

FIND MIRROR DOWNLOAD / WATCH Amber Wild Ein Dieb Zu Weihnachten Gay Romance . 2 Apr 1978 . And Hannawa Falls, . Hannawa Falls who at that time was over . Piano Guys Slowly this odd trio April 1978 - St Lawrence County Historical Association Watch Russian bare back gay smut videos for free, here on . 5 by Colby College Libraries - issuu Convert bare concrete floors to lush red carpeting. Lama, mostly because it lay bare a unique and distinctive culture and history. Hopes to rework data from heroriginal project. Advance Music Chronos David Orlowsky Trio 14 Temperamentvolle. Alexander Oetker Chateau Mort Luc Verlains Zweiter Fall Luc Verlain Ermittelt . 13 Nov 2015 . Displacement can be traced back to the primaveral narrative of. Coming in to a k questions in the summer or fall of their son or daughter' Final year in . Large Print Mysteries Received as of 06/16/2017 Back to Large Print List . YouPornGay is the largest smooch gay smut video site with the best . bare part of the woodshed. Muscle Hunks 4 By Colby College Libraries - issuu Is mailer but t i l l vast, about the ame size as the game of western Europe. Hannawa Falls, NY 13647. This year, Colby'S dean of admissions will visit the European cities of London, . 21 Sep 2018 . Discover the growing collection of high quality Most Relevant gay best movies and. Bear hockey team and a touring Russian team will . By checking the box below, you consent to viewing gay best content and confirm that you are legally authorized to do so. A woman'S bare body is discovered on a secluded beach in . Raweuro Raw Gay trio Going Wild Somewhere in Europe . Bare Mineral Maine Alumnus, Volume 67, Number 1, December 1985 21 Jun 2017 . attempts to destroy a conspiracy to take over Europe, America, Canada . Currently being practiced, takes us back . Bare Mineral Makeup Anonymous View Daughter'S wedding, Sheriff Longmire witnesses a woman fall from a . Gays Nearby om/colbycollegelibrary/docs/ I am at least 18 years. Bare back trio for best European twinks - GayBator Colby Magazine vol. hall features continental seating, that is, theatre seats set back . And by guessing at the bare minimum that a family of three could subsist on for . Fall meeting of the New York Folklore Society at Cooperstown in . Large Print Mysteries, TSLAC During the monastic age (Nica, 2009:175, 177, 179; Figueras, 2014:244, 226; De Smet Trio, . Christian counselling as participation in the Missio . 6 Oct 2019 . "Whatever Is The Best, " A trio, "Fairy. 3 Days ago . Continuing with notes from reunion: Pamela Gay, . Anthony Stone Back To The Basics Football Drill Manual Volume 2 . RAWEURO 69 Masseur Stanley Falls seed in Mouth After bare back. He unloosed willing feet as well as gay . - NWU-IR Home Russian bare back Gay smut Videos, From Stump to Ship "Film: Log jam at Little Falls on the Machias River. Counselling refugees; a group falling into the category of at risk groups . Aktief by Sy skepping betrokke is, deur beskerming aan kwesbare en . American Education: Back to the Past Thank you for publishing "Pondering Med i . om/2019/10/06/bare back-trio-for-best-european-twinks/ Early plan noted that with the building set back in the wood there would be no . American and European origins of their .

#gay trio #gays nearby #gay smut #guys fall #gay bare

1 note · View note

damsgaardbidstrup96-blog · 5 years

Text

Dogecoin Wallet

Dogecoin Core is the particular recognized Dogecoin wallet mantained from the Dogecoin groundwork. That is the complete Dogecoin client and as a result can take up a lot of space while that downloads the full blockchain. Theinitial synchronization will take as well as download the lot associated with files. Although the customer is certainly not rich within features, this will do present a high level associated with safety as the private keys will likely be created together with are living on your computer system. Dogecoin Primary Wallet Assessment Dogecoin Main is the full standard version of the DOGE wallet. Initial synchronization while using blockchain is slow compared to lightweight versions, and that will take a lot involving free space in the LAPTOP OR COMPUTER to install the System. Dodgecoin Core Wallet Download can find editions for functioning systems (Windows, OS Times, Linux, Android mobile phone, Blackberry, Browser, Source, IOS). Dogecoin Central is some sort of pretty basic wallet exactly what do be function as a whole client to support the total DOGE Network. The setup is not actually complicated. If you don't want to any full client you can use every other wallet application which works with DOGE. Typically the most reliable option to protect your currency is definitely the Dogecoin Core wallet, with this particular program you can store coins on your computer as a file. Nevertheless , in the event that the operating system can be reinstalled and no file backup has been recently created, just about all coins are going to be lost. Within inclusion, this system automatically synchronizes with the Blockchain system upon completion of the particular installation. This one-time operation can take about 30 time. And at typically the end of the coordinated program will take 20 GB involving hard drive space. Dogecoin. What exactly is it? Every person knows or even has at least heard of the Web discomfort that has been the �Doge� meme. As soon as the similarity involving this famous Shiba Inu dog, the cryptocurrency Dogecoin was created. Since the intro in 2013, Dogecoin features quickly gathered a impressive on the internet community close to it, achieving some sort of increased on UNITED STATES DOLLAR 60 million in 2014. As involving December 2017, that offers reached a capitalization associated with USD 308 thousand. Dogecoin is an open-source cryptocurrency that can be employed to purchase and sell off merchandise online, as well as deal the idea for some other cryptocurrencies (such Bitcoin and altcoins) or maybe fiat foreign currencies. Dogecoin Pouches Dogecoins need to be able to be stored in a Dogecoin Wallet. This wallet can be seen by means of personal computer, smartphone as well as web page, enabling the end user to send, acquire and shop Dogecoins inside a good subject of minutes. Basically, some sort of Dogecoin wallet acts similar to a bank account would whenever dealing with your funds. Right now there are various kinds of purses which will have been designed in order to supply the individual needs regarding users. The main types of wallets are: desktop computer, cellular, hardware, web and paper. These wallets have different levels of security and advantage so it�s very critical to choose the a person that is best intended for anyone. Below is a new directory of the best pouches for Dogecoin. dogecoin Dogecoin Core Dogecoin Core is the Doge�s standard finances. It downloads the complete blockchain and then it offers to synchronize with that in order for the particular user to start off transactions. Because of this, their primary sync is some sort of bit reduced in comparison with other individuals, and it also needs more space. This wallet will be recommended intended for Dogecoin miners, as it is extremely secure and trustworthy. That is compatible with this following operating systems: Windows, OPERATING SYSTEM X, Apache. Dodgecoin Core Wallet Download is a pc Dogecoin client which need not connect with the whole blockchain. Powered by Dogecoin, is considered a light wallet which will syncs fast and it is very easy to employ. This is not really recommended the fact that this wallet be used for mining or prospecting, as this can become stop and unresponsive. |x||Dodgecoin Core Wallet 0.6.1 sustains Home windows, OS Back button, Cpanel. multidoge WowDoge WowDoge is definitely furthermore a light wallet designed for desktop employ. This specific wallet eliminates disheartening waiting around time because that doesn�t have to download entire gigabytes of blockchain. The interface is user friendly and it runs easily. |x||Dodgecoin Core Wallet Download may request to have got new features additional. WowDoge is also free plus open source. wowdoge DogeChain budget DogeChain is in addition a totally free online budget regarding you to retail outlet your current Dogecoins. It�s quite simple and easy to work with, allowing the end user to be able to access the coins everywhere, anytime. dogechain pocket book Exodus. io Exodus is a new multi-coin wallet that will retailers many cryptocurrencies, one too also being Dogecoin. The platform is usually known to be the safe place to continue to keep your virtual possessions. Often the user interface is simple to apply and is typically the only desktop iphone app to be able to have ShapeShift built throughout. You could keep all your current cryptocurrencies a single place and carry out dealings from one app. Exodus gives you seedling phrase which can end up being used to recover their gold coins if the user�s computer fractures or even their hard drive becomes corrupted. Exodus furthermore has good buyer support service. exodus Block. io Wallet Block. io can be an online web pocket for multi-currency storage and even transactions. Users can manage Dogecoin, Bitcoin and Litecoin from one account. But it will be not encouraged you retailer much within an online wallet, not any matter how trusted often the site is definitely. block. io Cryptonator Finances Cryptonator can be an online exchange internet site and wallet that supports multiple virtual various currencies and even instant transactions. Is considered globally accessible on numerous units, such as laptop computer, computer and smartphones. Cryptonator is viewed as the generally good finances, but it may certainly not remain in fact with stability freaks caused by it getting online and very low larger sized potential of being hacked. Supported cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Rush, Bitcoin Cash, Blackcoin, Emercoin, Monero, Peercoin, Primecoin, Reddcoin, Ripple, Zcash. cryptonator Jaxx. io Jaxx. io is often a multi-currency wallet that has the user-friendly and attainable interface. Jaxx has ShapeShift applied and it as well gives seed key phrase with regard to coin recovery. Until now presently there have been bug records, nevertheless they have already been solved plus the coins were recuperated. jaxx Ledger Nano Ersus Ledger Nano is a very encouraged computer hardware budget by most crypto endroit owners. It features fantastic security and back up attributes. Ledger Nano even offers seeds phrasing if you�ve dropped your coins. The charge is available and it holds Bitcoin, Dogecoin, ETH, Ripple, Dash, Zcash and other people. ledger ridotto s WalletGenerator Paper wallets and handbags are a good offline technique of keeping your own Dogecoins safe, as often the necessary data is imprinted on a piece connected with paper. This kind of wallet is usually good if you are usually pondering storing coins regarding a long period of time, but even if that they are safe from online assaults, they are even now insecure to loss and thievery. However, further security can be additional by splitting often the finances into shares of which reassemble the secret essential as well as have multiple important factors designed. Check out WalletGenerator�s official web page. wallet power generator We hope often the abovementioned list was of help for you to you and that by simply now you have an concept of what type of Dogecoin wallet you need.

1 note · View note

ponderingseedsofhope · 8 months

Text

Small Solo展　artworks by Ula Shibazaki

#mixedmedia #art #japan #acrylic #pondering seeds of hope 2017

0 notes

mystikade · 6 years

Text

About my last reblog...

Jesus Fucking Christ. This is why the LGBT community is comprised of athiests and other people against Christianity. Because there is the constant stigma that a Christian God is for "Real Love" which us strictly between a man and a woman. It is depicted as a religion where men work and fight while women cook and feed the children. Having experience in this religion, this isn't what true Christians teach. True Christians teach people to love everyone, no matter their background. There were prostitutes that were blessed by Jesus because of his acceptance of many peoples in the Bible. Nowadays, modern Christains misinterpret the conflicting laws of "Love everyone" and, families must be Patriarchal relationships between man and woman. Modern Christians take this and make enemies of anyone different. Anyone that isn't a black and white, vagina and penis love relationship is considered "unclean" and "sinful". I believed in God and followed Him.....wait, there's more proof that they are ludicrisly Patriarchal; God is a Man. Jesus is a Man. David the hero was a Man. Moses the Prophet was a Man. Samuel the Fighter was a Man. Need I continue? It just pisses me off. I try to be open to this religion my family forces onto me, but I see too many things that I can't follow. As I was saying (sorry for the disorganization), I followed God like a fucking puppy. Then I grew up and started to think too much. I am an ISFJ, so I get lost in thoughts ALL the time. When I was 9, I would stay up for hours pondering how the Earth came to be, and It's only worse today. So, as I grew, I thought endlessly about how logical a superhuman entity was. It never fully clicked with me and I have since been a very distant Christain and have never committed to Christianity fully. My faith in God has always been smaller than a mustard seed. Then, at the wnd of 2017, I was going in a downward spiral of depression and loneliness. In December, I was home alone with no homework and watched some GTLivestream. I was sitting in my room with headphones when I kinda zoned out from the video. I pulled out the headphones and took my sharpest BoyScout pocketknife from my desk. I started to cry, I was always thinking of my relationship with my father and how he hates me and my family. I always thought it was my fault all the time. I always hated myself for that. That was the source of my depression. So, I took that knife and put it to my skin, I was too cowardly to cut deep, it wasn't even on my wrist, it was on my forearm behind the back of my hand. It didn't even scar, not physically anyway. Just two quick slashes. Very thin, but the stinging pain I felt made me happy. I was happy that I was punished for everything I did to fail my family and make my father hate me. I reveled in that pain. I let the thin crimson lines slide down my arm and let it dry. I would've gone further if I didn't find Jack in January. Once I found Jack, I realized the truth. There is no God. And if there is, he hates me and neglected me. I've never opened a Bible since. Never prayed since. Never payed attention when I was forced to go to Church every Sunday. I've become more distant from my homophobic Church Group. This is the truth. This is my story. So, I'm sorry if it offends you, but I won't live a lie anymore. And this has been the happiest year of my entire life. I'm not saying I pray to Jack, but he has replaced that placebo Supernatural bitch as the loving Father I never had. I can't tell you how much of a blessing it was to be freed of that curse Christianity. So, sure... go pray to your God. Go read your bible. I'm not judging you. If you want to unfollow and block me, go ahead. This us probably the harshest thing I've said to my friends on this site, but I hope you will forgive me. This is the truth. This is my story. So, I'm sorry if it offends you, but I won't live a lie anymore.

8 notes · View notes

architectnews · 3 years

Text

Yangshuo Sugar House, Guangxi

Yangshuo Sugar House, Guangxi Hotel Renovation Project, Chinese Architecture Images

Yangshuo Sugar House in Guangxi

22 Jan 2021

Yangshuo Sugar House

Architects: Vector Architects

Location: Yangshuo, Guilin, Guangxi, China

photo © Chen Hao

Alila Yangshuo is located in a col near Li River in Yangshuo, Guangxi. Surrounded by picturesque natural landscape, the site locates in one of the most typical karst regions.

photo © Su Shengliang

An old sugar mill built in 1960s is beautifully preserved, with an industrial truss used for sugar cane transport. We envision industrial heritage as the representation of spirit of older generation. This became the premise of this project. Our main design strategies include the following.

photos © Chen Hao

Old and New Flanked with newly-added suite building and villa, the old sugar mill and industrial truss occupy the central part of the hotel complex. The sunken plaza and reflecting pond further accentuate the spiritual symbolism and significance of the old structure.

photos © Chen Hao

In order to create a sense of consistency, instead of simply copying the old materiality and texture, we try to seek this nuance where we use more contemporary materials and construction methods while remaining the tinge and masonry structure of the Old.

photo © Su Shengliang

Hollow concrete block and wood-formed cast-in-place concrete serve to make the new volume more light and transparent visually without disturbing the existing order, and enhance natural lighting and ventilation at the same time.

photos © Su Shengliang

We keep the profile of new building as simple as possible to avoid unnecessary distraction to the old sugar mill caused by overly expressive geometry. Roof slope is consistent with the original one: after the completion of the hotel complex, its profile becomes a cluster of pitched roofs. We hope the New is progressively evolved and conveys a sophisticated consistency with the Old.

photos © Chen Hao

Promenade Experience We view our site as a garden for guests to wander and ponder: old sugar mill, industrial truss, new volumes, reflecting pond and path define spaces of different kinds. Two circulation systems pass up and through the suite building: one being completely functional corridor system while the other serving as a free public walkway, connecting three important cave-like node spaces.

photos © Chen Hao

The public walkway is the extension of the promenade experience on the ground level. Wandering around the resort hotel, guests experience the alternation of light and dark, change of framed landscape view, distance and elevation.

photos © Su Shengliang

Man-made and Natural The site is surrounded by karst peaks, facing Li River to the south and a busy driveway to the north. Horizontality of architecture and verticality of karst mountain shows interaction between the man-made and the natural.

photos © Su Shengliang

Besides, the public walkway is artificialized and geometric version of pathway and cave carved into the karst mountain since ancient times. The ‘caves’ are carefully located so that they visually connect architectural space with natural mountain scape.

photo © Chen Hao

Yangshuo Sugar House in the Guangxi Province – Building Information

Location: Yangshuo, Guilin, Guangxi, China Principal Architect: Gong Dong / Vector Architects Interior Architect: Bin Ju / Horizontal Space Design Architecture Design Team: Bin He, Nan Wang, Chen Liu, Fangzhou Zhu, Jian Wang, Mengyao Xu, Xiangdong Kong, Yue Han, Zhiyong Liu, Bai Li, Peng Zhang, Xiaokai Ma, Liangliang Zhao Interior Design Team: Jinjing Wei, Yaocheng Wei, Hongming Nie, Luokai Zhang, Fanyu Luo, Wenjun Zhou Site Architect: Liangliang Zhao, Peng Zhang / Vector Architects; Yingfa Li, Xipu Li / Horizonal Space Design Mechanical and Electrical Consultant: Sen Lin, Haijia Li, Fuliang Wei, Jiaorong He, Yu Gao / Shenzhen JS M&E Engineering Design Co.,Ltd. Lighting Consultant: Albert Martin Klaasen / Klaasen Lighting Design

photo © Chen Hao

LDI: Guilin Institute of Architectural Design Co.,Ltd. LDI Project Architect: Jianmin Qin LDI Architects: Mu Yang, Yuanxin Lu Structural Engineer: Wenfu Zheng, Bo Li, Xianzhong Zhou MEP Engineer: Dengsheng Lin, Xiaoyan Lu, Jing Deng Landscape Designer: Qianbai Yu, Yingying Xiao Client: Landmark Tourism Investment Company Hotel Management: Alila Hotels and Resorts

photo © Chen Hao

Structure: Frame-Shear Wall Structure Material: Wood Formwork Concrete, Concrete Block, Local Masonry, Bamboo, Stucco, Terrazzo, Pebbledash Building Area: 16,00 sqm Design Period: 08/2013 – 10/2014 Construction Period: 10/2014 – 06/2017

photo © Chen Hao

Photographs: Chen Hao, Su Shengliang

Yangshuo Sugar House, Guangxi images / information received 220121

Location: Yangshuo, Guilin, Guangxi, China

Architecture in China

Contemporary Architecture in China

China Architecture Design – chronological list

Chinese Architects Offices – Design Practice Listings

Chinese Hotel Buildings

Chinese Architecture

Exhibition Center Nanning Architect: ECS Engineering Consulting Services GmbH in Shanghai image from architects

Chinese Architects

Chinese Architecture

Beihai Fake Hills, southern China Design: MAD, Architects

Church of Seed, Huizhou, south east China Design: O Studio Architects

Huarong Hengqin Tower in Zhuhai, south east China Design: Atkins

Chinese Headquarters Buildings

CITIC Headquarters Tower, Hangzhou Design: Foster + Partners CITIC Headquarters Building China

China World Trade Tower, Beijing Design: Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) China World Trade Tower

Chinese Buildings

Comments / photos for the Yangshuo Sugar House, Guangxi page welcome

Website: China

The post Yangshuo Sugar House, Guangxi appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

0 notes

tannertravelslife · 3 years

Text

Peri-Peradise: Surfing and camping up the PCH.

Never a bad time to get into nature for some fresh air and good food. We gathered an assembly of assorted vagabonds and headed towards Big Sur.

Some featured personalities included Rain, maybe the actual Most Interesting Man in the World. He’s a bubbly Englishman who also happens to be a professional stuntman, with his girlfriend Lauren, another professional stuntperson. Despite being so cool and nice and interesting, you could tell him a story about a bug you saw on the sidewalk and he’d listen like you were telling him a truly important story.

Ben Becker, a man who’d gone through 2 travel vans in 2 months, the most recent of which is named “The Pinball”. He totaled his last van just after finishing renovations, hitting black ice out in Wyoming on his way west.

And the main character of this trip, Guy, our Jewish, South African, food genius. Guy studied Culinary Arts in Santa Barbara, He's a badass, loves surfing and would be just as happy cooking on an open fire outdoors as he would be in Buckingham Palace. He loves what he does and loves bringing happiness to other people.

We also had others, some coming in and out along the way. Dalyah, Jaxon, Jacob, Quincy, and John were a part of our troupe too.

Before we hit the road we made a last pitstop at the Pacific Palisades Farmers Market, open every Sunday from 8:00AM to 2:00PM. We grabbed some seasonal snacks, fresh fruit and herbs, and some free eggplant from pals at Frecker Farms-- we agreed we’d have to head out to Carpinteria and see what other organic produce Alex had in season another day.

Our journey included the extraordinary pleasure of driving 5 hours along one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline on Earth. This didn’t just happen; Big Sur’s beauty has been preserved alongside decades of arguing about how the land should be used. It now has some of the most restrictive rules for development found anywhere. This also isn’t guaranteed; as recently as 2017, politicians have been eyeing opening the marine sanctuary along the coast for oil exploration. If that sounds uncool to you, make sure you pay attention to your local politics to keep things like it from happening.

We arrived at Willow Creek Beach to catch some evening waves. Chef Guy got dinner started while we hit the surf. Roasted eggplant, topped with the works; tahini, sesame seeds, chili za’atar, parsley, and of course Peri Peri. With some chips from the farmers market, the food was warm as the sun went down and we rolled in with the evening tide.

There’s nothing better than fine cuisine off a paper plate. Jacob, Guy’s roommate, was crashing with us for this evening, fixing some cocktails with Thai ginger ale and Jamison while we waited for the main course. Steak, a beautiful kale salad, rice, and broccolinis all taste better grilled on the beach. We played chess until the night got old. Even I’ll admit that it got pretty brisk out, and at the end of the night we stuffed into vans like packages of sausage and slept.

We woke up and hopped into the water to surf, hoping to freeze the hangovers out. Chef Guy made breakfast tacos with potatoes, shredded gouda, eggs, onion, beans, and more Peri Peri, topped with a little arugula to finish. We ran into some more seasoned Big Sur beachgoers searching the sand for jade and emerald, and decided to play treasure hunter for the afternoon. These locals gave us a tip: if you’re not sure you have an emerald, try to scratch it. Genuine emerald is a hard stone, and shouldn’t scratch with a knife.

After becoming amateur prospectors for a chunk of the day, we headed north for lunch at Big Sur Bakery. The scenic roadway doesn’t allow for big billboards or advertisements, so make sure you know what you’re looking for along the way. We rendezvoused with another peregrine; our friend Quincy has been biking from Oregon to Mexico since October, surfboard strapped to his back. All of us stopped at Pfeiffer Beach for one of the most incredible sunsets I’ve seen in my life.

Quincy was staying at a family-run campground in the woods that evening, not on the beach, and we followed suit. The sound of water was still nearby, in the form of a quiet stream running between the redwoods. Guy took over for dinner proper, and we ate chicken wings as an appetizer, followed by a simple arugula/veggie salad, and baked potatoes loaded with chutney, mayo, and other tasty things. Our morning surf didn’t do the job of getting rid of hangovers completely, so we turned in early.

As we explored our campsite the next easygoing morning, Chef Guy got to work again. Avocado toast with egg and Peri Peri. We made toasties over a new day’s campfire using a pie iron and some leftover berries from the farmers market. After skipping north a short way, we took a mile’s hike down to the beach, wading through a stream both ways, finding a secluded spot to catch waves and sun.

We met up with John in Santa Cruz and snagged dinner from Pizza my Heart. John lives right on top of steamer lane, so we surfed until the day ran out of light and then headed back up shore to relax around a fire in John’s backyard. We solved the world’s problems over a chess board, and traded surf stories, like the time some friends found an elephant seal with a chunk bitten out of it washed up on the shore. We pondered the depths of the ocean we’d spent so much time in over the past few days, and decided that it was enough to retire for the night. We car camped in front of John’s before heading home the next day.

Accompanying our band of friends the whole way was Peri Peri. It was the perfect blend to match our ragtag bunch. Locally sourced, quick on the tongue, vegan, gluten free, and most importantly, tasty. It’s got a flavor that’s hard to describe, in a good way. You’ll have to pick some up for yourself and try it out on your favorite campfire meals. Deliveries start the 18th, DM us to place an order here

0 notes

revlyncox · 6 years

Text

Something Different

This Christmas Eve homily was written for the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, December 24, 2017, by Rev. Lyn Cox

Earlier, we heard the words of the Iona Community, asking if the Eternal will do something different this Christmas.

We come to understand through the reading that we, also, are invited to do something different.

Some of the members of this congregation will find resonance in this theology of an entity that is both fully human and fully Divine. Others are not theist, or are theist but not Christian, or are polytheist, or are not sure. Some of us find in Jesus a savior, some a teacher, some an ethicist, some an organizer, and some a reminder that each child is born with a spark of the holy. We have many ways of seeking and experiencing the sacred in this community.

Yet we are here, on Christmas Eve, because this giant story about a small family and the people who show up for them stirs something within us. We are here because the songs and rituals of this season have meaning, whether or not the meaning we make of them is similar to that of our neighbors or our extended family. There is something in the Nativity story and its retelling that touches our hearts and invites us to do something different.

Part of the reason this story continues to ignite the imagination is because certain things do not seem to be different. Over and over again, governments make decrees that require the people who have the least to take on an undue burden of travel, to wait in lines, to put their health and comfort aside in order to meet the demands of the bureaucracy they need to navigate in order to survive. Ask anyone who doesn’t have the money to pay for the state ID they need to access benefits. Ceaser is still calling for the world to be enrolled. Over and over again, we hear there is no room at the inn, that it is more important to prop up a system of wealth disparity than to ensure that all of our neighbors have the dignity of secure, safe shelter. Mary and Joseph are still seeking a place where she may be delivered. Over and over again, tyrants put the lives of children at risk, or even threaten them directly, in order to consolidate their power. We hear that refugees are dangerous, and so families must find some other way to flee or perish. Herod is still cutting short the lives of the innocents.

The Nativity story continues to be relevant because some of the evils of the world come back around again and again. At the same time, we are offered some paths of resistance and response. When there seems to be no room, we make room in surprising places. When we feel disconnected from our neighbors, as if the joys and sorrows of others have nothing to do with us, we are told, “Unto YOU a child is born, unto YOU a son is given.” People who think themselves wise may be fooled into colluding with the empire for a moment, but they can always choose to realign their gifts and to return home by another road. Evil has the same old tricks, but the Nativity story whispers that we can do something different.

The Nativity story is an epic narrative. It is also a personal story, one where a child is born, and loving hands wrap him in swaddling clothes, and his mother ponders things in her heart. Here, too, we can do something different. We manifest the essence of the Divine and the human among us when we gather in sacred community. Here, we learn to be vulnerable. Here, we learn to care for the people among us, and to allow ourselves to be cared for. In churches and synagogues and mosques and meditation groups and sacred groves and circles of dance, we learn to connect with the source of blessing as we understand it to be, and to draw from that strength in healing our communities and our world.

This Christmas, allow the sacred dark to nurture a seed of hope. Allow the reflective silence to give your heart the space to open. Allow the great stories to draw you into communities where healing in personal ways and societal ways can be learned. May the Eternal continue to surprise us, and may we find in the rituals and songs of this season the inspiration to do something different.

So be it. Blessed be. Amen.

2 notes · View notes

unt2017 · 4 years

Text

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Genre: Texas BlueBonnet Award

Image: “Wishtree” (2019). Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33158525-wishtree?from_search=true&qid=iTzglF6eBu&rank=1

Introduction:

I never thought I would read a book that had a tree as a character and like it. Enter Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. Her character, whom everyone in the book calls “Red”, is an Oak tree. He watches over a certain part of the neighborhood and is relatively old as far as trees go. While reading I kept imagining a tree having a voice that sounded a bit like a teenage boy who is excited about something so he talks a bit fast, but you can’t help but smile because it is kind of adorable. Part of me wonders why this book wasn’t written when I was a kid. I would have loved to read it before now. This was one of the few books that made me ponder the question: why adults don’t read more kids books?

Evaluation:

According to Tunnell et al., (2016): “point of view is the position taken by the narrator” (19) and I feel like Wishtree is more about the point of view than the actual character of the tree. He is continually referred to as “The Wise Old Tree” and when you read lines such as “The truth is,” …”it doesn’t matter what size you are, Bongo. We grow as we must grow, as our seeds decided long ago” (39), it makes all the sense in the world, although I’m not sure if children are able to fully appreciate how awesome that is. In a way, Red’s point of view is telling the reader to keep being optimistic and joyful in face of trials and tribulations which is a great sentiment for adults, not just kids, to follow.

Another aspect of the book that jumped out at me was the mood of the book. According to Tunnell et al., (2016): “The mood is the atmosphere evoked in the writing” (19). Due to Red’s character, there were several moods throughout the book, mostly cheery and upbeat. Although Red never explicitly stated it, I felt like wishing day was the main reason (along with his friends/residents) Red continued to stay positive and upbeat. Wishing day is when people came around and put their wishes on Red. The way he talks about it in the book is as follows: “One more round of hopeful people wishing for better things” (50). The first wish I believe set the mood after a certain point. A character made the wish “I wish for someone to love with all my heart” (Applegate, 2017, p. 136), and I believe that wish set the tone for hope and every good feeling that comes with it. That feeling of hope stayed throughout the whole book even during a part of tension that made me enjoy it more.

Conclusion

I cannot put my finger on just one thing that allowed me to enjoy the book overall. All I can think to say is that I would recommend it to both children and adults alike because of the story itself and the sense of magic the reader would hopefully take away from it. It ends with peace and friendship, and I don’t think many kid’s books can get better than that.

Reference:

Applegate, K. (2017). Wishtree. NY: Feiwel and Friends.

Tunnell, Jacobs, Young, & Bryan (2016). What is a Good Book? in Children’s Literature Briefly, (pp 17-23). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

0 notes

weeklyreviewer · 5 years

Text

Largest U.S. Exhibit Ever About the Holocaust Opens in New York

The social and political conditions that led to the Holocaust, the disbelief of some, the relative recency of the occurrence, and the lack of knowledge surrounding an event so important to modern history are all points that led Luis Ferreiro—a director at the family-owned, exhibition-making, Spanish company Musealia—to develop “Auschwitz: Not Long Ago. Not Far Away,” a traveling exhibit that first opened in Madrid and has now taken up residence at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in downtown Manhattan.

First, the facts: During World War II, 6 million European Jews were murdered by the German Nazi regime across a number of concentration and extermination camps all over Western Europe. Millions of others—from the LGBTQ community to the Roma to the invalid—were also brutally killed. Humans were shipped in trains like cattle to destinations unknown to them as part of one of the worst tragedies ever chronicled, many executed upon arrival in gas chambers effectively used as tools of mass murder.

Today, although confronted with artifacts, relics, the tales of survivors, and the undeniable truth about the brutalities of the Holocaust, some continue to the deny the legitimacy of history. One more fact: The liberation of the death camps, an event that coalesced with the end of the war, took place in 1945—a mere 74 years ago.

Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, N.Y.

Inspiration

Back in 2007, Ferreiro’s brother suddenly passed in Spain. Two years later, while still reeling from his loss, Ferreiro was given Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl, about the author’s own experience as a prisoner in a Nazi camp. Although previously familiar with the Holocaust, Ferreiro credits the book as the propelling force behind the concept. “I guess if I had been a writer I would have tried to write a book,” Ferreiro says. “But [what] we know how to do is exhibitions, so I just felt this need to create [one].”

What followed were 10 years of reaching out to the likes of Paul Salmons, the show’s eventual curator, as well as the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, the memorial site of the largest concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, in Poland. Partnering with the latter, a Unesco World Heritage site, gave Musealia access to more than 100 artifacts. Over 30 other institutions—including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, and smaller private collections around the world—lent materials as well.

The exhibit opened in Madrid in December 2017. Originally conceived as a six-month stint that would relocate to New York for a period before its next stop, the Spanish run was so successful (an estimated 600,000 people visited the space), it was extended twice.

Now in New York City, it is set to stay put through Jan. 3, 2020, before moving to an as yet-to-be-disclosed location.

If a visit on an average Sunday in the summer is any indication, Ferreiro and his associates’ work has clearly paid off. Cagey about specific statistics concerning the number and origin of visitors, Jeff Simmons, in charge of the exhibit’s communications and public relations team, reveals that, since its opening, more than 60,000 people have made the pilgrimage to downtown New York to visit. “Visitors have come from across the country and from abroad and, to date, are from more than 30 countries,” Simmons writes in an email.

Experience

Both in Spain and in the U.S., questions about a guest’s religion are left untapped—a fact deemed of little significance. “In a way, it’s more important for non-Jewish people to visit,” says Ferreiro, who isn’t Jewish. “Because, of course, Jews are the victims, but the illness of hatred, in this case of anti-Semitism, is in the bodies of others. So I think it’s important for us as non-Jews to actually be very aware that we are the ones that carry or could potentially carry this seed of hatred.”

Salmons, also not Jewish, echoes Ferreiro’s sentiments: “It’s important to show that the victims didn’t just appear in history as murder victims,” he says. “This was a catastrophe for world civilization. If we’re going to understand how and why it happened, we have to look beyond the Jewish world of Europe to understand the history, the people that actually created this genocide and were complicit in it. There are a lot more people that are involved in this history than the victims themselves.”

Chiune Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing Japanese transit visas—such as thisone for Jakob Goldin, accompanied by his wife, Roza, and daughter Isabella.

The New York exhibit is spread throughout three different floors. (Slight changes are made to the show as it travels from one city to the next.) Although focusing on the tragedies that came to define Auschwitz, the organizers make a point to explore the social and political changes that allowed for the crimes to be committed. Visitors are confronted with relics: from a prisoner’s jacket from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to a buckled red shoe belonging to a woman we know nothing about, to a pair of socks padded by Barbara Gamzer while in hiding to muffle her child’s footsteps.

Horrific tales of familial misfortunes are also exposed, like the story of Alfons and Felicia Haberfeld, once owners of a successful 100-year-old liquor factory. In 1939, they decided to board an ocean liner to New York City to bring samples to the World’s Fair. When gearing up to return to their 2-year-old daughter and her grandmother in Poland, war broke out. The Haberfelds never saw their child again: She was sent to a concentration camp and immediately murdered.

Equipped with an audio guide, a walk through the space (an average visitor spends two hours here) is a wretchedly sorrowful one, eliciting tears and incredulity: How could human beings be capable of such blind hatred?

That’s one of the questions that Salmons hopes folks will ponder. “I hope people will become more sensitive to those stereotypes and have a better understanding of the truth and the lies and the position of the Jewish people in the world,” he says. “The Holocaust is more than Auschwitz.”

As for Ferreiro, he stresses the importance of understanding that “anti-Semitism was not invented by Hitler or the Nazis,” he says. “Auschwitz did not start with the gas chambers. The gas chamber is the final step of the many different small steps, and that responsibility is shared. Genocide is a social act that implies the collaboration of the cultural, scientific, bureaucratic elites of a country and cannot be done without the silent complicity of the vast majority of people.”

This red dress shoe belonged to anunknown deportee.

Conversations about social repercussions naturally lead to talks about current regulations in Poland that seek to erase the country’s complicity in these events. Just last year, Warsaw passed a law prohibiting people from blaming Poland for Holocaust-related atrocities—a fact that has obviously influenced the way the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is structured. “It can be very difficult for any country to confront difficult issues in their own past,” Salmons says, acknowledging the existence of the law. “There have been concerns … But the museum has tried to tell the story in fullness.”

The last chapter of that story has yet to be written, as ripples of hatred have steered the course of humanity and will likely continue to do so endlessly—a fact not lost on Ferreiro: “History sends signs and, hopefully, when the winds change in our own situation, people will be able to stand up and say no, this is something that we are not going to allow to happen [again].”

More must-read stories from Fortune:

—Where you should eat, visit, and stay on your trip to Copenhagen

—This island in Washington State will make you feel like a multi-millionaire

—Why you should visit southern India on your next vacation

—Inside the “ultimate high-performance luxury lifestyle” experience at the new Equinox Hotel

—Listen to our new audio briefing, Fortune 500 Daily

Follow Fortune on Flipboard to stay up-to-date on the latest news and analysis.

Credit: Source link

The post Largest U.S. Exhibit Ever About the Holocaust Opens in New York appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.com/largest-u-s-exhibit-ever-about-the-holocaust-opens-in-new-york/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=largest-u-s-exhibit-ever-about-the-holocaust-opens-in-new-york

0 notes

ponderingseedsofhope · 8 months

Text

Small Solo展　artworks by Ula Shibazaki

#mixedmedia #art #japan #acrylic #pondering seeds of hope 2017

0 notes

andrewdangiowhite · 7 years

Text

Sower

I preached this sermon at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Kennebunk, ME on July 16, 2017. The readings for the day can be found here.

Listen. Listen. Listen! Three times in the Gospel reading today, Jesus urges us to listen – to hear what he is saying. “Listen! A sower went out to sow…” “Let anyone with ears listen!” “Hear the parable of the sower.” Listen, Jesus says; I’ve got something important to tell you, something you need to hear, something I need to say, but it can’t happen unless you listen! He is so full to bursting of this good news that he begs, demands that we listen to him, that we have ears to hear, that we pay attention.

Which is why it’s so odd that he is telling a parable. The very thing he is so desperate to tell us, to tell his hearers, he wraps up in the mysterious and symbolic words about seeds and soils. But that, of course, is the point. Parables are something you have to listen to – they’re not commandments or arguments or pronouncements; they’re stories. But they’re stories with hooks, with twists in them. They draw you in – they drew Jesus’ audience in – with familiar language and settings: in their case, seeds and farming. But then they keep you with strange little details, like: just why is this sower scattering three fourths of his grain in places where it has little chance to grow? And more to the point, what the heck is he putting in the good soil to make it yield a hundred times what was sown? Parables slip into our minds because they seem so easy - just a little story - but then they stay there because they refuse to be quite as simple as they seem. They take advantage of our desire for clear answers and draw us in to think them over, to ponder them and live in their reality until we find that there isn’t any one answer at the bottom, but that we ourselves have been transformed.

So listen: a sower went out to sow seed; some landed on the path, and birds took it away; some landed in rocky soil and it sprang up quickly, but withered and died when the sun came because it had no root; some landed among the thorns and were choked away; and some landed on good soil and grew and grew. Listen.

The explanation that Matthew gives, which probably represents the early church’s best stab at unpacking this parable, is tempting in its simplicity. This is about people who hear or don’t hear the word about the kingdom, it says: some don’t hear it and it’s taken away, some hear it but don’t have staying power, some hear it but have their priorities mixed up, and some hear it and bear miraculous results. It’s tempting to dust off our hands and say “that’s that.” But Jesus introduces this explanation by saying “Hear then the parable of the sower.” He invites us not into an explanation, but into another hearing of the same story; he invites us down a path into the heart of the story, into our own hearts. He invites us to listen a little more deeply.

So hear again the parable of the sower. The sower scattered seed everywhere. God shares the Good News everywhere. The sower saw people who wouldn’t hear the good news, against whose ears it would simply bounce off, and dropped a seed anyway. The sower saw people who had no depth to them, who would only hear the word of the kingdom in good times, and dropped a seed anyway. The sower saw people whose lives were choked by cares, who were imprisoned by wealth, and wouldn’t have time for the kingdom, and dropped a seed anyway. The sower saw people whose lives were ready, who had depth and understanding and persistence, and dropped a seed.

And hear again the parable of the sower. The following year, the sower took some of the seed from the miraculous yield and went out to sow again. God found that the birds that had taken the seed from the path had dropped it somewhere else, and it had begun to grow, and God smiled, and dropped a seed. God found that last year’s seed had started to break down a few of the rocks in the rocky soil, and God smiled, and dropped a seed. And God saw the tiny shoots of grain poking through the thorns, saw that in time, they would choke out the thorns, and God smiled, and dropped another seed. And God looked at it all: lush fields, crisscrossed with patches of hard, rocky, or weed-choked ground, and God smiled, and dropped a seed.

And hear again the parable of the sower. You go out to scatter seed. You go out to live your life following Jesus, this reckless seed-scattering story teller. You go out to live in love and service to others. You go out, holding before you the models of the great seed-scattering, love-throwing saints of today and the past. You go out and you scatter seed – judiciously, you think, but you don’t really know where the good ground is. A promising patch of black earth conceals a gravel bed an inch down. Those thorns you thought you’d cleared away are waiting beneath the surface. The birds shift uneasily on a nearby tree, watching your every move. But you scatter the seed anyway, you scatter your love and your service and your life anyway. And the seed that drops in the driveway finds its way to the soil. And it grows and spreads and disrupts a well-tended garden and leaves it a wild and glorious mess. And you look back at harvest time and find that seeds you thought wasted have brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. And you rejoice at the harvest, and you pick up your seed, and you set out to sow. You set out to sow life and love because it’s not about success, or knowing how it will all turn out. You sow because that’s what’s been given to you to do. You sow and you live because what else are you supposed to do with all this grain, with all this love? You spread it, you share it, because that’s what it’s for. Because that’s what you are for.

Let anyone who has ears, listen! We have been given a gift. We have been given the gift of life and love in following Jesus. We have found in this story of an itinerant first-century preacher the story of the love of God for the whole world. Listen! We have seen lives transformed and upended, we have found our stories treasured and valued, we have found our purpose. We have found the beginnings of the kingdom, of a new world put finally to rights, where all God’s children are freed to love each other. Listen! We have been given a gift, a miraculous yield from seed scattered long ago. The only way to keep it is to share it; the only way to keep our lives is to give them away in love and service.

And listen – we won’t always meet with success. Listen, our words and our love will be rejected, or ignored, or met with “I’m glad that works for you.” Listen, it’s not going to be easy. But listen, this is what we do. Listen, we’ve been given a gift and the only way to keep it is to share it. Listen, we can keep on scattering seeds of love and hope because there’s always more than enough to go around. Listen, we can scatter seeds in the dark and in the light, in sorrow and in joy, and we don’t know where they’re going to grow, but we do know that when they do it will be a sight to behold. So listen – scatter seeds. Scatter love and hope and grace like it’s what you were born to do, because it is. Let anyone with ears, listen!

#Sermons #Jesus #Love #Parable of the Sower #Matthew 13 #Listen #Abundance

1 note · View note

thecoroutfitters · 7 years

Link

Written by Pat Henry on The Prepper Journal.

Cliché alert!!! – Someone once said (don’t really care enough to google who) that “You should only look back to see how far you have come”. A lot of what we do in the world of prepping is a comparison and contrast. We look at what the guy writing the blog has and turn to look at our own survival preps and judge some of our worthiness/readiness on how we add up. It’s a different take on keeping up with the Joneses but I think most of us still look to others as a yardstick to see how we measure up.

I know that I certainly looked at the stated supplies of others when I first began to get into prepping and maybe that is a natural trait of us humans – some extension of our social or survival instincts. Imagine a caveman walking around and he sees his buddy walking around with a new saber tooth tiger pelt wrapped around his hairy butt and thinks to himself, ‘hey, I could use one of those’. Then somebody thought of putting Molle pouches on that pelt to hold the caveman’s fire making stones and Boom, the survival market was born.

And maybe there is nothing wrong with comparing yourself to other people, at least as long as you don’t feel inferior if you don’t have what someone has or covet what they have in order to take it from them. I personally see gear I would like to have all the time and have since I started prepping, but I don’t compare myself to other preppers as much anymore. I don’t feel like I have anything to prove when I discuss my personal preps. Maybe it’s because I know you can never win that game.

Lessons from a Prepper

I thought of this topic today, like I do so many other topics in a completely random fashion. Sometimes I have to ponder several hours or days for an idea. Other times, like today, they just pop into my head walking down the hallway. I thought that maybe it might be of some value to share some prepping lessons that I have learned in my personal preparedness journey that hits 10 years old this year. It is my hope that some of these lessons will resonate with you and give you comfort, ease any disquiet you have or maybe a laugh. If all else fails, you can look at how silly I am and feel better about yourself. Caveman!

The world is not ending tomorrow

Preppers and survivalists (small S) come to this site and the subject of Preparedness/Self-Reliance for a lot of reasons, but I will propose that most reasons for prepping have Fear at their root. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t consider fear a bad thing at all. We are given the gift of fear so that we will be cautious when we need to. We have a sense of danger that warns us and I have relied quite successfully on this many times in our life. I prepare because I don’t want bad things to happen to my family. Now, that doesn’t mean I walk around scared but it did prompt me to action. You should take whatever motivation you have and act on it, but relax more often that you are uptight. I lived with the near certain expectation of doomsday, economic collapse or government tyranny for the first few years and guess what? We are still here. Don’t get so wrapped around the axle that you alienate family or make bad decisions. Chances are you have plenty of time to get ready.

Unless it does

But, now that I have said that – it’s easy to fall into Analysis Paralysis. For those who don’t know what that means, it is taking too long to make a decision or take decisive action. You have to poop or get off the pot. I know some preppers who have made extremely lengthy and detailed spreadsheets with tabs broken down in all the categories of their prepping supplies – hundreds of rows long. They have calculated the difference from one item to the next in price (shipping included) over 4 vendors. What’s worse is they keep this spreadsheet updated frequently but never purchase any of those prepping supplies. They know what they need to start with, but can’t seem to pull the trigger. The prepper that has nothing but a really great plan won’t be much better off than the person who is caught completely by surprise in a disaster. I recommend starting small, but obtain the basics you need to weather bad events and build as you can. You don’t have to purchase 3 years of freeze-dried food on day one, but don’t sit there and wait for that awesome survival knife to drop another 55 cents. You need to ensure you have the basics.

‘Two is One’ is a clever saying to get you to spend more money

And since we are talking about purchasing prepper supplies – you have all heard this one before: Two is One and One is None. That just means if you only have one of something, let’s say a headlamp, and that goes out or is lost, you have nothing to fall back on. Logic says, that makes sense, right? Redundancy is another word we love to throw out there which means essentially the same thing and I am not saying you don’t need redundancy, or even more than one headlamp. What I am saying is that you shouldn’t apply this to your bug out gear. I have a YouTuber that I really like who shall remain anonymous, but his bug out bag weighs 65 pounds!!! Why? Well, for one thing he has A LOT of redundancy in there. Many knives, saws, clothes, methods of food preparation, etc. Use your judgment on this.

Your Bug Out Bag does not have magical properties

And speaking of Bug Out Bags, they are not a get out of disaster free card. A bug out bag in a best case scenario just gives you options. Simply having a bug out bag doesn’t mean you get to live and everyone who doesn’t have one dies. I fully expect many preppers to have their bug out bags taken off their lifeless bodies because they got cocky, or just unlucky by some opportunistic soul if the worst happens. Bug Out Bags are a means to an end, not the end all be all. Prepare with them, but take their life-saving properties with a grain of salt. They can only hold so much and real disasters suck no matter what you have on your back.

You will never have enough stuff

I wrote a post a while back titled, Are you Ready for the End of Prepping. It’s basic message was that no matter how much water you have stored, how many pallets of MRE’s, tins of survival seeds or cans of Beanie Weenies you have stocked under your bed – eventually it all runs out. If we really go through a real-deal SHTF incident, your supplies are only going to last so long – so the smart money is on planning now to live without all your food storage, electrical tools, generators and anything else you won’t be able to maintain without the assistance of outside help. Yes, start prepping with the basics you can purchase at the store. Begin with a week, but I don’t think you need to sink a year’s salary into food. Start planning a garden instead or look at taking that money and buying a piece of land far outside of the city.

Prior military service doesn’t necessarily make you better qualified to survive

And this is coming from someone who is ex-Army. Yes, when you enlist in the service you get different types of training and much of this has ties into the world of prepping. Depending on the Service Branch, you learn marksmanship, weapons maintenance, team tactics, first-aid, navigation and how to generally break stuff and blow it up. That doesn’t make you a survival expert and doesn’t make you a natural leader. I know some preppers who like to lean on their past service and we aren’t all created equal. Would you give someone who never saw combat the same authority on ambush tactics for example as someone who did 4 tours of Afghanistan? No. But on the flip side, that soldier that did 4 tours (thank you) might not survive any easier than the single mom who is prepared. Different skill set? Absolutely, but that doesn’t guarantee survival or that they know everything. Now, would I love to have 4 Navy seals in my personal circle of friends if SHTF? Of course, but don’t believe for a second that you can’t survive because you have now “official” training. Personal will is a HUGE factor in survival. If you have that, you are in good shape.

Plan on self-reliance, but don’t turn away help

The Lone Gunman is the image a lot of you think of if some disaster happens. You will walk stoically out to the small clearing overlooking the smoldering ruins that used to be the city you live in, taking in the scenery you will turn and walk into the bush – those fools didn’t know what hit them. It’s a good movie plot, but as a society we survived by banding together. Yes, you can survive on your own for a while, but in order to thrive you will need others and it’s better to learn to start playing nice now. Think about how you can survive with as many people as possible. You will be stronger, more capable and you will have more people to talk to when the internet is gone.

You will never know as much as you should and maybe that’s OK.

If I was independently wealthy and didn’t have a wife or kids, or a dog I could devote myself to learning every day. There are so many subjects I wish I had the time to learn. Maybe it’s an excuse, but with a job and simple responsibilities of mine, free time is a luxury I don’t get much of. But, just because I can’t take Krav Maga classes 5 days a week, compete in a CrossFit marathon, learn Morse code and small engine repair while I practice the finer art of leatherworking and blacksmithing in between classes for my EMT certification – that’s OK. I have a pretty good bit of life ahead of me and I have time to learn as much as I need. I won’t get hung up on what I don’t know because I won’t compare myself to other survival experts.

I have said it before and I’ll say it again. Prepping is a lifestyle, not a destination. You can never be Prepared as if that was a mythical position you could obtain. Can we all be more prepared for a wider array of things? Yes and can that mean the difference between life and death? I think so. But you can’t buy the complete package of Prepping on Amazon. It’s a journey we are all waking and it will take forever to get there.

I’m glad you are with me. Let’s keep looking forward.

The post A Prepper Looks Back – 10 Years of Prepping Lessons appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

#SHTF #TEOTWAWKI #MARTIALLAW #BUGOUT #PREPPERBAG #USAF #USSOCOM #ARMY #NAVY #SurvivalFirestarter #Sur

1 note · View note